Video: Welcome Home (I Think) - X-37B Lands After 469 Days In Space

 Do you remember the launch of an Atlas V rocket back on March 5, 2011 that was carrying the second Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on its first flight? Well unless you're an uber space geek then you probably don't remember that launch. You're more likely to remember the return from space of the first X-37B back on December 3, 2010. Well anyway, the point is that early this morning, Saturday June 16, 2012, X-37B OTV-2 landed autonomously (pre-programmed making its own decisions) at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 am local time after spending 469 days in space circling the Earth.

Video screenshot: X-37B landing rollout early this morning after 469 days in space
 

 The mission appears to have been very successful. Great launch, great landing. It's what happened in between that stirs up all kinds of crazy talk. I haven't dug very deep to try to learn what the micro shuttle spacecraft might have been up to, but so far it appears to all be classified, including what the payload was. China seems to think it's a weapon and the U.S. Air Force (who actually operates the mysterious X-37B) says it's just a technology testbed for future satellites. Time will tell. Well, maybe it will.

 I put up a post with some background info on the X-37B (Getting To Know Discovery’s Runt Cousin: The Air Force X-37B) a little over a year ago. What I didn't know at the time was that Boeing also envisions the X-37C, an enlarged version of the X-37B (sized between 165% and 180%) that could actually be used to transport up to six astronauts and some cargo into space. That's pretty impressive as a people hauler given that the X-37C is still quite tiny compared to the Space Shuttle. You can learn more about the X-37C at Space.com: Secretive US X-37B Space Plane Could Evolve to Carry Astronauts.

X-37B, X-37C and Space Shuttle size comparison (illustration: Boeing)
 

 I find it all a remarkably encouraging actually... from the recent success of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the SpaceDev Dream Chaser making steady progress toward aerodynamic drop tests, we are seeing an amazing collection of ideas and realities for future manned space exploration. Almost makes me feel like a kid again : )

Caption Contest #75 Spins Up A Winner For Father's Day!

 Honestly I thought this odd pic would have stirred up a lot more wacky caption response, especially with tomorrow being Father's Day... but the captions were good and the race was tight. In the end it was Dave Haas who spun his way to victory and a bacon sandwich at OSH12. I sure hope Oshkosh is in your summer plans Dave, because experiencing the world's greatest aviation event AND having a sizzling bacon sandwich is possibly the world's greatest combo : )

 Thanx everyone for playing along again, and I hope y'all have a great Father's Day!

Video: Out Late In Your F-35 And You Need Petrol - Watcha Gonna Do?

 Aerial refueling is one of those intense skills kinda like carrier landings, it's just not an easy thing to do. But just like carrier landings, can you even imagine doing it at night in the dark? Wow that sounds like too much work to me! Definitely separates the men from the boys.

 This video shows the F-35 doing some night refueling testing over Edwards Air Force Base back in March 2012. I've noticed before that the F-35 seems remarkably rock-solid stable in the air, maybe more than other aircraft. I might just be imagining that, but if it's true, aerial refueling is a nice place to have an extra-solid flying platform. And it's good to know if you get caught out late in your F-35 and need some petrol, there's an app for that : )

Video screenshot - KC-135 refueling an F-35 over Edwards AFB in night tests

Screenshot: night F-35 refueling tests conducted in March 2012 - looks like a challenge!

Video: The Arizona Desert, A B-17, And A B-25 - Wow!

 Seeing the B-17 Sentimental Journey and the B-25 Maid in the Shade flying around the Arizona desert doesn't exactly make sense to me, but this video is so enjoyable to watch that it doesn't need to make sense. It's actually some fabulous footage taken from a helicopter of the airplanes flying during a weekend event in conjunction with Veterans Day back in 2010. And of course, the setting for historic warbirds like these never really matters, they are simply awesome to see when in the air... especially when they are being used to honor those who have served the United States Armed Forces.

 This video also convinces me that airplanes were meant to have propellers! Wow, do I ever love to see spinning discs with the sun shining on them. Can we agree on this right now? From this day forward all airplanes that have an engine MUST have a nice big prop! Ok, we could never make that work, but wow, I love me some big props : )

Screenshot: the awesome and beautiful B-17 Sentimental Journey on takeoff

Screenshot: the almost as beautiful B-25 Maid in the Shade (if only it was a taildragger!)

Video: 600HP, 5 Seats And 2 Wings - Addison Pemberton's Boeing Model 40

 This video isn't new but it's extremely well done and I'm as sure as I can be that you haven't seen it. Addison Pemberton's 8 year restoration of the only airworthy Boeing Model 40 put the impressive airplane back in the air in 2008. This video is from 2009 and gives a nice background on both the important historical significance of the Model 40 along with a little better understanding of just how large the airplane is, and how much work the restoration project was. I highly recommend giving the video your next 8 and a half minutes.

