Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #3 - Getting Settled In (16 pix)

 Check out that long morning shadow coming off that Luscombe! Tuesday started with loads of sunshine and stayed that way most of the day. Some overcast appeared for a while in the afternoon, but it was a good day for weather.

  Mid morning had lots of activity going on at AeroShell Square. Here, Art Nalls tells a very interested crowd about his Sea Harrier. This is the only privately owned flyable Harrier jump jet in the world. 

The airplane is scheduled to put on some flight demos thru the week, and I'm sure it will attract a lot attention. I also talked with Art and we're working on doing a podcast before too long. I'm sure it will be fascinating to get the story behind the journey of pilot and airplane to reach this point.

  How'd you like to have a grandpa who would make this for you?! As I worked my way around all the goodies on AeroShell Square, I spotted this ultra-cool DC-3 wagon with some pretty happy kids in it. Tho I think they might have been getting tired waving to all the people looking at them... they were very popular!

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The Franklin's Waco 'Mystery Ship': Tear Down And In The Trailer! (50 Pix)

(Click pic for hi-res)    Kyle and Amanda Franklin: Franklin's Flying Circus & Airshow

(50 pix - 1 CoolPix - 1 video)

 The husband and wife team of Kyle and Amanda Franklin put on some of the absolute best airshow performances in the world, and they do it while being really nice people too! If you don't know about their fascinating airshow heritage, check out my podcast with Matt Younkin and Kyle from back in February to learn more. If you do know about them, you still might be surprised to learn that they take that fabulous Waco 'Mystery Ship' biplane apart and put it in a trailer after nearly every airshow they perform at.

 Kyle learned years ago from his dad Jimmy Franklin that taking the airplane apart and transporting it to the next show in a trailer had lots of advantages. You put a lot less hours on the engine this way, plus, you pretty much completely remove the variable of the weather from the equation. The wonderful speed and 'straight-line point to point' benefits of flying can quickly be undone by the weather. Maybe you've heard it said: "If you've got time to spare, go by air". And when you travel the country as much as Kyle and Amanda do, you really don't need the airplane stranded somewhere that the rest of the crew and support vehicle aren't at. Putting the airplane in a trailer keeps everything safe, and together.

 But wow, doesn't taking the airplane apart seem like a huge task? Well, it is a huge task, but with lots of advance prep, and years of experience, the job can usually be done in about an hour and a half. That's pretty amazing when you really think it thru! The whole process was something I was really interested in, so I asked Kyle if he'd let me document the disassembly process with pictures. The following 49 pictures and captions tell the story of taking the apart right after the Indy Air Show back in June. It was hot, and Kyle and Amanda were tired from a long weekend, but there was work to be done!

 I hope you enjoy this very special opportunity to see behind-the-scenes as the Waco Mystery Ship comes apart and gets secured in the trailer in preparation for moving on down the road...

The Waco was moved from the flightline to an available hangar to facilitate the tear down. Matt Younkin is sitting on the tug in the red hat, and his crew chief Jeff Gibbs is standing next to him. Matt's Twin Beech can just barely be see in the background, and there were several aircraft based at the airport in the back of the hangar.  Jeff helped Kyle and Amanda take the Waco apart (Matt wondered off : )

Kyle backing the motorhome/tow-vehicle and the trailer into position. At first glance, you just wouldn't think all that airplane is gonna fit in that trailer! But I was watching closely, and I assure you, it all did.

After letting the trail ramp down, Kyle got out the large fabric sleeve used to store all of the flying wires that come off the wings and tail. This is an exciting moment actually because 'Rocky' the dog is rather infatuated with the flying wires! He gets all excited seeing the bag coming out again. I think it's the when the wires are slid into their labeled slots that he thinks there's something alive moving thru the fabric.

 There are three dogs that travel with the crew that you'll see in the pictures here, but Rocky was by far the most enthusiastic about the airplane coming apart!

