Friday, December 17, 2010 at 07:23PM This video is only 35 seconds long, but it's awesome on so many levels. Be Advised: If you only watch it once, there may be something wrong with you : )
Thanx to @LIPOPILOT for help finding it.
Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 04:50PM It was August 12, 1977 when the Space Shuttle Enterprise made the first free flight after being carried to about 27.000 feet on the back of a modified 747. The television coverage footage here is an awesome way to watch it how it happened, live for all to see. It's an amazing way to experience both the dawn of a whole new era in spaceflight, and to see old school broadcasting.
If you don't have the time to soak it all in realtime, jump up to about 4:30 for the actual separation. Looking back, it's great to see what success story this first flight was. It was a great time to be alive... I remember that for sure!
This video ends while on the descent. To see the rest of the approach and the touchdown, watch the video below. Touchdown is at 2:39.
I must say, my emotions have been thoroughly stirred.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 09:25AM 
My quick drawing for a 737 USB (upper surface blowing) re-engine concept
It’s pretty clear that Boeing isn’t listening to me since my heartfelt plea for a 787 to spend a little time in AeroShell Square at Oshkosh 2010 was ignored, but that won’t stop me from trying to send more good ideas their way. Like this one: the 737 USB. ‘USB’ stands for Upper Surface Blowing, that rather unique concept that Boeing proved to be quite effective back in the 70’s with their YC-14 demonstrator. If you’ve been paying attention lately, you know I have a bit of a crush on the YC-14, so when I stumbled on to some speculation by FlightBlogger that the wind tunnel model below might possibly reflect Boeing’s thinking for an answer to the question about what to do concerning new technology engines on the 737 airfame, it didn’t take long to come up with what I think is a better idea.
The real catalyst for the idea came from one simple little design element in that wind tunnel model. If you look under the cockpit you’ll see a bump on the lower side of the fuselage. Why the bump? Well, with larger diameter engines, the already marginal ground clearance would require longer landing gear legs… and one solution for the nose gear would be to build the bump to make room for it. Now in my mind, that’s not an acceptable solution. But after about 30 seconds of thought, my beloved YC-14 came to mind. Why not take the USB knowledge and apply it here. You completely solve the ground clearance issue; you get the potential added benefit of some STOL capabilities; and you make emergency ditching something that might be kinda fun - you know, not having to worry so much about those pesky engines getting in the way of a smooth water landing.
Boeing 737 wind tunnel test model (image: Boeing)
So, rather than just dream about it, I put together that drawing to show what a 737 USB might look like. I like it. It’s kinda like HondaJet meets the most produced airliner in history… without the odd looking engine pylons. Plus, airlines get the added benefit of being able to use the inner side of the engine nacelle as a mini billboard for inflight ads, cuz you know that’s gonna be here one of these days, right?
Ok, so I’m having a little fun with all this, but the truth is that I think this makes a fabulous solution. I admit that I don’t know what the engineering and certification costs would be like to make such a change to the airplane, and in fact that seems to be the driving force behind whether a re-engine project will ever take place. It may make more sense to wait a little longer for a 'clean sheet' airplane to be designed. But hey, even then, the USB concept just might be the best answer... or maybe they should just crack out the old YC-14 tooling and build a 200 seat STOL (super comfy) airliner version. Hmm, I feel another drawing coming on - which livery would look good on an airliner version of the YC-14?
Boeing, STOL, YC-14, airlines Email Article Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 02:54PM (must see video)
Similar to the video of the Apollo 11 Saturn V launch I posted a while back, this video of Space Shuttle launches goes much deeper. With views from a wide range of cameras, most in extreme slow motion and many just feet away from the fires, you are given a detailed look at what happens when millions of pounds of thrust are used to overcome gravity and lift the 4.5 million pound Space Transportation System off the ground.
The video is 45 minutes long with a simply delivered commentary that is nothing short of excellent. It's a very stirring experience to watch this, and particularly fitting given that we are very close to the end of the Shuttle Program. The clips are taken from three different Shuttle launches: STS-114 (Discovery 2006), STS-117 (Atlantis 2007), and STS-124 (Discovery 2008).
What a tremendous tribute to the men and women who have worked over the years to bring the Space Shuttle to life.
The video was created at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Monday, December 13, 2010 at 06:09PM 
The new retractable gear version of the Radial Rocket
(1 pic & 3 videos)
The new retractable gear version of the Radial Rocket homebuilt by New Century Aerosport is now flying! Even tho the original Radial Rocket is an awesome fixed gear taildragger (with the fabulous 360hp M-14 radial), the RG version has made the switch to tricycle landing gear. Why the change? Well, 2 reasons... one because there are a lot more people interested in an airplane of this high performance but with the reduced testosterone requirements of being a trike -- and two, because making the taildragger version into an RG would have been significantly harder to do. Getting long main gear legs that are attached forward of the main spar to actually have somewhere to go when folded would be a much bigger redesign of the existing airplane. For now, going trike is the best answer to the question.
These videos give some great insight into the RG prototype that recently began flight tests. You'll see how it looks like a lean-and-mean version of a scaled down T-28 on the ground... and then it's just pure airborne beauty in the sky. If you're in a hurry, I recommend you watch about one minute of the first video below to see this gorgeous airplane inflight with the wheels tucked up. If you've got the time, stick with it til about the 2:20 mark to see the gear cycled.
Then I suggest you watch the first minute or so of the next video (below) showing the airplane on the ground with that music-making M-14 running. Then hop down to the video at the bottom to watch the gear being cycled several times while it's on jacks. This gear is really fast! Looks and sounds solid as well.
