The Human Spirit Is Thriving At Reno 2012 - Thursday 9-13-12 (8 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge) Precious Metal last night in the pit area at the 2012 Reno Air Races

 (8 pix - click any pic to enlarge)

 A year ago when the 2011 Reno Air Races suddenly came to an end on Friday with the tragic accident with the Galloping Ghost that took 11 lives, it was very hard to speculate on whether we'd be here again this year or not. I'm very happy to be able to report that not only are we here, but the mood is good, strong and it just feels right. The event is acknowledging what happened last year, including a presentation mid day today that praised the heroic efforts of the first-responders and others that were involved in dealing directly with the tragedy. And of course, expressing care and concern for the families of those who were lost and for the many injured who will forever deal with the outcome of the accident.

 A great human spirit rose up when the accident occured to help those in need, and that spirit is very much alive and well here today at the races. I absolutely believe is was right to pursue moving forward for 2012, and based on what I've seen so far, we are all stronger for the determined effort that has made it all a reality.

 I arrived on-site at Stead Airport just as the sun was setting Wednesday evening. I quickly found myself with the opportunity to hang out with Thom Richard (the pilot and driving force behind the Precious Metal P-51) and his crew at their spot in the pit area. Wow, what a great way to experience coming back to Reno... a great group of people passionately pursuing life and their dreams. And then today I had the chance to sit down with Thom and talk about the significant changes to the 6-blades on the counter-rotating props on Precious Metal for this year. If things go well I'll share those details soon. Btw, if you think that PM looks kinda purple in the pic above, that's just a multi-color party light shining off the polished skin. (check out another pic I took that Thom posted on his facebook page : )

 The following are some pix from today (Thursday) with short captions. As a one-man-show, it's hard to get pix and info and then get them posted with lots of details. Hopefully the pix are enough to make it clear that you should be here too! I know for me that it sure feels good being part of the process of keeping the Reno Air Races alive!

 

Click to read more ...

How Many Generations Can You Fit Into One Flying Bathtub? (Newhouse Aeronca C-3)

(click pic to enlarge)  16 year old Hayden Newhouse - 4th generation to fly NC11422

(7 pix)

 I stumbled across a fabulous story a little over a week ago at the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In near Blakesburg Iowa... the story of 16 year old Hayden Newhouse and his journey from Rockford Illinois to Blakesburg in a 1931 Aeronca C-3. If the story stopped there it would still be a great one. A 16 year old with both the desire and the skill to fly an antique airplane powered by an Aeronca-built engine of just 36 horsepower. It's enough right there to give us all some great encouragement for the future of aviation. But, Hayden's cross country to Blakesburg is just the beginning of this story.

1931 Aeronca C-3 NC11422 with Newhouse Flying Service (Princeton N.J.) paint
 

 NC11422 was bought new in 1931 by Hayden's great-grandfather Richard Newhouse. Richard had come to America from Germany in 1908 and shortly after started designing and building flying machines. In 1929 he started Newhouse Flying Service in Princeton New Jersey. This little Aeronca C-3 became part of the operation in 1931.

 The Newhouse family has been full of aviators since those early days, and now four generations have flown this humble little Aeronca C-3! Hayden flew to Blakesburg along with his father Robert Newhouse who brought their 1931 Bird CK biplane. Spending some time getting to know Robert and Hayden at Antique Airfield was definitely one of the highlights to my trip the the 2012 AAA Fly-In.

(click pic to enlarge) An original Aeronca engine of 36hp powers this 2-seat Aeronca C-3

Click to read more ...

Video: Mixmaster P-51 'Precious Metal' Looking Very Precious! (Air To Air)

 Here's a great video (with some awesome stills thrown in) of Thom Richard and Precious Metal stopping off for some camera time with Scott Slocum. Precious Metal is now at Reno preparing for racing next week after a year of several improvements including an amazing prop upgrade. Given that this P-51 is powered by a Rolls Royce Griffon and spins two counter-rotating props, and upgraded prop is a pretty big deal!

 I hope to be on-site at Reno by Wednesday or Thursday and you can count on lots of coverage of PM : )

Video screenshot showing Precious Metal looking better than ever!

2012 Reno Air Races Preview From 'Ruby Red Racer' Marilyn Dash

(Click pic to enlarge)                                                                      (photo: AirPigz 2011)
 

Marilyn Dash races in the Biplane Class at Reno (Ruby Red Racing) and runs The Pylon Place blog with great insight into what's happening at Reno... the following is a re-post of her recent preview of the 2012 Reno Air Races:

Reno Air Races - September 12-16
 

 Keeping up with the news surrounding the Reno Air Races this year has been exhausting. Racers and fans alike have so many questions, i.e., are we racing, what changes will we see, who will be there, who won’t, will the fans notice any changes? These are all good questions. I hope that I have, through this column, helped everyone understand what the process has been following the horrific event of September 16, 2011. I have tried to listen to the questions the fans have been asking and answer them here.

