Radial (Retro) Rocket With Hot Paint Now Flying - Oh Yeah!

Hot Radial Rocket taildragger recently test flown (photo: Airborne Kustomz) 

(4 pix) 

 First flight: February 19, 2011.

 If you've been paying attention at all to AirPigz lately you should know I'm a pretty huge fan of the Radial Rocket. This homebuilt kit airplane is an excellent blending of today's technology with the emotion-inspiring shapes from the golden age of aviation. As I've said before, anytime you bolt a 360 hp radial on the front of a small taildragger, you've got my attention!

 This recently completed Rocket owned by Pete Malone from Missouri has a paint scheme that matches the awesome retro shapes... this my friends is exactly what General Aviation is missing: Passion! The paint was done by Airborne Kustomz out of Texas and you can check out some videos of the process at the Airborne Kustomz Radial Rocket page. I hear there's a good chance the airplane will be at Oshkosh this year too. That makes me happy.

Click to read more ...

Video Lesson: Flying A Goat With No Gas At Torrey Pines

(3 videos)

 It's not hard to find decent videos at youtube, but it is hard to find really good ones. In my mind, this one from user airchairp is a really good one. It not only does a great job of showing how this ultralight sailplane called a Goat flies, but the narration helps to better understand exactly what is going on for those who don't know much about this extremely pure form of flying. It also shows the Torrey Pines Gliderport with a nice amount of activity... even tho often times the activity there gets crazy busy!

 It's especially interesting to me to see the UL sailplane sharing the ridge-lift flying with hang gliders and para gliders. If you like what you see here in this video, hit the jump to see a couple more really good ones of 'airchair' flying!

Click to read more ...

Hot Stuff! Radial Rocket RG (With 360hp Thump’n Russian Radial)

The new Radial Rocket RG from New Century Aerosport

(10 pix)

 There are four things in my opinion that make a perfect airplane. Round engine, pilot’s seat on the centerline, right hand on a stick and left hand on the throttle, and dragging your tail. If you’ve got those four things, you’ve got me hooked. And tho many pilots haven’t experienced all of these aircraft attributes, the only one that most modern pilots would likely disagree with is the tail draggin’ part. Enter the Radial Rocket RG.

 With 360hp of thump’n Russian M14-P radial power swinging an 80” 4-blade MT constant speed prop, the Radial Rocket from New Century Aerosport in Olathe Kansas brings centerline seating and right-hand-stick-left-hand-throttle happiness, plus the straight forward simplicity of tricycle landing gear to the high-class composite kit aircraft scene. The sound alone from that M-14 is worth the price of admission as far as I’m concerned. And interestingly, that 360hp comes at a pretty affordable price compared to the flat 6’s you’ll find under the hood in a Lancair Legacy. In my mind, the Radial Rocket RG is an art deco alternative to the Legacy. With truly nostalgic lines and a sound right out of the golden age of aviation, the RR RG offers 240mph+ high-speed cruise and a pretty authentic fighter-like feel due to the seating configuration.

Tricycle, retractable landing gear Radial Rocket RG

The very friendly looking RR RG cockpit

Click to read more ...

Mystery Scoop Identified - Cirrus Design VK-30 Homebuilt

The full pic of the Cirrus VK-30 homebuilt from the Name The Plane game on 2.12.11

(3 pix)

 I was really hoping the Name The Plane game on 2.12.11 would last about 24 hours. Instead, it went just 15 minutes when the correct answer of Cirrus VK-30 was put in the comments area by 'Rob' who wins a bacon sandwich at an AirPigz bacon party at Oshkosh 2011. There's no doubt I'm gonna be cooking a lot of bacon this year!

 I really didn't expect a correct answer so quickly. It's hard to know how many people are aware these days of what the VK-30 is. Only a handful of the 4-5 place homebuilt pushers have been completed since it first became available as a kit back in the late 1980's. I remember seeing the prototype at Oshkosh in 1988 and even have some old VHS video of it in the air and taxiing on the ground that I'll eventually get posted. I found the airplane very interesting because it looked so much like the airplanes I had drawn in my notebooks in high school when I was supposed to be paying attention to the teachers!

Click to read more ...

Top Gear And The Homebuilt Space Shuttle (Make Go Boom)

 In our modern world of gigabyte input and general sensory overload, it's easier than ever before to miss something cool... mostly because you were distracted checking out some other thing that's cool. And if the viralness of the one cool thing doesn't get hot enuf to penetrate your circle of life, then you're off chasing the next big thing and you still wind up missing that first one. All that to ask this question: Did you ever see that rather huge Space Shuttle with a car as the orbiter that the guys from Top Gear had built back around 2007?

 Since I stumbled on to it for the first time over the recent weekend of the AirPigz Air Force Museum meetup, I'm guessing there's a chance you haven't seen it either. I was convinced even more that this was a good video to share when @adamcanfly tipped me off about it the day after the meetup, which was interesting since he was even staying at the same guest house that weekend where I saw the episode on Top Gear re-runs, but he didn't arrive til a couple after it was over. I figure if both he and I hadn't seen this crazy stunt then it's probably worth posting. Hey, even if you have seen it, it's probably whacked enuf to be worth watching again! 