Here's a little better view of the stack of airplanes in the hangar. The disassemby process begins with screwdrivers removing lots of aluminum fairings and covers to gain access to attached bolts and pins. You also get a look at the top mounted stand that Amanda uses in parts of the wingwalking act. One of the tasks in the procedure is to remove the stand and replace it with temporary one that is used to be a safety support for the wings - details coming a few pictures down.

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OSH10 Will Be The Best Oshkosh Ever! (Bonus CoolPix-Vintage)

(click pic for hi-res)    CoolPix - Vintage: the awesome Pitcairn Autogiro at OSH09

 It’s not a gimmick, as I said last year, the best Oshkosh ever is the one you’re at RIGHT NOW! With opening day just a week away, it won’t be long before the magical experience of gathering together with thousands of like-minded avgeeks, and airplanes of every imaginable kind, will turn Wittman Field into literally the best place on Earth.

 There’s no other place I know of where so many people gather in a creative, technical, peaceful, and respectful manner, and then do so for a whole week. No where. I’m blessed to be able to go all week again this year, which will also be my 34th Oshkosh experience. I joined the EAA in 1970, the same year as the first Oshkosh (the annual EAA convention was in Rockford, IL prior to moving to OSH), and even tho I was only 9 years old, I was at Oshkosh 1970 - thanks dad!

Airbus A380 stirring up lots of dust and attracting every eye at OSH09

 I get a chuckle out of the people that go for a day or two and say they saw it all. I’ll be there all week long, I’ll cover the grounds all day long, I’ll keep moving thru the evening, and then do my best to be back out there by 7:30 in the morning… and I’ll still only scratch the surface of what this event has to offer. If it’s just some airplanes sitting on a Wisconsin airport in the summer to you, then I guess a day or two will cover it. But Oshkosh truly represents the spirit of aviation, and no aviation event can inspire a person, in a thousand different aviation ways, like Oshkosh can.

A beautiful example of the highly unusual homebuilt Dyke Delta at OSH09

 If you’ve never been to the event, and you aren’t coming this year, I encourage you to keep watch of AirPigz.com during the week from Monday July 26th thru Sunday August 1st. I’m planning to post an update every night. Hopefully these posts will help to display the amazing diversity of aircraft and people that attend, and, what you’re missing. My biggest hope is that it will inspire you to make attending next year a priority. And of course, if you know how great Oshkosh is, but you aren't able to attend this year, please enjoy these daily posts... I hope they'll help you to feel like you're there on some level : )

The remotely piloted Predator B UAV at OSH09

 And if you’re are headed to OSH10, I highly recommend you dig deep and really take the event in (use the awesome, unofficial ’events scheduler’ at OSHplanner.com to help with that), and remember, because you’re livin’ it, OSH10 Will Be the Best Oshkosh Ever!

CoolPix - Airshow: Inside Matt Younkin's Twin Beech

(click pic for hi-res)

 Sure, this CoolPix would more interesting if it was taken when Matt Younkin was sitting up front and the airplane was upside-down like the pic below, but first I'd have to figure out how to get that picture! I still think it's pretty sweet taking a look inside the beautiful ole Twin Beech that Matt does his fabulous airshows in.

 I got the pic recently at the Indy Air Show. I had never seen inside his airplane before, and I was a little surprised by how nicely it's finished off. That gorgeous headliner kinda seals the deal for me... really helps to give it that golden-age-of-aviation feel. I was also pleased with the way the pic turned out since I wasn't actually inside the airplane. I just held the camera inside and had the self-timer set so I could try to get things centered and framed well. It's almost right down the middle!

 Matt will be up at Oshkosh in July flying the Twin Beech in both the day and night shows. Between the sound, the massive smoke, and the graceful flying, it's pretty hard to beat what Matt brings to the airshow world!

Check out my podcast with Matt Younkin to learn about flying Twin Beech aerobatics

2010 Indy Air Show Pic Stream #4 - Super Sunday Airshow!

 The media and practice day at the Indy Air Show on Friday June 11th went great, but heavy rains that fell in a short amount of time very early Saturday morning caused the car-parking fields to flood.  The inability to safely park cars along with some additional weather issues caused the Saturday airshow to be cancelled.

