Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #7 - The End Is Nearing (21 pix)

 By Friday, Oshkosh 2010 was getting closer to reaching the end, and I was really beginning to wear down from covering the grounds 12+ hours a day, but that doesn't mean there wasn't still a bazillion things to see! As usual, there were cool things to look at right up until I left the grounds on Sunday. These pix however are from Friday. This is the Plane Driven PD-1, a highly modified Glasair Sportsman configured to actually be able to drive down the road with the wings folded.

 This big black pod under the cabin is hiding an 80 hp engine that is used to drive the main-gear wheels for road driving. Tho none of the pictures here show it, the pod actually gets moved way aft along those rails creating a really long wheelbase when in the driving mode. It's moved forward, as shown, for the flight mode to keep the weight of the engine and associated components on the airplane's CG.

 It all makes a very unique solution to the decades long quest to make an airplane that also can roll down the road. But honestly, I still struggle with the idea of putting a lightweight airframe thru the potentially punishing experience of potholes and rough roads. And then there's all those crazy drivers on the road too! Overall tho, the PD-1 seems well executed, and only time will tell if this is an idea the world is really ready for.

 I thought it was pretty cool to see three Pitts Model 12 aircraft with a KC-135, a C-5, and the Erickson Air Crane all in the background. As usual, loads of aviation diversity at Oshkosh.

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Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #5 - Sunny Thursday (And Wearing Down) (12 pix)

 Thursday found me wearing down from covering so much real estate on Wittman Field for Oshkosh 2010. So, I'm a little late getting these pix posted, and they're just a very small part of the day, but the sunshine and nice clouds made it a fantastic day to get great photos.

 I've seen a few Sikorsky S-64 Sky Cranes over the years, but the Erickson version of it called the Air Crane is by far the cleanest and most impressive. Like last year, the Air Crane put on a water-drop demo as part of the airshow. This very unique flying machine is always an awesome sight to see.

 This F4U Corsair was stunning to see. It was getting a lot of attention from its crew, but that was just to make look more perfect than you can imagine. It was also beautifully displayed in one of the corners of Warbird Alley.

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Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #2 - Sunshine & Avgeek Happiness! (19 pix)

AirPigz 'Bacon Party' Tonight!  5pm-7pm in Camp Scholler
( Lindbergh Ave at 43rd Street - click for map )

 The campground is definitely drying out, but the big Class A motorhomes still aren't being let in as of late Monday evening. Hopefully tomorrow the ground will have firmed up enough for them. My campsite isn't really all put together yet... I've been too busy with airplanes and stuff.

 My early morning trip into the show grounds went right by the fabulous Kirby Chambliss Red Bull airplane that was sitting right outside the Cirrus booth. The second Red Bull airplane on a stick was pretty cool to see in the morning air as well.

  Just to the south of Kirby's airplane was one of the 16 Cirrus SR20's recently purchased by Purdue University for their flight school.

 The Kodiak sitting on amphibious floats was looking pretty sharp in the early sunshine. I've got the camera on the monopod up in the air as I often do, which can make the airplane look smaller than it is... note that the wing is essentially at the height of the building roof. This is a big and tall package of an airplane!

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Holy Vectored Thrust Batman! - F-22 Shows Off At Farnborough

CoolPix - Racers: Jimmy Doolittle And The Perfect Curtiss R3C-2 Seaplane

(click pic for hi-res)

 If I understand the documentation correctly, the year for this picture of Jimmy Doolittle standing on the Curtiss R3C-2 racer is 1928. Hello? Can you really believe that it was just 25 years earlier that the Wright Brothers first flew their kind-of-awkward Wright Flyer? It was even a few years earlier than this picture was taken that this same Jimmy Doolittle won the 1925 Schneider Trophy race with this little piece of aviation perfection, being pulled thru the air by that cool prop at a speed of 232.57 mph. This stellar Curtiss airplane was actually the fastest airplane in the world in 1925, tho it was the R3C-1 version, the same airplane but with wheels installed, that set that record of 249.342 mph with Lt. Cyrus Bettis sitting in the cockpit. 

 Due to the shocking awesomeness of the aircraft that raced in the Schneider thru the 20's (and in the last year of 1931), I'll be doing a lot more coverage of the details relating to these airplanes over time. I've got a book from about 20 years ago that has loads of terrific info in it, and there's no shortage of amazing things to share about these stunning aircraft.

 But for right now, I suggest you click this picture so it's nice and big, and then slowly run your eyes all over this thing... just like you were right there, gently laying your fingers on it and carefully tracing its perfect curves. Imagine the smell of a 650+ hp liquid-cooled V-12 engine with still-warm oil leaking out of the joints. Breathe in the burned and unburned fuel smells that create a cloud of aromic perfection. Imagine for a moment what it would be like to sit in that cockpit and push the throttle forward... you are a race pilot!

 Please, don't miss the opportunity to experience this amazing airplane in your mind!

