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Video: The Perfect Oshkosh 2010 Promo!

Oshkosh 2010: July 26- August 1

OSH10 Will Be The Best Oshkosh Ever! (Bonus CoolPix-Vintage)

(click pic for hi-res)    CoolPix - Vintage: the awesome Pitcairn Autogiro at OSH09

 It’s not a gimmick, as I said last year, the best Oshkosh ever is the one you’re at RIGHT NOW! With opening day just a week away, it won’t be long before the magical experience of gathering together with thousands of like-minded avgeeks, and airplanes of every imaginable kind, will turn Wittman Field into literally the best place on Earth.

 There’s no other place I know of where so many people gather in a creative, technical, peaceful, and respectful manner, and then do so for a whole week. No where. I’m blessed to be able to go all week again this year, which will also be my 34th Oshkosh experience. I joined the EAA in 1970, the same year as the first Oshkosh (the annual EAA convention was in Rockford, IL prior to moving to OSH), and even tho I was only 9 years old, I was at Oshkosh 1970 - thanks dad!

Airbus A380 stirring up lots of dust and attracting every eye at OSH09

 I get a chuckle out of the people that go for a day or two and say they saw it all. I’ll be there all week long, I’ll cover the grounds all day long, I’ll keep moving thru the evening, and then do my best to be back out there by 7:30 in the morning… and I’ll still only scratch the surface of what this event has to offer. If it’s just some airplanes sitting on a Wisconsin airport in the summer to you, then I guess a day or two will cover it. But Oshkosh truly represents the spirit of aviation, and no aviation event can inspire a person, in a thousand different aviation ways, like Oshkosh can.

A beautiful example of the highly unusual homebuilt Dyke Delta at OSH09

 If you’ve never been to the event, and you aren’t coming this year, I encourage you to keep watch of AirPigz.com during the week from Monday July 26th thru Sunday August 1st. I’m planning to post an update every night. Hopefully these posts will help to display the amazing diversity of aircraft and people that attend, and, what you’re missing. My biggest hope is that it will inspire you to make attending next year a priority. And of course, if you know how great Oshkosh is, but you aren't able to attend this year, please enjoy these daily posts... I hope they'll help you to feel like you're there on some level : )

The remotely piloted Predator B UAV at OSH09

 And if you’re are headed to OSH10, I highly recommend you dig deep and really take the event in (use the awesome, unofficial ’events scheduler’ at OSHplanner.com to help with that), and remember, because you’re livin’ it, OSH10 Will Be the Best Oshkosh Ever!

OSHplanner.com - Fantastic Oshkosh 'Events' Planning App

Fast planning app for 'events' at Oshkosh 2010: OSHplanner.com

 If you’re gonna be at Oshkosh 2010 for more than a day or two, you should definitely look into using the just-launched free application called OSHplanner. It’s an essential compliment to eaaapps.org, the official EAA site designed to help you schedule the forums, speakers and other events you’ll want to be sure to get in on at OSH10. What makes OSHplanner so much more useful is its ability to point out all the conflicting events you’ve selected and help you resolve those conflicts. More important, it specifically takes into account the fact that some events are offered at different times on different days… and OSHplanner does the thinking to make sure you have the greatest chance of seeing all you want. 

 To quickly put it all in perspective: last year it took me several hours to generate a schedule of events that I wanted to be sure to catch at OSH09 using the EAA site. I was able to accomplish the same thing AND resolve conflicts in less than 30 minutes with OSHplanner.

 Here’s all you need to do to use OSHplanner.com:

 Log-in using a twitter or Facebook account, or other OpenID option

 Click ’Programs’ to see the list of hundreds of ’events’

 Click ’add it’ if you’re potentially interested in an ’event’

 When you want to see your selections, click ‘MY SCHEDULE’

 All ’conflicts’ will be displayed at the bottom of the page

 View ’conflicts’ and decide to ‘remove’ one of them, or leave it and decide on the day

 You can also use the ’search’ feature to look for a specific presenter, topic, or anything that seems like it would lead you to an event that you’re interested in. There are also categories down the left side of the page that break the big list down into specific topics. It’s all extremely organized, powerful and useful.

 OSHplanner also has the ability to mesh with several mobile apps to give you notifications and greater flexibility than simply printing out the schedule on paper, which of course you can do if that works best for you. It’s actually a good idea as a backup anyway.

