Black Ops 'Dark Deltoid' VTOL Caught Flying In Texas Hangar

 It's hard to believe something so small, light, and inexpensive could look so stinkin' cool in the air, but this little Dark Deltoid RC model is all that and more. I've seen a lot of nifty RC ideas in the last couple years, but nothing makes me wanna get active again more than this little thing. And no, it's not really 'black ops' material, and technically the building isn't really a hangar, except for when a group of electric modelers take over and bring their airplanes inside.

 You might recognize the building from the amazing foamy C-47 video from last summer. I enjoyed communicating with Gary (youtube user sr71afan) last year about his stunning 10' span C-47 that only weighs 5.4 pounds, and I found this Dark Deltoid video today on his page. Gary and friends have been building a wide variety of hyper light foam RC aircraft and flying them inside this football field size building in Texas. The combination of unbelievably low wing loadings and the still air of the building create some of the most fascinating flying I've ever seen. Not only does this little Dark Deltoid fly slowly with tremendous maneuverability, but the vertical takeoffs and landings are spectacular. It's just pure avgeek fun!

 The video below is another similar VTOL worth checking out as well. It's the VFO from Great Planes and it also flies great. These guys definitely know how to have fun : )

Caption Contest #52 - Ends Wednesday 3.2.11 At 9PM EST

 After a week off, the Caption Contest is back to see who will come out on top and fetch up a bacon sandwich at OSH11 for having the bestest and most funny thought to go with the pic above. So put on your thinking cap and tickle your funny bone for a little harmless avgeek humor.

 As usual, you've got til Wednesday evening at 9pm EST 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 EST 

4) Keep it clean!

 Then, anyone can cast their vote starting Thursday morning and running thru til 9pm EST Friday. The winner will be posted Saturday morning 3-5-11. Let's have some fun... I think it's gonna be fantastic : )

Videos: Multiple Views Of STS-133 - Final 'Discovery' Launch

 Discovery's final launch a few days ago on February 24th went extremely well, which was a great sight to see on her last launch ever. With just Endeavour and Atlantis left to fly one last mission each, this is the perfect time to pay close attention to what's going on with the Shuttle program details. One great way is to monitor the live stream at nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv. This is an amazing resource of live action and fresh recorded material that takes you up close to the inner workings of launch control, mission control, and the astronauts on both the Shuttle and the ISS. Obviously a great resource for re-entry and landing as well... you can also keep an eye on this STS-133 page for landing schedule updates.

 I've pulled together 4 different videos worth checking out, especially if you enjoy looking at the details of the launch process like I do. The first three offer different views of the launch of Discovery last Thursday, and the last one is a short but very close and loud IMAX segment of a previous launch.

 The first one above is pretty amazing actually. It's taken from an airliner that was passing by that provided a great view and perspective of the rapid ascent of the Shuttle. I especially like how the cockpit makes the anouncement about the launch saying: "people on the right side of the airplane can see the Space Shuttle, and those of you on the left side of the aircraft can probably see the people on the right side of the aircraft looking at the Space Shuttle" (!)

3 more videos below

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Nice! Very Appropriately Named 'Seastar' From Dornier Seaplane

(click pic to enlarge) The Seastar, from Dornier Seaplane Company, at Oshkosh 2010

 I got several pictures like the one above of the Dornier Seaplane Company's 'Seastar' at Oshkosh 2010. It was a hard airplane to miss since it's pretty large and rather unusual. Well, unusual since we don't see very many new production seaplanes these days. But, there was a time when much of the really amazing stuff going on in the world of aviation was happening on the water. From the mid 20's to the mid 30's, all the aircraft speed records were set by seaplanes... really fast seaplanes! During the same time period, the large and comfortable commercial transport aircraft for overseas travel were elegant flying boats. And, the largest airplane in the world in 1929 was the Do X, built by: Dornier.

 The Dornier Seaplane Company has its roots in the amazing legacy of the Dornier flying boats, but it's interesting to note that DSC is actually an American corporation owned by the family of Conrado Dornier, heir to a three-generation family tradition of designing and building flying boats. You may already know that the Seastar has actually been around for a while now. The first flights were in the mid 80's and the design was certified in the early 90's, but it's only been recently that a commitment to producing the aircraft has been made.

(click pic to enlarge) Seastar amphibious flying boat in flight (photo: Dornier Seaplane)

 When I saw the airplane at Oshkosh, I thought, hmm, that's interesting... looks like fun. But I didn't really think thru all that this unique airplane has to offer. It's only been recently that it's struck me; wow, this Seastar is a really awesome idea! The vision that Conrado's father, Professor Claudius Dornier Jr. (son of the Dornier founder Claude Dornier) had for the Seastar was to use composite materials to alleviate the two big problems of seaplanes: corrosion and leakage. The result is an airplane with vastly superior reliability on the harsh environment of the sea.

 It's hard to believe, but it's not uncommon for hardcore operators of older aluminum seaplanes (mostly floatplanes) to spend the equivalent of their used aircraft's value each year on extensive overhaul work due to exposure to salty sea water. Composite seaplanes are likely to revolutionize they way operators are able to reduce long-term costs.

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1941 Air Race: Porterfield Gets Whipped By JATO Ercoupe!

(click pic for hi-res)  First JATO takeoff ever in the U.S. in 1941... on an Ercoupe?