NTSB Review Board

NTSB Review Board provided their findings in a Press Conference on August 27th. Many of their recommendations have been discussed in this column earlier in the year. The final determination of cause was reviewed during this meeting. I have been following their investigation closely and am incredibly impressed with the depth of information they obtained, the amount of analysis which was done and their efforts. Generally investigations such as this one could take over two years to complete. Because they wanted to provide the information in time for the 2012 Reno Air Races, they pushed to get final recommendations and analysis done in time.

If you didn’t watch the Press Conference live or via video from their website, you missed some riveting information. I won’t go into the details, but the NTSB placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Jimmy Leeward as race pilot and aircraft owner.

My problem is; the checks and balances have always been in place. The FAA requires annual condition inspections, which are required for all aircraft – even experimental, exhibition and racers. RARA requires these documents be submitted each year with our racing packets. The class technical inspections are only required to make sure the aircraft adhere to the class requirements – they aren’t supposed to replace this annual condition inspection. If changes are made to an aircraft, the FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) must be notified in writing. A specific testing program is outlined to verify these changes are safe, generally a specific amount of time must be flown in the configuration and a final sign off by the pilot is required stating the changes were tested in accordance with the program and everything went well.  

To campaign a Race Team may look easy. It’s not. From the fastest Jet or Unlimiteds to the slowest IF1 or Biplane – special attention is taken to make sure the aircraft and the pilot are ready for the task at hand. For those of us who have been racing for years, we have seen our share of friends hurt or killed – so we know the level of risk involved. Our maintainers are keenly aware of their place in the event. We rely on each other to do the right thing and to present on race day the best possible aircraft we can. I truly believe this is everyone’s focus. No one tries to cut corners, to my knowledge.

With all of these checks in place, how could things get so far gone? To hear the NTSB describe the state of the Galloping Ghost was chilling. It clearly wasn’t ready to “beat Strega” as Jimmy stated a thousand times. I wish he was more cautious and less aggressive. But, he was a racer. And he was my friend, which makes it so much harder to hear those words spoken by the NTSB.

How do things look for 2012

(click pic to enlarge)                                                                      (photo: AirPigz 2011)
 

While the number of competitors is down, we can still expect some terrific racing. Strega will be back for probably her final year. She’s still the one to beat and Steven Hinton is still the Wunderkind. Just in his mid-20s and already one of the most brilliant racers of our time.

Click to read more ...

CoolPix: 1934 Waco YMF-33 In The Air - Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res)  1934 Waco YMF-3 departing Antique Airfield last Sunday morning

 This post is a lot like the last one - it's another CoolPix of a beautiful antique airplane departing the AAA Fly-In last Sunday morning. I'm doing another post like this for two reasons... one, it's a really sweet pic of an awesome ole biplane; and two, I'm seriously backed up with too much 'day job' work going on right now (plus some really frustrating sciatic nerve pain going on with my back) and I needed something relatively simple to post.

 I was really pleased that I got some pretty decent images at the fly-in like this one and the Command-Aire pic where I used a slow shutter speed for a really blurred prop but still kept the airplane pretty sharp. I've got a long way to go to get really good at this but I'm making progress. I like how the background blurs up a bit as well giving you a lot more of a feel for the speed of the airplane. This Waco was making a fast pass down the runway at the time. You gotta love an airport and a fly-in that encourages a proper and safe fast pass as part of the routine! 

 I'm really looking forward to finding a way to carve out the time to be at Antique Airfield and the AAA Fly-In for the entire event next year : )

CoolPix: 1929 Command-Aire 5C-3 In The Air - Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res) 1929 Command-Aire departing Antique Airfield last Sunday morning

 I will freely admit that I don't know much about the Command-Aire aircraft that were built back in the late 20's and early 30's, but when I saw this recently restored 1929 example of a 5C-3 at the NAHI event at Reno during the air races last September, I was captivated by its great lines. The restoration was pretty amazing too, so you can imagine that I was really pleased to see it at Antique Airfield for the AAA Fly-In a few dyas ago. I was also pretty pleased that I captured several really nice pix of it when it departed before noon on Sunday. Be sure to click the pic to see it in a hi-res CoolPix.

 If I ever get to the point where I run AirPigz full time (any aviation angels out there interested in supporting this insanely underfunded effort?) I'll be able to get in-depth info on airplanes like this on a regular basis. As it was, my time at Antique Airfield was relatively short and dominated by getting the best images I could. Regardless, I continue the pursuit of Avgeek World Domination on next-to-nothing resources hoping y'all are enjoying the ride, I know I am : )

CoolPix: Iconic Stearman At Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res)  Mike Porter's beautiful Stearman about to depart Antique Airfield

 My journey over to the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In near Blakesburg Iowa would have been completely worth it if the only thing I saw was the big Boeing 40C biplane, but wow, have I seen a fantastic collection of antique airplanes in the last 30 hours! And even tho there wasn't much happening in the air on Saturday with the drizzly sky and higher winds, Sunday brought much better weather and lots of flying at Antique Airfield. As it turns out, most of the aircraft moving Sunday morning were actually heading home from the event, but that still allowed me to get a lot of images with spinning props and airplanes off the ground. I'll have more posts with those pix soon.

