Video: Relentless Beauty - Nemesis NXT

Words not needed.

CoolPix - Homebuilt: 1959 Trautman 'Road Air' Flying Car (Sorta)

(click pic for hi-res)

Most of the large collection of airplanes at the Fantasy of Flight Museum are either military or production models, there are only a handful of special ’experimental’ aircraft.  The one pictured here in this CoolPix is one of those exceptions… it’s a one-of-a-kind flying car named ‘Road Air’ built in 1959 by a guy named Herb Trautman.  Now it’s important to understand that the term flying car has to be used rather loosely here as it seems this unusual machine only flew once, getting just 3 feet off the ground.  Herb decided after that 90 mph experience that ‘Road Air’ really wasn’t fit for either the road or the air.

 The somewhat lifting body design actually has pivoting wings that are stowed behind the main gear.  In these pictures, the left wing is partially swung out.  I couldn’t find any pictures of this thing with the wings fully deployed, but after giving it some thought, I think Mr. Trautman was on to some pretty good thinking here.  To me,  the biggest problems are that the wings are pretty small, it’s kinda heavy with a 1,000 pound gross weight, and it only has 85hp.  Add to that the likelihood that he didn’t have the benefit of wind tunnel testing to ensure that the tail surfaces were up to the task, and it’s easy to see why it only flew once.

 However, when I think thru all of the flying car designs I’ve seen over the years, the basic design philosophy here seems remarkably viable.  It sure would be interesting to see how a lightweight carbon fiber version with about 120hp and more wing area would perform.  We may never know, but at least it’s really cool to see this unique piece of aviation history beautifully on display at Fantasy of Flight : )

Left wing of the 'Road Air' flying car partially deployed

All things considered, the 'Road Air' was a really interesting concept

Video: Sport Amphibian Perfection! RV-7 On Floats

 This video is a few years old now, but it's always a good time to see such a well executed and great flying machine!  I saw the airplane at Oshkosh last year as the pic below shows, and hope to be able to take a closer look at the performance and fun it offers sometime in the future... seems like there should be a lot more amphibious RV-7's out there!

The beautiful amphibious RV-7 on a rainy morning at Oshkosh 2009

The Morane A-1 Tailcone As ‘Fantasy Of Flight Week’ Begins!

Entrance to the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida 

 ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ begins

 I was at Sun n’ Fun in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday just over a week ago, but Sunday turned out overcast and rainy so I decided to scoot on over to Polk City to the Fantasy of Flight Museum.  I’ve actually known about this museum since long before it was built, but I’d never had the chance to visit, so I was pretty pleased to finally be checking it out.

 My dad had been there several times, including just a few weeks before he passed away in January of 2009.  He was a really big fan of the Gee Bee R-2 and Delmar Benjamin, so he’d stop by anytime he could to see the amazing R-2 that Delmar flew at so many airshows thru the 90’s.

 There are many unique experiences to be had at the museum, and thru this week I’ll be sharing a wide variety of the ones I had .  I’ll start off by saying that this really is a fantastic facility that’s definitely a must-see for any avgeek.  It’s especially exciting to know that there are plans for so much more to be built here as time goes by!

 So, I've decided to start off ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ in an usual way, by looking closely at a small portion of one of the airplanes on display.  First, I love what flying represents in the form of freedom... breaking the bonds of gravity while also giving us the most amazing opportunity to see God’s creation from above.  But I’m also a fanatic about ’design’, especially as it relates to flying machines.  Sometimes the smallest details can really get me worked up.

 That’s exactly what happened when I saw the tailcone of the Morane A-1 at FoF.  Here’s an airplane built in 1918, not far from 100 years ago(!) with a tailcone execution that stirs me big time in 2010.  It’s really a very simple design, just a smooth tapering cone down to a very small point.  But it’s a pretty rare design element.  Very few airplanes carry a circular cross section all the way thru the tail surfaces, and in fact a large portion of the aircraft from that early era had square or rectangular cross sections.

