Caption Contest #56 Winner - Critical Engine Edition... (Doak VZ-4)

Click this winning caption pic for a hi-res CoolPix version (without the caption)

 (3 pix, 1 CoolPix, 1 video)

 As it turned out, it was a pretty close race in the voting for the winner, but someone going by the name 'GPS_Direct' wound up on top - congrats! You had my vote too, it definitely made me laugh. You've got yourself a tasty bacon sandwhich at Oshkosh 2011 for your hard work too : )

 It's actually kinda ironic because the airplane pictured, the late 1950's era Doak Model 16 (also known as the VZ-4) was powered by just one engine. Initially an 840 shp turbine and then later by a 1,000 shp turbine. And of course, even if it would have had two engines, some process would have to be in place to cross-shaft or otherwise allow for both ducted fans to continue to make air even if one of the engines quit. But regardless, the caption was still a perfect fit for some sweet avgeek fun.

 I'm including quite a bit of additional info here on the Doak because it's a pretty amazing aircraft. First flown in 1958, the only Model 16 ever built was remarkably successful given the technology of the time. The video below shows that it actually looks completely under control in both the takeoff and landing phase, as well as the transition to forward flight. The VZ-4 was a two-place airplane that had a pretty simple basic airframe... those tilting ducted fans with vanes and stators kinda made things a little more complex tho! I find it interesting that the landing gear came from a Cessna 182.

 
 After the jump are two more pictures of interest and some links that lead to additional websites with cool Doak VZ-4 info.

Click to read more ...

'Synergy' Aircraft Revealed, Prepares To Lead A Revolution

Illustration of the all new 'Synergy' aircraft from John McGinnis in Montana

 These illustrations and the 1/4 scale model seen here are of an all new aircraft called Synergy that's getting close to being completed in full scale form.  Even more, this aircraft truly represents a 'synergy' of advanced aerodynamic ideas that just might see it revolutionize the world of aviation. It's some pretty exciting stuff that I've actually been aware of for two years now but wasn't at liberty to speak of. I'm hopeful that designer/builder John McGinnis is able to prove what appears to be a real quantum leap forward in aerodynamic performance.

John McGinnis with the 1/4 scale flying model of the Synergy aircraft

 The ideas incorporated into the Synergy aircraft have been a lot of what John has been sharing for over a year now at Oshkosh365.com in the Beyond Streamling: Drag reduction in the 21st century thread. There's 15 pages of discussion there with over 51,000 views... and it's all very fascinating to read thru. I also posted about the thread back in June 2010. And tho John is essentially an unknown, you can see from that thread that he has a very detailed understanding of aerodynamics, and seems to have the facts to back up the things he believes. If you were at either of his forums at Oshkosh 2010, then you know this all the more.

The pilot-up-front-and-4-pax-behind seating configuration of the 5 seat Synergy

 While the Synergy has a rather large cross section fuselage, the overall dimensions are actually somewhat compact. The prototype is being built with a 200hp 2-stroke, V-4 DeltaHawk turbo diesel engine, and as you can see from the drawing above, the airframe design is all very clean and simple. One of the lessons John has been pushing is that an efficient fuselage doesn't have to be narrow and cramped. Synergy aims to offer unparalleled efficiency while also providing a vastly improved interior experience.

1/4 scale RC model of the Synergy aircraft in flight (all images: Synergy via EAA)

 I saw a video of the 1/4 scale RC model in flight 2 years ago and it was then that I could see without a doubt that this design holds a lot (as in A LOT!) of promise. John has been aiming for the 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge event to prove that his ideas are all for real... hopefully he'll have it all pulled together for the July 11-17 event in Santa Rosa, California. Regardless, Synergy stands a very credible chance of making the biggest leap forward in aerodynamics that we've seen in flying machines since the glory days of the late 1940's and the 1950's ushered in the era of supersonic flight.

 This is a very exciting time to be paying attention to what's going on in the sky!

NASA Video: Endeavour's Final Mission... Let Freedom Roar!

 The final launch for the youngest of all Space Shuttles, Endeavour, and mission STS-134 is scheduled for 3:47pm EDT (19:47 GMT) today. This will leave just one launch left for the entire Shuttle program, STS-135 with Atlantis in late June, so you better be watching.

 This video gives an excellent overview of this mission as well as the history of Endeavour. My favorite line from the video: "Let Freedom Roar."

 Godspeed Endeavour... and indeed, before it's too late, "Let Freedom Roar."

1977 Video Footage Of The YC-14 And YC-15 - Makes Me Happy!

 You know, I can't really say why I have such a fondness for the ole Boeing YC-14 and McDonnell Douglas YC-15... but I do. I was a teen when these advanced STOL military lifter prototypes were developed and I followed their progress fairly closely at the time. Maybe it's because I was 14 and 15 years old when they first flew - tho ironically I was 14 when the YC-15 in had its first flight in 1975, and 15 when the YC-14 first flew in 1976. Confused? Don't worry about it, I think am too.