Screenshot: 1 open-air pilot seat and 4 inside the cabin of the 1928 Boeing Model 40
 

 The video is also a good primer for wrapping you head around the fact that this airplane is scheduled to participate in the Cow Pastures to Commercial Airways theme for the 2012 Antique Airplane Association Invitational Fly-In August 29 - September 3 in Blakesburg, Iowa. I've decided this is the year I MUST get to Blakesburg... the more I look at the fabulous Antique Airfield website, the more I realize that one of the biggest things missing in my life is Antique Airplanes! More on all this later.

Screenshot: Impressive size and beauty of the P&W 600HP powered Boeing Model 40
 

 Lastly, you may already know that this Boeing Model 40 and the 787 Dreamliner met up in the sky back in May of 2010, but you might not know the details of the story of how they got the amazing pictures that prove the meeting in the sky of the oldest and newest Boeing aircraft. Antique Airfield has a nice page with that air to air photo story too.

 I hope you take the time to enjoy this great video, and then I suggest you start thinking hard about getting to Blakesburg Iowa in late August!

Caption Contest #75 - Ends Wednesday 6.13.12 At 9PM EDT

 As they say... better late than never. Usually this caption contest pic would have gone up this morning but I just didn't get it done. The good news is that there's still plenty of time to get wacky with this special Father's Day edition of the silly little AirPigz avgeek game that gives the winner a fresh n tasty bacon sandwich at OSH12 : )

 So, 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 6-16-12, the day before Father's Day.

 C'mon people, let's use our head!

434th Air Refueling Wing Teaching Kids To Fly A KC-135? Well, Sorta : )

434th ARW's KC-135 flight deck simulator at the Kokomo, Indiana airshow on Saturday

 I made the trip just over an hour southwest of my home to Kokomo Indiana on Saturday to check out the Kokomo Wings and Wheels car and air show, but I admit my primary motivation was to finally get to go flying with Billy Werth in his Pitts S2C. Billy was there to perform in the airshow and it looked like it was gonna work out great for us to go flying after the show was over. As it turned out, I didn't get that flight in after all due to circumstances out of my control... but I did have a really nice time in the great weather surrounded by the sights and sounds of a range of warbirds and aerobatic aircraft. It was a great day!

 In addition to the aircraft putting on aerial demonstrations, there were several slick static displays that included an Army Blackhawk that had flown in, a go-cart and minivan powered by turbine engines (more on those before long!) and the KC-135 flight deck simulator seen in these pictures. The KC-135 cockpit was part of a promotional project from the 434th Air Refueling Wing that operates out of Grissom Air Reserve Base which is just about 10 miles north of Kokomo. These are the same fine folks that let me go along on a trip to refuel a B-52 back in July of 2010 (check out my 56 pic post of that ride!) - and Grissom was one of just two Air Force Bases that operated the amazing B-58 Hustler thru the 1960's.

Another fresh flight crew getting ready to step into the KC-135 front office
 

 There was a small crowd around that KC-135 cockpit all day with lots of kids getting the chance to sit in the seats and put their hands on the control yoke. And the representatives of the Air Force Reserve that were interacting with the kids were doing a fantastic job of connecting with them and helping them to get a better understanding of what it takes to fly a Stratotanker. I was very impressed with the entire display.

 Everyone that wasn't worn down by all the sunshine was really enjoying the display

 I have nothing but praise for the people involved in the Air Force Reserve work done at the Grissom Air Reserve Base... great people doing a great job of serving the United States of America. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication! And that includes airshow pilot (and my friend) Billy Werth who is actually a KC-135 instructor pilot at Grissom!

One day these little guys just might be doing it for real. Great outreach by the 434 ARW!

Video: Fantasy Of Flight's Gee Bee Z Recently Making Beautiful Music!

 I've been hooked on the Gee Bee Z and the R-1/R-2 1930's era air racers since I was about 3 years old. Seriously. My dad was Gee Bee geek from way back and he had some static models of them, and one used to hang over my bed when I was about 3. Even at that young age I knew there was something very special about a Gee Bee!

 This video from a couple days ago shows the highly accurate Z replica that was built by Jeff Eicher and Kevin Kimball in Florida back in the mid 90's. This aircraft has been part of Kermit Weeks' collection at the Fantasy of Flight Museum for many years now... and Kermit might be thinking about flying the airplane once again. They prepped the airplane for an engine run and made this sweet little video about it. I'm really glad they did that!

 Just looking at this airplane is enough to make your heart beat fast and streak glorious thoughts of Golden Age of Air Racing through your mind, but it's almost too much to handle when you get to hear that awesome Pratt & Whitney R-985 makes beautiful music too. And if you're wondering if this is the exact aircraft used in the making of my favorite Disney film The Rocketeer, it isn't. This one is built to be very accurate to the original. The one used in the Rocketeer was built by Bill Turner way back in 1978, and it was slightly modified with a little more wing and a slightly longer fuselage to make it easier to fly. It's on display these days at the Museum of Flight.