 The hard working volunteer crews at IAS developed a plan to use the second runway and taxiway for car parking on Sunday.  This involved building a road along with loads of other logistical changes that all took place thru the day on Saturday.  By Sunday morning the weather had improved and the Mt. Comfort Airport was ready for an airshow!

 I've picked some of the better pix that I took of Sunday's airshow, and while they are shown in order, they don't represent anywhere near all of the acts that performed.  I wasn't able to catch everything, and my telephoto lens isn't strong enough to do well with the smaller akro airplanes.  You shouldn't have any trouble telling tho that the Indy Air Show is a big-time event.    

 Fortunately it hadn't rained any on Sunday morning, but the day started with the clouds just barely high enuf to get the airshow started.  As a result, the opening flag jump was not able to use the mega flag as planned, and instead this 'little' one had to be used... that is if you consider a flag several times bigger than a parachute to be 'little'!  After the struggles of Saturday, this airshow-opening flag jump was a really beautiful sight no matter what the flag size : )

  Here's Kent Pietsch in his little Interstate Cadet doing his comedy routine.  Like we talked about in my podcast with Kent a few weeks back, he drops the right aileron off the airplane early in the flight and then flies aerobatics with just the left aileron.  It's all very well done, and very entertaining.  It works especially well since the announcer stand has Kent patched thru and a funny convo takes place as he goes wacko in the sky.

 A big black Waco with smoke pouring out the exhaust would have to be Kyle Franklin!  Between the smoke, the huge radial engine sound, and the way Kyle pushes the airplane around the sky, it's modern akro with a heavy dose of early barnstorming.  The airplane looks really cool here with the sun reflecting off the lower surfaces.

 I guess Matt Younkin wanted to be sure he could make more smoke than his brother-in-law Kyle Franklin by having two big round engines!  The Twin Beech airshow is always a crowd favorite.

 Wow, that's a lot of smoke!  I did a podcast interview with both Kyle Franklin and Matt Younkin several months back and got some great insight into what it's like for them flying these big ole airplanes.  These guys are doing some of the best work on the airshow circuit.

  More Kent Pietsch... this time doing act #2: landing the Cadet on the moving platform.  I watched him do this several times at the event, and I gotta say he's really really good at it!  I've also got a post coming in the future with some behind-the-scenes pix I took of him doing this that are extremely awesome, I think you'll like 'em a lot.

 This was pretty cool... after successfully landing on the RV, They drove it right in front of the crowd on the taxiway with Kent outside the airplane and the engine still running on the Cadet.  It made a nifty way to show it off to the crowd, especially since the airplane is up high where everyone can see it.  Shortly after, they pulled back on to the runway and he made a takeoff from the RV so the airplane would be on the ground again for his deadstick routine a little later.

  I think this picture of Amanda Franklin on top of Kyle's Waco is amazing... partly because of all the smoke, but mostly because Amanda looks so comfortable and 'into it' even as the airplane begins to slide backward!  They do a fantastic wingwalking act, and it's just extra sweet that they are husband and wife.

 The 'Pirated Skies' fly-by!  How cool is that?!

 As I mentioned in a post a few days ago, Kyle and Amanda take the wings and tail off of the big black Waco and put it in a trailer to get to the next airshow.  I had the cool opportunity yesterday to get pix after the show of the entire disassembly procedure.  Watch for a detailed post coming about that before long.

  This gorgeous B-17 Flying Fortress (Yankee Lady) was rebuilt and is operated and maintained by the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan.

  Yankee Lady is very special to me because I got to go for an incredible ride on Friday evening over downtown Indianapolis.  I got some amazing pictures during the ride, check out at this link: B-17 'Yankee Lady' Ride!

  The F-18 Super Hornet taxiing by on the way to the end of the runway for a hardcore aerial demonstration.  I like to feel the ground shake!

