Video + CoolPix: Aero Telemetry Starts Carving 20 Foot Wingspan Spruce Goose!

 Today marks the 65th anniversary since Howard Hughes made the one and only flight in the fascinating 320 foot (and 11 inch) wingspan Hughes H-4 'Hercules' - or Spruce Goose as we've always known it. That makes a pretty cool day to find out about a new project by the guys at Aero Telemetry. If you don't know about the off-the-scale cool stuff done by Aero Telemetry, check out:  OMGosh! Museum Quality, Half Scale (UAV) Hughes H-1 Racer.

 Watch the video above and read the info below (from the Aero Telemetry youtube page) - and then keep your eyes open for more updates on the project both here on AirPigz and at AeroTelemetry.com... oh, and check out the CoolPix of the Spruce Goose on its only flight from 65 years ago today at the bottom of the post : )

Video screenshot showing the 20' wingspan Spruce Goose fuselage halves

On November 2, 1947, Howard Hughes made history by flying the world's largest airplane, the mighty Hughes Flying Boat, more commonly known as the Spruce Goose. 

Today, 65 years later, November 2, 2012 Aero Telemetry is pleased to introduce the next airplane in our Hughes Aircraft Company Trilogy.... The AMA legal (120lbs), museum scale, 20 ft wingspan Spruce Goose.

Using experience gained from building and flying our original airplane for Martin Scorsese during the movie The Aviator, this new airplane is being meticulously designed with the most precise attention to detail.
Working with The Western Museum of flight and several ex-Hughes Aircraft employees, Joe Bock and his team of Aviators were given access to "never before seen" photographs and original Hughes Aircraft Company Flying Boat blueprints and documents detailing the technical intricacies of the complex and graceful Hughes Flying Boat. Joe and his team have turned this information into one of the most graceful and beautifully detailed model airplanes ever built. 

Aero Telemetry and Joe Bock have created the world's largest flyable, most historically accurate and detailed scale model of the Spruce Goose...again.

And so begins the life of the Aero Telemetry Flying Boat.

(click pic for hi-res) Howard Hughes on Nov. 2, 1947 and the only flight of the Spruce Goose

Star Wars? Whatever... I Just Found Out The Rocketeer Might Return!

The less common (more horizontal) Rocketeer movie poster image from the 1991 film

 I had a brush with Art Deco tonight (the 1930's graphic style not some guy named Art) and that pretty quickly drove me back into the arm of the Rocketeer. That Disney film from 1991 is still one of my all time favorites... tho I realized when I hopped into youtube for a little visual stimulation Rocketeer style that I haven't actually watched the film for several years now. That's gonna change real soon! I was a little surprised that the entire film can be watched at youtube in a string of just-under-10-minute-segments (wait till Mickey finds out about that!) - so I watched the first segment... wow I love that film! Any movie that shows me Miss Los Angeles, the Gee Bee Z, AND a Travel Air Mystery Ship all in the first 2 minutes pretty much owns my heart!

 So I felt compelled to say something about the Rocketeer tonight. And since you already know that my love for the film drove the design concept for the AirPigz logo, I had to find something else to say... and wow, did I find something interesting! In late August there was some gossip floating around the internet that suggests that the people at Disney are kicking around the idea for finally giving us a second Rocketeer movie! I'm not sure how I missed hearing about this, but I had no idea... so while the big news to most people right now is that Disney just bought all of Lucasfilm for $4 billion and now owns the rights to Star Wars, I'm way more interested in this new Rocketeer possibility. 

 However, it appears caution is needed here as we look to the future. It seems that this new Rocketeer thought is probably just that, a thought. I haven't seen any green light indications yet, just some info suggesting that Disney was shopping for writers and storyline ideas. Plus, it also looks like this might be a reboot of the story, which means it might get hammered and re-formed enough to make the old-schoolers like me get really really mad. However, it could also mean that a new project might steer itself more into the path of the comic book version of the Rocketeer (orginated by the late Dave Stevens in 1982) which would clearly be different than the Disney film but it night also be pretty fantastic.

 For reasons I don't understand, the 1991 Disney film of the Rocketeer didn't do very well at the box office (at least compared to what it cost to make) and it wasn't really very well liked by the critics. Joe Johnston was the director for the film, and he's had some recent great success as the director of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) which leads many to think he'd be the perfect fit to direct a new Rocketeer. It's funny tho, I remember him saying after the first Rocketeer, when asked if he'd do another one, he said something like: I'd fake my own death before I worked with Disney again.

