Video: The Mesmerizing Beauty Of The Boeing 747

 This mesmerizing mid-80's video of a 747 in Pan Am paint is 9 minutes and 20 seconds long, and if you're too busy to to take the time and experience it right now, then may I say... you're too busy. What an awesome experience.

 I originally went looking for a video to show some of Clay Lacy's fab air-to-air film work from the Learjet that he pioneered way back in the day. I really didn't expect to find a video that made me long for the old days so bad that it makes me ache. It also made my eyes water a bit, and made me feel fantastic too - all at the same time. Wow, do I ever miss the old days! (I guess you had to be there)

 So, if you'd like to feel the draw of days gone by, or you just need some gorgeous aviation imagery to help make the stress of the day go away, then please, take the time, make the time to watch this video : )

1965 Super Guppy Dive Test Goes Bad (Not A Bird Strike!)

Super Guppy fuselage collapsed in a 1965 high speed dive during certification tests

 The story behind what lead to the Super Guppy having such a massive collapse of the upper fuselage is pretty amazing... and while this pic was used in Caption Contest #47, and the winning caption perfectly asked the question: "What kind of bird did you say it was ?????", in reality it was the result of a high speed dive test done during the final phase of getting the airplane certified. Birds were not involved.

 The following story, originally printed in the April 1971 issue of AIR FORCE Magazine, tells the incredible story from the perspective of being inside the airplane when it all happened. It's really interesting to see how close they came to bailing out of the prototype Super Guppy! To learn loads more about this exceedingly unique airplane, check out AllAboutGuppys.com.

THE DAY THE SUPER GUPPY BLEW HER TOP
By Lt. Col. P.G. Smith USAF (Ret.)
(illustration by Gordon Phillips) 

 MAYDAY! Mayday! Mayday! This is 1038 Victor, the Super Guppy, in flight test over the Mojave Desert. We have had a major structural failure of the upper nose section in a maximum dive and are preparing for bailout!" "1038 Victor, this is Los Angeles Center. May we help you?" "Stand by, Los Angeles, we have a large hole in the nose, and the aircraft is disintegrating and buffeting severely-Thirty-eight Victor will advise intentions." Only seconds before, we had been safely completing flight tests for the huge Guppy-confident that the converted Boeing Stratocruiser would regain from Russia the United States claim to the "world's largest airplane." Certification tests started with the Guppy's maiden flight on August 31, 1965.

 We had completed all the tests except the most hazardous maneuvers-the high-speed dives that are required of all aircraft for airworthiness certification. This portion of the flight tests was saved for the last phase and is called VD, for Velocity Dive. But now, twenty-five days later, on September 25, in clear, blue skies over the Mojave Desert, with only the final VD remaining, disaster struck!

Click to read more ...

Caption Contest #47 Winner - Beware Of BIG Birds!

 Wow, not only is this pic from an amazing true story in the development of the Super Guppy, but the winning caption was the first one submitted right after I put the post up on Monday morning. And then, the voting wasn't even close, this stellar caption from @RayRod59 was the easy winner - congrats! I hope you've got Oshkosh 2011 in your schedule so you can claim your tasty bacon sandwich prize! 

 As always, thanx to everyone who submitted a caption and to all who voted. We most likely will be right back at it on Monday morning, and watch for a detailed story about what happened to the Super Guppy to cause all that crumpled aluminum... and no, it was a really big bird!

OMGosh! Museum Quality, Half Scale (UAV) Hughes H-1 Racer

Screenshot from the video below of the Aero Telemetry half-scale Hughes H-1 racer

 Wow, this couldn't get much cooler! A half scale flying model of the Hughes H-1 racer... and it has a 35 hp radial engine! Even better, it's being built by the guys at Aero Telemetry for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) which will take place July 14-17, 2011 at the AMA headquarters in Muncie Indiana... just 2 hours down the road from me! You can count me in : )

 You've probably seen the work of Aero Telemetry but didn't even know it. They produced some very large scale RC models/UAV's for the movie The Aviator including an approximately half scale H-1 along with an XF-11 with about a 30' wingspan and a Spruce Goose with about a 25' wingspan. Some serious models! Read more about The Aviator models here. Aero Telemetry also makes UAV's for military and aerospace applications.

 Watch the awesome video now, and then read a bit more about it below.

 This new H-1 model from the video differs from the movie model in that it's being built to museum quality standards and includes a scale landing gear which the one built for the movie didn't have. That one was designed and built in under 8 weeks and since all the filming was to be done with the gear up, a scale gear wasn't needed.

 The new H-1 will also have a Lawrance 5 cylinder radial engine from the 1940's instead of the 30 hp 2 cylinder 2-stroke used in the movie model. There's very little info on the internet about this uber cute little radial engine, and often times people incorrectly spell the name Lawrence, but I did find this pic and this pic to show how absolutely cool these engines are. The engine makes about 35 to 38 hp and was built to be an APU, but they were mounted vertically and weren't designed for spinning a prop. You can get a little more more info from Aero Telemetry on the Lawrance for their H-1 model here. 

