Top Gun: Mach 2 With Your Hair On Fire In IMAX 3D Feb 8-13!

 3D movies haven't lived up to the hype for me, but the chance to see the pop icon film Top Gun (1986) on the big screen with big sound is enough to pique my interest. The movie is actually in IMAX 3D, but I honestly don't know if that's as impressive as it sounds. But again, F-14's on any big screen with full-rumble sound should be sufficient to tingle the nerves and pump up the heart rate... it might even take you right into the danger zone.

 It appears you might have to light your afterburners tho if you wanna catch the film in theaters as it's only scheduled to run six days in 2013; from February 8th thru the 13th.  All of this is just ahead of the February 19th release of the 3D Blu-Ray DVD.

 You can get more info on the Top Gun facebook page or at this IMAX movies page which includes theater search by city or zip code.

 Lastly, the fate of the planned sequel to Top Gun is somewhat in question after the suicide death of the director of the original, Tony Scott, last August.

 F-14's on the big screen: Top Gun IMAX 3D in theaters February 8 thru 13, 2013

Video: November 11, 1956 - The Sexiest Jet (Ever) Makes Her First Flight! (B-58 Hustler)

 Quoting a friend, this is all I can say: O___O ...can't talk...too pretty...

The Convair B-58 Hustler is prepared for her first flight on November 11, 1956

1944 Dornier Do 335: A Really Big Push/Pull Speedster From WWII (+ Video)

(click pic to enlarge)  WWII German Dornier Do 335 at the NASM Udvar-Hazy Center

 The recent AirPigz National Air and Space Museum MeetUp was more than just a great time with historic aircraft and great avgeek friends, it was also a good time for me to develop a new obsession: the World War II German Dornier Do 335. This rather large (about 20,000 pound max takeoff weight) and very fast single seat aircraft is one that I honestly knew pretty much nothing about. It has slipped thru the cracks of my avgeek upbringing somehow, but now it has found its very own room in my mind and I am quite happy about that.

 The short story on the airplane is that only around 40 were built toward the end of WWII, and none ever entered actual combat related service. This unique push/pull arrangement meant that the Do 335 sits high on the gear to allow for good ground clearance for the rear prop. It sits so high that the average man can walk under that wing! Powered by two centerline mounted Daimler-Benz DB 603A inverted 12-cylinder engines making 1,750 hp each, the Do 335 appears to have been the fastest piston engine aircraft from the war. I haven't done the deep research, but it seems it was capable of 475 mph in level flight! Can you imagine what a clipped, streamlined and lightened Do 335 would do on the race course at Reno! However, since this example on display at the Udvar-Hazy is the only example that remains, racing one at Reno just isn't gonna happen.

(click pic to enlarge)  Closer view of the beastly Do 335 and its push/pull power

 The Do 335 was envisioned in several different roles: fighter/bomber; night fighter, reconnaissance and trainer (in a special two-seat configuration as seen in the video below), but with the aircraft being developed near the end of the war, it never made it into service with the Luftwaffe. Because of the rear mounted propeller, the Do 335 included an ejection seat for the pilot along with the ability to jettison the vertical tail and rear prop to add greater safety to an ejection. There are many more interesting and unique features of the 335 but I'll cover that later when I do an in-depth post on it... for now, I just wanted to take the uninitiated (like I was before last Friday) and open up your mind to a very interesting WWII aircraft.

(click pic to enlarge) Dornier Do 335 cutaway available for purchase from Flightglobal

Fascinating video (in German) of the Dornier Do 335

AirPigz NASM MeetUp Day 2! (Downtown Washington DC - 5 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge) The Bell X-1 that Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier with in 1947

 Day two of the AirPigz National Air and Space Museum MeetUp was absolutely fabulous! We car-pooled to a METRO train station and then rode into downtown DC to experience the incredible collection of historic aircraft. Everyone had a great time... from the youngest at 9 years of age to the oldest at 78. It was a perfect day of great airplanes and great people!

(click pic to enlarge) Most of the 14 people at today's meetup under the Rutan Voyager

 You meet the nicest people at an AirPigz MeetUp! Seriously, what a great bunch of people to share some wonderful avgeekery with. If you've never joined in before, you should definitely consider it when the next chance rolls around.

