CoolPix: Getting Hooked On The F-35

(click pic for hi-res)  F-35B 'short takeoff' from aircraft carrier (photo: LockheedMartin)

 The recent trip to the Naval Aviation Museum didn't include any F-35 spotting at nearby Eglin AFB but I do wish it would have. I didn't have the time or energy to figure out if there was a spot you can hang out where one might be visible. I find myself quite drawn to the airplane these days even tho it's still easy to question whether the program is a good idea... but we are stuck with it at this point so let's encourage those working on the program to succeed!

 I do think there are far too many haters out there that would rather stir up a frenzy than acknowledge that this is one amazing aircraft. And, I suspect the haters are 90 to 100% people who don't know how to engineer an extreme carrier-capable aircraft, they are likely just people who (due to the internet) have a voice and they love to hear it make noise.

 While the CoolPix photo above is from last year showing an F-35B STOVL (short takeoff/vertical landing) making a short takeoff from a carrier deck (note the lift fan doors open and the downward rotation of the aft nozzle) there's an article from the U. S. Naval Institute about how the F-35C (the actual carrier variant) has recently completed shore-based testing of the redesigned hook. Problems catching the wire was an issue that many people made a big stink about, but as is the case when something doesn't work as originally envisioned, you make changes to the design. It's called development and every military aircraft goes thru lots of design changes along the way.

 The internet has made it possible for everyday people to have access to far more info than was ever available when aircraft like the F-14 or B-1 were being developed. The flow of info is great for those with an interest in the work of people handling tasks that are both extremely difficult and vitally important, but it also means that a lot of people who would be better off with their hands tied behind their back have access to the info too.

 Anyway, I hope you enjoy the very cool F-35B pic here and hopefully there will be a video available soon showing the F-35C catching the wire in those shore-based tests. 

AirPigz MeetUp At The Naval Aviation Museum - Blue Angels A-4 Formation (CoolPix)

(click pic for hi-res)  Blue Angels A-4's hanging in the Naval Aviation Museum atrium

 The AirPigz avgeek museum MeetUp for 2014 is under way in warm and sunny Pensacola Florida even tho there isn't all that much warmth or sun down here right now. Of course compared to the bitter cold and snow back home in Indiana, it's pretty awesome here. We started the meetup yesterday with five avgeeks (from all over the Midwest) checking out the collection of Navy aircraft ranging from the mammoth Curtiss NC-4 seaplane from 1919 all the way up to a full scale functional mockup of the X-47B.

 We're all keeping very busy with viewing the excellent aircraft displays and talking about airplanes in general... we're having a great time!

 The picture above is from Friday shortly after arriving at the museum and shows the Blue Angels A-4 Skyhawks that are hanging in the museum atrium. There's an elevated walkway that runs all the way the formation that gives you the opportunity to get such great views of this formation. The beauty and majesty of the Blue Angels sets the tone for a great time of soaking up Naval aviation history at the Naval Aviation Museum!

more pix and info to come

My Dad Bailed Out Of This Exact 'Navy Museum' N3N!

Navy N3N on display at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida (photo: NAM)

AirPigz Naval Avaition Musuem MeetUp January 24-26, 2014

Click here to be aded to the email list for more details

 UPDATE: 1-7-14...  I took advantage of the bitter cold yesterday to give my home office a deep cleaning, and in the process I found the old photograph of my dad actually leaving the N3N! I knew we had one that showed him off the wing but thought it was lost for good. It's posted below the 'climbing out' pic.
 

 My dad, who passed away in 2009, retired from 35 years at United Airlines in 1987, and while he did bail out of the exact Navy N3N pictured above, he was never even in the Navy. He spent two years in the Air Force after graduating high school in 1947, but the post-war military didn't need pilots, and he wanted to fly more than anything else. He did wind up getting hired by United in 1952 as a DC-3 co-pilot, which led to a very satisfied career as an airline pilot... but how does this N3N fit in?

 In the 1970's, this N3N was owned by a United 747 Captain named A. L. 'Ed' Prose. My dad was a 747 co-pilot at the time, and he and Ed flew the non-stop Chicago to Honolulu trip together many times. My dad had also been jumping out of airplanes for fun since the late 50's, and he eventually talked Ed into letting him make a jump from the N3N. The picture below was taken from our Citabria flying formation with Ed to get some pix of the jump. This was about 1977 over the Hinckley Illinois airport.

Circa 1977: my dad climbing out and then jumping from the N3N... just for fun!

 So, while my dad did 'bail out' of this N3N, the airplane still had it's very capable owner/pilot at the controls : )

 In 1979, Ed donated the N3N to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola Florida where it was restored to Navy markings and put on display. My dad stopped by the museum many times to reminisce about the day that he, as a 747 co-pilot, made a jump from a 747 Captain's Navy N3N!

 I never made it to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, so this January 24-26, 2014 MeetUp will be my first time there. I know I'll really enjoy all the museum has to offer, but looking up at that N3N and rembering the day my dad made a jump from it will definitely be a highlight!