 Oh well, all I know is that I'm a lot more interested in a new Rocketeer then I am three more Star Wars episodes...  

The first 9:59 of the Rocketeer movie from 1991

CoolPix 2Fer: Up Close And Personal With The X-15 Rocket Nozzle!

(click pic for hi-res)  Looking deep inside the exhaust nozzle of the X-15's rocket engine!

 I captured these two pictures at the end of January 2012 during the AirPigz meetup at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, but before I tell you any more about why I think these pix ar so cool, I wanna tell you that I've recently decided that there's gonna be an AirPigz meetup on Fri thru Sun (January 25, 26, 27 - 2013) at the National Air & Space Museum (both the National Mall facility and the Udvar-Hazy) near Washington DC. I don't have any more details yet to share just yet but there will be a dedicated post coming soon with more info. If you're interested in possibly making the trip to tour the museum and meetup with other avgeeks in the process, click here to send me an email to be added to the info list for the AirPigz January 2013 National Air And Space Museum MeetUp.

 Now, back to these X-15 pix... only three North American X-15's were built. X-15-A-3 (#56-6672) was destroyed in a tragic accident that took the life of Michael Adams in 1967 when control was lost and the airframe broke up due to extremely high g loading. The other two remaining X-15's are the one on display in the Research & Development Gallery at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio (X-15-A-2 #56-6671) and the one hanging from the ceiling at the National Mall building at the National Air And Space Museum in Washington DC (X-15-A-1 #56-6670). The amazing thing about the X-15 on display in Dayton Ohio is that the R&D Gallery is set up to allow you to walk right in-and-around the aircraft! It's a most amazing opportunity to be within inches of these historic aircraft. (please remember, no touching!)

 When I walked around behind the X-15 I was really taken by the opportunity to look right up inside the rocket engine exhaust nozzle... realizing that back in the 1960's when I was just a kid a massive amount of thrust (up to 57,000 pounds) had expanded thru here and pushed this little black beast at speeds up to and well over 4,000 mph! (the fastest X-15 flight was in 1967 at 4,519 mph) - And I'm standing looking right inside that nozzle. Wow. Amazing. (learn more about the Reaction Motors XLR99 that powered the X-15)

 Then I noticed that the view inside the nozzle was actually kind of artsy looking. But way more than just artsy, this cool visual was the business end of one of the most amazing aircraft ever designed and built! So I did a little playing around trying to get a really good image looking only at the radial grooves, the coloration inside the nozzle, and the actual central port. The picture above is that view. One of these days I'm gonna have a big enlargement of that hanging on my wall... and if things go like I hope, you might too.

(click pic to enlarge) Wider exhaust view of X-15-A-2 (#56-6671) at the Air Force Museum

 This second picture is here to give you a better perspective of what you're seeing in the tight shot. And again, the most amazing part of the X-15 experience at the Air Force Museum's R&D Gallery is that you can walk right around this incredible piece of aviation/aerospace history. Truly a fantastic American moment right there! I'm looking forward to seeing the other X-15 at the Air And Space Museum in Washington DC in late January, but I gotta say I'm ready at any time to get back to Dayton and see this beast up close and personal once again : )

 
more X-15 on AirPigz

Poll: Which Logo Best Represents The Experimental Aircraft Association?

 This is the same poll I put up almost a week ago in 3 Reasons Why I Should Be The New EAA President (And 3 Why It'll Never Happen), but the poll wasn't the focus of that post so I thought it might be good to make it easier for people to find it. Almost 200 votes have come in since last Tuesday and I have been extremely pleased to see that my retro logo is currently running at over 82% favorability! I'd like to see where the numbers are at with about 1,000 votes, so if you haven't voted in this poll yet, please do.

 The real purpose for this poll isn't to see if my particular version of the old original EAA logo is better liked than the the current one, it's really about seeing if there's a real desire within the EAA membership to see the organization return to its roots. That doesn't in any way mean shunning new technology for homebuilt aircraft, it's really all about how the organization is run and what it considers its primary mission to be. In my opinion, the EAA of 1970 was doing a much better job of representing its members than the EAA of 2012... and the logo battle is a pretty good graphic representation of all that.