Monday, December 13, 2010 at 09:18AM 
There seems to be a disproportionate number of really weird and/or crazy pictures on the internet involving helicopters or other rotorcraft. This may or may not confirm my suspicion that rotorheads are a little messed up in the head! Hey - I'm just kidding... but there are some pretty bizarre helicopter pix to be found, like this one. Let's see what y'all can come up with for captions to go with it. And of course, the winner of the contest will snag a sizzling bacon sandwich at OSH11.
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 12-18-10. And hey, watch out... some of the bugs around here are really big!
Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 04:28PM 
(7 pix: Air Force Museum)
Let's meet up at the Air Force Museum in Dayton... details below:
UPDATE: meet-up is scheduled for Saturday January 29 and Sunday January 30
When I did a little research before I posted the CoolPix of the sweet Curtiss-Wright AT-9 twin engine trainer from WWII, I learned that the only complete airframe is on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Hmm, I haven't been to the museum there in over 5 years... I should plan a trip there! That's when the idea for an AirPigz 'meet-up' at the Air Force Museum was born.
So here's you official invite: sometime in late January or early February there will be a fun little AirPigz avgeek meet-up at the museum. Museum admission and parking are FREE(!), and operating hours are 9am to 5pm EST. If you're even slightly interested in knowing more about when this will take place, please send an email to me via this link Email For Meet-Up - the email will already have the subject line filled in, and we can get some dialog going to find the best weekend. (all the details will be finalized by Friday, December 31st)
Regardless of which weekend works best for the most people interested, I'm planning to be there for both Saturday and Sunday. That'll give a little more overall flexibility to pick the day that works best for you. Or, if you're really into the museum like me, you might wanna plan for both days. I may also have a connection to a house with room for a few people to stay overnight as well. My advance promo thru twitter on this has already found about 5 people seriously interested in making the trip, one already with plans to fly down from Canada using up some up some frequent flyer miles. The Air Force Museum is simply spectacular... maybe this little meet-up will be a great catalyst for getting you to Dayton to experience it!
I'm thinking we should plan to have lunch together for at least an hour in the Valkyrie Cafe as our official 'meet-up' time for visiting together at the museum, otherwise you'd be free to do whatever you want during your time there. We may also be able to do an evening dinner meet-up on Saturday for anyone who would be available. Regardless, send me an email via the link above and let's see if we can stir up some interest in getting together and talking airplanes! And if you don't know much about the Air Force Museum (with its 400 or so aircraft and well over 1 million visitors each year), check out the following pix for a little idea of how awesome it is!
Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 09:43AM 
Twitter follower @bradkoehn has done it again... he came out on top in the Caption Contest poll to earn another bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 - congrats!
And how about that crazy pic? It's real to be sure. The flying platform is the HZ-1 Aerocycle developed by de Lackner Helicopters for the U.S. Army in the mid 50's. The counter rotating rotors offset the torque and the pilot simply leaned in the direction he wanted to go. I guess you could say the idea worked better than you'd probably imagine... however, it also had some serious problems. Originally it had been intended to be flown by untrained (non pilot) soldiers, but it turned out to be a little more difficult than that. Far worse, two accidents occurred where the rotors made contact with each other and the blades shattered. There's no good ending to that scenario.
If you look at the distance between the two sets of blades, directly under the pilot's feet, you'll see that it has far less separation than most of the other coaxial configurations. Check out the picture of the DASH unmanned coaxial helicopter I posted recently for comparison.
Only one HZ-1 exists today - it's at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Newport News, Virginia. I can see from checking out the museum website that this would make a great place to stop at someday as they have several other extremely unique flying machines. Here's a nice flickr pic of the HZ-1 on display at the museum (even the mannequin looks worried!)
The post WWII era running thru til the late 60's was an amazing aviation time period. With almost any idea you can imagine being tried to see what really worked and what didn't. It didn't hurt that there seemed to be all the cash you could need to give every idea a try as well. I'm guessing those days are gone forever...
Friday, December 10, 2010 at 10:08PM It's a fascinating mix of then and now as the Eurofighter Typhoon playfully chases a WWII Supermarine Spitfire around the sky during RIAT 2010 back in July. And as is pretty much always the case, the quality of the video shot by FlyingMachinesTV is stunning... enjoy!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 08:33AM 
(click pic for hi-res)
The familiar Boeing 707 based E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) with the huge rotating disc antenna mounted in front of the vertical fin has been the mainstay of eye-in-the-sky air traffic control and detection for military operations since the late 70's. But when the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) was looking to add large scale AWACS capabilities, they wanted a package that was a lot more cost effective. The Boeing 737 based AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning & Control), seen here flying over Sydney Harbour, is the result. It's actually a pretty stunning picture of the airplane nicknamed Wedgetail, with such a beautiful and iconic Australian backdrop... and it gives a really good view of the rather massive number of small prickly antennas and other unique protrusions that give this airplane its cutting edge electronic capabilities.
The significantly smaller 737-700 airframe with only two engines to feed and maintain greatly reduce overall operating costs. And while I can't speak for how effective that much smaller external antenna is as compared to the big rotating one on the E-3, it surely seems it must be simpler to maintain since it's fixed. The RAAF has ordered six 737 AEW&C, and while two of them were delivered by Boeing about a year ago, it wasn't until last May that the RAAF officially had them handed over into their full control. Three more aircraft have been scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year, but I haven't been able to confirm if that's still likely to happen. Overall, much like most all large aircraft projects in the last 10 years, the 737 AEW&C program has been somewhat disrupted by long delays.
In addition to the six airplanes ordered by the RAAF, Turkey and South Korea have both ordered some of them too. According to Boeing, a total of 14 of the 737 AEW&C aircraft have been purchased. If the deliveries can pick up pace, and if the airplane performs well in its intended role, this could become the new standard for airborne early warning systems.