(click pic to enlarge) Side view of the amazing Howard Hughes H-1 racer from 1935

(click pic top enlarge)  Front view of the H-1 racer (wood wing, aluminum fuselage)

 As I expected, I spent quite a lot of time with the Hughes H-1 racer today. Trust me when I say I got waaayyyyy more than just the two pictures you see here of this amazing race aircraft from the mid 30's! But for now this is all you get... more pix and details yet to come at another time : )

(click pic to enlarge) Wide span of history: Spirit of St Louis, Bell X-1 and SpaceShipOne

 In the future I'll be posting much more from the experiences at the Udvar-Hazy on Friday, the National Mall from today, and from the last day of the MeetUp tomorrow back at the Udvar-Hazy, but for now this is all I have the time and energy for.

 A big Thank You goes out to everyone participating in the MeetUp this year, you've made it a real joy!

Me With Darryl Greenamyer's Conquest 1 At Reno 1968! (+ NASM MeetUp Reminder)

(click pic to enlarge)  Me at age seven and in love with Conquest 1 at Reno 1968

 This little Kodak picture (that I cropped down a bit) scanned in fairly well, tho if you click the pic to view it larger you'll see that it wasn't really meant to go big. But I think it's a pretty amazing image... that's me as a seven year old kid at Reno in 1968 in awe of my favorite racer, Darryl Greenamyer's modified F8 Bearcat. And tho the airplane was named Conquest 1 for the speed record attempt in 1969, my research indicates that technically it was just Bearcat No. 1 at the time of this pic in 1968. Btw, Darryl did indeed set the speed record on August 16, 1969 at Edwards Air Force Base with a speed of 483.041 mph (average of four passes).

 I'm not only excited that I found this pic from my avgeek youth, but I'm gonna see this exact airplane at the upcoming AirPigz National Air and Space Museum MeetUp on January 25-27 in Washington DC! Conquest 1 is actually on display at the newer of the two NASM facilities, the Udvar-Hazy in Chantilly Virginia about 25 miles from the National Mall museum facility in Washington DC. We're still a week away from the museum MeetUp so you've still got time to make plans to join the fun. Check out my previous NASM MeetUp post for more details. Currently it looks like 12 to 15 people will be attending on one or more days (Fri, Sat, Sun - January 25-27, 2013) but there's always room for more avgeeks!

Click the pic to go to the NASM Udvar-Hazy page about Greenamyer's Conquest 1

 The pic above shows the airplane in modern times on display at the Udvar-Hazy looking just as it did when it was donated to the museum back in 1977. I'm old-school in my Conquest 1 adoration, so I'm not a big fan of the yellow paint, but you can be sure I'm gonna tingle when I stand in the presence of this amazing aircraft. It's kinda interesting to note that the pic of me from 1968 and the pic above from the NASM website are remarkably almost the same perspective.

 As I was doing a little research on the Conquest 1 name to be sure I got my info correct, I stumbled across an incredible plastic model built by a master modeler name Russ Camp who passed away back in 2010. His detailed LargeScalePlanes.com forum post about modifying a Bearcat kit is still up for viewing and it's fascinating to go thru the 8 pages of posts seeing the project take shape. As the picture below shows, his work on the Conquest 1 model was simply fantastic. Click the pic below to go to the forum post to see the project from December 2009 take shape.

Click the pic to see the LargeScalePlanes.com forum post on this amazing plastic model

 And I have one last pic for you to check out... it's my March 2009 post: Reno Air Races 1970 Darryl Greenamyer And Conquest 1 from back in the days when being in the pit meant you could get this close to an Unlimited racer while the engine was running! Wow, now that was an awesome America! #neverthoughti'dsayitbutireallymissthe70's

Awesome Top Gun Video Imagery... Red Star Style (Su-33)

 This is a fabulous collection of Sukhoi Su-33 video imagery operating off of the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier and it definitely gives off a strong Top Gun vibe. I always find it interesting to see operations like these from different cultures as it typically shows how much alike we all are as people as we work toward protecting our National ideals. I'm guessing the rush these pilots feel flying their somewhat old-school Su-33's is exactly the same as the rush an American pilot feels in an F/A-18. However, I doubt there's ever been a rush felt any bigger than the Su-33 pilot in this: Video: Sukhoi Cobra Carrier Approach - Advanced Maneuver!

