Highly Modified P-51 Racer ‘VooDoo’ Ran Short Of Magic At Reno In 2009

(3 pix) 

 The 2009 Gold Unlimited race at Reno crowned Steve Hinton Jr. in ‘Strega’ as the champion, with John Penney in ‘Rare Bear’ second, and Sherman Smoot in the Yak 11 ‘Czech Mate’ in third.  But if you weren’t there, or you don’t follow Unlimited air racing closely, you probably don’t know how close that colorful P-51 above called ’VooDoo’ came to changing all that.

 Will Whiteside, flying the highly-modified P-51 racer Voodoo, started the Gold championship race on Sunday 9-20-09 in the pole position because Strega cut a pylon on Saturday… so even tho Strega was first across the finish line on Saturday, the cut pylon penalty slid them back to second and out of the pole position.

 However, in the race start on Sunday, Strega pulled ahead right from the start with VooDoo hangin’ in there right thru the first several laps.  Then, I noticed a few laps into the 8-lap race, somewhere near pylon 3, that Whiteside encountered some trouble.

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Stunning Polikarpov I-16 (Soviet 1930’s) In 1/32 'Hyperscale'

(3 pix)

 No trickery on this post, I’m telling you right up front that this Polikarpov I-16 is a model… and unlike the privately owned F-16, this one doesn't even fly.  But OMGosh is it ever an amazing piece of work!  Do you see that engine detail in the pic above?  That engine is less than 2 inches in diameter, and the entire wingspan is only about 11 inches!

 It’s 'hyperscale' modeling as done by Aleksandar Sekularac, who seems to have an incredible eye for completely convincing weathering techniques as wells as relentless patience in dealing with so many small, detailed parts.  The basis for the model is a plastic Azur Models Polikarpov I-16 kit in 1/32 scale.  From there, Aleksandar has added an aftermarket enhancement kit for the engine, and then did wild detailing from scratch on the cockpit.  He’s also made several other

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Shaun Lunt’s Blog Continues To Inspire Long After His Passing

"Best Time spent in Alaska?  Time spent with God.  He is good.  And the best things in life pale in comparison."  -Shaun Lunt

(4 pix + 2 videos)

 I learned of the remarkable life of Shaun Lunt about a year ago as I was searching the internet for interesting aviation related info.  Shaun lost his life about 6 months earlier, on the 6th of June 2008 in the crash of his Super Cub while flying in Alaska.  He had a vibrant passion for bush flying, adventure, photography and for spending time away from “normal” life to be closer to God. 

 He had made several trips to explore Alaska via Super Cub, and he was well experienced in many forms of adventurous activities.  But for reasons not fully known

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Caption Contest #23: A TP Masterpiece - Ends Wednesday 12.30.09 At 9PM EST

 Looks like some silly jokesters made a serious investment in this prank… that’s a lot of TP!  I’m not really sure what direction works best for funny captions for this pic, but I have a gut feeling that y’all will know what to do with it. 

 So, here’s your chance to finish 2009 with more than just a New Year’s Eve party, you could be a winner of $20 AirPigz funny money if you come up with the best caption (wow, that’s some powerful incentive, eh? wink, wink) 

 You’ve got til Wednesday evening at 9pm EST to submit captions, then I’ll pick the 5 best captions and put ’em in a poll for everyone to vote on. 

 The Rules:

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in the 'comments' area 

3) Game ends Wednesday at 9pm EST 

4) Keep it clean!

 Anyone who wants to cast their vote will be able to after the poll goes up around an hour after the 9pm Wednesday submission deadline.

 We'll vote for 24 hours, til 9pm EST on Thursday. Then the winner will be posted  Friday morning 1-1-10.  Thanx for playin’! 

Awesome Hi-Res Pic Of 787 First Flight With Gear Up!

Click the pic to go to Wired's story with a hi-res version of it

 Wired.com’s Autopia Blog did a nice overview of the Boeing 787 program with the basics of what makes this airplane significantly different than the airliners coach passengers have been complaining about for the last 30 years.  And, at the end of that story is a link with the follow up story “take a look at the interior of the 787” which goes even deeper into the new thinking Boeing is integrating into the 787 to vastly improve passenger comfort.

 There’s an even bigger reason to check out the Autopia 787 post tho… it’s that 'first flight' pic seen above.  They have that pic at the top of their story set so you can click it to go to a hi-res version of it.  But it gets even better, cuz you should be able to click it again and it gets even bigger!  Seriously, it’s like you are right there with the airplane on its first flight!  It also very cool since they only cycled the gear once on that flight, and this pic has the gear up.  So, stop reading this now and click the pic above to go to Autopia post.  (and please try to minimize your drooling when looking at the hi-res pic!)

2009 Reno Air Races Coverage Coming Soon

Rare Bear wearing some hot new paint at Reno 2009!

 I was so very fortunate to be able to attend the 2009 Reno Air Races, but with the blog problems I was having thru the fall, I wasn't able to post any of the fab content that I gathered up.  That's about to change!

 I'm a huge fan of F-8 Bearcat racers, so it's easy to see why I'm such a big fan of Rare Bear.  She sure looks hot in those new colors!  However, the highly modified P-51 Strega flown by 22 year old Steve Hinton Jr. was just too fast for the Bear... but how cool is it that such a young racer is invigorating the sport.  Great job Steve for being the youngest pilot to ever win Unlimited Gold at Reno!

 Big thanx go out to Kevin Eldredge and his 'Super Sport Class' Relentless Air Racing team for letting me see the races from their point of view.  His blue and white Nemesis NXT is absolutely one of the most beautiful airplanes in the whole world.  Kevin had a great year at Reno, but still wasn't quite able to catch Jon Sharp in the original Nemesis NXT, but he wasn't very far behind.  It made for some excellent air racing to be sure.

 Lots more details will be coming your way soon as I continue to sort thru the 2,000 pix I took during the races.  I also hope to do another podcast interview with Elliot Seguin from Wasabi Air Racing, and one with Kevin to get loads of details of how his NXT performed for him this year.

 Lastly, I hadn't been to the races since Reno 1970 when I was just 9 years old.  I had high hopes that the experience would be something as good as I remembered... Wow - It was even better than I remembered!  I highly suggest you start making plans now to be onsite at Stead Field September 15-19 for Reno 2010 : )

Kevin Eldredge with his gorgeous Relentless Air Racing Nemesis NXT at Reno 2009

Caption Contest #22 - The Winner Has Arrived

 I was glad to see that there were some really good caption ideas submitted for this crazy pic of DC-2 mechanics wearing prop hub spinners on their heads.  But in the end, you can have only one winner, so Christmas Day congrats go out to twitter follower @shannonlucas!  You're on the board with $20 in AirPigz funny money.  If things go well, we'll have fun av stuff to trade those bucks for before spring gets here.

 Thanx again to everyone who submitted captions, and to all who voted.  Together, we all make the Caption Contest a pretty cool piece of avgeekery : )  Next chance to play to drops on Monday... don't miss it!

Oshkosh 2009 Campground Crazy Vehicle Contest - Wacky Crafters!

(15 pix + video) 

 This story was supposed to be posted on 7-30-09, the day after the first ever ‘Oshkosh Campground Crazy Vehicle Contest’ took place.  But, that was the day that the ‘non-standard-but-shoulda-been-powerful-cuz-it-was-expensive’ blog platform I was using quite working properly... again.  So, AirPigz.com took a little nap from mid-Oshkosh thru the fall as I scrambled to move (and re-format) the entire blog into the SquareSpace.com platform.  BTW, SquareSpace rocks.

 Now that I’ve recovered from that late July fiasco and AirPigz is stronger than ever before, it’s time to look back at one of the coolest things that happened in the campground at OSH 09.

 If you’ve been to Oshkosh and either passed thru or ‘lived’ in the campground, then you’ve probably seen some kooky and cool contraptions built by  EAA members for getting around the expansive campgrounds.  In addition to lots of normal bikes, scooters and 4-wheelers, a variety of truly unique transportation devices have appeared over the years.  Even gas-powered recliners and couches have been

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Avatar: Large Blue People Riding Even Bigger Birds Being Shot At By Cool Military VTOL’s

Screenshots from the spectacular Avatar HD trailer

 Avatar, the James Cameron $430 million film set in the year 2145 was more complicated than ‘large blue people riding even bigger birds being shot at by cool military VTOL’s’ - in fact a lot more complicated.  But, fortunately it did have a storyline that was plenty easy to follow (unlike Transformers).  And as is always the risk with films that have been called a ‘game-changer’, it’s hard for the actual event to live up to the hype.

 The story is pretty predictable overall, but the computer graphics are indeed amazing.  Especially if seen in 3D, where thankfully, that special affect is not abused for the sake of wild audience reaction.  In fact, the 3D helps to sell the airborne action, of which there is quite a bit.

 As these screenshots from the movie trailer show, there are definitely some flying machines in Avatar.  The 10’ tall (and blue) Na’vi people sometimes ride the large

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Caption Contest #22 - Get Your Thinking Caps On - Ends Wednesday 12.23.09 At 9PM EST

 Strangely, it’s kinda reassuring to know that weird people have been around for a really long time.  Here’s a little proof… DC-2 mechanics wearing prop hub spinners on their head!  Apparently it was the easiest way to carry the rather cumbersome little buggers, and hopefully it’ll make for some fun captions as well.

 So, while you’re getting ready for Christmas, put your thinking hub cap on and throw a funny caption (or 3) at me.  And take comfort in knowing that the last time you put a spinner on your head, no one took a picture of you and put it on the internets : )

 You've got til Wednesday eve at 9pm EST to be funny, and the I’ll pick the 5 best captions and put ’em in a poll for everyone to vote on. The winner will get $20 in AirPigz funny money (as always, more on that later). 

 The Rules:

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in the 'comments' area

3) Game ends Wednesday at 9pm EST 

4) Keep it clean!

 Anyone who wants to cast their vote will be able to after the poll goes up around an hour after the 9pm Wednesday submission deadline.

 We'll vote for 24 hours, til 9pm EST on Thursday. Then the winner will be posted Friday (Christmas!) morning.