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)

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Radial Rocket RG To Roar At Reno 2011!

(click pic to enlarge)  The Radial Rocket RG will race in the Sport Class at Reno 2011

 I'm running behind getting some cool info up on some of the exciting racers planning to fly low - go fast - turn left at the 2011 Reno Air Races: September 14-18. One of the racers that has me drooling for the amazing sounds of the Russian M-14 radial is the all composite Radial Rocket RG. Now I don't expect the airplane to wind up with any trophies, but honestly I don't even care... just hearing this beast is gonna be worth the trip! Check out the short cell phone video below to get a really good feel for how the M-14 makes every flat engine from Lycoming or Continental sound like a loser : )

 The reality is that the Sport class was won in 2010 by Jeff LaVelle in a Glasair III running a tic over 339 mph. The Radial Rocket RG posts a Vne of 280 mph. So, unless the guys from Kansas have gone hog wild making some serious airframe mods, the Rocket will be more entertainment than hardcore competitor. But for my money, I don't think anything else in the Sport Class will provide this awesome level of entertainment. I just love round engine airplanes that sit the pilot on the centerline! The only thing that could make the Radial Rocket RG any better would be a taildragger version. If you're up on your RR info you know that the fixed gear version is a taildragger but the RG is a trike. You can learn more about why in my extensive post of the RR from late last year.

 If I had a box of gold buried in the backyard I'd be digging it up about now to buy me a Radial Rocket kit. Glasair's and Lancair's are really nice, but tandem seating and an affordable (and perfect sounding) M-14 on the nose get the nod from me every time.

 More Reno preview info coming soon... 

QuickPic: Restored Rutan Boomerang At Oshkosh 2011 (+ Video)

Click the pic to see it over at flickr - or click this link to see it there in its largest size

 Burt Rutan designed and built the Boomerang in the mid 1990's as a way to make a twin engine tractor aircraft fly almost as easily on one engine as it does on two. The very asymmetrical airframe actually helps the airplane fly nearly as if the engines were both mounted on the centerline. While Burt considers this airplane to be one of his greatest accomplishments, the airplane sat for many years after Burt lost his medical certificate. But the Boomerang was recently resurrected by a team of volunteers headed up by Tres Clements (who works at Scaled Composites) and the airplane was a huge hit at Oshkosh 2011.

 For many people at OSH, seeing the Boomerang was a real blast from the past, and for many others it was their first look at one of the few airplanes designed by Burt that is actually very conventional in its main-wing-forward and tail in the rear design. I sure got a lot of pictures of the airplane on the ground... but I didn't do a very good job of getting it in the air at OSH. Fortunately, a friend of mine from Canada (flickr: Eyeno) captured this great image of the Boomerang in the air.

 I'm hoping to get a lot more details on the airplane's design features, the way it flies, and the restoration process sometime in the coming months... stay tuned : ) 

(QuickPic image from flickr.com/photos/eyeno - more great pix over there!)

 I found a short video on youtube taken from inside the Boomerang at Oshkosh when it and the Catbird went out on a photoshoot. It's pretty cool to see the takeoff looking over the shoulder of pilot Mike Melvill.

Heaven On Earth: 2011 Oshkosh Video Recap From 'Slick'

 Youtuber slickhutto has just completed his 2011 Oshkosh recap video. He's got skills, so you're sure to enjoy this look back at the greatest aviation event in the world. If you haven't seen his past work, check out Video: Oshkosh 2010 Recap Music Video - Wow! (Hot Stuff)

 And goodness sake, if you weren't at OSH11, will you please start making serious plans right now to work this amazing, inspiring, and satisfying extravaganza-of-the-skies into your summer 2012 plans. No more excuses! OSH12: July 23-29

Oshkosh Pix #4: Wednesday 7.27.11 - The Rain Day (14 Pix)

 There are several of Burt Rutan's unique aircraft designs all clustered together just off the edge of the main display ramp at Oshkosh. As you might expect, this collection of flying machines attracts a lot of attention thru the day. After the rain finally stopped around noon on Wednesday, I put some attention on the Rutan Model 81 Catbird.

 The Catbird was conceived and built in the late 80's by Burt as an outgrowth of a design-project by Scaled Composites (owned by Beech at the time) for a possible Bonanza replacement. The five seat cabin is unusual (imagine that) in having the pilot sit in the middle of the airplane, slightly forward and between the second and third seats. Then, the last two seats are facing aft. If I remember the idea from back in the day, this arrangement kept the biggest part of the body mass fairly close together for CG control while also putting the heads of all five people relatively close together for easy and delightful airborne chat.

 The airplane also had both a canard and an aft mounted (forward-swept) horizontal tail. To learn a boatload more about the Catbird, check out this 1988 Catbird article in Sport Aviation... it'll really give you the inside scoop. Most of the Catbird pix here are from Wednesday. The two without a big crowd around it are from Sunday, before Oshkosh started.

