Video: Alaska Taildraggin' At The 2011 Valdez Fly-In

 Ok, it's true that you'll see a few trikes in this video, but c'mon, the sweetest STOL performers drag their tails! This past weekend was the Valdez (Alaska) May Day Fly-In & Air Show and once again they had a pretty exciting short takeoff and landing competition. It's the good ole pioneering spirit of America mixed in with pure avgeek fun!

 You also get some stunning Alaska scenery at the start of the video while the nice people who put the video together were on the way to Valdez. I think I really like Alaska.

Video: After Rocky Start, Jetman Conquers The Canyon!

 After a rocky start (hehe), Yves Rossy has indeed made his Jetman flight thru, around, or over the Grand Canyon. News is just now cracking about the event, but according to some sources, the flight actually took place on Saturday, one day after the original plan and away from the media.

 Regardless, this slightly hyped yet nonetheless cool achievement appears to have taken place without any trouble. Watch the video, please, so we can all get back to life as usual : )

Delta Air Lines Convair SST - Fantasy Art, Chicken Works Style

Stunning Chicken Works artwork of the fantasy Convair SST in old school Delta paint

 A little over a year ago I did a special week of posts dedicated to the more-than-awesome Convair B-58 Hustler... check out my B-58 category to experience some of that historical goodness. One of those posts from that week is titled Swanky Convair B-58 Derivative SST - Circa 1960, an extremely intiguing concept for a stretched B-58 that was dreamed up as a small SST. If you're anything like me, the thought of a Hustler turned into an SST is cooler than anything ever seen on Star Trek, so I was pretty fascinated to learn about this highly impractical idea. 52 seats in a 1+1 configuration seems both unprofitable and uncomfortable.

 Regardless, the concept is still a beautiful idea. It's even more beautiful when seen thru the artwork of J.P. Santiago - aka Chicken Works. This guy has some of the hottest aviation art you're gonna find, and his renderings of the Convair 58-9 SST in old school Delta colors is fantastic! You can get the full info on the artwork and even order a print by going directly to his Delta Air Lines Convair 58-9 SST (What-If? Delivery Colors) post. The quality of his work is matched by his creative thinking and genuine love for aviation.

Various Air Force concepts for the Convair 58-9 from J.P. - aka Chicken Works

 You can also find some other Convair 58-9 drawings in dreamy Air Force colors at this link: The Convair SST Family (Aerospace Projects Review- eAPR). Seeing those freaky cool wingtip/nacelle strakes with some orange paint of them is just about as cool as anything gets in my book.

 Take a few minutes and go check out J.P.'s work at thechickenworks.com - if you don't love his work, there's something wrong with you : )

Caption Contest #57 - Ends Wednesday 5.11.11 At 9PM EDT

 After a week off from our little avgeek game, it's time to try another Caption Contest. I'm thinking it won't be too hard for y'all to come up with some great captions for this pic. And yes, it's really a pic from a televised episode! And remember, the winner of the contest will snag a bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011!

 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 5-14-11. Live long, prosper, and dream up really great captions : ) 

Video: The Phantom Works 'Phantom Ray' Phinally Phlies!

 Boeing's Phantom Works advanced prototyping unit recently flew the autonomous Phantom Ray, and based on the video here, all seems to have gone extremely well. The Phantom Ray is an outgrowth (or continuation) of the X-45C, which was actually a significantly altered X-45A. Confused? Don't feel bad... it's getting a little hard to keep up with all the projects these days that seem to do away with tails and pilots!

 Some of my biggest confusion comes in separating the Northrop Grumman X-47B from the Phantom Ray. However, telling the two apart is easier than is seems at first if you key in on one major difference. The X-47B, which first flew back in February (see post with video), has a wing design that resembles a diamond shaped blended body with swept outer panels added on. The X-47A predecessor didn't have these extensions, but they've proved to be a very important part of adding stability and controllability to the design. Also, these outer panels fold up to reduce the footprint of the aircraft. This is important because the X-47B is intended to eventually operate autonomously off of navy aircraft carriers.

Planform view of the Northrop Grumman X-47B  (photo: Northrop Grumman)

 The Phantom Ray on the other hand, has a more simplified wing shape that has the leading edge point (the aircraft's nose) run in a straight line all the way to each wingtip. So if you're looking to tell these two apart, check the leading line. Whatever you do, don't confuse either of these with the still mysterious Lockheed Martin RQ-170. Like I said, it's getting a little confusing keeping all these unmanned, untailed flying machines straight in your head!

The Phantom Ray from Boeing's Phantom Works  (photo: Boeing)

 Lastly, the Phantom Ray is being funded internally at Boeing and it's not specifically headed toward any operational opportunity. It looks like it's Boeing's way of keeping up on the fast growing technology that surrounds these autonomous, potential fighter aircraft of the future. This is probably a smart move if they have any hope of eventually getting a contract from Uncle Sam for this fast-growing segment. I must say that in the view above, that's one hot looking shape : )

CoolPix: Scaled Composites Model 355 - Pilot Optional

Scaled Model 355 is now revealed as the Northrop Grumman Firebird (photo: jw2513)

 (click pic for hi-res)

 A few days ago there were some aviation news stories about a mysterious, apparent Rutan designed, UAV-looking flying machine that had been spotted flying near Beale Air Force Base north of Sacremento California. Today, much more info has been revealed about what this airplane is. It started life as Scaled Composites Model 355, and it first flew in February 2010. It's now officially known as the Northrop Grumman Firebird.

