Poll: Classic Taildragger - Cub vs Champ vs T-Craft

Piper J-3 Cub (photo: mvonraesfeld on flickr)

  
Aeronca 7AC Champ (photo: jwm1049 on flickr)

  
Taylorcraft BC12D (photo: davemacvac on flickr)

 When I was a teen in the 70's there were three good ole taildraggers that pretty much defined the post-war 2-seater for low and slow cheap flying. There was the Piper J-3 Cub, the Aeronca 7AC Champ, and the Taylorcraft BC12D.

 So I wondered if someone offered to give you one of the three, which would you choose? Would you take the iconic Cub with its fly-with-the-door-open capability, or maybe the all around great little flying machine known as the Champ, or would you choose to go fast and cozy in the side by side T-Craft?

 It's an easy choice for me. The Cub is my pick because of the easy ability to open the door while flying, and I also love flying solo from the back seat. All my Cub time (from 30 years ago) was in a clipped wing Cub, so if someone gave me a Cub, I'd play with it for about 10 hours of flying and then I'd chop those wings down and trade the 65hp for a 90hp and be back in the CWC buisness : )

 Vote below to let me (and the world) know which you'd choose...

My Grandfather Got His Private Pilot License August 18, 1945

My grandfather Paul Clupper's Airman Certificate (Private Pilot) dated August 18, 1945

 My dad Robert Clupper was born in 1929, and passed away in 2009... his dad Paul Clupper (my grandfather) was born in 1904 and passed away in 1985. I was going thru an old box of things of my dad's recently when I stumbled onto my granddad's certificate for his Private Pilot rating dated in 1945, along with his one and only logbook. Wow, what cool stuff to find, especially since it's all in really good condition.

 I found it interesting to see what a Private Pilot certificate looked like from way back in the day. It's actually two pieces of paper. The one above is the primary Airman Certificate, and the one below is the Airman Rating Record showing his Private Pilot rating. Even more interesting to me was the date: August 18, 1945. I'm not a very good student of detailed WWII history, but I did notice that this date seemed to be pretty close to what was the end of the war. After a quick google/wiki check I realized that my granddad got his Private just 3 days after Japan agreed to surrender, thus bringing all of the war to an end.

The Airman Rating sheet showing the Private Pilot rating - August 18, 1945

 After looking thru his logbook I found that his first lesson took place in Marion Indiana on May 29, 1944. The airplane was an Aeronca, tho I'm not sure which model. He soloed on July 13, 1944 after 9 hours of dual instruction. There's nothing all that special in those details, except it's really cool for me to see the record of my granddad learning to fly... along with the fact that he did this while the war was in progress. On September 23, 1944 I see the first entry for the Aeronca Defender NC36505, which at some point after this he became the owner of that Defender. It's the airplane in the picture below, and became the airplane that my dad would learned to fly in, sometime in either 1944 or 1945. My dad soloed it when he was 16 which became the start of a really long life's adventure that included 35 years at United Airlines.

Aeronca Defender owned by my granddad in very rural Indiana circa 1945

 My granddad would have been right around 40 years old when he learned to fly. He also was probably pretty tired a lot back in those days... it wasn't all that long since he and my grandmother had struggled thru the depression era raising my dad and his older brother (who passed away young), and they lived on a farm which required a lot of hard work. By the early 40's they were also raising two daughters. He worked in town in addition to the farm, and I remember a story about him working at a factory that built some parts for the F8 Bearcat landing gear. Life was pretty tough for a lot of people back in those days, and knowing that my granddad had the opportunity, and the joy, of learning to fly and owning a simple Aeronca Defender is really neat to me.

Airman ID card for my grandfather Paul Clupper in 1945, with fingerprints!

 So I thought this was an interesting little history lesson... probably much more for me than for you. But it's pretty cool for everyone to see these documents of old, and to hear a few details from a story of a hardworking American learning to fly and owning a humble little airplane as World War II was coming to an end. Lastly, it looks like my granddad got about 140 hours total time in... at least that's where this log book ended with only half of the pages used.

 Now I need to find the box with my dad's first logbook so I can put together another little history lesson : )

Poll: Will Anyone Really Vote For The Tri-Pacer?

