The Unbelievable Twin Beaver Story - A Most Impressive Piece Of Work!

The Unbelievable story of the Twin Beaver can be found over at VintageWings.ca
 

 Some of you reading this will already know how unbelievable the story of the Twin Beaver is... and how so few of us knew anything about this incredible project before the amazing story surfaced over at VintageWings.ca early in April of this year. Wow, how could such a fascinating aircraft be so unknown to even the most ardent of avgeeks? Well, to understand that you really need to read the amazing in-depth story that chronicles the wild adventures of twin brothers Dieter and Martin Zwillingsbiber from the mid 40's thru the 60's. (click the VintageWings link to read the extensive story)

If it turns out that you're unable to spend the time to read the rather long story of the Twin Beaver at VintageWings.ca, I very highly recommend that you follow this link when you are done here to see what has become of the Twin Beaver today!

 Wow, I knew nothing at all of the unbelievable Twin Beaver until early April of 2012

 I must say I've seen a tremendous of amazing aviation work in my 51 years but the work exhibited by the Twin Beaver project is right up there as 'most impressive'. Even tho the performance of the aircraft was never up to what it should have been or really needed to be, the creativity, engineering, and dedication to bring the Twin Beaver to life is so impressive that I can only hope that one day I will achieve such great heights. My hat is off to the brilliant mind or minds that are responsible for what we now know as the Twin Beaver... Bravo!

 Thank you Vintage Wings of Canada for your part in this amazing story!

Jimmy Doolittle, The Curtiss R3C-2 And The Schneider Trophy Air Race (1925)

Jimmy Doolittle in the Curtiss R3C-2 that he won the 1925 Schneider Cup race with

 The same Jimmy Doolittle that led the raid on Tokyo in 1942 (that we just remembered with the 70th reunion) also won the Schneider Cup air race in this Curtiss R3C-2 about 17 years earlier. He was an amazing man and pilot living in an amazing era... an era that I admit I wish I had been born to live in. Aviation from the 20's thru the 50's evolved in way that I honestly find hard to believe. And seeing airplanes like this Curtiss R3C-2 stirs my emotions in a way that honestly that no airplane designed in the 60 years can do. So many of the aircraft designed and built in the 20's and 30's have something that I believe is very, very special deep in their DNA. It's a Rocketeer quality of design and construction that today's aluminum or composite flying machines can't come close to touching. You may not agree, but to me, THOSE were the days!

 So this post is really about celebrating the design mentality that conceived and built a water-cooled, 665hp V-12 powered floatplane that looked stunning from every angle. Oh, and in 1925, the R3C-1 version (with wheels instead of floats) was the fastest airplane in the world at 248.9 mph! Interestingly, that wheeled version set a record that was only about 3 mph faster than the best record set by Doolittle in the float version at 245.7 mph.

 I've included two short videos here that I found with actual Schneider Cup racing footage. I find this to be incredible imagery to watch. To think of how far aviation had come in such a short time literally boggles my mind. I hope you get something out of all this incredible history that took place just 22 years after the Wright Brothers.

 Lastly, the RC3-2 was actually a military aircraft, and you can see a CoolPix of it with Jimmy Doolittle here that I posted back in July of 2010. And, if you wanna see the real thing, good news... it's at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. (more R3C-2 info here on the NASM blog)

Awesome Videos Of Kent Pietsch Landing On A Pickup & Motorhome!

Kent Pietsch airshows

 Yesterday I posted some cool C-5 Galaxy videos including one from Stevo71 and that led me to find out another fabulous video on that account... the one above of Kent Pietsch landing his Jelly Belly Interstate Cadet on that really small landing platform on top of a pickup truck at the 2011 Beale AFB airshow. The video is only a little over a minute long but wow it sure is fun to watch. The GoPro is pointed just right to be able to get a great view of Kent having loads of fun putting the airplane right where he wants it.

 You might remember that I had the incredible opportunity to be hanging out the side window of a pickup that was speeding down the runway at the Indy Air Show back in 2010, right in front of the other landing platform that Kent uses (the motorhome) as he made several several landings for a promo video that was being shot. I got loads of pix from that adventure and the best one is both an AirPigz CoolPix and a picture used in a recent article about Kent and his Cadets in Air & Space magazine.

 

My pic of Kent Pietsch landing the Jelly Belly Interstate Cadet on the motorhome!
 

  I once heard someone say when talking about Kent's airshow flying abilities that he was a really good 'stick and rudder' pilot (as tho he at least had that going for him) - I actually thought is was kind of a weird thing to say because in my mind, that's all there is to flying... your stick and rudder skills. And yes, Kent has mad skills with the stick and the rudder - truly one of the best!