 So take a few minutes now and enjoy the amazing sights and sounds of the awesome and beautiful Gee Bee Z : )

 
Video screenshot: Fantasy of Flight crew pushing the Gee Bee Z out for the engine run
 

Screenshot: Gee Bee Z engine start up... blue smoke and beautiful sounds!
 

Screenshot: the 450hp P&W R-985 purring right along - maybe flying again soon?

Got A Minute? Then Watch This Awesome 'All Blacks' 777 Takeoff Video!

 The internet's a lot like that room in your house that's stacked high with boxes full of stuff... lots and lots of stuff. A lot of it's junk of course, stuff that should have been thrown away a long time ago. But some of it is the really good stuff, you just don't know which box it's in. That's where I come in. I go thru boxes and boxes of crap looking for the good stuff.

 This video is definitely some of the good stuff. It's of the Air New Zealand Boeing 777 painted in the rugby All Blacks scheme taking off on 24L out of Los Angeles. It's very nicely shot by SpeedbirdHD but the really awesome parts are the various displays of Prandtl–Glauert Singularity (engine intakes, over the wings, and the thin stream over the wing coming off the engine strakes), and also the downwash and vortices that can be seen as the airplane passes thru some misty air as the gear cycle completes. It's the kind of video you should watch over and over and over. You can always see more details as you keep watching, and since the video is only a minute long, you can watch it 6 to 10 times and still not invest the time it would take to look thru that first box full of stuff : )

 Btw, in case you were impressed with my use of the term Prandtl–Glauert Singularity, don't be. I'd never heard the official name for all that cool condensation that we see around fighter jets in the transonic speed range (or on airliners like in this video) but I did a bit of research and learned more about it. That's where I first learned of the official term of Prandtl–Glauert Singularity, and the sites linked here and here seem to have some pretty interesting info about it.

Looking Forward To Reno 2012 (Sept 12-16)... And I Hope I See YOU There

(click pic for hi-res)  Rolls Royce Griffon powered P-51 'Precious Metal' at Reno 2011
 

Race permit & insurance in place... tickets are on sale now for Reno 2012: Sept. 12-16

 Back in 2008 when I was brainstorming the idea for a high-quality aviation blog that would celebrate a wide range of aviation interests, there were two specific aviation events I knew I had to attend and share with you: Oshkosh and Reno. There are many great aviation events around the U.S. (and of course around the world) but these two really stand out.

 The incredible experience of Oshkosh has always been easy for me. I became an EAA member in 1970 at the age of 9 (#57138), and since that time I've lived within a 5-1/2 hour drive (or less) of OSH... that's why I've been there over 35 years. But Reno is a lot farther away from my home in Indiana and much harder to work into the yearly plans. Yet I knew that the Reno Air Races were important and unique to the world of aviation. I HAD to be there. This was especially true since the last time I had attended Reno was in 1970 when I was just 9 years old! (I was actually there 68-70)

 So, I made the long drive to Reno and back in 2009 and 2010, and then in 2011 I was fortunate to be able to let Southwest Airlines do the driving. Unfortunately, 2011 would be a year of great tragedy at Reno. The accident on September 16, 2011 involving The Galloping Ghost that took 11 lives (10 spectators and the pilot), seriously injured many more, and brought the races to an end two days early, put the future of the event in jeopardy. But I've been a firm believer since September 16, 2011 that the tragedy wasn't the result of poor planning or unacceptable risks being taken... instead, it was the kind of freak accident that simply can't be planned for. There is always risk in this life, and sometimes it catches us no matter how prepared we are.

  In the months since the accident, the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) has been diligent in seeking to make any changes deemed necessary to insure maximum safety for all involved, and they have worked with all the required authorities... best of all, they have been successful in securing the permits and insurance to make the Reno Air Races a reality for 2012. I think this is great news. It's the right answer. It's the right response to what happened on September 16, 2011.

(click pic to enlarge)  Multiple championship P-51 'Strega' up close at Reno 2011
 

 You can be sure I'll be doing everything in my power to be at the world's greatest air race at Stead Field in Reno Nevada this September 12-16 - But I want YOU to be there too! Maybe you're one of the thousands of people who's always been interested or wanted to go to Reno, but for whatever reason you've never made it... or you've been before but not for several years. This is your year. The event needs your support. Air racing needs your support. Please do whatever you can to make plans to be at the 2012 Reno Air Races. This non-profit event has endured significant financial hardship, and for the races to face the future successfully, they need our support, and they need it now.

Please, meet me in Reno this September!