 This unique CoolPix is of Mike Porter and his Stearman as they were about to depart Antique Airfield, but he wasn't headed for home... he was heading east a bit to Galesburg Illinois and the National Steaman Fly-In. And since Galesburg is right on my way back home to Indiana, I think I just might stop by to check out the aircraft that are already on hand as they prepare for the first day of their fly-in tomorrow. Maybe I can even snag a ride in that beautiful Stearman since I've featured it in a CoolPix!

 Btw, I used a really slow shutter speed to get that prop in one nice big disc, and then I did a few unique things to the image in photoshop to give it a special look. The enhanced contrast and shadows were a bit of an experiment for me but I really like they way it turned out. If you like the effect, feel free to let me know... and if you don't like it, feel free to remain silent : )

Grass Roots Perfection: Antique Airplane Association Fly-In 2012 (9 Pix)

(click any pic to enlarge)  The amazing Boeing Model 40C at Antique Airfield (2012)
 

(9 pix - click any one to see enlarged)

 I was a member of the Antique Airplane Association when I was a kid (thanks dad!) but I haven't been active as a member or to any of the official Fly-Ins since the early 70's... until today. I joined the AAA again (you have to be a member to participate in the fly-in) and I'm at Antique Airfield near Blakesburg Iowa right now! The AAA/APM Invitational Fly-In runs August 29th thru September 3rd, and I drove over from northern Indiana yesterday afternoon and evening, slept in the car (of course) and arrived at Antique Airfield this morning. Btw, the APM in the official event name stands for Airpower Museum, the museum that's based at Antique Airfield. Also, just to clarify, the official website for the AAA is AntiqueAirfield.com.

 The weather wasn't the best when I arrived early this morning - overcast skies with some wind and a light drizzle. But there were awesome and beautiful antique airplanes all over the place! There weren't very many people milling about just yet either making it easy to get some great pix. Antique Airfield and the fly-in are pretty much at the total opposite end of the spectrum from Oshkosh. It's very calm, quiet and really laid back at Antique Airfield, and I love that. If you know much about me you know I love Oshkosh very passionately, but I can already see that Antique Airfield is Awesome with a capital AAA : )

The following are some pix from the first hour of checking out the goodies at the fly-in under the morning misty sky. I love this place! The only problem I have is wondering where exactly did we take a wrong turn in the design of aircraft? How and why did we move away from flying machines that inspire passion and excitement? That would make for a very interesting discussion, and we won't debate that right now, but I'm thinking the words Tri and Pacer are a pretty good starting point. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first look at some of the antique aircraft at the 2012 AAA fly-in... and watch for more to come soon.

Wow, I have always had a very soft spot in my heart for the Ryan SCW!

Click to read more ...

75 Piper Cubs At Hartford Wisconsin! CoolPix 2Fer

(click pic for hi-res)  75 Piper Cubs on 7-28-12 (for the 75th anniversary) all in one pic!

 I went for a ride in a Cub on Friday afternoon July 28 (2012) during the CUBS 2 OSH event going on at the Hartford Wisconsin airport and was able to capture this sweet image of the Cubs on-site at the time. When I was prepping the pic tonight I thought wouldn't it be cool if there were 75 Cubs in the pic to match the 75th anniversary... and when I counted them I couldn't believe it - exactly 75 Cubs! I even counted a second time to be sure : )

 There were actually more than 75 Cubs on the airport and even more still were on the way, but it's pretty amazing to see 75 Piper Cubs all in one picture in the year 2012! The mass arrival at Oshkosh the next morning then moved this amazing sea of yellow into the middle of the world's greatest aviation event to celebrate the 75th anniversary. I'm guessing as long as there are people on Earth, there will be Piper Cubs here too. At least I sure hope so.

 As an added way of showing the indelible nature of this iconic airplane, I'm posting this second CoolPix below. I also captured this pic at Hartford, and I thought it was really interesting how even tho Cub logo sticker was no longer on the fabric covering, you could still make out the details. How cool is that?!

Long live the Piper Cub... and the people who love to fly them!

 (click pic for hi-res) As long as people are on Earth, the Cub will NEVER fade away : )

Videos: ANA 787 - Now With 'All Plastic' Service To The Wunderland!

 Make no mistake, these are 'must see' videos!

 The new ALL plastic ANA Boeing 787 is now serving the Wunderland... very cool stuff! The third video is the official Wunderland overview video, you really need to watch it so all this amazing craziness makes sense : )