Amazing Video Of The 1970 'California 1000' Air Race! (Must See)

 This video posted by the claylacyaviation youtube account in late 2010 is an absolutely amazing historical record of a really unique air race: the California 1000. The race took place at the Mojave California airport on November 15, 1970. If you have even the slightest interest in air racing, you must watch this video. It's so worth it just to see a bit of Clay Lacy flying the big DC-7 low and fast around the course! But the whole video is full of great sights and info. And belive it or not, I was fortunate enough to be there as a 9 year old kid. In fact, looking back, 1970 was probably my greatest year ever in the world of aviation spectating. (and of course I have my dad to thank for all that!)

 August 1-7 of 1970 was the first year that the EAA Convention and Fly-In took place at Oshkosh (Rockford, Illinois before that) and I was there and of course loved it. Then, September 13-20 was the seventh annual Reno National Championship Air Races, and I was there to see Darryl Greenamyer have trouble with one of the gear legs on his Conquest 1 Bearcat which kept him from being 'super fast', and that opened the door for Clay Lacy to fly his purple P-51 to victory after several years of coming in third. And then I was on hand to see the California 1000 in November where Clay flew the DC-7 Super Snoopy low and fast (about 355 mph indicated), but for this race, they all turned right instead of left due to the winds on that day. And I remember very clearly that Sherman Cooper flew that bright yellow Sea Fury with wild flames on it to win the 1000 mile race without ever stopping for fuel. 

 The video has a lot of details about the race and some fantastic footage of an event that otherwise is hard to find info on. Please take 7 minutes and watch this sweet piece of air racing history.

Clay Lacy's DC-7 and me on the right as a kid at the California 1000 air race in 1970

More Awesome Retro Paint For The Centennial Of Naval Aviation

Could this F-18 derivative (EA-18G) in 'three-tone blue' look any better?  Hot stuff!

(9 pix)

 I really don't know how I feel about the way we've created so many U.S. coins with 'modernized' graphics and commerative designs... I'm not sure it's really the best way to honor the heritage of where we've been. But these retro paint schemes that the Navy has put on a wide variety of aircraft for the Centennial of Naval Aviation seems to be the perfect way to acknowledge and honor the past. Plus, they make our modern aircraft look better than they ever have! The first batch I posted with 9 retro Navy paint jobs hit the nail on the head, but this second batch is no less awesome. I can't think of anything they could have done to be more effective in calling attention to the rich history of Naval aviation while also stirring up the passion of civilians and inlisted at the same time. Bravo!

 I hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful airplanes as much as I do. And I also hope you'll find an event near you this year where some of the airplanes will be on display. Keep in mind that several of them are scheduled to be at Oshkosh (July 25-31) - and while I always look forward to Oshkosh regardless of what airplanes are sceduled to be in attendance, knowing that several of the 'retros' will be there has me counting the days. 164 days to be exact!

P-3 Orion in a 'White over Seaplane Gray' scheme used from 1957 to 1963

T-39 (North American Sabreliner) in an 'ENTERPRISE Air Group' scheme of the late 30's

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Top Gear And The Homebuilt Space Shuttle (Make Go Boom)

 In our modern world of gigabyte input and general sensory overload, it's easier than ever before to miss something cool... mostly because you were distracted checking out some other thing that's cool. And if the viralness of the one cool thing doesn't get hot enuf to penetrate your circle of life, then you're off chasing the next big thing and you still wind up missing that first one. All that to ask this question: Did you ever see that rather huge Space Shuttle with a car as the orbiter that the guys from Top Gear had built back around 2007?

 Since I stumbled on to it for the first time over the recent weekend of the AirPigz Air Force Museum meetup, I'm guessing there's a chance you haven't seen it either. I was convinced even more that this was a good video to share when @adamcanfly tipped me off about it the day after the meetup, which was interesting since he was even staying at the same guest house that weekend where I saw the episode on Top Gear re-runs, but he didn't arrive til a couple after it was over. I figure if both he and I hadn't seen this crazy stunt then it's probably worth posting. Hey, even if you have seen it, it's probably whacked enuf to be worth watching again! 

