United Airlines Retro Paint - 4 Star Friend Ship Service (+ Video)

Celebrating 85 years with some retro United Airlines paint on an A320

 This is kinda old news, but I missed it when it was new news, and it fits nicely now after having just posted that QuickPic of the Saul Bass scheme United L-1011 a couple days ago. You might remember there was a fun poll by the AirlineReporter.com concerning the possible retro scheme United would use to celebrate their 85 birthday. It was an unofficial poll tho... the one that really counted was just for UAL employees. The orange, red and blue striped Saul Bass designed livery won the AirlineReporter poll, but in the real poll, the Friend Ship livery won out. It had been reported that the paint was gonna go on a 757, but for some reason it's on an A329 instead. I think the 757 would have looked a lot better, but I'll take what I can get.

 This early 1970's livery was a big part of my younger life, and definitely one of my favorites. With my dad flying for UAL for 35 years, he flew 727's, DC-8's and the 747 in this paint, or a version very close to it. I guess technically the '4 Star' part of the livery was only around when he was flying the 747. I rode a lot of DC-10's in this paint along with the other aircraft as well. In my mind it was a good time for the airline. The change to the orange, red and blue Saul Bass livery marked a real frustration for many of us close to the airline for a variety of reasons.

 Only one airplane is painted in the retro United livery for the 85th anniversary

 But airlines are run in odd ways sometimes, and honestly I'm somewhat surprised there's even still an airline with the name United on it. Maybe the Continental merger will eventually bring us a real world-class airline once again... but I'm not counting on it. Either way, I'm pretty happy to see the Friend Ship paint once again, even if only on this one airplane.

Fly the Friendly Skies of United?

N475UA, the Friend Ship A320 taking off from Portland International Airport (PDX)

Carolinas Aviation Museum: Cactus 1549 'Miracle On The Hudson' (15 Pix)

(15 pix - click pic to enlarge)

 My wife and I recently made a short and fast road trip from Indiana to Charlotte North Carolina to visit our daughter and her husband. We traveled on Friday and Monday, so we had just the weekend to visit. Fortunately we packed quite a bit into those two days, including a hot air balloon ride for me (son-in-law runs High Life Ballooning - ride post coming soon), and a stop at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte to see the Miracle on the Hudson, the US Airways Airbus A320 made famous by Sully Sullenberger and crew. As it turns out, the crew was based in Charlotte, the airplane was headed there when they ingested the geese that shut down both engines, and over 100 of the 150 passengers were from Charlotte. Charlotte seems the perfect place for the airplane to be on display.

 The successful ditching of the aircraft in the Hudson River not only kept everyone on board alive, but it really captured the attention of the nation. Being able to see the airframe in person and imagine what the experience was like for those involved was very cool. The display currently has just the fuselage, but plans include re-attaching the wings to bring the airplane back to pretty much the condition it was in right after the water landing. The exhibit is planned to be officially opened on January 15, 2012 - exactly three years after the incident.

 The largish A320 has replaced a lot of the aircraft that were on display inside the Carolinas Aviation Museum. Hopefully they'll be able to enlarge the facility at some point in the future to make room for a lot more of the other aircraft. They do have many interesting aircraft still on display, including the beautiful Piedmont DC-3, you just don't see much of them in these pictures.

 As you can see in the first pic above, they have a small seating area with a continuous presentation of the ditching event. It's important to remember that this is really just a temporary display as work is being carried out preparing the airframe for a more complete and thorough presentation. There's no doubt tho, even in this temporary configuration, seeing the Miracle on the Hudson aircraft in person is a great experience - I highly recommend it.

(click pic to enlarge)

 It's no surprise that the wings had been cut off the airplane for both the initial transport as well as what would be the eventual trip to Charlotte. I immediately gravitated to the wing attach area because this was a great opportunity to see the design and engineering of this critical and complex area of the airframe. More pix on this farther down (on my second trip around)

(click pic to enlarge)

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Videos: Oshkosh Dreamin' As We Head Toward Winter

 The high temp in northern Indiana today was right around the freezing mark, and with the clear knowledge that winter is on the way I found myself aching for some pure summer feelings... and that of course left me thinking about Oshkosh! It's pretty hard to beat a video (or two) from youtuber slickhutto for getting that OSH feeling stirred up, so here ya go! The 2009 Oshkosh video from Slick is above - I figured if you've already seen it, it's probably been a while, so it should feel pretty fresh...

