It was the avgeek and caption expert 'Race 5' that came thru once again with this brilliant caption for the 5 person hang glider in contest #58. It's a truly inspired piece of work. So, it's another bacon sandwhich at OSH11 for Race 5!
And, just in case you don't get it... Burt Rutan's first really big success in the airplane design biz back in the mid 70's was called the VariEze (Very Easy) - but it's interesting to note that a lot of people were confused about how to say the name. It was common to see people calling it the 'Very Ease' instead of 'Easy', so this caption kinda pulls all of it together. It got my vote!
As always, there were a great batch of captions this time around... and of course, a big thank you goes out to everyone who submitted one (or two or three), and to all who voted in the poll. And since Monday was Memorial Day, we'll skip a week and then probably be back with another chance at Oshkosh bacon next week.
Honestly, it's hard to know what to put up after having to post about the passing of Amanda Franklin. But, life goes on. Plus, I'm as sure as I can be that she would love this de Havilland Beaver song that's pure, sweet aviation. I think you're gonna love it too...
Amanda Younkin Franklin passed away on Friday May 27, 2011. May God rest her soul.
After 75 days battling to survive after the forced landing and fire during the Franklin Flying Circus wingwalking performance March 12, 2011 in Brownsville, Texas, God has taken Amanda Franklin from this earth.
Continued prayers go out to the Younkin and Franklin families, and especially to her loving husband Kyle Franklin.
Really tight view of paratroopers exiting a C-17 Globemaster III (photo: USAF)
(click pic for hi-res)
I made my first skydive on 7-7-77 when I was just 16. It wasn't a military jump, in fact all of the 110 jumps I made back in the day were civilian and were done just for fun. But these paratroopers jumping out of a C-17 are working hard training at Fort Bragg back in June 2010... and I think it's really cool to have a view like this that puts you up close to the action. Be sure to click the pic to get the full CoolPix hi-res effect!
Being able to see the details of the C-17, the static lines with the deployments bags, and the actual paratroopers is pretty exciting to me. You also get a really good feel for the size of that Globesmaster III - those guys look a lot like those little green men we used to toss up in the air with a little plastic parachute as a kid! But what these guys are doing is pretty far from fun and games. From having to wear big and bulky gear, to hitting the ground at a pretty high rate of sink, to having to bust their butts once on the ground... but I'm guessing these guys love their job.
So take a minute and study the details in these two pix. That's the whole point to these large sized images - to bring you up close with something really cool that you probably haven't otherwise been able to experience.
(click pic for hi-res) People and parachutes everywhere - awesome! (photo: USAF)
Dual control and glass nosed Douglas A-26 for sale at Barnstormers.com
It's true, I haven't done the research to confirm this, but could there possibly be another way to buy a 4,000 hp flying machine for just $160,000? I can't imagine it. I'm sure the 'care and feeding' costs are pretty astronomical, but this beast looks like an awful lot of fun for pretty cheap. It's got nine seats too so you can be sure to take a nice batch of friends along while you turn buckets full of cash into the greatest sound on earth.
So if you're in the market for an affordable yet hardcore Warbird, I suggest you hop on this Douglas A-26 Invader with the glass nose and dual controls asap. It was built in 1945, so it might have missed actual WWII action, but it looks like it did a lot of work in Korea and then spent 26 years as a firefighter.
I'm just thinking that sitting in between two Pratt & Whitney R-2800's has got to be about the most amazing place to spend an afternoon! So, if you happen to buy this Invader because you learned about it here, please schedule me up a ride so I can see exactly what that sounds like! Thanking you in advance : )
Smoke system and dual controls - you need this Douglas A-26 Invader!
Awesome electric RC Galloping Ghost by Justin Stinemetze at Scaled Composites
(4 pix)
The younger generation of avgeeks may not realize that Scaled Composites has that name because their primary mission back in the day was to build reduced sized (scaled down) prototype aircraft using simple and fast composite construction techniques. I'm guessing the aerodynamic data from an 85% scale prototype is probably 98%+ accurate in verifying the viability and performance of a design. Best of all, the reduced size and fast build composite construction get that data in your hands at a vastly reduced price. It's a fantastic concept - and another of the many game-changing ideas brought to the world of aviation by Scaled founder Burt Rutan.