 Lastly, I did a little checking and it seems that a lot of folks believe they never intended for the orbiter (the Reliant Robin car) to separate and have a real chance to fly. The solid boosters separated right on cue, but the Robin rode the main tank right on down to good ole terra firma. That massive explosion at the end is what really seems to indicate gratuatis TV stunt... but hey, they had fun, and we had fun watching them have fun... rock on : )

Vote For Most Significant February 9th Event In Aviation History

Boeing 747 first flight on February 9, 1969

 Sure, there are probably a lot more aviation events that took place on a February 9th date in history, but these three are the ones I'm specifically familar with. Just for fun (seriously, just for fun), I'm giving you the chance to vote on which of these three remarkably significant events you feel stands out as most important! So go ahead and vote... I've got both feet firmly planted and I'm ready for the avgeeks of the world to speak : )

 
Boeing 727 first flight on February 9, 1963

 
Birth of 'Mr AirPigz' Martt Clupper on February 9, 1961 (birth photo not available!)

Gentlemen...Charge Your Batteries! (EAA $60K Electric Flight Prize)

Click pic to go to the EAA page on the Electric Flight Prize

 And ladies too… the EAA’s 2011 $60,000 Electric Flight Prize is for men and women of course, but it’s not for the internal combustion engine - electric only need apply. And if you’ve got a great flying electric airplane (or one in the works) then you’ll wanna be applying to see if you can snag some of that prize money! It’ll all be here before you know too as the deadline for applications is July 1, 2011 and the actual competition will take place during Oshkosh (July 25-31) from Tuesday July 26th thru Friday July 29th. You can get full details and apply via this EAA page on the Electric Flight Prize.

 Electric propulsion systems are advancing rapidly, and a competition like this is sure to help push that advancement along. Only the 12 most viable entrants will qualify to compete for the Electric Flight Prize… and while there might not even be 12 entrants stepping forward, I’m hoping that there are more projects in the works than we might think. This is such a great opportunity for even the little guy to wow the world with some great and innovative ideas. The competitions are open to anyone with an electric powered aircraft who has flown at least 40 hours and has an airworthiness certificate.

 The competition will include four different categories:

Endurance - A timed event to determine which aircraft can stay aloft for the longest time in standard configuration (i.e., without additional battery packs). The clock will start when the aircraft crosses a defined start line, and will end when the pilot taxies across a finish line (locations of start and finish lines will be confirmed at pilot briefing). Competitors will be expected to land with a 10% battery reserve, and anyone unable to taxi across the finish line will be disqualified. All takeoffs will establish aircraft in a racetrack pattern above Wittman Regional Airport at a constant altitude. (Event to be held Tuesday, July 26)

Possible Electric Flight Prize entry? Electric Cessna 172 project from Bye Energy

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Spotted For Sale: Jump On This! A Real Sea Harrier Jump Jet

Click the pic to go to the details on this Harrier Jump Jet listed at barnstormers.com

 So they say that a lot of P-51's were sold as surplus after WWII for around $5,000, and when you adjust that number for inflation etc, you wind up with somewhere around $100,000 in 2011 bucks. It's pretty easy to see that some folks snagged a pretty amazing deal back in the good ole days! This Sea Harrier that was recently listed at barnstormers.com probably has a hundred grand wrapped up in gear legs and tires, but not surprising, the actual asking price for the whole airworthy airplane isn't posted. You know, if you have to ask...

