Chip Yates will have his electric Long-EZ at the Mojave Experimental Fly-In April 20th
As if having the world's most fascinating collection of aerospace companies gathered together on one California desert airport wasn't enough, the Mojave Air & Spaceport will also be attracting a very sweet collection of experimental aircraft tomorrow April 20th for the Mojave Experimental Fly-In. Chip Yates and his fast (over 200 mph) electric-powered Long-EZ will be there along with many other unique and impressive homebuilt and race aircraft from the past, present, and future. Race aircraft like the biplane speedster Phantom and the amazing over 400 mph Nemsis NXT will be there, along with Burt Rutan's Catbird, and a wide range of other great aircraft... you can get a better idea of what's expected to attend by checking out mojaveflyin.com.
In addition to the extremely cool aircraft to look over (and their pilots and owners to talk to), Scaled Composites will have reps at the event as well as Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company.
I had planned to make the trip to Mojave to soak up all this fabulous experimental avgeekery and bring back a boatload of pix to share with you, but my regular work schedule got in the way again and I won't be able to get there. Hopefully I'll still be able to fetch up some great images from some sources out there for a sweet follow-up post.
If you're deeply interested in cutting-edge aerospace design and manufacturing on the fringe of the future, Mojave is definitely the place to be!
The mysterious Apollo voyage to the bottom of the sea is really a by-product of every Apollo mission that left the Earth... the engines and booster stage returned to Earth after burning for approximately 165 seconds, reaching about 205,000 feet. Interestingly, the momentum carries the booster up to about 360,000 feet before it begins to descend. While falling, the booster stage assumes a semi stable engines-down position until impact with the ocean. The pieces and parts then make their way on down to the ocean floor.
And now, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (who also founded the low-cost spaceflight development company Blue Origin) along with a very skilled team of deep sea searchers has located two of the Rocketdyne F1 engines used to launch an Apollo Saturn V rocket. These two engines might actually be from the Apollo 11 mission according to this page on the BezosExpeditions website. The info on that page is from nearly a year ago tho, so we may find that these engines are from a different Apollo mission. Makes no difference to me... spent F1 engines that can be recovered and restored for viewing are awesome no matter what mission they were on!
The engines were located 14,000 feet below the surface in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral, and as the video shows, they were viewed and recovered by Remotely Operated Vehicles. It's quite stunning to see these F1 engines in the cold blackness of the ocean so many years after they spent a brief amount of time in the cold darkness of the edge of space.
(click pic to enlarge) F1 rocket engine thrust chamber on ocean floor (Bezos Expeditions)
The Saturn V first stage (known as the S-1C) had five of the F1 engines mounted, one fixed engine in the center and four gimballed around it for controlling the flight path. These were, and still are, the most powerful rocket engines ever built: creating over 1,500,000 pounds of thrust on an empty weight of just 18,500 pounds. But just imagine the weight in the fuel tanks! 318,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 203,400 gallons of kerosene - wow! Each F1 engine stands 19 feet tall and has a diameter of 12.3 feet. The total liftoff thrust produced by the S-1C and its five F1 engines for the Apollo 15 mission was 7,766,000 pounds!
Jeff Bezos has said that the recovered engines remain the property of NASA but is hopeful that after the National Air & Space Museum most likely gets one of them that maybe the Museum of Flight in Seattle might get the other one. Time will tell. Plus, they may be able to locate and recover more engines as well.
After SpaceX solved an issue with the oxidizer tanks on the most recent Falcon 9 launch, their streak of excellent success with five Falcon 9 launches is intact. That's quite an impressive feat. And last week, on Thursday March 7, 2013, they had a successful record-altitude flight of their Grasshopper reusable rocket demonstrator. On its fourth test flight, Grasshopper reached 262.8 feet in altitude... and while a flight to an altitude of just under half the height of the Washington Monument might not seem like much to write home about, it really is a remarkable accomplishment.
The rock-solid stability and control on Grasshopper can be seen in the video, which includes some onboard views. It would be easy to think it was some sort of animation rather than a real free-flying rocket-powered flying machine. Wow, this thing is very well programmed! Grasshopper lifted off the pad, climbed to almost 263 feet, and then it returned back to the pad with a soft landing near the center! It appears to have been a perfect 34 second flight. This thing really does look like science fiction.
All this testing is moving toward the day when SpaceX will have the ability to retrieve the launch vehicle with a controlled descent and vertical landing rather than allowing it to burn up on re-entry as essentially all boosters have done in the past - except for the Shuttle SRB's. This new reusable concept should allow for cheaper launch costs and quicker turn-around.
Congratulations SpaceX, your work is outstanding!
SpaceX Grasshopper launching on its 4th flight on Thursday 3.7.13 (photo: SpaceX)
(click pic for hi-res) Shuttle Endeavour during one of her 25 missions: 1992-2012
I could say a lot about the decline of the United States of America since the 1960's... the decline in our accomplishments in the space program, along with the dramatic weakening of our wealth and super-power status. I could also say a lot about the diminished prospects for our future as we continue turn our back (under the influence and manipulation of the government and the mainstream media) on nearly all of the qualities and characteristics that made us stand apart from (and above) the other countries of the world. I could, but I won't. With the game nearly over, what's the point of it now?
