Excellent Intentional Deadstick Landing Video Via Tailwheeler's Journal

 Between the bitter cold this week and starting a new (and large) ceramic tile install, I've been scrambling to keep up with my pig work. Early this morning I spent some time over at vimeo.com looking for a unique avgeek video to unearth, but I ran out of time to get it up because I wasn't finding just the right thing. However, shortly before I headed out the door I found this cool deadstick landing instructional video... which I'm finally getting around to sharing this evening.

 I think there's a lot of value in being capable and comfortable flying an airplane like a Cessna 140 when the prop is stopped. When you pursue a cautious and educated process to learn how your airplane flies deadstick, you significantly increase the likelihood of a positive outcome should the engine ever up and quite of its own accord. I hope you find this video both entertaining and educational.

 I'd never heard of Brian Lansburgh and TailwheelersJournal.com until this morning, but I can see I would sure get along well with this group of taildragger loving pilots. It's not just because I think taildraggers are simply better airplanes (and make better pilots) but because you often find taildragger pilots are serious about wanting to be the best pilot they can be. 'Taildragger' is a lifestyle, and it's one that I was fortunate to be exposed to very young when my dad taught me to fly in a 150hp Citabria when I was just 13 years old. Even better, the airport I learned to fly at in Elgin Illinois, which was permanently closed in 1983, had a main runway 2,600 feet long but only about 30 feet wide, and prone to crosswinds. I learned very quickly to use my feet carefully and very accurately!

 I'll add that I was talking to Billy Werth from Grayout Aerosports a couple days ago about getting together here before long to get back up in his Pitts S2C so I can finally get a flight review in the logbook. That'll mark the first time I've been officially current in about 18 years. Back in September I did 45 minutes of takeoffs and landings in the Pitts, and while it sounds like bragging to say it, I had no trouble handling the airplane doing touch and goes... what's interesting about that is that I've only been hands-on with any kind of airplane less than 5 hours in the last 10 years, and only made 2 landings in those 10 years. Am I special? I don't think so, but I do think learning to fly that Citabria at a very young age and on such a narrow runway programmed me with some important foundational skills. Those are the kind of skills that Brian Lansburgh and Tailwheeler's Journal are all about : )

Video screenshot: circling and descending over the airport with the prop stopped!

My Dad Bailed Out Of This Exact 'Navy Museum' N3N!

Navy N3N on display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida (photo: NAM)

AirPigz Naval Avaition Musuem MeetUp January 24-26, 2014

Click here to be aded to the email list for more details

 UPDATE: 1-7-14...  I took advantage of the bitter cold yesterday to give my home office a deep cleaning, and in the process I found the old photograph of my dad actually leaving the N3N! I knew we had one that showed him off the wing but thought it was lost for good. It's posted below the 'climbing out' pic.
 

 My dad, who passed away in 2009, retired from 35 years at United Airlines in 1987, and while he did bail out of the exact Navy N3N pictured above, he was never even in the Navy. He spent two years in the Air Force after graduating high school in 1947, but the post-war military didn't need pilots, and he wanted to fly more than anything else. He did wind up getting hired by United in 1952 as a DC-3 co-pilot, which led to a very satisfied career as an airline pilot... but how does this N3N fit in?

 In the 1970's, this N3N was owned by a United 747 Captain named A. L. 'Ed' Prose. My dad was a 747 co-pilot at the time, and he and Ed flew the non-stop Chicago to Honolulu trip together many times. My dad had also been jumping out of airplanes for fun since the late 50's, and he eventually talked Ed into letting him make a jump from the N3N. The picture below was taken from our Citabria flying formation with Ed to get some pix of the jump. This was about 1977 over the Hinckley Illinois airport.

Circa 1977: my dad climbing out and then jumping from the N3N... just for fun!

 So, while my dad did 'bail out' of this N3N, the airplane still had it's very capable owner/pilot at the controls : )

 In 1979, Ed donated the N3N to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida where it was restored to Navy markings and put on display. My dad stopped by the museum many times to reminisce about the day that he, as a 747 co-pilot, made a jump from a 747 Captain's Navy N3N!

 I never made it to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, so this January 24-26, 2014 MeetUp will be my first time there. I know I'll really enjoy all the museum has to offer, but looking up at that N3N and rembering the day my dad made a jump from it will definitely be a highlight!

 Currently there's about 9 of us planning to meetup, but I'd love it if more were able to make the trip. Check out the basic post about the meetup and then click here to send an email for more info.