 An interesting side note here is that only around 24 Su-33's were built, so it's actually a pretty rare aircraft. It was developed out of the Su-27 land based fighter of which almost 700 were built.

My First Design For The Precious Metal P-51 Paint Design Competition!

Top view of my first concept for the Precious Metal paint design competition

 I love Unlimited Reno air racers and I love awesome and effective graphic images, so having the opportunity to submit some ideas to the Precious Metal 'new paint scheme' design competition is pretty much a piece of aviation nirvana for me. I'm extremely pleased with how this first concept turned out, but it'll be interesting to see what everyone else thinks of it. I just submitted it to the Precious Metal Magazine facebook page where all the entries are posted, and I'm excited to see the responses I get.  I wait, this is the internet right? Maybe I'm not so excited after all : /

 My understanding is that the wings will be getting filled and profiled on Precious Metal, so there's a need to paint them going forward. The gold and silver on the wings in my first design is meant to be an impressive metallic paint (possibly with a mild chameleon effect in the sun) and the fuselage is still polished. The idea is to really pick up on as many 'precious metals' as possible.

Bottom view of my first concept for the Precious Metal paint design competition

 I've been a believer for a long time in the idea that race aircraft at Reno need to have the best possible paint schemes to take the races up to their highest level. Paint (and vinyl) is such an easy way to create excitement, intrigue, and possibly most important, attention. In my opinion, this design I've come up with does all that... and I'll admit that I hope you agree.

 I'm especially pleased with the asymmetrical paint on the bottom of the wings. Checkerboard on the entire bottom is still pretty cool, but it's also old-school cliche and it runs the risk of not really being noticed. But by having it on one wing only, it pretty much demands that you take notice and hopefully makes a much bolder statement that says this airplane is focused on that checkered flag! Seeing the airplane run the course from the pits or the stands with that checkerboard wing would be awesome! I also like that it gives the airplane a very different look on the ground depending which side you are on.

 Side view of my first concept for the Precious Metal paint design competition

 The side view is intentionally understated somewhat, but only in the drawing. The fuselage is still polished in my scheme (my graphic skills are pretty limited so it's kinda hard to tell) so all that awesome shiny polish would still make the view from the side amazing.

 So what do you think? Is this a hot paint scheme for Precious Metal?

Thom Richard Wants YOU To Design New Paint For Precious Metal! (Entry Deadline 1.31.13)

(click pic to enlarge) Precious Metal at Reno 2012 - she'll look different at Reno 2013!

 
 Thom Richard is not your average Unlimited racing owner/pilot... oh wait, there's no such thing as an 'average' Unlimited racing owner/pilot! My point is that Thom has a very unique style, and he seems to have more fun while playing the part of a contender in the world's fastest motorsport. And now, to add to the fun, he's got a paint scheme design competition going on to find the best new paint for Precious Metal!

 This is an exciting time in the life of Precious Metal. After having the best showing in her career at the races in 2012, Thom continues to hone her shape and to tweak the details to get more speed out of her. It's clear that for 2013 Thom Richard and Precious Metal are definitely gonna be one to watch! 

 This paint design competition excites me on several levels. First, I love dreaming up cool paint schemes, so you can be sure that I'm gonna have at least one design to submit by the January 31st deadline. Second, I believe paint is one of the most important parts of an airplane. That might sound silly, but whether you're talking about a Reno racer or a two-seat trainer, great paint design is an easy way to attract attention. Racer owners want you rooting for their team (and supporting it), and flight schools want you to have a burning desire to fly. Great paint can have an impact on both of those. (I've been saying for a long time that General Aviation needs to figure this one out!)

 Click the pic to go the facebook page with the contest rules and blank drawings
 

 Anyway, if you're into graphic design and gorgeous P-51's, here's your chance to make something big happen. Click this link for the facebook page for the new Precious Metal Online Magazine with the contest rules and blank drawings. You can also see some of the first designs that have been submitted on this page. The winner will get a General Admission and a Pit Pass to the 2013 Reno Air Races as a guest of the Precious Metal Team, and there are swag prizes for 2nd and 3rd place. Interestingly, the winner will be announced on February 9, 2013... which just happens to be my birthday! I'm gonna work very hard to try to fetch up a really cool birthday present this year! I don't need the Reno access, but I'd sure love to see a paint scheme I designed on a real contender for the Unlimited Gold at Reno 2013!