 Oshkosh 1970: grass trampled around Ray Hegy's one-of-a-kind El Chuparosa

Winding Up A Winner In Caption Contest #77!

 Congrats to Chris Muncy for 'winding' up a winner in Caption Contest #77 - I hope Oshkosh 2013 is in your plans for next summer so you can claim your bacon sandwich prize! And a big thank you to everyone who submitted some avgeek humor this time around, that was a big collection of really good captions from everyone.

 So, is this pic for real? It appears to be real to me... but the heck was it all about? Well, I found the pic in this post over at Modern Mechanix where they had an article from 1930 claiming that an inventor had a solution to the problem of not being able to make repairs to an aircraft (especially at the tail) while in flight. Hmm, I'm not sure I'd call this a solution! The obvious risk of falling, the difficulty of carrying tools, and the affect on the CG having a man all the way back at the tail (along with the potential aerodynamic disruption complications) make me question the reality of this being serious.

 I'm thinking I'm gonna call this one a crazy stunt... what do you think?

'Name The Plane' - ID MAKE And MODEL For Free Bacon! (10.26.12)

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar!

GAME OVER - correctly ID'd by 'tim' as the Fairchild C-119

 It's back-to-back wins here in the Name The Plane game for 'Tim' - great job! It is indeed the Fairchild C-119, also known as the Flying Boxcar. And finally we had a game that took more than 45 minutes! This one ran just a little under two hours, tho I think Time had the answer shortly after he saw the cropped pic : )

 I'm hoping Tim makes it to OSH13 to collect his multiple bacon sandwich prizes... he's definitely earned them.

 Keep an eye out for another NTP game to pop up here on AirPigz (there's no particular schedule, tho usually it's on a Saturday night) - you can follow @NameThePlane on twitter for advance notifications about an hour before the game starts. Thanx everyone for playing along!

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

GAME OVER - correctly ID'd by 'tim' as the Fairchild C-119

 Here's a fresh Name The Plane game on a Friday rather than its regular (tho no regular schedule) Saturday night slot. Be the first person to correctly ID both MAKE and MODEL of the aircraft pictured above and you'll win a bacon sandwich at OSH13!  NOTE: Your answers must go in the 'comments' area in this post.

 And if this game goes anything like that last several, we'll have a winner in less than an hour!

 All you gotta do is ID both MAKE and MODEL to win - so if you've got sharp aircraft ID skills, be the first person to ID both MAKE and MODEL of this aircraft to be the winner!

 As always, please don't use the shotgun approach to answers - only put up truly educated guesses that you've arrived at via really thinking it thru.

 And I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but to win, you have to give me both the MAKE and MODEL! : )

3 Reasons Why I Should Be The New EAA President (And 3 Why It'll Never Happen) - Plus Logo Poll

That's really me with the May 1962 issue of Flying Magazine - circa 1963 at age 2

 The news yesterday afternoon that the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Board of Directors had accepted President and CEO Rod Hightower's resignation came as a complete surprise. Interestingly, reading other avgeek facebook posts about the resignation and the comments left on the EAA's website post of the news, many people see this as a good and important step in the right direction for the organization. I would agree, to an extent. My biggest concern is that this continued sign of instability within the EAA (which in the short term seems to have been around for the last three years or so, and in the long term has been around about 25 years) might eventually lead to a real collapse of the organization. While I believe the EAA has many faults, I'm convinced that the good far outweighs the bad. I fear that if it ceases to be the voice for experimental and sport aviation, something far more misguided will likely arise to fill the void. The EAA needs to get a grip, a really good grip, asap.

 So with that in mind, I'm here to offer up 3 reasons why I should be the new EAA President, and 3 more explaining why that'll never happen. What follows is a mix of truth, a little humor, and some brutal honesty. Oh, and for reference sake, my EAA number is 57138 (joined in 1970 at age 9, and my dad, who passed away in 2009 was #1146)

Reason #1: My serious interest in aviation began about age 2

 As the picture above shows, my interest in aviation began very early! Ok, I wasn't a very good reader at age 2 but I really did love looking at the pictures. While it's true that my aviation knowledge was pretty thin at age 2, by the time I was 6 or 7 years old I had an amazing amount of actual aviation knowledge. Between ages two and seven, I had been riding around in the family Aeronca Champ, had been riding with my dad in sailplanes, had been hanging out at airports where he was skydiving, and had been checking out the racers at the fairly new and very exciting Reno Air Races. Aviation was my life... it's about the only thing I knew. If it was cool and had to do with airplanes, I was probably either doing it, hanging out with those who were, or I was reading about it. (see my previous post on this picture of me)