Video: Fascinating WWII Story Of Spitfire 944 And Lieutenant John S. Blyth (Must See)

 There are millions of fascinating stories from WWII, but not very many of them include 16mm film of actual events, and then connect directly with people involved in those events decades later. This short film is all about connecting the personal film footage shot in Great Britain during WWII by flight surgeon Jim Savage with the pilot of a photo recon Spitfire named John Blyth. Blyth had to make a gear-up landing in 1944, and his flight surgeon was on hand with his camera for the landing.

 This 14 minute video is all about the story that connected pilot John Blyth in 2005 with the film of his gear-up landing that he'd never seen before, film that had been shot during WWII by his flight surgeon Jim Savage who had passed away earlier in 2005.

 If you haven't seen this story, I encourage you to take the time now to do so. My understanding is that John Blyth, who as a very young man flew an unarmed Spitfire over German targets for photo recon, is still alive today... #thegreatestgeneration

Video screenshot: American operated Spitfire in WWII... and a fascinating story!

Start 2014 By Going Deep Into The Last Space Shuttle Launch (STS-135 Video)

 Well here we are turning another number over on our way toward the end of time. I hope your new year is off to a good start... or should I say a good launch? As a unique way to fight the gravity of the day, I'm sharing a video I found this morning on youtube that's full of fabulous views of Atlantis on her final flight, STS-135, the Shuttle-era-ending journey into the lesser heavens back in July of 2011. You'll notice that some of the sequences are also from STS-134, Endeavour's last flight.

 If your ADD is stronger than your avgeekery, I expect you'll move on after just a minute or so. What a pity. This video is an hour long and is full of views that'll stir your soul, and most of them are directly related to the final shuttle flight.

If you doubt me, after you watch several of the close-up launch views in slow motion in the first few minutes, hop to the 19:45 mark and watch the slow motion ascension that starts with a view of the top of the main fuel tank. Or the unique launch perspective at 29:08. Or maybe the infrared view at 36:00... or maybe the stunning fused imagery experiment at 39:00. 

 It's a new year... and sometimes one of the best ways to look forward is to take a look back.

Video screenshot of Atlantis at launch on the final Shuttle mission in July 2011

Video: Slick And The Venerable Little Piper Clipper!

 As 2013 near its end, this fresh video from 'Slick' perfectly captures the true essence of what AirPigz is all about... a classic and genuine love for the beauty of flying. And something as simple as a vintage 1949 Piper PA-16 Clipper will serve the purpose about as well as anything. The cute little 115hp taildragger that's actually a bit twitchy on takeoff and landing (it's short coupled) is a truly affordable way to turn a little avgas (or mogas) into a stack of smiles that'll take you all the way to tomorrow.

 And when you add Slick's slick video skills, you wind up with a video that really delivers on the promise of cheap thrills.

 I'm still hoping springtime will have me in a position to be able to purchase a cheap-thriller, and the venerable Clipper is on my short list (as is the swanky Culver Cadet : )

 As always, thanx Slick!

Video screenshot: cheap thrills in a venerable ole Piper Clipper!

Airliners In Slow Motion... Artsy Video From Simon Lowe (Must See)

 I've been in a bit of a posting slump here over the Christmas season... I seem to be a bit under-motivated here lately (might be old age creeping up on me)

 The video above is helping to perk me up tho! It's another great airliner video from Simon Lowe's youtube channel and it's got just the right amount of art, music, and airplanes. This is definitely a good one for 1080p HD and full screen... plus, detail freaks like me should find themselves very satisfied with all there is to see.

 It also reminds me of the days when I was about 8 years old in the late 1960's when my dad (who was flying as a 727 captain for United at the time) would take me out to the approach end of runway 24 at LAX for us to watch the airplanes land up close. We'd go at night and on his motorcycle because we could get a lot closer to the end of the runway that way than were really supposed to. There was that wonderfully loud old-tech turbine noise... the huge rush of air being pushed down by the wing right after the airplane went by... and then the smell of burning rubber once the wind would blow the smoke back our way. We'd even hear some whipping wingtip vortices once in a while too.

 Wow, I loved those days.

 Video screenshot of an Emirates Airlines Airbus A380 going over in slooow motion

Join The AirPigz 'Naval Aviation Museum' MeetUp (Pensacola January 24-26, 2014)

Click the pic to check out the National Naval Aviation Museum website

AirPigz 'Naval Aviation Museum' MeetUp in Pensacola FL will take
place January 24-26, 2014 (Fri, Sat, Sun - come 1, 2 or all 3 days)

Click here to be aded to the email list for more details

 This is your official invitation to make a trip to sunny Pensacola Florida for the AirPigz Naval Aviation Museum MeetUp on January 24-26, 2014. You can join a handful of other avgeeks on any of the three days, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday... or all three if world-class aviation museums take you many days to truly experience, like they do for me!