 Go Precious Metal!

Video: Forget The Beatles, The Best Music EVER Comes From The Mosquitos!

 The Historical Aviation Film Unit has just uploaded a new video of the incredible Avspecs Mosquito making some of the best stereo Merlin music ever! Forget the Beatles, it's all about the Mosquitos now! Even tho I'm a hardcore old-school radial engine guy, I have to admit that there just is no sound made by man that's better than the Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 engine... and the concert with two of them bolted to the wooden airframe of the de havilland Mosquito is just pure perfection. Some day I'm gonna publish a top ten (and also a top 100) aircraft of all time, and the Mosquito is most likely gonna be on that top ten list!

 So do yourself a favor and stop reading my words and listen to this fantastic video!

 After you've enjoyed the awesome sights and sounds of the video, you might wanna check out these Mosquito links:

Mosquito posts on AirPigz

Avspecs LTD facebook page

Would You Please Buy Me An Airplane? (Support AirPigz Today!)

VW powered Nieuport 11 replica homebuilt for sale on barnstormers.com - $8,900

Use this donate button to support AirPigz and help me buy this airplane!

($220 in donations as of 3:59pm EST on 1.13.13)
 

 This might be preposterous (btw, that's the first time I have ever spelled out preposterous in my life!) but I'm asking you to consider supporting AirPigz today with a least a $10 donation (or more, or much more if you are willing and able) so I can buy a very inexpensive flying machine. A great example, and one that I would absolutely consider if it's in good airworthy condition, is the Nieuport 11 replica pictured above that I found on barnstormers.com last night. It's a VW powered homebuilt with 160 TT and is available with an asking price of just $8,900. Just $10 from about 1,000 AirPigz friends gets me back in the air! I floated this idea on twitter and facebook last night and raised $50 already... so maybe I'm not so crazy afterall for asking : )

 But why would you give me money to buy an airplane? Good question, and I'm glad you asked. Well, I have a list of reasons starting with the fact that I'm four years into running AirPigz.com and the total amount of revenue thus far is around $1,000. That's pretty sad. And there are many reasons for it... but it isn't because I haven't been working hard! It's also not because I don't have a pretty good sized audience... I am now solidly over 50,000 page views each month with 25,000 or more unique visitors each month. It's taken quite a while to get to that level, but that's a pretty good aviation audience for a one-man operation. Seems like a small donation to support the one-man-show efforts here at AirPigz isn't really so preposterous! (you paid how much for that fancy cup of coffee?)

 Btw, this might be a good time to point out the CoolPix category here on AirPigz which includes a rather big collection of large images (many now also available in 'desktop image' sizes) - some are historical images, but many are photos I've captured and made available here for you to enjoy at no charge.

A weathered AirPigz logo and web address would look perfect on this Nieuport replica!
 

 I have spent an unbelievable amount of time developing this website as a fun and interesting outreach, and as an entertainment tool for aviation. But the ads you've seen here on AirPigz (except for the book ads like the one currently at the top right) have been just me trading promotion or service with other avgeeks. The book ads are a good idea, but so far the revenue there isn't enough to cover my $20/month blog platform fee. And, in the last 18 months, my day job as a ceramic tile and hardwood/laminate installer has picked back up to the point that it's about all I can do to keep the quality content showing up here 5 to 7 days a week. There's not much time left for figuring out the enigma of generating internet revenue. Most all of my day-job income is still going toward undoing a pretty severe financial crisis that occured in 2008/2009... I'm still on the deep stall side of the power curve!

 I'll happily answer any questions you have about my financial situation, but mostly I'd like to ask you to consider making a donation to support the quality avgeek content that I put out on a consistent basis... and if enough money comes in from this request to buy an airplane like this cute little Nieuport 11 replica, then you can feel good about putting a passionate avgeek, who has worked hard to bring the best of avgeekery to you, back in the air again. (I have about 1,000 total time but haven't been current since 1995)

Thank you for considering my request : )