 Anyway, there aren't a lot of videos on youtube of these airplanes, but I found one tonight that actually has some great footage of both of them. So if you're like me and you find these pudgy STOLers to be way cool, I'm pretty sure you'll love this video. If you're even more like me and you have an odd obsession with Boeing's USB (Upper Surface Blowing) beauty, you might wanna hit my YC-14 category (tho there's a little YC-15 and some other competing blown flaps stuff there too : )

Video: SFO To Paris In 2 Minutes - With Bonus Aurora Borealis!

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

 It's always great to see a successful intersection of creativity and aviation - especially when aurora borealis is involved! Take two minutes and enjoy a stop-motion video account of an Air France 747 trip from San Francisco to Paris. The clouds, the stunning lit up night sky, and even the music (yeah, I approve of the music in this one) all make for a really interesting experience.

Caption Contest #56 - Ends Wednesday 4.27.11 At 9PM EDT

 Ahh, it's hard to beat the wild experimental days of the 50's and 60's for interesting pix that make for a good Caption Contest. I hope you'll join in on this little game of avgeekery by dreaming up something witty to go with this pic. And don't forget that the sharpest of all captioners will win 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 4-30-11. C'mon, let's have some FANtastic fun : )

Pearl Harbor, The Doolittle Raid, And An Epic Film Project: Wounded Tiger

(4 pix - also, check out my previous post on Mitsuo Fuchida)

(For more info on large-scale equity investing in the Wounded Tiger film, contact Martin Bennett through his FuchidaFilm website)

 As of just a few days ago, on April 18th, it’s been 69 years since the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo took place. This event significantly changed America’s involvement in the Pacific side of the war. Led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, 80 courageous airmen took off in their B-25’s from the deck of the USS Hornet about 650 miles from Tokyo in the western Pacific ocean. It was a bold move from almost every perspective… and although Doolittle first thought their mission had failed, it was clear soon after that even without inflicting a lot of damage on the Japanese, they had succeeded by solidifying the will of Americans to fight back. This also helped take wind out of the sails of the over-confident Japanese.

 It’s a truly fascinating event from a very important part of human history. But for me, there’s another layer to this story that’s even more interesting, and has even bigger consequences. It’s a story that’s the subject of a major motion picture project in the works called Wounded Tiger. This epic film project is getting close to moving from being a well-vetted screenplay with a massive amount of historical research behind it, to the point of bringing in the actors and movie makers for the real action. All that’s needed now is some large-scale financial support. It’s no different than any other movie that gets made … it takes a lot of cash.

 I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to read the book version of the screenplay (which is getting close to being published as well) and I can say that I’m as sure as I can be that Wounded Tiger is a blockbuster just waiting to happen. Stick with me here and I’ll tell you a few of the reasons why I believe this movie has massive potential for success.

Click to read more ...

NatGeo TV Goes Cold... Really Cold With Ice Pilots Season 1!

Ice Pilots season 1 comes to National Gepgraphic TV starting Friday April 22, 2011

Get more info and schedule details at the National Geographic Ice Pilots page

(5 pix and 2 videos)

 I'm pretty sure you've heard of the Ice Pilots TV show that's been running in Canada on History Television since 2009, but if you're like me, you been a tad frustrated that we haven't had a way to watch the adventures of Buffalo Airways down here in 'land of the free and the home of the brave'. It's actually been even more frustrating since Ice boss Joe McBryan and general manager Mikey McBryan were on hand at Oshkosh 2010 with a DC-3 and DC-4 stirring up attention for the show.

 Well, we can fret no more because it's NatGeo to the rescue! Season 1 of Ice Pilots will premiere tomorrow night on The National Geographic Channel. And, while I don't have access to NatGeo with my cable package, I'm looking into an upgrade so I can finally sit at home in a nice warm house and watch semi-crazy people operate 50 to 70 year old airplanes in winter temperatures as low as -30F!

The Buffalo Airways DC-4 in the sunshine and snow

Click to read more ...

If You Speak German, You'll Love This Elektra One Video

 If you're like me and don't speak German... you'll still love this video since it gives some great visual insight into the sweet all-electric flying machine from PC-Aero in Germany. Not only do you see quite a bit of the first flight conducted back on March 19th (with the uber experienced former Scaled Composites engineer/program manager/test pilot Jon Karkow in the pilot's seat), but you see some of the load testing and other behind the scenes work done leading up to the first flight. I admit that I wish I spoke (or at least could understand) German so I could get an explanation of the 'snap' sound that was heard during load testing... tho obviously it wasn't something serious.

 The bottom line is that the Elektra One is off to a great start in PC-Aero's quest to eventually fly a two place and even a four place all-electric aircraft. From this summer going forward, it's going to be very interesting watching a wide range of electric powered projects take to the skies from all over the world. 

The PC-Aero Elektra One showing a real eagerness to climb on all electric power

 

Video: Collings Foundation F-100 Super Sabre With Bud Day - Wow!

The Collings Foundation's F-100F Super Sabre from INVERSION on Vimeo.

 This video is fantastic on so many levels... but rather than talk about it, I just wanna encourage you to watch it and enjoy. And if you're anything like me, it'll also stir your emotions in a pretty powerful way. Great stuff all around - and wow, does that F-100 look awesome or what?!

 And here's the wiki entry on Bud Day in case you don't know much of his amazing story.

 

Screenshots from the video of the Collings Foundation F-100F with Bud Day