 My passion for homebuilt airplanes and sport aviation is very real, and about as deeply rooted as it can get. It's also more diverse than most people's... I was raised with the idea that pretty much anything that flies (and especially if it allows YOU to fly) is something to be passionate about. I guess my tag line here on AirPigz: Hog Wild About Anything That Flies! might make even more sense to you now! So... I present my life long exposure and passion for aviation to you as reason #1 why I should be the new EAA President.  

Me at age 11 safely propping our 90hp Breezy homebuilt airplane (Elgin, IL 1972)

Reason #2: I starting propping a homebuilt airplane at age 11

 Can you imagine anyone else on the short list for the new EAA President who also starting propping an airplane at just 11 years of age? And it wasn't just any airplane, it was a homebuilt at that! I'm not kidding here... the pictures above prove it. My dad bought the second Breezy ever built (first one built from the plans) around 1972. We lived in West Dundee, Illinois at the time, but the airplane had been built in California in the 60's. It had a 90hp Continental and was actually pretty easy to prop, but still, safely propping an airplane at 11 is pretty impressive! (see my previous post on me propping the Breezy)

 This Breezy didn't have an electrical system so you had to prop it if you wanted to go flying. My dad didn't see any reason why I shouldn't learn this basic piloting skill at a young age. I sure miss the days when knowing how to prop an airplane was considered a basic piloting skill! Looking back tho, I still have a hard time believing that I did it! 

 So, reason number 2 for why I should be the new EAA President is my homebuilt aircraft propping history... actually, maybe it's the fact that in the pic above I'm wearing an official EAA blue windbreaker (with the old original logo) that shows even more my unique EAA qualifications : )

Reason #3: My skillset is quite diverse

 So... I have a genuine passion for aviation, with a wide a range of knowledge about experimental aircraft and sport aviation (and as my postings on AirPigz show, my aviation knowledge goes far deeper than that) - and I knew how to prop an airplane at a very early age. But I also have a pretty diverse skillset to bring to the job. Let's start with that logo on the left side of the pic below. It's based on the old original EAA logo, but it's actually modernized a fair amount. It brings up two specific points. 1; I'm very passionate that the old original logo is vastly superior to the swooshy jet one adopted in the 1990's, and 2; I have the creativity and skills to generate an updated version of the old original logo. How many people on the short list can do that?

My updated yet retro EAA logo goes up against the big-city logo currently used

 When I first drew that retro logo back in May of 2010, I put up a poll to see which logo people liked better. I got 309 votes in that poll, and right at 70% preferred the retro logo over the one currently used. Now that may not accurately reflect the results if all EAA members voted, but it sure says something... it speaks pretty loudly to the fact that there are a lot of old-schoolers like me who have been frustrated over the last 15 to 20 years with the direction that the EAA has taken. Moving away from the grass-roots and trying hard to be as big and profitable as possible. But, big and profitable isn't necessarily in the interest of the members of this member organization! Btw, be sure to vote in the new poll above that puts the two logos head to head in an all new battle.

Click to read more ...

Video: Felix Baumgartner (Red Bull Stratos) On NBC Today Show 10-22-12

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy 

 While this interview is clearly from a non-aviation perspective, it is done without any crazy questions or glaring errors like when MSNBC reported that Felix actually went faster than the speed of LIGHT. Mostly it's a chance to see Felix as Felix and to hear him talk a little about the spin he encountered in freefall, along with some great footage from the balloon ride and the amazing spacedive.

Screenshot from video showing prior press conference footage of Felix and Joe Kittinger

more Red Bull Stratos posts on AirPigz

RedBullStratos.com

Caption Contest #77 - Ends Wednesday 10.24.12 At 9PM EDT

 The last time I offered up a Caption Contest challenge was way back before Oshkosh, so I figure it's time for more harmless avgeekery that ends with bacon! I'm thinking this bizarre picture should stir up some very creative captions. but keep in mind that short captions that feature a fabulous twist in thinking are usually the most popular. And speaking of popular, the caption that gets the most votes will earn the associated captioner a bacon sandwich at OSH13! 