(click pic to enlarge)   Taildraggin' Pacer and milk stool of a trike Tri-Pacer (photo:wiki)

 Personally I think it was a huge mistake when Piper moved the third wheel on the PA-20 Pacer from the tail to under the nose in 1953 to create the PA-22 Tri-Pacer. The Pacer went from being a cute and stylin' short wing 4-seater to becoming the flying milk stool as the Tri-Pacer. But I wondered if there's really anyone out there that thinks the Tri-Pacer is actually more attractive than the Pacer.

 So, I whipped up this little poll to see what y'all think. From just a looks or attractive standpoint, which do you think is the better looking airplane?

Setting My Thoughts On The Pitts S2C (Flying Soon With Billy Werth)

Billy Werth from Grayout Aerosports and his awesome Pitts S2C (photos: facebook)

 I'm just beginning to seek out the finer details of flying a Pitts S2C in preparation for going flying soon with Billy Werth from Grayout Aerosports in Indianapolis Indiana. His beautiful red-white-and-blue Pitts has recently been put back in the air after the typical winter tear-down for a hardworking aerobatic aircraft and there's a pretty good chance that my opportunity to give this hot and wild aircraft a try will come sometime next week.

 I was extremely fortunate to have my dad teach me how to fly when I was just 13 (1974) in a Citabria 7KCAB that he had bought new in 1973. In the following 15 years I was able to build up quite a bit of time in a variety of fun and unusual aircraft, but the most recent 15 years of my life have been almost completely void of actual piloting opportunities. There's a range of reasons why, but especially these last three years (since AirPigz has been up) have been plagued by some pretty intense financial difficulties.

 So anyway, you can imagine the excitement that's building at the prospect of strapping on a Pitts S2C with Billy in the back seat and seeing if I'm man enough to tame the beast! Actually, this is a good time to say that I don't think we're meant to tame an aircraft like this (or any aircraft for that matter) but rather our place is to work with the airplane balancing our skills against its capabilities... it's far more of a cooperative effort that leads to the greatest satisfaction and accomplishment in the sky. If you're really bent on showing the airplane who's boss, you're much more likely to end up licking your wounds.

 Although it's been a long time since I've had my hands on a stick and throttle, I'm somewhat confident in the skills I still have. This is bolstered all the more by the opportunity I had last Sunday to fly with a new friend in his 1940 Taylorcraft. He let me make the takeoff and the landing and I was pleasantly surprised that I felt completely at home. In fact, I actually felt more competent than ever before because I'm a much more mature person than I used to be... and when that's added to the skills developed early in my life, I'm a more complete package as a pilot than ever before. No doubt tho, giving the Pitts a try will stretch all my skills significantly farther than ever before. I can hardly wait!

Video: Air Racers 3D (IMAX) - Fly Into The Valley Of Speed!

Air Racers 3D opens in slected IMAX theaters April 5th and 6th (2012)

(5 pix and 2 videos)

 It would at first seem that the timing of this new IMAX theater film project called Air Racers 3D couldn't be worse... with production running thru Reno 2009 and 2010 with the goal of showcasing the amazing world of low-fast-left air racing, it seemed like the perfect concept. But then the unimaginable Jimmy Leeward Galloping Ghost tragedy took place at Reno 2011 taking the lives of 11 people and seriously injuring many more. Would the Reno Air Races even be able to continue? On the surface it seemed like maybe air racing just wasn't safe anymore... but when you look closer at the accident, you realize that tragedy is part of the human experience, and as much as we wish life could be completely safe with all the right planning, the truth is that lives are lost everyday as a result of circumstances that simply couldn't be prepared for.

 With the spirit of air racing fans intact and the desire to move forward with safety the number one priority (as it has always been) the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) announced in early January the intention to move forward with plans for the 2012 Reno Air Races, working hard to secure all the needed permits and approvals. And now, Air Racers 3D not only has its place as a film, but you might even say that the timing for it now actually couldn't be any better. The reason is that this amazing IMAX film will do much to help others see what air racing is all about... more people than ever before will see that this isn't a pack of wild out-of-control pilots, but rather that Reno air racing is a large number of incredibly dedicated individuals and teams that work very hard to safely bring the fastest motorsport in the world to thousands and thousands of enthusiast fans. Air Racers 3D is actually in a position to help the sport of air racing to survive.