The work at Scaled has expanded over the years to include a wide variety of aerospace research and contract work, but sometimes the people working at this cool aviation oasis in the desert have some really small ideas. You know, like fun little RC aircraft ideas! In fact, many of the Scaled employees participate in an RC competition every Friday during morning break. How cool is that?!
Hardcore avgeeks! Scaled Composites employees playing with RC model aircraft
UPDATE May 26 11:58am: The Blue Angels have cancelled their U.S. Naval Academy graduation flyover on May 27 and their May 28-29 performance at the Millville Airshow in Millville New Jersey. Any changes to their future schedule will be determined at a later date. See blueangels.navy.mil/show for schedule updates.
You may already know that the Blue Angels had a safety related issue at last Sunday's Lynchburg Airshow. The situation is pretty serious in that it has the team 'standing down' and all performances are on hold while the incident is investigated, but the good news is that the only thing that actually happened was the team wound up completing the Diamond Barrel Roll maneuver at a lower altitude than is allowed. I'm not interested in making a big deal out of this situation other than to acknowledge that these guys, who often seem to be super-human (or not even human at all), are indeed capable of making mistakes. Personally, I believe the Blue Angels pilots prove every time they fly that they are the best pilots in the world. What they do is not only incredible, it's an amazing reflection on the spirit of America.
To better understand the incident on Sunday, the video above showed up on youtube today from user horsemoney, and it includes the maneuver in question. It's toward the end of the video, starting at about the 23:30 mark. If you watch the 20+ minutes before that point you'll see a really good video of a great Blue Angels performance. I never get tired of seeing their tight formation flying, and I never cease to be amazed that it can actually be accomplished.
First, it's interesting to note that the mainstream media propagated some info about the incident that was very inaccurate. That info spread like wildfire across various outlets, and many of them have a correction in place now. Ultimately it shows again how they really don't understand what they're talking about. Nothing new here, they're almost always wrong when they speak about aviation. I wish they'd just stop. Anyway, on to the the real issue. The video below from youtuber Trickworm shows the same show element as performed in October 2010.
In 4 minutes and 29 seconds, this video will show you the preparation, the launch, the return and locating of a GoPro HD cam that took a little trip to over 100,000 feet just to get a view from the top of the world. It's a pretty cool low budget effort put forth by some German college students. And in possibly the best observation from the whole episode, it's good to see that Germans seem to get just as much enjoyment from talking funny under the influence of helium as you and I do!
Cool stuff : )
Video screenshot showing the helium balloon used to get the cam up to over 100,000'
Elliot Seguin is still under 30 but he's living a pretty cool aerospace/aviation life. He's working for Scaled Composites as a project engineer and flight test engineer, and he's racing his own Formula One aircraft (Wasabi Air Racing) on the side at Reno. I've known Elliot for a couple years now and it's just great to see a passionate, enthusiastic young guy working hard to make cool things happen in the sky.
This very well produced video gives a little insight into the drive and dedication Elliot exhibited in getting into Scaled. It's actually a promo fro Union College where Elliot got his education. I don't get out much, so as it turns out I didn't know of Union College, but knowing Elliot like I do, if he says it's a great school, I believe him. The video also gives that all important advice of how important it is to persevere in chasing after the things you want. If you're young and seeking an aerospace or aviation based life, put your head down and go for it... and don't give up til you get there!
You might enjoy checking out my podcasts number 5 and number 7 - both are with Elliot and cover some of his Scaled experiences and air racing... including some interesting details in number 7 about the engine failures he encountered at Reno in 2009. And if you're looking for some info on some of the cool stuff happening lately at Scaled, check out the AirPigz Scaled Composites category. Yeehaw!
Monday, May 30, 2011 at 10:13PM 