 All this is very useful as the number of forums, speakers, and the wide range of associated events has grown exponentially since the good old days when you might only have a desire to catch one or two events during the day. OSHplanner does the work that significantly reduces the stress of trying to cram a lot into the day, which in turn makes a multiple day stay at the world’s greatest aviation event both more effective and more enjoyable.

 OSHplanner is the work of Adam Fast (twitter: @adamcanfly), a great friend to me and my work at AirPigz. He’s taken his almost sick love of data, code, and Django and mixed it with his perfectly normal love for aviation and Oshkosh. OSHplanner is the beautiful result : )

 The system is very new and pretty grass roots: your feedback to Adam is welcomed. And you are certainly encouraged to spread the word as quickly as possible if you give it a try and like what it does. Oshkosh will be here soon!

Video: Amazing VTOL Ultralight - Doesn't Even Use Fuel! : )

Video: Weather Research Sailplane 'Cloud Flying' - Beautiful!

Electric Revolution Sparks Internal Combustion Innovation?

Unique rotary piston internal combustion engine from Simplicity Motor Works

 We're seeing some fabulous advances in electric motor/battery technology as has been recently demonstrated by the Solar Impulse, but viable everyday use of this propulsion for aircraft is still a long way off. But, you could still believe that the days of the internal combustion engine (ICE) are numbered by this exciting promise. Yet, the ability to cover long distances simply by refilling a fuel tank with a liquid that is easily transported and stored is actually pretty fantastic. Compare that to having to recharge batteries, or even worse, the infrastructure nightmare of having to trade your batteries at every stop. Sure, the Solar Impulse is about using solar energy, but realistically, an everyday viable solution for that is way, way off in the future.

 It's the simple beauty of using liquid fuel that makes me think that the ICE will be around for a long time yet. But wouldn't it be nice if we could engineer and ICE that would be much lighter, more powerful, and more fuel efficient?  OK, lets add much cheaper too while we're doing a little dreaming. 

 I was recently tipped off about the interesting engine pictured here. It claims to move way down the turnpike toward fuel-burning utopia with some rather interesting design features. You can learn more and see some animation and video at SimplicityMotorWorks.com. I'm guessing that it comes with some measure of snake oil or BD-5 hyperbole mixed in, but it really does look interesting. This is exactly the kind of thinking we need to create some real advances in near-term aircraft propulsion.

 I did a little more research and found some other extremely innovative ideas out there that take the ICE to significantly higher levels than ever before. I'll be back before long with a more in depth look at how the recent progress being made in electric motors just might be the catalyst for taking the internal combustion engine to places we never really dreamed possible.

 Exciting stuff to be sure!

Get more info at SimplicityMotorWorks.com

Video: OMGosh... Turbine Powered V-22 Osprey RC Model - It Flies!

 YouTube user gobyheli has this very impressive TURBINE powered V-22 Osprey RC model! It has some forward flight (transition) limitations due to the current rotor design, but wow, some pretty amazing work here. I hope it's still flying and hope he's getting closer to true forward flight with it. Subscribe to his channel to keep up on it, I just did : )

 Looks like he's from Austria... and knows what he's doing - great job!

Video: Beech 18 Seaplane Takeoff From Cockpit - What A Sound!

 (Beech 18) I had to turn my speakers up all the way, but my oh my, what a lovely sound, especially when the props are pulled back!  This, my friends, is how an airplane is supposed to sound : )

Dear Boeing, Please Bring The 787 To Oshkosh 2010. Love, Martt

(click pic to enlarge)

 I've been dreaming of a Dreamliner in AeroShell Square for over a year now, and I know the EAA has extended an offer for the airplane to come to Oshkosh. So, I'm formally, and publicly making my request known: Dear Boeing, Please bring the 787 to Oshkosh 2010. Love, Martt.

 I figure that since both the 727 and the 747 made their prototype first flights on my birthday (February 9) there must be some sort of cosmic connection between me and revolutionary Boeing airplanes. And since I've never asked for anything before, I figure I'm due this one request : )

 I even put some lovely EAA paint on a 787 to show how well the DreamLiner and 'The Spirit of Aviation' go together.

 So, I think I've exhausted my resources in this endeavor... it's all up to you now, dear Boeing. Here's hoping you do the right thing and bring your beautiful girl to Oshkosh and put her on display in AeroShell Square! (here's the Lat/Long if it helps - N43-59.1/W088-33.4)

If you'd also like to see the 787 at OSH, leave a quick comment in support : )