 I also saw some interesting info floating about the net suggesting that these guys are also building a full scale(!) version of the H-1 with an aluminum fuselage and wood wing. Don't really have any details on that yet, but wow, I can hardly wait to know more about it! Stay tuned for more info on the wild and wonderful world of Aero Telemetry and their Hughes H-1 projects : )

Stunning 360 Panorama: Cockpit View Of The B-29 Enola Gay

click the pic to experience the cockpit of the B-29 Enola Gay in stunning 360 detail

 If you're like me, anytime is a good time to experience an active 360 degree hi-res journey thru the cockpit of a World War II warbird... but for me, this is a really perfect time, especially when the airplane is the actual B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

 I've been soaking up quite a bit of WWII info since my Christmas Day post on the fascinating story of Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese Navy Commander who lead the first wave of aircraft in the Pearl Harbor attack. My research for that post lead me to a book and film project about his life (more on that A+ project before long), and that opened the door for me to have the amazing opportunity to read the book before it has been published. I finished it early this morning and I must say it was fantastic. For the first time in my life I have a fairly clear understanding of the events that lead to the attack of Pearl Harbor, the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway, and the atomic bombs. 

 I admit that my WWII knowledge has really been pretty weak. I've known a lot about the airplanes, but not very much about pivotal events. Anyway, when I scan around in that amazing 360 degree hi-res view of the cockpit of the B-29 Enola Gay from the pilot's seat perspective, it tells me a much bigger story than it would have just a few weeks ago.

 And then, there's the AirPigz meet-up at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio coming up on January 29 and 30 (2011) that stirs me all the more since I know I'll be in the presence of the B-29 named Bockscar, that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

 So please, take a few minutes, or if you have the time, take an hour and journey around inside the cockpit of the Enola Gay via this incredible panorama. You can zoom in and out too, in addition to scanning in all directions. 

 If you're interested in more of this kind of cool stuff, check out either DavidPalermo.com or worldvr.com where they have 360 panoramas of all kinds of spaces, but also another one from the bombardier's seat in Enola Gay, from the cockpit of Concorde, inside a Huey helicopter, and inside the Gemini 7 space capsule. It's all an amazing journey! 

A Real Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Is In The Air!

Flying Heritage Collection's Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 first flight on 12.1.10 (photo: FHC)

(2 pix and 3 videos)

 The last time this airplane flew was July 19th, 1943. What that means is this is a 'real' German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 rather than the replicas that have surfaced in the last several years. Any Fw 190 is amazing, but to know that there is an actual example that's been faithfully restored is pretty phenomenal. The first flight actually took place about a month ago, with veteran race and warbird test pilot Steve Hinton at the controls, but since I somehow missed it when it happened, I thought you may have too. (if you're an Fw 190 fan, check out my other Fw 190 posts)

Paint scheme of the lost 1943 Fw 190  (image: FHC)

 The airplane is owned by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection, and it will make an awesome compliment to the already stellar collection of historic World War II combat aircraft from around the world. These restored aircraft are brought back to flying condition, and done so at the highest level. The Flying Heritage Collection, which is based on Paine Field in Everett Washington, honors the amazing technological leaps that took place during the WWII aviation era.

 I've been fascinated with the Fw 190 since I was a kid, so this is pretty exciting stuff to be sure. Even more, I've recently been gathering a far greater understanding of the events of WWII than I'd ever had before. The more you understand about the people, the battles and the motivations involved in WWII, the more significant artifacts like this Fw 190 become.

 Here a three videos of interest related to this specific Fw 190:

Click to read more ...

Caption Contest #47 - Ends Wednesday 1.5.11 At 9PM EST

 We seem to have made it into the new year relatively intact, so I figure we might as well keep the Caption Contest running with a full head of steam. This bizarre photo has an amazing story to go with it but I'm saving those details til after we have some fun with it.

 And as always, a hot and tasty bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 is on the line for the winner. 

 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 who wants to can cast their vote will be able to starting Thursday morning and running thru til 9pm EST Friday. The winner will be posted Saturday morning 1-8-11. And hey, anybody got some aspirin, I think I feel a headache coming on.

Caption Contest #46 Winner - And Happy New Year!

 Wow, what a new year's eve story... this caption contest literally went right down to the last minute with two captions running in a tie, but when the smoke cleared (from the sizzling bacon?), 'CBarnes' wound up as the come-from-behind winner. Congrats! And I hope you'll be able to make it to Oshkosh 2011 to claim your bacon sandwich prize.

 And speaking of Oshkosh, here we are already waltzing into 2011. That means just 204 days to go til we turn Wittman Regional Airport into the most amazing avgeek experience in the world. I hope you'll be there to join the fun... and Happy New Year!

Video: Rotorwash Saves The Day! (Hope For Humanity)

 Here's hoping the new year will bring you rescue when you need it... and that you'll be ever ready to rescue others (or even animals) when the opportunity arises.

Spotted For Sale: Vietnam Era Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star

 The pic above is one of several I found posted at this BuyPlanesForSale.com listing of a 1969 Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star being offered for sale for $84,950. I don't know if it's still available, but it's a pretty interesting little warbird restoration project for someone looking for an unusual flying machine. I'm guessing it would attract a fair amount of attention at the airshows and fly-ins!

 The YO-3 started life as a Schweizer 2-32 sailplane and then grew into what you see in these pictures. With a 210hp engine in the nose spinning either the early 6 blade prop, or as the NASA pic below shows, a 3 blade wood prop, the Quiet Star was exactly that... quiet. Used by the U.S. Army to do low-level observation at night in Vietnam, the YO-3 was essentially undetectable at 1,000 feet. An extensive engine muffler along with the specialized prop were the primary tools put in place to keep it in the hush. Only 11 were built... you can learn more at yo-3a.com.

 NASA has used the YO-3A for various acoustic tests  (photo: NASA 2004)

Lockheed YO-3 as it looked during Vietnam era use