 Currently there's about 9 of us planning to meetup, but I'd love it if more were able to make the trip. Check out the basic post about the meetup and then click here to send an email for more info.

Video: Fascinating WWII Story Of Spitfire 944 And Lieutenant John S. Blyth (Must See)

 There are millions of fascinating stories from WWII, but not very many of them include 16mm film of actual events, and then connect directly with people involved in those events decades later. This short film is all about connecting the personal film footage shot in Great Britain during WWII by flight surgeon Jim Savage with the pilot of a photo recon Spitfire named John Blyth. Blyth had to make a gear-up landing in 1944, and his flight surgeon was on hand with his camera for the landing.

 This 14 minute video is all about the story that connected pilot John Blyth in 2005 with the film of his gear-up landing that he'd never seen before, film that had been shot during WWII by his flight surgeon Jim Savage who had passed away earlier in 2005.

 If you haven't seen this story, I encourage you to take the time now to do so. My understanding is that John Blyth, who as a very young man flew an unarmed Spitfire over German targets for photo recon, is still alive today... #thegreatestgeneration

Video screenshot: American operated Spitfire in WWII... and a fascinating story!

Join The AirPigz 'Naval Aviation Museum' MeetUp (Pensacola January 24-26, 2014)

Click the pic to check out the National Naval Aviation Museum website

AirPigz 'Naval Aviation Museum' MeetUp in Pensacola FL will take
place January 24-26, 2014 (Fri, Sat, Sun - come 1, 2 or all 3 days)

Click here to be aded to the email list for more details

 This is your official invitation to make a trip to sunny Pensacola Florida for the AirPigz Naval Aviation Museum MeetUp on January 24-26, 2014. You can join a handful of other avgeeks on any of the three days, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday... or all three if world-class aviation museums take you many days to truly experience, like they do for me!

 As we have done the last three years (the first two at the Air Force Museum and last year at the National Air & Space Museum) there's no charge to participate, but of course you need to cover your own transportation and accommodations. Museum admission is free and it's open every day from 9am to 5pm.

(click pic for 360 panorama!)  Naval Museum entrance with Blue Angels A-4 Skyhawks

 Click the link up above (or here) to get on the email update list for the details of the meetup. We'll communicate about accommodations, a basic daily schedule, and other details to help make your time there enjoyable. Typically about 15 people make the trip and everyone has a great time taking in the museum at their own pace and then gathering for dinner in the evening.

(click pic for 360 panorama!) Some of the diverse collection at the Naval Aviation Museum

 
 A quick and easy winter getaway to Pensacola is exactly what every avgeek needs, so get to making plans to join this 4th AirPigz museum meetup!

(note the happy avgeeks below from last year's event : )

Some of the group from the AirPigz Air & Space Museum MeetUp in January 2013

Video: Merry Christmas From Chuck Norris (The Epic C-5 Christmas Splits!)

 You probably saw the highly popular Jean-Claude Van Damme Volvo truck splits commercial that made the facebook rounds a month ago. I purposely didn't watch it as a form of rebellion against the 'flow'. Not that it makes me any better than anyone else, just different. And if it was on TV, well I missed it there too with no cable at home.

 Anyway, I did watch this new video in response to it (cuz it had airplanes!) - it's a very well done CGI Chuck Norris with a couple C-5's and a special forces pyramid doing his version of the splits.

 Merry Christmas from Chuck Norris : )

Aerospace 9... Another Avgeek Idea From My Grey Matter

 It's true, I have too many ideas. Seems to be some sort of handicap actually... a steady stream of self-proclaimed great ideas without the resources to make them become reality. It truly drives me crazy. I desperately need a team of highly motivated and ultra sharp worker bees to help me make all this stuff in my head become real. But don't hold your breath on the ever happening, at least not until I make one of them very successful on my own. So I keep trying.

 The graphic above is a teaser for a project I'm gonna try hard to make happen. It's a sliver of the website for the project that I'm working on the design for. And in case you're wondering, my FLY Energy Bar project is still in the works, but I've reached a challenging point dealing with the baked product long-term moisture content and retaining finished product texture quality over a long shelf life. I think I'll get it figured out, it's just that so far, I haven't.

 So, Aerospace 9 is the reinvention of the AirPigz Photo Studio idea that I tried to launch over 2 years ago. My understanding back in 2011 was that I was going to be granted permission for AirPigz to effectively license the use of images I had taken at a particular aviation event, but that permission never came thru. I was even told more than once that it would. But it didn't. Without that permission I was unable to move forward.

 Recently I figured out a way to head off in a different direction to create an even better concept for upscale high-quality avgeek art. I'm not giving details now but you should be able to get an idea if you look closely at the graphic above. I will say this to start the saliva flowing: X-15, SR-71, XB-70 and B-58. There's also one specific hand-built element to the project that stands the chance of generating some real income while also making the operation highly respected. I like both of those possibilities : )

 Aerospace 9: bleeding edge art

5 Year Anniversary For AirPigz! (State Of The Avgeek-Nation Address)

The entire AirPigz staff is feeling a bit stuck in the mud these days

 The experiment pointed toward 'avgeek world domination' known as AirPigz began exactly five years ago today. Happy Birthday? Well, it's been a long and difficult journey for everyone here at avgeek central, which of course means just me since there isn't any staff here. I wish there was, and in fact that was always the plan, but it's just never come together for that to happen. So, for right now I'm just gonna say it like this: Birthday!