...and this video is the one from 2010. Slick does a great job of capturing the real feel of Oshkosh, while also doing a fab job of editing. If you're a purist and would rather watch some Oshkosh without it bering a music video, check out Slick's youtube page for the more recent uploads that run 10 minutes and feature airplanes with all their natural (beautiful) sounds.

 I hope watching these videos inspires you to push ahead with whatever aviation project you're into. Whether you're building an airplane, learning to fly, upgrading your ratings, or maybe needing to fall in love with flying again (or just soaking up all the aviation knowledge you can find), watching moments from Oshkosh is one of the best ways to be motivated. I know it sure helps keep me going - thanx Slick : )

OSH10 Will Be The Best Oshkosh Ever! (Bonus CoolPix-Vintage)

(click pic for hi-res)    CoolPix - Vintage: the awesome Pitcairn Autogiro at OSH09

 It’s not a gimmick, as I said last year, the best Oshkosh ever is the one you’re at RIGHT NOW! With opening day just a week away, it won’t be long before the magical experience of gathering together with thousands of like-minded avgeeks, and airplanes of every imaginable kind, will turn Wittman Field into literally the best place on Earth.

 There’s no other place I know of where so many people gather in a creative, technical, peaceful, and respectful manner, and then do so for a whole week. No where. I’m blessed to be able to go all week again this year, which will also be my 34th Oshkosh experience. I joined the EAA in 1970, the same year as the first Oshkosh (the annual EAA convention was in Rockford, IL prior to moving to OSH), and even tho I was only 9 years old, I was at Oshkosh 1970 - thanks dad!

Airbus A380 stirring up lots of dust and attracting every eye at OSH09

 I get a chuckle out of the people that go for a day or two and say they saw it all. I’ll be there all week long, I’ll cover the grounds all day long, I’ll keep moving thru the evening, and then do my best to be back out there by 7:30 in the morning… and I’ll still only scratch the surface of what this event has to offer. If it’s just some airplanes sitting on a Wisconsin airport in the summer to you, then I guess a day or two will cover it. But Oshkosh truly represents the spirit of aviation, and no aviation event can inspire a person, in a thousand different aviation ways, like Oshkosh can.

A beautiful example of the highly unusual homebuilt Dyke Delta at OSH09

 If you’ve never been to the event, and you aren’t coming this year, I encourage you to keep watch of AirPigz.com during the week from Monday July 26th thru Sunday August 1st. I’m planning to post an update every night. Hopefully these posts will help to display the amazing diversity of aircraft and people that attend, and, what you’re missing. My biggest hope is that it will inspire you to make attending next year a priority. And of course, if you know how great Oshkosh is, but you aren't able to attend this year, please enjoy these daily posts... I hope they'll help you to feel like you're there on some level : )

The remotely piloted Predator B UAV at OSH09

 And if you’re are headed to OSH10, I highly recommend you dig deep and really take the event in (use the awesome, unofficial ’events scheduler’ at OSHplanner.com to help with that), and remember, because you’re livin’ it, OSH10 Will Be the Best Oshkosh Ever!

CoolPix - Airliners: A380 Preparing To Depart Oshkosh 2009

(click pic for hi-res)

 Yeah, I know it’s the second CoolPix entry for the A380 at Oshkosh 2009, but c’mon, having the mega-super-big-bus sitting on the ramp all week making lots of shade should definitely earn it several CoolPix awards.  Plus, I took this pic while the airplane was waiting to do its departure flight demo, so this is the A380 getting ready to say goodbye to Oshkosh 2009.  It’s a special moment.

 As always, remember to click the pic for the hi-res version.  The whole point of the  CoolPix experience is to be pulled into the image, to experience it in a way that a 530px wide image just can’t do.

 I like this pic for several reasons.

 The airplane is facing east on the taxiway that leads from AeroShell Square (where it sat all week) out to the runway… it didn’t spend very much time sitting here, so it’s not all that common of a picture.

 I like it cuz it’s such a cool contrast of the world’s largest airliner floating on a sea of what makes Oshkosh so great: people and airplanes.

 You should also notice that while that big honkin’ airplane is not far from all these people, they are definitely looking at something else.  The something else is the WhiteKnightTwo just about to start takeoff roll for its flight demo.  WK2 was such an awesome machine to have up there in 2009, and here we have almost every eye glued to it.

 Lastly, it’s just neat to be able to look around at people who are enjoying Oshkosh.  You can even see the captain sitting in the front office of the A380.  I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking it’s a pretty cool CoolPix : )

CoolPix - Airliners: Airbus A380 Looking Really Big At Oshkosh 2009

(click pic for hi-res)

 Seeing the Airbus A380 at Oshkosh 2009 was fantastic no matter how you look at it.  To see the world's largest airliner put on a flight demo right in front of you was amazing!  And of course, a light airplane (if you can ever call an A380 light!) showing off in a sunny sky made it all the better.