 As an added bonus here I'm including another video below that has some extra views of Kent doing his routine in that beautiful 90hp Jelly Belly Cadet from the 2010 Shaw AFB airshow. I mention the 90hp because it is much more difficult to fly these kinds of routines on limited horsepower, which again points to having stellar skills at managing aircraft airspeed, attitude and altitude. You'll also notice that in this video he's landing on the motorhome, just like the pix I took at Indy in 2010.

 I hope you enjoy watching Kent entertain the crowds in these videos as much as I did : )

Super Sweet Lockheed C-5 Galaxy Video Triple Play!

 You might be surprised that I usually don't know what I'm gonna post here on AirPigz until I sit down to make it happen. Today, I went looking for an interesting video to post and somehow I wound up finding some fun C-5 Galaxy videos that I thought were well worth seeing. The first two are from youtuber delpillar and are both viewable in 1080p HD. They are fairly similar in their view but both are really cool to watch in HD full screen mode. And I never get tired of gearing that signature C-5 whine as the engines spool up!

 The C-5 is a fascinating aircraft to see up close in the takeoff phase and these two videos give some very nice footage of that with an extremely smooth pan. I especially like watching the elevator deflect and then looking to see the nose rotate. I'm a freak for those kind of details. You'll also the the main gear trucks rotate 90 degrees as they retract in the first video above. You can see a little more about that amazing C-5 feature by scrolling down the page in this Oshkosh 2010 post.

 
 This second video is very similar but just as enjoyable... especially if you go 1080p, full screen, and study the details.

 
 This last video from youtuber Stevo71 is a view from right behind one of the aft gear trucks on a C-5 as it taxis and then takes off. The actual takeoff roll doesn't start til about 1:50 but you might still wanna watch all the taxi footage as you'll see that aft truck pivot significantly in the tighter turns. Very cool stuff to see! And then after airborne you'll see all the main legs rotate 90 degrees before tucking up inside the fuselage. Then the doors close and everything gets dark! It's another really cool view that you've probably never seen before.

 Lastly, I posted a video a while back of a large RC model C-5 that includes the amazing rotating gear legs on it as well... no small feat for an RC model to be sure: Video: Amazing Electromechanics In This RC C-5 Galaxy (Must See) - I highly recommend you check that video out too to complete your little excursion into the finer details of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy : )

Video: Boeing 737 MAX Now Sporting New And Funky 'Splitlets'

 This animated video released today by Boeing shows loads of details on what we can expect the newest version of the 737 to look like. The 737 MAX is scheduled to enter service in 2017 initially with Southwest Airlines, and it will do all it can to stretch a pound of kerosene as far as possible... those funky advanced technolgy split winglets (that I'm calling splitlets) are claimed to add an additional 1.5% reduction in fuel burn compared to standard winglets. This brings the total winglet advantage now to 5.5% over a traditional wingtip design. (the numbers are approximate, are figured on long range flights, and your mileage may vary : )

 I think the splitlets look just fine, and I'm actually most pleased that they'll make spotting a MAX on the ramp a piece of cake. Tho I'll add that the apparent bump near the nose gear (that will accomodate the 8" extension to the nose strut) will also make it easier to ID. I'm a nitpicky whiner tho, and I want to go on record as not liking an external 'bump' to make the longer strut work. I would have fought for a different solution, but I'm weird like that. The longer nose strut is part of the process being put in place to deal with a larger fan diameter on the CFM LEAP engines planned for the aircraft.

 I still would rather have seen something more like my 737 USB design that I drew up quite a while back. This would have looked really cool and totally eliminated any ground clearance concerns for the big fans. Oh well, I suppose my lack of a formal education, absolutely no degree, and no practrical experience in airliner design are the primary factors in why Boeing doesn't listen to me. But still.

 Anyway, I hope you'll join me in watching the video above and in checking out the pix below showing off those funky splitlets! Oh, and I must say I'm really glad they didn't wind up putting spiroids on the MAX!

Close up of the new 737 MAX winglet design that I call spiltlets  (image: Boeing)

Wider view rendering of the 737 MAX and the funky splitlets  (image: Boeing)

Poll: Classic Taildragger - Cub vs Champ vs T-Craft

Piper J-3 Cub (photo: mvonraesfeld on flickr)

  
Aeronca 7AC Champ (photo: jwm1049 on flickr)

  
Taylorcraft BC12D (photo: davemacvac on flickr)

 When I was a teen in the 70's there were three good ole taildraggers that pretty much defined the post-war 2-seater for low and slow cheap flying. There was the Piper J-3 Cub, the Aeronca 7AC Champ, and the Taylorcraft BC12D.

 So I wondered if someone offered to give you one of the three, which would you choose? Would you take the iconic Cub with its fly-with-the-door-open capability, or maybe the all around great little flying machine known as the Champ, or would you choose to go fast and cozy in the side by side T-Craft?