Young champion Steven Hinton is showcased in the Air Racers 3D IMAX film

 As can be seen in Air Racers 3D trailer video above, the visuals for this IMAX film are amazing. The 45 minute film will give us all the kind of visual experience most of us have wanted to have but never expected to get. The film crew had unprecedented access to the races, the teams and the airplanes... and when you add IMAX cameras and the IMAX theater, the end result will be incredibly dramatic.

Amazing cockpit view on the Reno air race course... F7F Tigercat off your wingtip!

Click to read more ...

Poll: Which Vintage Two-Seat Taildragger RG Trips Your Trigger?

Early 1950's all-metal Meyers 145... a poor man's P-51? (photo: edcoatescollection)

 Way back in the day, a two seat taildragger with retractable landing gear was not too hard to find. While only 22 of the Meyers 125/145 were built, a whopping 1,521 Globe/Tempco Swifts were built and several hundred of the pre-war Culver Cadet were built. These affordable, fairly fast and economical little beasts were pretty popular thru the 50's 60's and 70's. They're not so common today, but they're still around putting smiles on the folks who fly them.

 I thought it might be fun to see which one of the three trips your trigger the most. It might be all about looks... or maybe you like the performance or the efficiency of one over the others... or maybe you've experienced one of the three at some point in your life and you just can't stop thinking it's awesome. Whatever the case, vote in the poll at the bottom of the post to let your opinion be known.

 The all-metal Globe/Tempco Swift introduced right after World War II (photo: wiki)

The dashing all-wood prototype Culver Cadet from the late 1930's (photo: culvercadet)

It's easy for me to pick my winner - if you've been paying attention in the last year, you probably already know which one I voted for... now it's your turn : )

Video: RC Floppy Wing Flyer Loves To Fly Slow!

 
 My friend Gary (youtuber sr71afan) makes some of the coolest simplified RC foam flyers and fun little videos to go with them. By going with hyperlightweight foam and flying either indoors or in still outside air, he experiences a purified beauty of flight that really clicks with me... I hope it clicks with you too.

 This one is a very conventional looking taildragger with such a lightweight wing structure that the wings sag on the ground and have loads of dihedral in the air. The takeoff roll from a standing start looks to be under two feet and the overall slow flying is very relaxing to watch. And don't be impatient and give up after 30 seconds... if you do you'll miss the flight thru the lean-to porch at :50 (after the spectators clear a path), and even more important, you'll miss his sweet formation flight with a full scale aircraft passing overhead at 2:45. It's more of the creative RC flying that makes Gary's videos so much fun to watch. His hat-mounted video cam is also a big part of what makes his videos different. As long as he's watching the airplane, we are too. Plus, that's why we get some passes that go by so close to the camera.

 I've just created a new AirPigz category labeled sr71afan so you can easily check out the other videos from Gary, some of which are him flying and some are other cool flyers. Enjoy!

CoolPix: The Rather Amazing 1930 Handley Page H.P.42/H.P.45 (+ Video)

The huge 4-engine, 130' wingspan Handley Page H.P.42 airliner introduced in 1931

 (click pic for hi-res)

 My self-directed aviation education as a kid was built around books that my dad had, and while I learned about airliners of the late 20's and very early 30's like the Ford Trimotor and the Boeing 80A, I never knew anything about the Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45. I suppose the fact that it was operated by Imperial Airways on European, Indian, and South African routes might have had something to do with that. While I learned about lots of foreign military aircraft, my early airliner exposure was mostly United States oriented.

 So, the H.P.42, what an amazing beast! With four Bristol Jupiter engines making 490hp (550hp on the H.P.45) and wingspan on the top wing of 130 feet, this was one big airplane! Big enough to actually have two passenger cabins, one forward of the wings and one aft... with the ability, depending on configuration, of carrying 38 passengers and a crew of 4. Pretty amazing given the time period, and the relatively low overall horsepower.

 The one big trade-off that these airplanes had was that they were darn slow. With a cruise speed of just 95 to 100 mph, you'd better hope you didn't have a very strong headwind! Eight of the big birds were built, (four H.P.42 and four H.P.45), and while none survive today, they served in an airliner capacity for about 9 years, during which time no lives were lost - quite an impressive record for the 1930's.

 Aviation history is full of fascinating aircraft that represent a tremendous accomplish for their day, and the Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45 were pretty amazing flying machines. Interestingly, there was a project seeking to build an authentic replica of the aircraft, tho it's hard to tell if it's still in the works these days or not.