 This pic I took does a really good job of highlighting the rubber-rich landing gear, which just happens to be at the very start of the retraction cycle - you'll notice the large nose and main gear doors are opening.  You also get a good view of both leading and trailing edge flaps here.  That wing is just unbelievably big, especially at the root.

 It's also interesting to see some moisture trails coming off the inboard nacelle strakes on the two right engines due to the high angle of attack.  I really enjoy looking at the details in a pic like this : ) 

 Having the A380 on display thru the week was a huge treat (no pun intended), and I'm so glad I had the chance to see her up close.  I'm really hoping we'll see a fanplastic 787 on display this year, but so far I haven't heard a word about the possibility.

Perseverance: Airbus A400M First Flight

Screenshot pic from the Airbus live webcast of the A400M first flight

 On Friday morning at San Pablo airport just outside of Seville, Spain a major milestone was reached in the much-troubled Airbus Military A400m program: a beautifully successful first flight!  This particular achievement (and hopefully another successful one very soon with the Boeing 787) mean even more to me than usual. 

 Sure, it's always great to see a brand new aircraft verify all the complex design, engineering and fabrication work by proving itself in the sky, but with the massive time delays and cost overruns in this project (and the 787), I feel a special connection to these efforts.  The last 18 months of my life have been the most difficult ever from a financial and perseverance standpoint.  Even a relatively simple project like AirPigz.com has been beaten up by the difficulties and setbacks that have stood in my way.

 That's what makes it so special to see the A400M finally get into the air.  It's a great example of perseverance in the face of huge obstacles.  We sometimes follow projects like the A400M and the 787 and get frustrated when they can't meet their deadlines and goals. But for just a minute, imagine what it's like for the people directly involved in such massive, and at times, seemingly hopeless projects.  Their will to continue to push ahead is greatly tested.

 In my own tiny little way, the re-launch of AirPigz.com just a few days ago helps me to have a lot more appreciation for work of those involved in getting this airplane off the ground.  So I celebrate with Airbus Military's successful accomplishment this day of getting the A400M into the air.  Never give up!

OSHKOSH 09 Pic Stream #3 - Tuesday, July 28

The campsite in the very early morning with a clear blue sky.  Turned out the weather all day Tuesday was as good as it gets with lots of sun, some beautiful clouds and wonderful temps.

It's been so encouraging to see huge attendance this year, with airplanes and people everywhere!  Tuesday seemed like a weekend with so many people. Here's a look at some of the homebuilts on the flightline.

As a guy with tons of time riding in the back seat of a Breezy as a kid, and then a couple hundred hours in the front seat of one back in the 80's, I'm always glad to see some beautiful Breezy's at Oshkosh : )

It's no surprise that Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo has been a popular attraction on AeroShell Square.

The much-bigger-than-you-thought size of WKT is easy to see here.

A unique view of WKT as we look up into the Heavens!

The rather unusually designed spacecraft-launch-vehicle put on a really nice flight demo in the afternoon.  Burt Rutan gave some very entertaining commentary from the speakers stand as well.  Good stuff!

Soon after the WKT demo, the super jumbo Airbus A380 arrived!  A spirited flight demo followed and the airplane looked very graceful in the beutiful Wisconsin sky.

Now that's a lotta wing!

The A380 was pushed into place on AeroShell Square and prepped for her stay at Oshkosh.

Aluminum Overcast Forecast For Oshkosh 2009 - Airbus A380!

Airbus A380 Photo: Airbus

 It's not just a big deal, it's about 1,200,000 lbs gross weight of a BIG DEAL that the Airbus A380 will be at Oshkosh 2009!  This is definitely the kind of overcast we like to see in an Oshkosh forecast!  

 The airplane is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, July 28 and provide an air demo.  Then it'll be on display in AeroShell square where we can get up close and personal.  Departure is planned for Friday, July 31st. 

 Take a minute to check out this awesome 360 view of the A380 flight deck below.  You can mouse around the big honkin' front office of the world's largest airliner!

 There's no doubt that seeing the A380 fly at Oshkosh, and having it on display where we can walk right up to it is gonna be an extremely special treat.  Hmmm, now if we could just get the 787 there too : )

Click the pic for an unbelievable 360 view of the A380 flightdeck!