P-38 Glacier Girl - Up Close & Personal... Real Close! (23 Pix)

(click pic for hi-res)

(23 pix)

 I was standing in front of the extremely awesome P-38 'Glacier Girl' that was on display at the Reno Air Races, and I was thinking that I need to get some really good pictures of this airplane. But in the pit area at Reno there are all kinds of visual distractions in the background, and tho she was roped off, people could still get really close, so they were in the way too. That's when I thought, hmm, maybe I should just zoom in for some really tight shots of small details and see what happens. I could tell right away I was on the something kinda cool, so I framed several unique views of Glacier Girl, without distracting backgrounds, so you could get up close and personal... really close! I hope you enjoy the unique perspective.

Click to read more ...

Video: 'Live Airshow TV' 2010 Reno Air Races Wrap Up Part 1

 Here's a great, detailed look back at how the recent 2010 Reno Air Races shaped up thru the early part of the event. I especially like this video since it includes a couple pix I took of The Galloping Ghost - check 'em out at about the 8:10 mark.

 Part 2 of the Live Airshow TV wrap up will be coming soon with a look at how the last two days unfolded, including some details on George Giboney's mayday landing that destroyed the Rapid Travel Thunder Mustang but still let him walk away essentially unhurt. 

Backseat Video: L-39 Racing At Reno - Low/Fast/Left!

 This video is actually from Reno 2007, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. It's pretty amazing to have such a good view of 'Jet Class' racing - from the backseat of a speedy L-39! If you skip to about 1:30, you'll bypass the slower part of the video and get right up to where you can see the large group of jets as they are coming down the chute at the start of the race. There are several passes that take place as they make their way around the course, and some nifty jet shadows to watch on the ground too. It's pretty crazy/cool stuff... 500mph and about 50 to 100 feet off the ground!

FIFI Is Now Firing On All 72 Cylinders - And She’s Ready For You!

FIFI is now FAA approved with her modified R-3350 engines  (photo: CAF)

 The re-engine project for the Commemorative Air Force B-29 known as 'FIFI' hit a snag early in the flight testing phase. After the first flight on August 5, a pre-ignition problem on the number 2 engine damaged some of the cylinders requiring engine removal and repairs. But, on Friday September 24th, FIFI was back in the air for two flights, and the engines worked great. On the following day, a third problem-free flight satisfied the FAA that FIFI was once again ready to help tell the stories of the men and women who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

 The first event FIFI will attend is the big Commemorative Air Force 'AIRSHO' at the Midland International Airport in Texas on October 9 and 10. This isn’t just a perfect event for the B-29 to be ready for, but it’s also where people will have their first opportunity to actually purchase a ride in this historic aircraft. Having ridden in a B-17 earlier this year, I must say that experiencing a WWII bomber in-flight truly transforms your thinking about the effort put forth by those who fought in the war. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to better understand the people and the airplanes that won the war.

 Go to AIRSHO.org for more info on the upcoming event, and cafB29B24.org for ride info.

Caption Contest #36 - Ends Wednesday 9.29.10 At 9PM EDT

 Here’s another chance for you to mix humor and avgeekery in the AirPigz Caption Contest. Seems like this should be an easy pic to get wacky with : )

 You’ve got til Wednesday evening at 9pm EDT to submit your captions. Then I’ll pick the best 5 ones and put ’em in a poll for everyone to vote on.  The most popular captioner will win a bacon sandwich at Oshkosh 2011 (mmm, bacon!) 

 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!

 Anyone who wants to cast their vote will be able to after the poll goes up Thursday morning.

 We'll vote all day Thursday, til 9pm EDT.  The winner will be posted  Friday morning 10-1-10. Enjoy the ride!

FlyingMachinesTV: This Is How Aviation Video Should Be!

 I first stumbled upon the video below while doing lots of Focke-Wulf FW 190 research. I was really impressed with the video quality, specifically from a 'smoothness of tracking' and the perspective from where the video was shot that I dug a little deeper. Wow! FlyingMachinesTV.co.uk takes aviation video to the highest level. I must learn to do this! The video above from the recent Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) event on July 17-18, 2010 at Fairford in the UK is absolutely amazing! Tracking flying machines with that much smoothness changes the game.

 DVD's are available of several different airshows or specific aircraft.  You should check out their stuff and tell all your friends : )

 You can also get some quick viewing in at youtube.com/user/FlyingmachinesTV. Wow.