 Be sure to watch the video below that shows this big bipe in the air!

Another Biplane Racer At Reno 1970: Bill Warwick's Hot Canary

(click to enlarge)  Bill Warwick's Hot Canary biplane racer on the ramp at Reno 1970

 Not long ago I posted some pix that my dad took of the all metal biplane racer Sorceress at the Reno Air Races in 1970 , and today it's a pic of another one-of-a-kind biplane racer, the Hot Canary. I wish I had more pix of this little cutie... we probably did have at one time but we lost several boxes of old aviation photos 30 years ago. Ugh. Oh well, at least I still have this one pic of the biplane racer that I picked as my fave. Sorceress was very cool, and even as a 9 year old kid I knew it represented something quite fantastic, but the Hot Canary did a better job of mixing an edgy racer with cartoon whimsy. As a kid, I liked that. I was also drawn to its simplicity. There weren't a lot of curves, but from a design point of view, it still looked very cool. I liked the Hot Canary so much I even built an RC model of it back in the late 80's. That model was a great flyer at both ends of the speed range.

 Anyway, the early 70's were an exciting time for specialty biplane racers. There was Sorceress, Hot Canary, Sundancer, and this sweet Ford powered concept. I sure wish we'd seen this idea really take hold as there's no end to the cool ideas for fast little airplanes with two wings. I guess it's easy to wonder why would we ever build any biplane racers in the first place when there's every reason to believe that they'd never be as fast as a monoplane racer. But if you're gonna ask that question, you might as well wonder why we build racers at all. Racing is really all about passion and competition. And airplanes with two wings have being stirring up passion in the human being for about a hundred years now!

 So, the Hot Canary. It was designed and built by Bill Warwick in the late 60's. According to an article from 1998 in EAA's Sport Aviation: Bill Warwick was an aviation professional who was employed by Northrop Aircraft for 36 years and ultimately retired as manager of the company's engineering test lab. During the course of that career, he was involved in many of Northrop's highly secret black projects, including the Stealth Bomber, but on his own time he was the quintessential EAA member and homebuilder. It's always interesting to see aerospace guys who still have their heart in the simple, small homebuilt aircraft! Also of interest, the very first Thorp T-18 was built by Bill in the early 60's. The Hot Canary was Bill's attempt to get in on this idea of creating one-of-a-kind biplane racers.

 Bill qualified in both 1970 and 1971 at Reno with speeds over 170 mph (on a 125 hp Lycoming O-290) which meant it was a contender right from the start. The airplane never won at Reno tho as it's always a challenge to have everything come together at the right time to wind up crossing the line first. I don't have info on whether the Hot Canary raced after 1971, but at some point in time, Bill donated the airplane to the EAA museum. In fact, it used to hang from the ceiling right inside the main entrance of the fabulous Oshkosh facility. The original Red Devils Pitts Specials were right over your head in the entrance and the Hot Canary was tucked off to the side. Now that the Eagles Aerobatic Team aircraft hang in the entrance, the little yellow racer has been moved. It's no longer on display in the museum, but now it's over on the EAA grounds above the offices in the in the FAA Building. Hopefully there will be a day when it gets back into the museum.

 Lastly, I'm beginning to collect photos (there aren't all that many) and info on all four of these unique and extreme bipes with hopes of putting together a very detailed post sometime in the future. I think they represent a fascinating and almost completely forgotten part of American aviation... and I'm gonna do what I can to keep their memory alive.

Video Proof: Chickens CAN Fly! (Awesome Italian Homebuilt)

 I've got a couple suggestions for you when watching this first-flight video of a fascinating homebuilt that appears to be from Italy. First, turn down the volume - the music gets old really fast. Second, after watching the takeoff, feel free to jump ahead to about the 4:00 mark to watch the perfect landing, unless you like watching small aircraft fly around way off in the distance. And third, feel free to be impressed by how well this oversized chicken flies!

 It's mostly the paint and the high thrust line that makes this aircraft unique, but I really like the unusual panoramic windshield that wraps around the whole front of the fuselage. It's comic book 1930's retro made real, and I love it. Actually, I kinda love the whole chicken theme! You can see a coop full of pix over at this facebook page and I'm pretty sure more info will surface soon on this wild flying chicken : )

See more pix of the amazing flying chicken over at this facebook page