 So here's the deal... you've got til Wednesday evening at 9pm EDT to submit your clever/funny/cool captions. Then, I’ll pick the best 5 and put ’em in a poll for everyone to vote on for all day Thursday and Friday so we can find the winner. 

 The Rules: 

1) Max of 3 submissions per person

2) Submissions go in the 'comments' area 

3) Game ends Wednesday at 9pm EDT 

4) Keep it clean!

 Then, anyone can cast their vote starting Thursday morning and running thru til 9pm EDT Friday. The winner will be posted Saturday morning 10-27-12. So c'mon avgeeks, give it a tri : )

Video: 'Must See' Perfect Landing! (A330 Airliner In HD)

 I don't usually repost a video like this, but this is such an incredible example of both excellent videography and perfect piloting skills that I just couldn't help myself. I was looking for a 'perfect landing' video to post today but this one is still so much better than anything else out there that I'm putting it up once again. It's also been almost two years since I originally posted it as: Video: This My Friends, Is How You Land An Airliner! so I figure it's really 'new' to most of y'all. And, since I had a pretty detailed description of this stunning display of side-stick aviaosity, I'm including all that again too. Be sure to watch this video in HD and fullscreen for the maximum affect... and I suggest at least six times thru to really soak up all the awesomeness : )

(originally posted Jan 24, 2011)
 Sometimes you get the feeling that airline pilots are just bus drivers with little passion for the wonder of flight and the intricate relationship between man and machine when the bonds of gravity are broken. But then you see a video like this one that screams as loud as possible: I Love To Fly! Wow.

 First, thanx to youtuber 1970sPlaneSpotter for being at the right place at the right time, and for capturing it beautifully. But mostly, I tip my hat to whoever had their hand on the stick and throttles for this landing. I have several observations to share - see if you agree. First is the fact that they nearly perfectly arrested the rate of descent without having to hunt for where the runway is. In reality, it's not all that hard to reduce the rate of sink to a trickle, but to do it pretty much exactly when and where you want (as in close the the approach end of the runway) is actually rather difficult. But if you look closely, the point of touchdown is not very far down the runway at all. In fact, by my estimation, the point of touchdown was perfectly placed... not too close the the approach end, risking winding up short, and not too far down the runway so as to have wasted valuable rollout room.

Screenshot: A truly perfect A330 landing captured perfectly by 1970sPlaneSpotter

 Ok, the point of touchdown is excellent. Then, watch how long the tires take to spool up to speed. That's your first clue it's an ultra soft touchdown, but it's followed immediately by your second clue - the front axle on the bogie doesn't come slamming down like usual, in fact, the airplane rides along on just the rear axles for a crazy long time! This is when you notice two things, the airplane is still flying, but it's also on the ground, and the rate of sink is slowed to a crawl. Wow. Again.

 Then as the camera pans the rollout, we get a close-up view of the nose gear. Here's the next interesting point: the nose is being held very high off the ground. Is this a "look at me, I'm cooler than you" 'show-off' move? I don't think so. Well, ok, technically all of this landing is yelling out that this pilot is cooler than me or you... but in reality, the nose appears to be held high as a very effective form of aerodynamic braking. Take all that big wing at a nice high angle of attack and then drag it down the runway at 130 mph and see how much drag it produces. Big, fat buckets of drag! Then, as the rest of the airplane comes back into view, you can see the elevator deflection, which by the time the nose wheels makes contact with the runway, appears to be at full deflection, or very near it. All the aerodynamic braking available was tapped into.

 So what we have here is the passengers arriving at their destination without knowing it because the touchdown was so soft... and then, due to the aerodynamic braking and the loads of runway ahead of us to use for gentle deceleration, nobody was doubled over in their seat from heavy braking and reverse thrust, which is often accompanied by some bobbing and a tad of weaving. Nope, instead, this big hunk of airplane gently strolled rather quietly, smoothly, and very straight down the runway. Now that's how you thank the passengers for flying with you today! Bravo for being easy on the airplane, and easy on the people. That's the way it should be done.

 One last point. Truth is, you can't always apply this collection of techniques when landing 350,000 pounds of airplane. Crosswinds, gusty or turbulent air, or a variety of other factors can demand that you use other tools from the pilots bag of tricks, but when the conditions are right, wow, this is how you land an airliner : )