 It's also not fair to compare a surplus P-51 to a low time and fairly fresh Jump Jet that cost millions of dollars to produce. Which BTW, this is a BAE Harrier that served in the Royal Navy, not to be confused with the McDonnell Douglas Harriers that were built in the U.S. for the U.S. Marines. However, this is the modern FA2 version that was built in 1998 (the last year for production) and only has 1291 hours TTSN on the airframe and just 870 hours on the engine. This is also a long way away from the other Harrier for sale right now on eBay that's really just an early generation engine-less display relic... tho still plenty cool. 

 They say this gal is ready to fly, so if you've got the green and some mad Harrier flight skills in your logbook, this is a pretty hot setup. If you lack the mad flight skills, might I suggest you consider checking out this much cheaper and far easier to fly Varga Kachina instead : )

This could be you flying your very own BAE Sea Harrier!

Video Proof: Boeing 777 Is Built Ford Tough!

 Wow. In just 26 seconds, this video proves without a doubt that the Boeing 777 is built Ford tough! Seriously, I find it pretty amazing that somewhere around 400,000 pounds of airplane can endure a landing like this... and then presumably be dispatched once again after taking on more fuel and trading beat up pax for fresh new ones (and hopefully a new flight crew too!)

 It really says something about the engineering that goes into a modern, heavy airliner - no matter which side of the ocean they come from. Like a Timex, these airliners can take a licking and keep on ticking : )

Caption Contest #50 - Ends Wednesday 2.9.11 At 9PM EST

 Here's another chance to trade avgeek humor for a bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 as the Caption Contest reaches the half-a-hundred plateau. This pic also keeps us on a bit of a Russian theme after the SuperJet 100 post from Friday. I'm planning a feature post on the very unusual Caspian Sea Monster pictured here before long, but first, let's have a little caption fun. I don't think it'll be too hard : )

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 2-12-11. And hey, don't forget to have fun!

Mystery Linkage Identified - After A Hint (Douglas Dauntless)

A better view of the dive brake mechanism of the Douglas SBD Dauntless

 My good friend Marty (aka @pilot2b) only needed a short amount of time to get the correct answer for this mystery Name The Plane pic I posted on the 2-3-11... but that was after I posted a new pic that actually showed a little more of the linkages that drive the dive brakes on the Douglas SBD Dauntless. The original pic seemed to have everyone stumped for the first 47 hours! The updated pic showed just a bit of the holes in the dive brakes which gave enuf of a clue to make some sense out of the rather complicated bunch of linkages.

 Congrats to Marty for getting it right... he's earned a tasty bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 for his efforts! If you're looking for a chance to win free bacon, keep and eye out for more Name The Plane contests to pop up from time to time, and you should also check out the Caption Contests that start most Monday mornings. It's all good clean avgeek fun : )

No Fins, No Pilot, No Problems! X-47B First Flight (With Video)

(all photos: Northrop Grumman)

(click pic to enlarge)   Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAV first flight February 4, 2011

(3 pix and 1 video)

 You could pretty easily miss the rather massive significance of the first flight of Northrop Grumman's X-47B yesterday. On one hand it just looks like another flying-wing military aircraft. That much it certainly is... but it's a whole lot more than that. The X-47B is an unmanned aircraft, and while that's fairly common these days, this one is not like your regular Predator-style. The X-47B is actually autonomous, meaning that there isn't a ground-based pilot sitting in a room somewhere acting as pilot, it's actually the programming and the onboard computers that are in control. And then, to take it all up one more notch, the intended purpose for this aircraft is to operate autonomously off of real aircraft carriers with the U.S. Navy. Now there's a challenge for ya!

 It's also not like the Predator in that this is a turbofan powered machine that's capable of high-subsonic speeds. It also has a full size internal weapons bay, which technically makes it a UCAV, or Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle. Tho the actual role of this aircraft is still a little undefined, there's no doubt that it points to the day when we'll have completely unmanned aircraft operating from carriers at sea and fully capable of engaging in aerial combat. As seen in the video below, the first flight seems to have gone flawlessly, so it may be sooner rather than later that we see UCAV's on carriers.

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