 Lastly, I did a little checking and it seems that a lot of folks believe they never intended for the orbiter (the Reliant Robin car) to separate and have a real chance to fly. The solid boosters separated right on cue, but the Robin rode the main tank right on down to good ole terra firma. That massive explosion at the end is what really seems to indicate gratuatis TV stunt... but hey, they had fun, and we had fun watching them have fun... rock on : )

Gentlemen...Charge Your Batteries! (EAA $60K Electric Flight Prize)

Click pic to go to the EAA page on the Electric Flight Prize

 And ladies too… the EAA’s 2011 $60,000 Electric Flight Prize is for men and women of course, but it’s not for the internal combustion engine - electric only need apply. And if you’ve got a great flying electric airplane (or one in the works) then you’ll wanna be applying to see if you can snag some of that prize money! It’ll all be here before you know too as the deadline for applications is July 1, 2011 and the actual competition will take place during Oshkosh (July 25-31) from Tuesday July 26th thru Friday July 29th. You can get full details and apply via this EAA page on the Electric Flight Prize.

 Electric propulsion systems are advancing rapidly, and a competition like this is sure to help push that advancement along. Only the 12 most viable entrants will qualify to compete for the Electric Flight Prize… and while there might not even be 12 entrants stepping forward, I’m hoping that there are more projects in the works than we might think. This is such a great opportunity for even the little guy to wow the world with some great and innovative ideas. The competitions are open to anyone with an electric powered aircraft who has flown at least 40 hours and has an airworthiness certificate.

 The competition will include four different categories:

Endurance - A timed event to determine which aircraft can stay aloft for the longest time in standard configuration (i.e., without additional battery packs). The clock will start when the aircraft crosses a defined start line, and will end when the pilot taxies across a finish line (locations of start and finish lines will be confirmed at pilot briefing). Competitors will be expected to land with a 10% battery reserve, and anyone unable to taxi across the finish line will be disqualified. All takeoffs will establish aircraft in a racetrack pattern above Wittman Regional Airport at a constant altitude. (Event to be held Tuesday, July 26)

Possible Electric Flight Prize entry? Electric Cessna 172 project from Bye Energy

Click to read more ...

Celebrate The Snow With A 'Ski Plane' Video Triple Play

 With the snow storm in full swing across quite a bit of the country, I figured we could use a quick look at some airplanes-on-skis videos. Nothing incredible here, but still a lot of fun to watch. I flew a Champ on skis back in the day and I remember it really was a ton-o-fun... I'm looking forward to the day when I get to do some ski flying again : )

Onex Prototype Flies - Reveals V-Dub Paradise!

Previous Onex post:
Can the Onex (1X) From Sonex Save General Aviation In America? 

First flight of the Sonex Aircraft 'Onex' took place on January 27, 2011 (photos: Sonex)

(6 pix and 1 video)

 Looking and feeling like a sport fighter, the Onex single seat VW powered homebuilt prototype made its first flight out of Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on January 27, 2011. The enthusiastic thumbs up from Sonex CEO, Onex designer, and first-flight test pilot Jeremy Monnett revealed that the initial impressions are already living up to the expectations of many, including me. The little all-aluminum LSA has the added benefit of wings that can be folded very easily to allow for a quick and simple way to store the aircraft in a really small space. In my opinion, the 80hp AeroVee Volkswagen powered Onex ushers in a new world of VW powered paradise for homebuilders. Never before has such a simple, clean and great performing airframe been mated to the simple and efficient VW based engine. I'm predicting a real V-dub paradise with this airplane! Watch the first flight video below and listen to how strong that AeroVee sounds!

  I also made a bold claim that the Onex just might be able to save General Aviation as we seem to be stumbling into an uncertain future for flying in America. Whether this affordable, easy-to-build, VW powered sportster that has great lines can really have a direct impact on the larger world of GA is uncertain, but I can say with a great deal of confidence that this airplane holds greater promise to draw more people into sport flying than anything we've seen a quite a while.

Click to read more ...

Mystery Flaps Identified In Less Than 30 Minutes! (Melmoth 2)

Peter Garrison's Melmoth 2 homebuilt with snazzy fowler flaps and tracks

 As it sometimes happens, someone popped the correct answer out in this Name The Plane contest almost immediately... congrats to @FiveFs for knowing that the tighter cropped picture of those unique flaps belong to Peter Garrison's Melmoth 2. Both Peter and the airplane are very interesting, and I encourage you to follow along his often detailed journey in the life of this pretty unusual airplane at his website melmoth2.com. 

Melmoth 2 and Peter Garrison at Oshkosh 2010 - preparing to head home

 I'm planning to do a full post on the airplane before long, and I figured having this little ID contest would be a nice segue. Lots of unusual features, especially for a one-of-kind homebuilt. Check out the short video below showing the flaps running down and back up the tracks. It's pretty slick stuff!

2010 AirPigz 'HOTY' - Algie Composite Aircraft LP1

Also check out my extensive report on the Algie LP1 from November 2010

The AirPigz 2010 'Homebuilt Of The Year': the LP1 from Algie Composite Aircraft

 You might already know that the AirPigz Homebuilt Of The Year award is not a conventional accolade. The 2009 HOTY award was presented to Sonex Aircraft for their Waiex, but that took place on January 7, 2009... the year was just underway and an award winner was already being announced. That's because 2009 was sure to be a really tough year from an economic point of view, and I felt that the time was right to acknowledge a homebuilt aircraft that excelled at being just what people needed. The Waiex is extremely affordable while also being relatively easy to build and has fabulous performance. Those three lines don't very often cross.

 For 2010, things were a little better financially across America so I decided that the 2010 HOTY award would wait to be presented until the year was over, you know, like everyone else would do it. So here we are in early 2011 and I've picked the new HOTY for 2010, but you can be sure that I haven't made the choice in a conventional manner. The LP1 from Algie Composite Aircraft is the winner, but there's one fairly obvious snag. It hasn't even been off the ground yet. For many people in the position of picking a winner for an award like this, that fact would be a bit of a problem. I understand, I really do. But I've got some really important and interesting reasons why picking the LP1 makes perfect sense. Please read on to see if you agree.

Click to read more ...