     
The 'pointy' tailcone of the Morane A-1

I love this fabric covered tailcone with metal faring underneath!

 I realize there’s a fair chance you’ll think me crazy for fixating on such an insignificant part of a French built fighter aircraft from WWI, but you’ll get over it.  I spent almost half an hour looking at it and I’m ready to go back and see it again!

 Another thing I really like is that this it reminds me of an airship tailcone.  I’m a bit of an airship freak as well, so this Morane feeds that fire a little too.  Another part of my fascination comes from the fact that this tailcone is fabric covered.  Seeing the shape of the stringers as they all taper down to a point and then covered with cotton and reinforcing tape just tickles my core in a way that’s hard to describe.

 I’ll finish off my odd little obsession with a mention of just how cool that tail skid is, and the metal faring that runs all the way to the aft point underneath.  Wow, all this coolness in 1918!

 The rest of ’Fantasy of flight Week’ won’t be quite this eccentric, but it will be entertaining as there was a lot to see.  Lastly I’ll say that this would be a good time for any other 'tailcone freaks' to stand up and be counted!  Leave me a quick comment to let me know you get what I’m talking about… and if you think I'm a kook, then please move along, nothing more to see here : )

Unusual round cross-section tapering to a point

  
WWI French monoplane fighter: the Morane A-1

CoolPix - Modern Military: 1960's Era OV-10 Bronco!

(click pic for hi-res)

 I woke up this morning with a craving for OV-10 Bronco!  I started digging thru the internet and came across this sweet pic and thought: yep, that looks like a CoolPix to me.  So I tweaked it a tad in photoshop and now here it is for you to open up nice and big and take a good look at one of the neatest little military aircraft ever made.  And don't forget that CoolPix images make pretty nice desktop backgrounds as well, that's part of the reason I make them available like I do.

 The OV-10 has a very interesting development history, as does the entire Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) project that took place in the early 1960's.  You can see some detailed info and pix of many of the aircraft entered in that competition at this CombatReform.org page.  The original concept for the OV-10 was for it to be a very small lightweight aircraft able to operate from roads in a jungle setting.  A really small 20' wingspan was envisioned along with a 6.5' main gear stance, but as things progressed, pretty much everything changed.  By the time a prototype was built, it was much heavier and had a 30' wingspan.

 As the pic below shows, the prototype wingspan looks pretty short!  The wingspan was increased to 40' for production aircraft which meant any ideas that related to operating off of roads in really tight locations was just a distant memory.  However, the airplane still wound up being useful in a wide variety of roles in Vietnam.  The U.S. Air Force, Marines, and Navy all had variants of the OV-10.

 Comparing OV-10 production wingspan to the prototype aircraft

 Boeing now has the manufacturing rights to the OV-10 and is actually considering putting a modernized version back into production as the OV-10X.  Here's an informative Flightglobal story on the OV-10X from September 2009, and the picture below shows that visually it's essentially the same aircraft.

 Boeing illustration of a possible updated Bronco - the OV-10X

Rocket Racing League - Become A Fan Of The Future!

 If you thought the Rocket Racing League had quietly gone the way of the buffalo, you might wanna take notice of their big demonstration debut that takes place today!

 The QuickTrip sponsored Air and Rocket Racing Show is taking place at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum on the Tulsa International Airport.  It’s a full event with traditional airshow that will also include a Rocket Racing demo.

 The demo is being broadcast live at livestream.com/rocketracing starting at 1:00pm Eastern Time and will feature the first public performance of the new Mark lll X-Racer Vehicle that’s powered by the Armadillo Aerospace advanced rocket propulsion system. 

 I’m thinking this is all a pretty big deal and I hope it’s a great success as I think the world is ready for some Rocket Racing!