 OK, it wasn't a real 'air race', but it was a pretty historic event: the first ever JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) in the United States. And the massive brute of an airplane chosen to try this new technology? Why the Ercoupe of course... all ~1,200 pounds of it! My research on the internet turned up some confusing info on how much thrust is on display in this picture, but I'm inclined to believe the claim that the Ercoupe is fitted with 12 rockets of about 50 pounds of thrust each. That would explain why the poor little Porterfield barely has its tail off the ground and the Ercoupe is way out front and headed for the heavens... 600 pounds of smoky GO!

 And while it may not seem like much of an accomplishment getting an Ercoupe of the ground so quickly, the usefulness behind the JATO concept after World War II and into the 50's and 60's can't be argued with. This technology made it possible to get airplanes out of really tight places, or to get heavy high-speed aircraft off the ground from normal length runways. And right up until last year, it also gave audiences at select Blue Angels airshows something really cool to see: Fat Albert JATO.

 Actually, looking back, it's pretty cool that the Ercoupe, and airplane so simple it doesn't even have rudder pedals and was just about the most un-exciting airplane ever produced, would have the special honor of being the first ever U.S. JATO aircraft. It sure wiped up the floor with that Porterfield on that cloudless Tuesday back in 1941 : )

Check out the full CoolPix category

Video: GRASP Quadrotors Prove The End Is Near (Yikes!)

 This is some of the coolest/scariest stuff I've ever seen. The GRASP Laboratories (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception) at the University of Pennsylvania has been hard at work on all kinds of bleeding edge tech, and it looks like they've taken some giant steps toward building autonomous flying machines that will soon bring about the end of mankind. 

 Ok, that might be a bit of an overstatement, but wow, this is some very scary sci-fi stuff here. It's actually very cool and potentially useful in the hands of the right people, but imagine 5 more years worth of tech growth and then plop it in the hands of some crazy people. So watch out... the future is coming after you!

Mystery Aft Fuselage Identified - 'VFW Fokker 614' 70's Airliner

The VFW-Fokker 614 (West Germany) small airliner from the mid 1970's (photo: wiki)

 The world of aviation is full of unique aircraft designed and built by people driven to find a better way. The VFW Fokker 614, which just happened to be identified correctly by 'Holger' earlier today in a Name The Plane contest, is one of those unique aircraft. The 614 was a kinda cute small airliner with only a 40-44 seating capacity. With a first flight in 1971, the 614 was actually intended to be a sort of modern day DC-3, and it offered up some unique design features. Most obvious was the placement of the turbofan engines on pylons on the top side of the wing. No, the HondaJet isn't as revolutionary as you might have thought.

 The engine location meant the landing gear could be short and stout, and since the engines are mounted in that same general location on the wing, which is already likely the strongest part of the airframe, it was perceived as being a really good idea overall. It also meant that the chance of foreign object damage that low slung engines are often exposed to was virtually eliminated.

 The airplane was relatively wide and short, with fairly roomy 4 across seating. That seems like a pretty comfortable approach to hauling such a small number of passengers. In many ways, the 614 was ahead of its time... but as is often the case, making money with the airplanes was difficult. After a total of only 19 airplanes were built, production stopped. The VFW Fokker 614 is left to live on as a very interesting little footnote in the history of world aviation.

Stellar NASA Video On The Life & Times Of Shuttle 'Discovery'

 This outstanding video on the history of the Orbiter Discovery is a perfect lead-in to tomorrow's scheduled launch at 4:50 pm EST for her last flight. Discovery is a special member of the Space Shuttle fleet, and seeing her embark on her final flight is sure to be a very emotional time for the thousands of people who have made her a reality, and the many more of us who have watched her serve this nation since her first flight in 1984.

 This nearly 16 minute video is a 'must see' if you have any interest at all in the Space Shuttle program. If you can't watch it now, come back when you have time. It's almost surely better than what you're likely to watch on TV tonight.

 With Endeavour and Atlantis scheduled for their final flights later in the year, it won't be long before the Space Transportation System is fully retired. It seems we're still left wondering: what then?

Discovery, the oldest of the three remaining Space Shuttles

'Name The Plane' - ID Make And Model For Free Bacon! (2.22.11)

 Tossing another Name The Plane game at ya to see who can fetch up a bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 by using their sharp aircraft ID skills. All you gotta do is be the first person to ID both MAKE and MODEL of this aircraft.

 Your answers must go in the 'comments' area in this post, and as always, please don't use the shotgun approach to answers - only put up truly educated guesses that you've arrived at via really thinking it thru. The last NTP game on 2-12-11 only went on for 15 minutes before a winner was found... I really hope this one isn't that easy!

Looking Back As Shuttle Discovery Readies Her Last Flight

(4 videos)

 As Space Shuttle Discovery prepares for her final launch into space on this coming Thursday February 24th (STS-133), this is a great time to take a video look back at some of her travels. These videos are all from STS-121 that launched very patriotically on July 4, 2006. The first video of the launch has a nice collection of camera views and it gives a really good feel for the massive sound the Shuttle generates at liftoff.

 The video below is the same launch, but viewed from inside the cockpit of the Orbiter. It begines a few minutes before launch, with main engine start right at the 3 minute mark. It's really interesting to see the crew during the launch sequence... and the initial bumpy ride that sitting on top of nearly 7 million pounds of thrust provides! 

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