 As we have done the last three years (the first two at the Air Force Museum and last year at the National Air & Space Museum) there's no charge to participate, but of course you need to cover your own transportation and accommodations. Museum admission is free and it's open every day from 9am to 5pm.

(click pic for 360 panorama!)  Naval Museum entrance with Blue Angels A-4 Skyhawks

 Click the link up above (or here) to get on the email update list for the details of the meetup. We'll communicate about accommodations, a basic daily schedule, and other details to help make your time there enjoyable. Typically about 15 people make the trip and everyone has a great time taking in the museum at their own pace and then gathering for dinner in the evening.

(click pic for 360 panorama!) Some of the diverse collection at the Naval Aviation Museum

 
 A quick and easy winter getaway to Pensacola is exactly what every avgeek needs, so get to making plans to join this 4th AirPigz museum meetup!

(note the happy avgeeks below from last year's event : )

Some of the group from the AirPigz Air & Space Museum MeetUp in January 2013

Video: Merry Christmas From Chuck Norris (The Epic C-5 Christmas Splits!)

 You probably saw the highly popular Jean-Claude Van Damme Volvo truck splits commercial that made the facebook rounds a month ago. I purposely didn't watch it as a form of rebellion against the 'flow'. Not that it makes me any better than anyone else, just different. And if it was on TV, well I missed it there too with no cable at home.

 Anyway, I did watch this new video in response to it (cuz it had airplanes!) - it's a very well done CGI Chuck Norris with a couple C-5's and a special forces pyramid doing his version of the splits.

 Merry Christmas from Chuck Norris : )

CoolPix: Boeing 307 Stratoliner At The NASM (Udvar-Hazy)

(click pic for hi-res) The only remaining Boeing 307 Stratoliner, at the NASM Udvar-Hazy

 I'll start by saying that the late January 2014 AirPigz MeetUp is being planned for the National Navy Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida. More info on that will be up soon.

 The January 2013 AirPigz MeetUp was in the Washington DC area to experience the two amazing National Air & Space Museum facilities, the one on the National Mall and the Udvar-Hazy. This CoolPix image of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner is one I captured on that trip. I posted the full frame CoolPix version of this image back in February as part of a Stratoliner 'awesome or ugly' poll, but today I'm showing off a heavily cropped version of it. I find these wide-format images really look fantastic!

 You might have seen the post from a couple days ago that revealed the Aerospace 9 art studio project I'm trying to pull together. It's tag line is 'bleeding edge art' since it will focus, at least initially, on some of the extreme aircraft designs from the 1950's and 1960's. The plan is for it to eventually move into the wide world of aerospace machinery from the last 60 years, including the Space Shuttle and up to current day. But I also registered the domain aerodrome9.com to offer civilian, transport, and WWI & WWII military aircraft art. An image like this one of the Stratoliner would eventually be found on the Aerodrome 9 website.

 One of my goals is to offer the artwork in unusual sizes and proportions. Since I'll be building all of the custom frames (including some extraordinary ones) it'll be no problem to offer the unusual sizes. It's my opinion that the Stratoliner image here would look fabulous matted and in a frame that was 37" x 18". Big, dramatic, and beautiful.

 Oh, and I'm very pleased that the Stratoliner was voted overwhelmingly as 'awesome' in the awesome or ugly poll!

Video: Wow! Did You See This Cub Land On Skis?

 So, I was searching for a nice video to post today... there was a fresh people are awesome video with a variety of extreme death-defying sports feats including various airborne activities... then there was a new-just-yesterday extreme wingsuit video with an impossibly long-and-low flight down a slope (literally just a few feet off the ground)... and then I stumbled onto this video of a humble Cub on skis landing on a packed and icy patch next to a runway at an airport up in Canada last January.  Sorry extreme freaks, the Cub wins.

 Honestly, I'm worn out on extreme today. I want real. I want doable. I want everyday.

 I want to savor the simple pleasure of a 65hp 1939 Piper Cub touching down gently, right ski first, with a little wind on the nose. I wanna hear the gear legs and skis make noises as they slide across the icy packed snow. I wanna see a skillful pilot simply land a lowly Cub with a gentle hand and ready feet.

 As a guy with a lot of low-n-slow taildragger time, the joy I get from seeing that Cub touch down so gently is a more powerful feeling than seeing a guy fly down a hill at a hundred miles an hour a few feet off the ground in flying squirrel suit. Don't misunderstand, I like extreme, but I love pure and simple.

 Here's to the new extreme: slow, simple, humble, pure... and awesome.

Video screenshot of the Cub's incredible moment of touchdown!

110 years of powered flight... thanks guys!
Dec 17, 1903 - Dec 17, 2013