 Being a one-man-operation is a huge pain... especially when the operation doesn't make enough money in a year to pay for the trip to OSH and a trip to Reno. And I sleep in the car and eat cheap on those trips! That means I have to work a day-job to support posting my regularly scheduled avgeekery. No surprise there as there aren't very many people who make a real living running a blog, but it's become a lot more difficult in the last two years for me. My day-job is as a ceramic tile installer and I work alone there too. Work was almost nonexistent when I started AirPigz in late 2008 but these days I'm constantly busy doing a very physically demanding job. I'm tired, worn down, and wearing out.

Like Freddy Flameout, I'm not giving up yet!  (photo: ilbasso via hobbytalk.com)

 
 AirPigz traffic remains strong with over 50,000 page views each month and well over 30,000 unique visitors each month, but I seem stuck in the mud. Lack of time and resources make it almost impossible to create more and/or better content, and growth well past these numbers just doesn't seem to be happening otherwise. More important is that I don't get a lot of feedback which makes me wonder a lot these days if all this effort matters at all. Add to that the fact that I have just emerged from the crushing financial crisis that ruled my life these past 5 years and I find myself wanting to sleep a lot. That part of my life was been a long and bloody war, and I feel shellshocked. 

 To keep the pig alive I wind up working on posts before work (like right now), sometimes during lunch, often in the evening, and very often late at night. For a while that's a lot of fun (for people like me anyway), but after several years of it, with no real income and not much feedback, it becomes a heavy load. It's one I'm still willing to carry, but I can see there will have to be changes for this to continue well into the future. Any normal, sane person would have given up on this a long time ago!

 As a young kid I had a plastic model of Freddy Flameout in my room that my dad built. I always thought it was cool just because it was so crazy, but now I see there's a lesson to be learned: don't give up. So I'm not giving up, just trying a little public complaining (aka honesty) instead to see if it makes me feel better : )

 I hope you have a great avgeek day!

Video: Watch This Kid Shoot Down An F-35 With His F-18

 I honestly don't know the detailed politics of the F-35 vs F-18 debate, but I'm pretty sure if I did I'd be desperately looking for the government's OFF switch... however, I do know this video is very well done and it really did make me LOL!

 Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts about this issue, but I'm remaining silent. I'm just gonna laugh at the video and then go back to watching the world continue to collapse.  

 And hey, have a great day!

Video screenshot from the stunning F-35 takedown by the simple-n-old F-18

Poll: Awesome Or Ugly? The Vought V-173 Flying Pancake

Is it a flying pancake, bug or just alien?  The 1942 Vought V-173 all-wing testbed

 I admit that my desire with the 'awesome or ugly' posts is mostly aimed at letting you know that I think the particular highly-unusual aircraft design is indeed awesome. But obviously there's no point or purpose to AirPigz without YOU, so that's why I put a poll with this so I can see if the majority of you think like I do. Interestingly, you've agreed with me (sometimes just barely, other times wildly) on every one so far except for the Shorts SC.1 VTOL testbed. I'd like to take a moment and let you know that I think this level agreeability speaks very highly of y'all... I'm impressed that you have such a fondness for unconventional thinking. Bravo!

It doesn't get much more unusual than the Vought V-173!

 This time around the chosen aircraft is the Vought V-173 'Flying Pancake'. There was only one built, with the first flight taking place in 1942. With that high deck angle and those massive props, it's easy to think of this all-wing testbed as a bit of a beast, but the reality is that it weighs about the same as an older Cessna 172 (both the empty and gross weights) and it's only got a total of 160hp coming from two 80hp Continental engines. There was a dream of evolving the design into the Navy Vought XF5U Flapjack fighter which had dimensions similar to the V-173 but it was powered by two 1,350hp engines and had a gross weight over 16,000 pounds! Two XF5U's were built but with the war over and the transition to jet aircraft underway, the Flapjack program was cancelled with nothing more than just some fast-taxi hops being accomplished.

Recently restored V-173 now at the Frontiers of Flight Museum  (photo: NASM blog)

 The one-and-only Vought V-173 was recently restored over an eight year period by retired employees of Vought.  The airplane is owned by the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum but will be on loan for at least 10 years to the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas Texas. You can learn more in this post on the National Air & Space Museum blog.

 I'll add that I am so mesmerized by the V-173 that if I had the resources I would absolutely consider building a flying replica of the aircraft. Can't you just see me arriving at Oshkosh 2017 in a beautiful replica Flying Pancake! This thing has 'me' written all over it : )

 Vote now... do you think the Vought V-173 is awesome, ugly, or awesome AND ugly?