1939 Focke-Wulf FW 190 Prototype: Crazy Big Spinner!

Focke-Wulf FW 190 V1 (prototype) with massive spinner

Cooling air was taken in thru the center hole in the spinner

(4 pix)

 As I mentioned in the FW 190 CoolPix post the other day, I've been a fan of the this airplane since I was a kid, but that doesn't mean there isn't a boatload of stuff for me to to still learn about it. Like; I didn't know the prototype aircraft had that huge spinner the diameter of the fuselage! I had no idea that this was the original concept Kurt Tank had for the airplane. I found out about the prototype FW 190 in a book my dad had that I stumbled across later the same day I had put up the CoolPix. The idea was that cooling air would enter into that big hole in the middle of the spinner, and the smaller spike spinner was there to help increase the air pressure. All this was supposed to lead to good cooling and low drag.

 There are two kinds of out-of-the-box thinking in aircraft design: super crazy cool ideas that are not only different, but right away they strike a chord as being really well worth the time and effort to give them a try. And then there are those ideas where you just have to say what the heck were these people thinking?! For me, that huge spinner fits the first category. It's like aerodynamics, art, and fantasy all coming together for a moment of synergy, but in the real world. Too bad this idea was better at looking cool than it was at keeping the engine cool.

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Video: Flap-Tastic Human Powered Ornithopter From Canada Flies!

 The video from AVweb includes and interview with Todd Reichert, the pilot and lead designer of this human powered ornithopter. This is a very impressive accomplishment by a team of students from the University of Toronto, and it'll be interesting to see if they have additional, longer duration flights to show us. With a wingspan of 105 feet, the aircraft weighs just 94 pounds! I specifically like the designers comment: "essentially ever single bit of it is about to fail at any given moment... if something is not very, very close to failure, then it's probably way too heavy."

You can check out more videos of this groovy human-powered wing flapper from this innovative team at their youtube channel: youtube.com/OrnithopterProject.  You can also learn more at the project website: hpo.ornithopter.net (link opens at the 'technical info' page)

 'Bravo' to a job well done! 

CoolPix - Homebuilt: Fab Focke-Wulf FW 190 Replica At Reno 2010

(click pic for hi-res)

 When I was about 12, I built a 1:48 scale model of the short nose Focke-Wulf FW 190. I painted it in a really good camouflage scheme, and it was actually the only one of the many plastic models I built that I was really pleased with how it turned out. I've been pretty severely attracted to the FW 190 since those days as a kid, so I was very excited to see this one at Reno, shown here in a nice big CoolPix.

 It looks like this one was recently flown for the first time by Steve Hinton and is owned by Frasca International, the flight simulator people out of Urbana, Illinois. If I have my info correct, it's one of the FlugWerk replicas from Germany, and has a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine in it. It was raced at Reno by John Malony, but not hard and not as a serious contender. But wow, it was very cool to see it in the air!

 I was impressed with the paint job as the airplane appeared very authentic. Not a 'show plane' paint job, but one you could believe was representing the airplane just as it would have looked in the Luftwaffe. It also looked smaller than I expected by a little bit. The one or two I've seen before were in a museum, and seeing this one out in the open around other warbirds made me realize it's not as big as I had thought. Comparing dimensions to the P-51 Mustang shows that it is indeed a little smaller all the way around.

 The one thing that stirs me big-time about the FW 190 is those long, wide-stance, aggressive gear legs. It's the same thing that makes the Hughes H-1 and the F-8 Bearcat look so stinkin' hot to me. The P-51 is a very beautiful airplane, but its gear legs just don't affect me the way these other aircraft do. I know, I'm a weirdo... but I'm a very happy, aggressive-gear-leg-lovin' weirdo : )

Name This Reno 2010 'Mystery Detail' For An OSH11 Bacon Sandwich!

(click pic for hi-res)

 Here's a fun little challenge I dreamed up for you... be the first person to correctly name the AIRCRAFT MAKE, MODEL, AND WHAT PART THIS IS and you'll win a 'bacon sandwich' at Oshkosh 2011. Put your answer in the comments area, and be sure you have all the info: aircraft make, model and what part it is. This pic was taken at Reno just a couple days ago - that's your only hint.

 There's no limit on number of guesses, but don't just throw a bazillion wild ones out. Study the pic and then make thoughtful submissions. If nobody gets it in the next few days, I'll just take it down. It's really an intro into a unique post coming soon with lots more of these kinds of pix.

 If the guessing gets weird or out of control, the post will suddenly disappear without explanation (wow, I love having this kind of power!)... consider yourself informed - and have fun : )