So instead, I'm just taking time to point out something beautiful. While the Space Shuttle Program seems a rather simple achievement compared to Apollo's moon mission, it was still a remarkable human accomplishment. This hi-res NASA image of Shuttle Endeavour during one of her 25 missions (1992-2012) definitely speaks to the wonder and beauty of putting the shuttle into orbit. And, now that I've seen Shuttle Discovery up close and personal at the NASM Udvar-Hazy facility during the recent AirPigz Museum MeetUp, seeing this image of Endeavour has a far greater impact on me.
I miss the days when the United States of America was sending shuttles into space.
(click pic for hi-res) The unique textures of the skin on Space Shuttle Discovery
The first day of the AirPigz National Air and Space Museum MeetUp was agreat success! 13 people in all gathered today at the Udvar-Hazy Center to enjoy a fabulous collection of great aircraft. It was a great start to three days of avgeekery and friendship that should see several more people join the event as we move into Washington DC to tour the legacy NASM facility on the National Mall tomorrow. It's sure to be another fantastic day!
I had hoped to have the energy to post several pix from today, but I'm just a bit too tired for that... but I have selected what I think is a very interesting look at one of the star exhibits at the Udvar-Hazy, Space Shuttle Discovery. This CoolPix gives you the opportunity to see the unique textures of the some of the shuttle's outer skin. I was surprised to see that there's A LOT of texture on the surface of the shuttle. Much of the white-colored areas of the orbiter are actually somewhat quilted fibrous silica batting material. I think it's fascinating to see these textures and other details up so close when you click the pic to open it up big.
It was an incredible experience walking around Discovery and seeing her in such detail up close. Despite her well-used appearance, she is a stunning beauty! The 10 hour drive over here from Indiana was worth it just to be able to stand in the presence of this significant space traveler. I'll be posting more detailed pix later of Discovery, but now it's off to sleep with dreams of seeing the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St Louis, the Bell X-1 and so much more at the National Mall building tomorrow!
This recent video shows some of the reasons why the Mojave Airport is a genuine Mecca for aerospace innovation and progress. It's like a real-world and modern day Frontierland! The combo of being literally in the middle of nowhere along with an airport management that understands how their cooperation is directly related to the success of the many companies based on the airport means that the Mojave Air & Spaceport creates the near-perfect environment for true innovation. The freedom from highly populated adjacent areas, and from the often ridiculous overly-restrictive rulemaking mindset allows for thinkers, big and small, to test their ideas here like no other place on Earth allows.
Mojave Airport has represented true American innovation at its very best!
Mojave is a Wild-West full of modern cowboys (and cowgirls) that are truly inventing the future. I've said this before and I'll say it again... if life wasn't standing in my way, I'd be trekking west to Mojave to see how I could carve out my little piece of the future of aviation and aerospace! I'll add that my favorite line in the video comes from Dick Rutan (at 2:40) "Don't be afraid to fail... you learn more thru failure than you do thru success. Every single time."
(click pic for hi-res) Looking deep inside the exhaust nozzle of the X-15's rocket engine!
I captured these two pictures at the end of January 2012 during the AirPigz meetup at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio, but before I tell you any more about why I think these pix ar so cool, I wanna tell you that I've recently decided that there's gonna be an AirPigz meetup on Fri thru Sun (January 25, 26, 27 - 2013) at the National Air & Space Museum (both the National Mall facility and the Udvar-Hazy) near Washington DC. I don't have any more details yet to share just yet but there will be a dedicated post coming soon with more info. If you're interested in possibly making the trip to tour the museum and meetup with other avgeeks in the process, click here to send me an email to be added to the info list for the AirPigz January 2013 National Air And Space Museum MeetUp.
Now, back to these X-15 pix... only three North American X-15's were built. X-15-A-3 (#56-6672) was destroyed in a tragic accident that took the life of Michael Adams in 1967 when control was lost and the airframe broke up due to extremely high g loading. The other two remaining X-15's are the one on display in the Research & Development Gallery at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio (X-15-A-2 #56-6671) and the one hanging from the ceiling at the National Mall building at the National Air And Space Museum in Washington DC (X-15-A-1 #56-6670). The amazing thing about the X-15 on display in Dayton Ohio is that the R&D Gallery is set up to allow you to walk right in-and-around the aircraft! It's a most amazing opportunity to be within inches of these historic aircraft. (please remember, no touching!)