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Oshkosh Pix #3: Tuesday 7.26.11 - A Perfect Day (14 Pix)

 Tuesday morning started very early for me as I joined a handful of other fine folks with cameras at about 5am to get images of Warbirds at dawn. It was a perfect morning for it with still air, an excellent temperature, and some really fabulous clouds in the sky. For my first time out on a 'Dawn Patrol' I thought I got some great images. The following are some of the best ones. And, even of you aren't big into photography, I highly recommend you get up early like this sometime and experience beautiful airplanes in the light of a rising sun. It's awesome.

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Oshkosh Pix #1: Sunday 7.24.11 - Before It Starts (14 Pix)

  Even tho Sunday is still a day before Oshkosh officially begins, there's still a ton of things to see and do. One that's always interesting to check out is the Sonex open house over on the east side of the airport at Sonex headquarters. I ran over there at 10am when things got started to see what I could find out about the Onex. As these first two pix show, the Onex is all prettied up for OSH11 with (surprise) yellow paint. I found out that the airplane is still short of 40 hors total time but that flight testing has progressed nicely.

 Initial kits components for the Onex are just beginning to ship to customers, tho the Sonex team is still finishing up the complete package. The good news however is that Onex airplanes will soon be under construction, and there's every reason to think that the follow-on components will be fully prepped soon to keep these builders moving forward. As expected, the prototype Onex was drawing a lot of attention at the open house, and I'm sure it'll be heavily gawked during the week!

 Inside one of the hangars was a second Onex aircraft still under construction, and as you can see, it's a trike version. The airplane looked pretty decent, but in my mind, there's never been a tricycle version of any airplane that looks anywhere near as nice as the taildragger version. However, the already more pleasing lines of the Onex over the Sonex translate to a good looking little airplane, even without paint.

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OSH11 Will Be The Best Oshkosh Ever! (10 Pix)

The Farmers Zeppelin NT is on site at the world's greatest aviation event: Oshkosh!

 (10 pix)

 If you've been paying attention, you'll know I typically put up a pre-Oshkosh post that claims that the current year's event will be the best Oshkosh ever... and each year I believe it's true because the best Oshkosh ever is the one you're at right NOW!

 OSH11 is no different. Even tho this is somewhere around my 34th Oshkosh experience, (just imagine all the memories I have from all that avgeekery) - the reality is that this year will have the greatest impact on me because it's here, and it's now. I hope you're either already here or will be making the trip here soon. I arrived late Friday night and spent the day today setting up my part of the #CampBacon plantation (lots of cool people are living here!) and then I went out to survey how things were looking for the official start of the event on Monday.

Under the tail of the Farmers-branded Zeppelin airship looking forward

 A big highlight for me already is seeing the Farmers Zeppelin airship from AirshipVentures already on-site and looking fantastic. As is common at Oshkosh, the weather can change pretty significantly thru the day, but the sky was pretty much perfect for these pix.

Saturday morning waking up with clouds and light rain at Camp Bacon

 The day started out with the remnant of an overnight storm still bringing us light rain. Nothing like the rains seen last year tho! It wasn't long before the rain stopped and got started setting up more of the campsite along with the sizable @larryoverstreet family and @pilot2b were setting up more of the campsite. By the end of the day, Camp Bacon was filling in with more avgeeks like @adamcanfly, @PilotConway, @DaveFlys and @PilotStu - see pic at bottom of post. Another wave of cool campers are expected to squeeze in on Sunday.

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The Best Oshkosh Preview Video. Ever. (2011 EAA Oshkosh)

 I'd say this is the best video promo ever for an upcoming Oshkosh. Ever!

 No doubt it'll be an awesome year... it always is. I'll have some preview posts coming up soon, plus the details on the 3 Bacon Parties that'll take place at my campsite - some serious chewing the fat : )

 If you're on the fence about making the trip to the world's greatest aviation event, can I simply suggest you get off the fence and make your plans now. It's the best place on earth for an entire week, you really should be there. 

A Challenge From Brazil - The Speedy Record Setting CEA-308

Record setting CEA-308: 223 mph on 80 hp   (photo: CEA308Record.wordpress.com)

(6 pix and 1 video)

Here's an article by my friend Elliot Seguin, a project engineer and flight test engineer at Scaled Composites. It's on the Brazilian CEA-308 aircraft and the world records it set in December 2010 in the class for internal combustion powered landplane with a takeoff weight of 661 pounds or less. The article was originally written for the Scaled employee newsletter.

 This good looking little airplane may be the most exciting thing to happen in record setting in the last few years. This one off homebuilt recently took the time to climb to 3000m as well as the 3km, 15km, and 100km speed records for its weight class. It was built by students of the Center for the study of Aeronautical Engineering at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, directed by Professor Paulo Iscold.

The CEA-308, Pilot Gúnar Armin, and Professor Paulo Iscold

 The design phase started in 1999 as Paulo’s undergraduate project. The construction of the design started in 2000 and used wood and steel for the fuselage with white foam formed in between bulkheads and stringers which was carved to shape and covered with fiberglass. The wing is built-up wood ribs and a wood spar; like the fuselage the spaces between the wood parts were filled with white foam which was carved to shape and covered with fiberglass.

Early CEA-308 2 cycle engine installation - records were set with the Jabiru engine

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