 And lastly, did you know that this was actually an Army airplane? Both the airplane AND the engine were built by the same people; the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, and this was all done with the support of the military in the effort to promote better, faster airplanes. What an amazing time in the history of aviation. 

Video: AVweb Supercool Supersonic Tutorial - Awesome Stuff!

From AVweb.com 

Video: Getting To Know The Rutan Model 151 'ARES' Circa 1990

 I remember seeing pix and info on the Burt Rutan designed and Scaled Composites built Model 151 ARES way back in the day in Sport Aviation magazine, but I never really got a good feel for the operational details of the aircraft til I saw this vintage video. Not only do you get some great in flight views, but Burt himself explains lots of the design in the unusual looking 'Low Cost Battlefield Attack Aircraft'.

 The airplane was designed in the late 80's and then had its first flight in 1990. It was put into storage in 2000, but actually went back into research and test service in 2008. Cool.

Boeing 'Speed Agile' Concept Reminds Me Of The 60's

Boeing 'Speed Agile' concept     image: USPTO

 Looking a bit B-2ish, with an added whale tail, this Boeing 'Speed Agile' concept was unearthed over at AviationWeek.com. The 'Speed Agile' term is a way of describing what the U.S. Military is looking for in a future replacement for the C-130. The idea is to have a very STOL aircraft capable of really slow flight, but also have cruise speeds above .8 Mach (possibly transonic), with take off and landing distances of 2,000 feet or less, all while being able to tote around 65,000 pounds of battle hardware. Looks like they pretty much want it all.

More views of the Boeing concept    image: USPTO (altered to show correct scale)

 I think it looks pretty cool overall, and could image that there might be some significant advantages to the design. It fits with my basic view that many, if not all of the breakthroughs yet to come in aerodynamics will be found by looking at more organic shapes from creatures that God invented quite a while back. I believe that studying these shapes will help us see new and creative ways to manage air flow in and around our flying machines.

Seaview Submarine from the 1960's TV show 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'

 There's always the possibility tho that the guys at Boeing are just tapping into some of the shapes they remember from the 1960's TV show 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' where they had this really cool, organicky looking submarine called the Seaview. I watched a lot of that show as a kid, but the only thing I remember, other than this basic shape of the sub, was that it seemed about every minute there was this really cool 'PING' sound. Well, it did get kinda old after a while...

 PING

 PING

: )

CoolPix - Modern Military: V-22 Osprey Will Stir Air At Oshkosh 2010!

(click pic for hi-res)

 Yep, here's another CoolPix with the Bell-Boeing V-22 already... but technically it's actually the Air Force version known as the CV-22. Oh, wait, the other one is the CV-22 version too. Oh well, the bottom line: both this and the previous Osprey CoolPix are off-the-scale fantastic! (If you don't say 'wow' when you click the above pic, there may be something wrong with you!)

 I'm really happy to have just found out that this amazing tiltrotor flying machine will be at Oshkosh 2010. Looks like it'll be on display, and perform a flight demonstration as well. I'm really excited about that since I haven't seen one fly yet. You can get more detailed info at this EAA link with the Osprey schedule for Oshkosh.

 Oshkosh (the greatest aviation event on planet Earth) runs July 26 thru August 1, 2010. It's kind of a big deal : )

Circa 1960: The Amazing RCAF Golden Hawks F-86 Aerobatic Team!

(click pic to enlarge)

 I'd never even heard of these guys... so I'm guessing there's a chance you haven't either. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Golden Hawks aerobatic team was formed in 1959. They only operated for a total of 6 years, but wow, this was one amazing aerobatic team! The first video below will give you a pretty good idea of just how sharp these guys were in their Canadair built F-86 Sabres. Don't let the old-school, warpy 'film' music scare you, it's an awesome video.

 1959 was the 35th year of the RCAF as well as the 50th anniversary of the first controlled powered flight in Canada. The Golden Hawks had been put together to celebrate these events, and then wound up such a success that they continued on. It was later decided tho that the money it took to operate the team could be better spent elsewhere, so in 1964 the team was shut down. 

 It's interesting that just a few years later in 1967, an aerobatic team called the Golden Centennaires was put together to celebrate 100 years of the Canadian Federation. I didn't realize Canada was so big on using jet akro teams to 'celebrate' stuff! Anyway, the  Golden Centennaires only flew that one year... but, they flew the Canadair CT-114 Tutor aircraft, which means it's easy to see how the new team that formed in 1971, that would later be known as the Canadian Snowbirds, came to be.

 I think this is all especially good to know since the Snowbirds will be the jet team flying at the 2010 Reno Air Races in September. I remember seeing the Snowbirds a lot back in the 80's and they are really something special. Can't wait to see them again : )

 Circa 1960 footage of the Golden Hawks flying their F-86's as good as anybody. Ever!

 Modern video from 2009 of a commemorative F-86 in Golden Hawks paint flying simple formation with a Tudor in Golden Centennaires paint. No akro in this video, but man does it look like they're having fun! And, thankfully, all you hear is the wind noise, no music!