When I walked around behind the X-15 I was really taken by the opportunity to look right up inside the rocket engine exhaust nozzle... realizing that back in the 1960's when I was just a kid a massive amount of thrust (up to 57,000 pounds) had expanded thru here and pushed this little black beast at speeds up to and well over 4,000 mph! (the fastest X-15 flight was in 1967 at 4,519 mph) - And I'm standing looking right inside that nozzle. Wow. Amazing. (learn more about the Reaction Motors XLR99 that powered the X-15)
Then I noticed that the view inside the nozzle was actually kind of artsy looking. But way more than just artsy, this cool visual was the business end of one of the most amazing aircraft ever designed and built! So I did a little playing around trying to get a really good image looking only at the radial grooves, the coloration inside the nozzle, and the actual central port. The picture above is that view. One of these days I'm gonna have a big enlargement of that hanging on my wall... and if things go like I hope, you might too.
(click pic to enlarge) Wider exhaust view of X-15-A-2 (#56-6671) at the Air Force Museum
This second picture is here to give you a better perspective of what you're seeing in the tight shot. And again, the most amazing part of the X-15 experience at the Air Force Museum's R&D Gallery is that you can walk right around this incredible piece of aviation/aerospace history. Truly a fantastic American moment right there! I'm looking forward to seeing the other X-15 at the Air And Space Museum in Washington DC in late January, but I gotta say I'm ready at any time to get back to Dayton and see this beast up close and personal once again : )
While this interview is clearly from a non-aviation perspective, it is done without any crazy questions or glaring errors like when MSNBC reported that Felix actually went faster than the speed of LIGHT. Mostly it's a chance to see Felix as Felix and to hear him talk a little about the spin he encountered in freefall, along with some great footage from the balloon ride and the amazing spacedive.
Screenshot from video showing prior press conference footage of Felix and Joe Kittinger
This fabulous time-lapsed video labeled 'Mission 26' (Endeavour had 25 missions in space, this is Mission 26) shows that 12 mile journey in HD and with great beauty. And I'm really glad to see that the people of the LA area came out in large and very supportive numbers to catch a look of Endeavour on her way to her resting place. It looks like a job very well done by everyone : )
Amazing screenshot of Endeavour on her way thru the streets of L.A. last weekend
The Red Bull Stratos team had calculated that Felix Baumgartner would very possibly go supersonic on a spacedive from 120,000 feet... and with the actual stepping off point of 128,097 feet last Sunday, his chances for that high of a speed seemed even more likely. Interestingly, MSNBC reported that Felix actually went faster than the speed of LIGHT on Sunday! Wow! That would have really been impressive! However, I'm pretty confident that Felix did not exceed the speed of light during his spacedive, and I'm pretty sure that my long-held opinion that MSNBC doesn't have the first clue remains solidly intact.
But concerning the speed of SOUND, the unofficial report from the Red Bull Stratos team is saying that Felix went Mach 1.24 or about 833 mph. The higher exit altitude would seem to fit with the idea that Felix not only got past the speed of sound, but got well past it. And unlike the speculation offered up by some before the attempt, Felix didn't burn up and he didn't explode when he exceeded the sound barrier. In fact, he didn't even feel anything when he went supersonic.
Felix Baumgartner head down in a Red Bull Stratos test jump in June 2012
But I'd like to offer up a little different perspective here. I'm guessing Felix's speed was really more like about 200mph. Am I doubting that Felix went supersonic? Of course not. I'm a huge fan of what was accomplished by the entire Red Bull Stratos team (and their subcontractors) and I'm quite confident that Felix did exceed the speed of sound while in freefall. But the kind of thinking that was sure he would burn up or explode if he went supersonic is also a little confused in wrapping their head around that 833 mph figure. Felix's airspeed, meaning the the speed that would have registered on an airspeed indicator if he had one, was most likely more like 200mph.
Great overview video of the entire mission: launch to landing
Since there was so little air when he was at the extremely high altitudes, the air pressure he felt was greatly reduced despite the high speed he was traveling. My speculation is that from an actual airspeed perspective, this jump felt about the same as it would have if he had made if from 15,000 feet and gone head-down in freefall. Given the extra mass that Felix had with the equipment he was wearing, the relatively aerodynamic shape of the snug fitting suit and helmet, and the head-down position, he would likely be able to hit up to about 200 mph on any skydive. A typical skydiver in a flat stomach-toward-the-earth position falls with an airspeed around 120 mph. But when that typical skydiver pulls their arms back to their side and goes into a head down position, they can easily reach 180 mph.
So, the point here is that while Felix did go supersonic, it really felt like a pretty normal airspeed to his body and suit. Anyone thinking that it was like Felix was driving a convertible car at 833 mph on the ground needs to think again. However, there were lots of other factors on this jump that made it hardcore extreme. With temperatures as cold as -90 Fahrenheit to fly thru, the lack of life-supporting oxygen outside the suit, the extreme low atmospheric pressure, and the length of time that Felix was living inside that suit (both physiological and psychological stress) before the actual jump all made the mission both a huge challenge and extremely dangerous.
For me tho, one of the most impressive and powerful parts of the whole project is found in the words that Felix spoke just before he left the capsule:
I know the whole world is watching right now and I wish the world could see what I can see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are... I'm going home now.
Well done Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team!
Friday, April 19, 2013 at 08:02AM 
Chip Yates will have his electric Long-EZ at the Mojave Experimental Fly-In April 20th