 It's an easy choice for me. The Cub is my pick because of the easy ability to open the door while flying, and I also love flying solo from the back seat. All my Cub time (from 30 years ago) was in a clipped wing Cub, so if someone gave me a Cub, I'd play with it for about 10 hours of flying and then I'd chop those wings down and trade the 65hp for a 90hp and be back in the CWC buisness : )

 Vote below to let me (and the world) know which you'd choose...

Navy F-35C Formation Flight CoolPix Triple Play (Plus Video)

(click pic for hi-res)  Navy F-35C aircraft #'s CF-1 and CF-2 in formation flight

 The first formation flying done by two of the Navy versions of the the Lightning II (F-35C) was completed recently as these sweet hi-res pix show. Plus, don't miss the video at the bottom of the post for the official Lockheed Martin footage of the event. I don't know about you, but I think those lightning bolts on the fins is one of the coolest graphic treatments on a fighter in a long time... it just looks hot!

 And while there are loads of people out there beatin' up on the F-35, I'm still thinking it's all gonna work out fine. The world is very different than when an aircraft like the F-14 was developed. Everybody is an expert these days with an opinion that they think is worth listening to, and an internet connection to allow them to spout off. Did you know that the massively successful F-14 program actually lost the prototype aircraft on the second flight? Now there's a setback to come back from... and that's exactly what the people at Grumman did. 

 Today we know about program details than we honestly have no right to know about, and often we know them immediately, or nearly so. The truth is if you want a jet fighter that can fill three very different roles with one basic airframe platform, and you want it to have a stealth design, AND you want one of them to have VTOL capability... there's really only two words that can describe this: expensive and difficult. In my little tiny opinion, the F-35 program is doing just fine.

(click pic for hi-res)  Navy F-35C variants in formation flight with the gear down

Click to read more ...

Caption Contest #73 Winner - Blueprints Edition

 Congrats to 'Charles' for coming up with the winning caption this time around... I hope you'll be coming to OSH12 to claim your bacon sandwich prize! And thanx again to Jo (@futureshox) for pointing me to this retro pic of the incredible Stits Sky Baby. The world's-smallest-airplane from it's first flight in 1952 until the 1980's. The Sky Baby is one of the most unique airplanes ever built, and if you hop in your car (or airplane) and head to Oshkosh you can go check the little gem out at the EAA Museum. It's always one of my favorite items to inspect every time I go to the museum.

 I'll do a post one of these days looking at the history of the world's smallest airplanes over the years... but for now I'll just say that, in my mind,  the Sky Baby is definitely the best looking of the ultra micro flying machines ever made. And it's really cool seeing this picture of it complete but still only in the silver coats.

Thanx again to everyone for playing along with the AirPigz Caption Contest. More of this harmless avgeek fun will surface on a Monday morning before long!

Me (avgeek toddler) Checking Out The May 1962 Flying Magazine (Circa 1963)

Me, the little avgeek toddler, checking out the May 1962 issue of Flying magazine!

 Finding my granddad's Private Pilot license issued on August 18, 1945 was really cool, but I also recently found this pic of me at about 2-1/2 years of age checking out the May 1962 issue of Flying magazine! Yep it's true, I got my start soaking up the world of aviation very early... and since the pic was probably taken in late 1963 (I was born in February 1961) I'm also displaying the important avgeek policy of never throwing away an aviation publication just because you've already gone thru it!

 I guess that points to another advantage of the internet over print... a post on the net never gets thrown away, it's always there just waiting for you to want it again. Oh, and would you like to read this issue of Flying? The internet to the rescue again: May 1962 Flying on Google books.

 This pic was probably taken in South San Francisco, shortly before a move up a little farther north to Petaluma California. My dad was flying for United out of SFO and my mom also worked for United but in the offices there on the airport. I don't really remember anything from this time in my life but it sure is cool to have such a neat pic of me, the little avgeek toddler : )

Video: B-25's Over The Air Force Museum During 70th Doolittle Raid Reunion

Doolittle 70th Anniversary Formation Flight aboard 'Grumpy' from Liz Matzelle on Vimeo

 
I was fortunate to be over at the Doolittle Reunion on Tuesday April 17th for the arrival and static display of 20 B-25's on the runway behind the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio - see the post with 14 pix here. It was an amazing experience seeing so many B-25's gathered at one (fascinating) place, and during such an important time... the 70th anniversary of the courageous efforts of Jimmy Doolittle and 79 others as they pulled off a pivotal mission against the odds. (Doolittle Raid wiki)

 Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the mass flyover and memorial service taking place the next day Wednesday April 18th, the actual anniversary date of the raid. However, this video from the vimeo account of Liz Matzelle shows some great views of the event from the perspective of the B-25 'Grumpy' operated by the Historic Flight Foundation.

 I only count 19 B-25's in the video when they're seen from a ground camera, so one may not have been able to make the flight, but wow, what a sight in 2012 seeing so many Mitchells in the air at once! A very fitting tribute the men of the Doolittle Raid.