Video: Excellent Flying RC Model Of The WWII Era Miles M.39B

From 1943, the Miles M.39B Libellula

 I’ve been blessed with a lifetime of exposure to aircraft from all over the aviation landscape, but in my effort to generate interesting content for AirPigz, I continually come across airplanes I never knew existed.  For example, this British Miles M.39B Libellula.  It was preceded by the smaller single engine M.35 which also had a tandem wing configuration, but it had the forward wing on the fuselage top and the main wing at the bottom.  The M.39B as shown above was really a 5/8 scale proof of concept aircraft for what was meant to be a good sized bomber.  The M.35 first flew in 1942, and the M.39B made its first flight in 1943, but neither aircraft progressed beyond these two prototypes.

 While researching details about the airplane, I stumbled on to the UK video below from 2009 of a 29% sized (50 pound) RC model of the M.39B.  After some initial issues getting it set up properly, you can see in the video that the airplane appears very stable and in complete control... actually pretty impressive looking.  It’s also interesting to imagine a Long-Eze superimposed over the M.39B and realize that the aerodynamic basics are very similar.

 It’s just more cool stuff from the history of aviation, and from the work of modern aeromodelers.

Video: AVweb And The Waco Classic At SNF10

 A really nice and fun video from AVweb covering the Waco Classic on display at Sun n' Fun last week.  You might also want to check out the Waco Classic post I put together recently, which includes a link directly to their nifty 360 virtual cockpit experience.

CoolPix - Homebuilt: John Moody Flying The Easy Riser At SNF10

(click pic for hi-res)

 I might be throwing a lot of new CoolPix images at you in the near future since it’s so much more interesting to see an image fill your monitor so you can get in on the details.  This ‘Homebuilts’ entry is a picture I took last Saturday morning at Sun n’ Fun of John Moody flying the Larry Mauro designed Easy Riser. 

 As I mentioned in the SNF 35 picture post from several days ago, John Moody pretty much started the ultralight movement many years ago flying a foot-launched Easy Riser up at Oshkosh.  Prior to that event, it just wasn’t really thought by the masses that a small powerplant could transform a hang glider into a self-motivating flying machine.  I just think it’s so cool to see him still flying an airplane like the Easy Riser about 35 years later!

 The large version of this image really pulls you in and lets you see details like the many cables used for bracing the airframe, the translucent wing and rudder covering, and John having fun in the morning sunshine.  It’s also interesting to ponder just how advanced this little airplane is with its biplane, swept wings and no horizontal tail.  There are even kits available for the Easy Riser which allow you to get yourself off the ground in style for not much cabbage.

 You can learn more about John and get more info on the Easy Riser kits at PioneerFlyer.com.

CoolPix - Vintage Military: Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando Cockpit

(click pic for hi-res)

 Here’s a really neat picture of a Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando cockpit for another CoolPix entry in the 'Vintage Military' category.  Big versions of pictures like this are particularly good for spending some time studying how things are laid out.  I especially like how you can imagine how open this cockpit would feel since there are second row of windows at the knee and hip areas.    

 When I was a kid I learned quickly to tell a C-46 from a Douglas C-47 (DC-3) by looking for the crease that runs along the fuselage, the smoothly integrated cockpit windows, and by its chubbier overall look.  But back then I always thought the two airplanes were very similar in capability.  The truth is that the C-46 Commando is a bigger, more powerful aircraft with a significantly larger payload.

 Originally designed in the late 30’s as an airliner, the CW-20, as it was designated then, was meant to take what the DC-3 could do to a higher level, literally.  The CW-20 was pressurized.  That’s why the crease was there... it was part of a fuselage design to minimize pressurization stresses.  With the onset of WWII, the CW-20 quickly wound up as the unpressurized cargo aircraft we know as the C-46. 

 Ultimately ending up with two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines of about 2,000 hp each, the C-46 had a payload about twice that of the C-47, and it could take that load higher as well.  That led to the airplane being used extensively in the China/Burma/India regions in WWII flying over the Himalaya Mountains.

 Even tho over 3,000 of them were built, that’s a relatively small number compared to C-47/DC-3 production.  Plus, the much higher operating expenses of the larger engines made it difficult for the airplane to compete with the DC-3 after the war as a small airliner.  As it turns out, very few C-46’s remain airworthy today.

Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando