'Caption Contest' #15 Is Now Inflated - Ends Tuesday 4-14-09 At 9PM EDT

 Lookie here, another 'Caption Contest' Monday has been dropped off by the front door... guess we'll have to take it in an give it a little love.  And of course, you do that by coming up with some brilliantly clever (and hopefully really funny) captions for the unusual pic here.

 You'll have til Tuesday at 9PM EDT to get some nifty captions submitted. Then, we'll gather like kids round the campfire eatin' burnt marshmallows and telling ghost stories, to vote for the big winner.  Said winner will wake up the next morning with $20 in AirPigz funny money burning a whole in their pocket!     

 The Rules:

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in 'comments'

3) Game ends Tuesday at 9pm EDT

4) Keep it clean!

 Then, I'll pick the top 5 submissions and put them in a poll for you to choose the winner.  Anyone can cast their vote after the poll goes up around an hour after the 9pm Tuesday submission deadline.

 We'll vote for 24 hours, til 9pm EDT on Wednesday. The winner will be posted Thursday morning and will feel like they're on top of the world... for about 3 minutes!  It's not rocket science, but it is fun!

Nemesis: -Noun, An Opponent Or Rival Whom A Person Cannot Best Or Overcome

Stunning pic of Nemesis NXT at Reno in 2007  Photo: Victor Archer's amazing gallery

Nemesis NXT at Oshkosh 2008  Photos: Martt Clupper (hey, that's me!)

Visit NemesisNXT.com for more info

 Not a lot of words here, cuz this post is all about that top pic of Nemesis NXT at Reno in 2007.  It might be my excessive intake of Diet Mt Dew talking, but after a lot of staring (mesmerized) at that pic, I've decided it's one of the best modern aviation pictures ever taken!

 The pic was taken by the extremely skilled Victor Archer.  You must visit his amazing pbase.com aircraft photo gallery.  And, you also really need to view the hi-res version of the NXT at AirportJournals.com.  It's now my desktop pic, and honestly, my heart skips a beat every time I see it.  This airplane is extreme aviation art!   

 When Jon Sharp named his curvy exotic beast, he certainly picked the right name.  With a qualifying speed at Reno in 2008 of 409mph, Jon and his team have pushed aerodynamic design and efficiency into an all new arena.  Right now, this airplane cannot be beat.

 To learn a little more about the amazing accomplishments of this airplane, check out the Nemesis article at AirSpaceMag.com.  And you should notice that the two bottom pics here show the airplane at Oshkosh in 2008.  How awesome it is to be able to walk right up to and marvel at one of the world's greatest airplanes!

No Stinkin' Lie - Caption Contest #14 Has A Winner!

 Congrats go out to twitter follower @MontanaOne for getting the most votes with the 'stinky' caption seen here.  Good job, and $20 AirPigz funny money is yours!

 I hadn't thought of going the stink bug route, but I gotta say that the V-173 really does look a lot like one.

 Thanx everyone for playing and voting - more to come soon : )

Rocket Racers Still On The Launch Pad

Rocket Racer!  Photo: Mike Rollinger

 Yeah yeah, I know... the Rocket Racers use a runway, not a launch pad, but the analogy still kinda fits here.  Due to the econimic vacuum sweeping the globe, the coolest new air racing concept since Red Bull has had to put the brakes on a bit.

 Things are definitely still moving foward though, which is great to hear.  You can get some detailed info about the progress and current status of the Rocket Racing League in a story out 4-8-09 from MSNBC: Rocket Racers Take It Slower.

 A couple things to look for at this point.  The RRL plans to have two Rocket Racers at Reno in September to put on a fab flight demo, and I'm pretty sure we should all be there to see that!  It's possible though that actual league races may not begin until sometime in 2011.

 And, it's good in these situations to put yourself in the shoes of the guys trying to make something big like this happen.  Tends to make us more supportive than critical.  So I say "Godspeed Rocket Racing League!" 

This Is What We Could Do Before We Became What We Are Now

 Yeah I know, we're all high-tech and stuff these days, but being all about high technology does not a great country make.  I think it has a lot more to do with determination, commitment, and good old fashioned butt-busting  hard work.

 The Apollo Program, which began essentially in 1961, the same year I was born, was the epitome of accomplishment for the American spirit.  Watch this awesome Apollo 11 launch video for a good taste of it.

 The insanely massive Saturn V booster with 7.5 million pounds of thrust is the largest rocket booster made.  Ever. 

 Without getting all whacked out from a political or social standpoint, I would at least like to suggest that we aren't what we used to be.  And the farther we get away from the core elements that made us so strong, the less likely we'll ever be coming back.

 But I'm not here to be all doom and gloom tho.  I'm actually somewhat optimistic still.  But I really think as a nation, we need to stop thinking about Paris, Lindsay and Britney... and spend a lot more time looking back at what was accomplished by people who had the courage to dream big, work hard, and to never take no for an answer. 

Caption Contest #14 Might Leave You Scratching Your Head

 I've always had a weird fascination with the Chance Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" (hmm, guess that makes 'me' weird too, eh?).  Well, anyway, the guys in the pic seem to be having a little trouble making sense out of this very unusual airplane!

 Seems like a perfect opportunity for you to put a great caption with the pic.  You've got til Tuesday evening at 9pm EDT to put your creativity on display.  Then I'll pick the 5 best ones and put up a poll for everyone to pick the winner, who gets $20 AirPigz funny money for their effort.

  The Rules:

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in 'comments'

3) Game ends Tuesday at 9pm EDT

4) Keep it clean!

Have You Heard The Buzz - Caption Contest #13 Has A Winner!

 I was pretty sure that this pic would squeeze out some great caption ideas, and it did!  After the voting, a clear winner was picked by the will of the people... it's another win for twitter follower @atp4tr.  Congrats on two in a row, and for piling up more AirPigz funny money! 

 Now's a really good time to take notice that the best captions are usually the ones that are short and sharp.  And if you haven't won, or even had one of yours picked to be in the top 5, don't give up, remember this: The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground : )

AirPigz "Project VP" Might Be More Than Just A Dream

 About two weeks ago I started thinking really hard about trying to find an extremely affordable way to wrap my body in some sort of genuine flying machine that I could call my own.  I haven't owned an airplane in almost 15 years, mostly driven by the general lack of funds that seems to follow me around like a lost pup.

 And then... this last year has been extremely hard on me financially, but it's also seen my love for aviation and flying become a pretty big flame once again (that's why AirPigz exists).

 So, now I've taken on the great challenge of trying to get the polar opposites of "not much money" and "a burning desire to fly" to drop their petty differences and just try to get along for a change!  I love research, so this challenge was a ton of fun.  I looked at a lot of possible airplane ideas, but one really surprised me and seemed to stand out above all the others.  The Volksplane. Leaning this way was helped out by my thought that I might be able to borrow an airworthy VW engine from a friend who just happens to have one he isn't using right now.  It's sure nice to have friends like that!

 My newfound interest in the Volksplane seems kinda funny to me cuz I used to sorta look down on this over-simplified, wooden-box airplane. But I've matured a lot in the last 10 years, and I've learned to respect any airplane that can safely bring the smile that comes from slipping the surly bonds!

 I set out to refine some details on the basic VP to make it a little more attractive.  My research had already shown me that the structure is fabulously designed to be extremely easy and affordable to build.  I also figured that some simple changes could probably make it look really cute too.  The drawing above shows what I came up with.

 I moved the engine up a few inches and gave the front end a little more of a "Cub" look.  The windshield now reaches all the way up to the firewall. The main gear legs are bungee, again more "Cub" like.  The wing is slightly changed and includes full-span ailerons.  The turtle deck is very simple but adds a little more style and the tailwheel is modernized.    Probably one of the best parts is the official AirPigz paint scheme that I think brings a lot of life to the overall look.  I'll have a full 3-view of the design soon, but here you can see that 'AirPigz.com' is in big orange letters across the entire bottom of the wing. And, the cloud pattern will cover the top of the wing.

 Right now I have a dream of building this "Project VP" fast enough to actually have it at Oshkosh 09 (I know. I'm crazy).  I'd also do a video blog of the work progress to help encourage everyone to know that there are easy and affordable ways to get a real airplane in your hands to get your feet off the ground!  Please stay tuned, I may be asking for your help along the way : )

Caption Contest #13 Is Buzzing - Ends Tuesday 3-31-09 At 9PM EDT

 The new rules worked out pretty well. so we're gonna stick with 'em for a while.  And I'm thinking this here pic should be an easy one to get a little crazy with!

 So, here's a reminder on the new way of playing: you can submit up to 3 captions, but when the game ends Tuesday at 9pm EDT, I'll pick what I think are the 5 best captions, and then put up a poll for YOU to choose the winner.

 And the winner will snag a freshly minted $20 in AirPigz funny money for being the most stellar captioner : )

 The Rules:

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in 'comments'

3) Game ends Tuesday at 9pm EDT

4) Keep it clean!

 Then, I'll pick the top 5 submissions and put them in a poll for you to choose the winner. Anyone who wants to cast their vote will be able to after the poll goes up around an hour after the 9pm Tuesday submission deadline.

 We'll vote for 24 hours, til 9pm EDT on Wednesday. The winner will be posted Thursday morning and will win $20 in AirPigz funny money.  Have fun!

Time To Get Red Bullish About The Future!

Red Bull Air Races kick off April 17-18, 2009 in Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Nigel Lamb tearing up the race course

 I'm always looking for cool new aviation people to follow on twitter, and I found @RedBullAirRace the other night and followed right away.  By the next morning they were following me back, as well as one of the race pilots NigelLamb!  Nifty cool stuff : )

 Right now is a great time to get 'Red Bullish' on the future cuz the start of the race season is just a few weeks away with the April 17-18 kick-off in the UAE at Abu Dhabi.  The 2009 season includes more pilots than ever (15) and some rule changes that increase the competition.  It looks like it's shaping up to simply blow away any other motorsport for a wild combo of extreme speed, skill, and excitement!

 All this is causing me to build up some serious internal pressure at the thought that I might be able to be on-site in Windsor, Ontario (Canada), just across the river from Detroit on June 13-14 for race #3.  To see it in person would have to be off-the-scale awesomeness.

 If you haven't seen just what these races look like, watch the video above to get a feel for the 230mph 9g ride that these races are all about. The high speed and intense g loads make the precision of navigating the air inflated gates a very serious task.

 It's this combo that would seem to make this the most demanding of all motosports.  And it kinda makes for some fabulous spectating too!  You can also get a great view of what the races look like from the pilot's point of view by going to the Red Bull Copilot website - it's truly awesome.

 So, I suggest you get yourself up to speed right now by checking out the primary Red Bull Air Race website for all the details.  You'll also find some great info at the race pages at Red Bull USA.  Lastly, check out Nigel Lamb's blog to get a little behind the scenes view of the life of a Red Bull Racer getting ready to tackle the new season.  And, you can expect a lot more coverage from me as AirPigz is very Red Bullish!