 The airplane is actually intended to compete with General Atomics Predator-to-Reaper class of unmanned aircraft, but the Firebird offers a unique twist: an optional pilot. As it turns out, the idea of using an onboard pilot when you want may be a pretty useful asset. Because the military and the FAA haven't really figured out how we will integrate unmanned aircraft with dense commercial airspace, the ability to transport or even operate the airplane with a real live pilot onboard becomes a potential selling point.

 To get a lot more detail on what all this means, check out today's story about the Firebird over at Aviation Week. And, while the airplane was built by the Northrop Grumman owned Scaled Composites, I think these days we need to realize that Burt Rutan has imparted a lot of his thinking into a pretty large group of people over the last 25 years, so the airplanes coming out of Scaled may look like his hands were directly involved, but thay may not have been. And of course, his recent retirement factors into this... we'll know better when we're looking at the Scaled airplanes that emerge in the next year or two.

 Lastly, be sure to click the pic above to examine it in hi-res. I always enjoy being able to see unique airplanes up close and in detail, but since I'm not gonna get the chance to see this airplane for real anytime soon, a picture like this one from flickr user jw2513 is a really nice substitute.

Video: The Horsemen Pay Homage To The Blues (And The Bearcat)

 I've been an F8F Bearcat fan since I was 6 years old when I first saw Darryl Greenamyer fly the Smirnoff Bearcat (later Conquest 1) at the Reno Air Races in 1967. There's just something about this airplane that affects me. Big time. It's why I can't shake my adoration for Rare Bear still today. If I could be any airplane (and I couldn't be the GeeBee) I'd wanna be a Bearcat.

 So, this AirShowBuzz video is about how three Bearcats came together to fly with two Blue Angels F-18's in a tribute to the early days of the Blues. It's a kinda long at about 9 minutes, but it's an awesome video that anyone will enjoy immensely. Bearcats and Blue Angels... a match made in Heaven!

 Just for fun I snagged two pictures from the first Reno Air Races I was at as a kid. My dad took these pictures of the Smirnoff Bearcat that Darryl flew in 1967. They are an interesting piece of history, and they're where my love for the Bearcat began.

 Smirnoff Bearcat at the Reno Air Races in 1967
 

ABC Sports' Keith Jackson with Darryl Greenamyer at Reno in 1967 - that's some history!

Wow! Virgin Galactic Completes First 'Feathered' Flight!

All images and info from Virgin Galactic

(click pic to enlarge)   VSS Enterprise made its first 'feathered' free flight May 4, 2011

(3 pix and full flight details)

Early on Wednesday 4th May 2011, in the skies above Mojave Air and Spaceport CA, SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spaceship, demonstrated its unique reentry ‘feather’ configuration for the first time.  This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, marks another major milestone on the path to powered test flights and commercial operations.  SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, has now flown solo seven times since its public roll-out in December 2009 and since the completion of its ground and captive-carry test program.  This latest flight saw a 6:43AM (local) runway take off for VSS Enterprise, attached to its WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft, VMS Eve. At the controls of the of the spaceship were Scaled Composites' test pilots Pete Siebold and Clint Nichols whilst Mark Stucky, Brian Maisler and Brandon Inks crewed the purpose built, all composite, twin fuselage WK2. VSS Enterprise in hangar showing 'feathered' configuration

Click to read more ...

CoolPix: Classic Cessna 195's And Oshkosh Sunshine (2010)

(click pic for hi-res)

 Yesterday I posted that fab video from back in the day of Bob Hoover flying the Shrike Commander... and that had me thinking about the special day of recognition for him coming up this year at Oshkosh. And then today the EAA sent out a press release reminding us all that Oshkosh is now less than 100 days away. And so, I'm now experiencing my first OSH11 butterflies. That's what Oshkosh does to me - I get so excited about the thought of thousands of airplanes and hundreds of thousands of really nice people gathering together that I literally get all tingly inside.

 As a result of all this child-like happiness stirring inside me, I dug into last year's OSH pix and found one that makes me feel really good. It's a gorgeous line up of Cessna 195's (someone sharper than me can tell us all if there's any 190's in that line) - and if you click the pic you'll see it nice and big in AirPigz CoolPix style!

 I hope you enjoy the pic, and if you haven't committed to making the trip to Oshkosh this year, I'd like to suggest you get on that. It's simple little moments like the one I experienced when I took this pic that make Oshkosh the greatest place on earth : )

Video: Bob Hoover Teaches Some Shrike Aerobatics!

 With Oshkosh 2011 not very far down range, I figure now is a good time to get a fabulous, classic dose of Bob Hoover flying the Shrike Commander.  I'm definitely looking forward to the special 'Bob Hoover day' on Tuesday July 26th at OSH this year... if anyone ever deserved some recognition, it's gotta be Bob. I've got memories of him flying the yellow P-51 that go all the way back to 1968 at the Reno Air Races - when I was just 7 years old! And I don't know how many times I saw him fly the Shrike, but it had to be at least 20.

 This video I found on youtube is pretty old but it's really enjoyable, especially with Bob giving lots of narration, and with several excellent camera views of him doing the amazing things he did back in the 80's and 90's in the Shrike. One thing I remember from the Shrike shows that I really loved was when he'd shut down both engines at the same time... the sound that was made with the airplane at high speed, high power, and low altitude as the engines quit and the props feathered - wow, it was just awesome! You can catch just a bit of that sound in this video, but oh how I wish I could hear that again today. 

 Thank you Bob, for all the wonderful memories : )

(check out this Air & Space story for more on Bob Hoover)