 This was the first time I've ever caught the shockwave vapor in a pic.  Not too bad for the first time : )

 And then a couple minutes later I got this one!  If I had a better lens, this would have been my best pic ever.  It's still pretty cool because the light was hitting it all just right to create a bit of a rainbow effect, and a sparkle off the windshield.  It's really interesting looking at the way the moisture forms on the top of the wing as well.  Super Hornet!

  These three P-51's are the Horsemen Aerobatic Team.  Authentic WWII Mustangs flying close formation aerobatics to a musical score done by James Horner, the composer who did the music for films like Avatar, Titanic, Braveheart, Apollo 13 and more.  I posted the video with the story and the music here: Video: Horsemen Aerobatic Team - Why We Love The P-51 Mustang.

 They had just strated up and were heading out to take off and loiter as the A-10 flew its demo.

 The A-10 followed them out shortly after and then went right into his demo.  The pilot is Major Johnnie "Dusty' Green from the Air Combat Command's A-10 East Demo Team based at Moody AFB in Georgia.  I talked with Major Green shortly before his demo about doing a podcast interview, and it looks like we'll get that done in the next week or two!  I'm really looking forward to learning more about the Warthog from the pilot's perspective.

  Here's the A-10 in the midst of a high speed roll maneuver.  The A-10 has a unique split-aileron design that allows them to function in several different ways.  You can tell just a bit in this pic that they aren't positioned as they would be in a normal aircraft.  It'll be interesting to talk with Major Green to learn more about how these unusual control surfaces work.

  There really isn't much that needs to be said about being able to see three perfect P-51 Mustangs in tight aerobatic formation.  The sight, the sound, and the history that it represents is astonishing.  If you ever have the chance to see the Horsemen fly, do it.

 Two of the Horsemen then joined up on the A-10 to do an Air Force Heritage Flight to wrap up the 2010 Indy Air Show.  It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful day.

 Even tho the event had some serious challenges due to the weather on Saturday, it was a great success on Sunday, and best of all it raised money to support children's charities in central Indiana.  I met a lot of wonderful and interesting people this weekend and I'm already looking forward to 2011 IAS : )

2010 Indy Air Show Pic Stream #3 - B-17 'Yankee Lady' Ride!

 This near-perfect B-17 sitting on the ramp at the Indy Air Show is 'Yankee Lady' from the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, Michigan, just outside of Ypsilanti.  In addition to being on display, this WWII bomber was scheduled to do a fly-over of Victory Field, the home of the Indianapolis Indians minor-league baseball team on Friday evening June 11th.  I found out on Thursday that I was given the golden opportunity to be one of the people INSIDE the airplane for the fly-over!

 This picture is from earlier in the day on Friday, the opening media and practice day of the Indy Air Show.  After the scheduled airshow flying ended for the day, the weather got windy and it looked liked some storms might pass thru.  It was a little uncertain for being able to make the fly-over flight.  Fortunately, better skies arrived well ahead of the approximate 6:30pm departure time.  I was really glad to see that : )

 
 The crew had all of the riders collected and gathered around the airplane as we waited to board.  Since it was plenty warm outside, and would have been very hot inside sitting on the ramp, they had us stay outside, close to the airplane.  It made for another good chance to get more pix.  I've never looked at a B-17 like I did in that next few minutes.  Knowing I'd soon be riding inside changed my perspective... the history and meaning of an airplane like this became more real than it ever has before.

  The pilots were getting things squared away in the cockpit... first for the airplane in general, and second for the details of this specific flight which had us also sharing the sky over the stadium with 3 of the aerobatic airplanes from the airshow.  They were gonna fly a circle of smoke around the park and then they'd clear out and we'd make a pass right overhead.

 I like using my still camera on a monopod to get a very different perspective on airplanes.  I simply use the self timer to release the shutter, and the pix come out really nice!  It's a very poor-man's way to add a lot of punch to the photos.

 This pic shows how the monopod can be put to use.  You get a great view of the nose turret which I thought was kinda cool to see from this angle.  I had no idea that about 30 minutes later I would be sitting right on the other side of that plexi as the guy they decided to put in the only spot on the airplane that's actually in front of the cockpit.  Honestly, I'm still having a hard time believing that I a rode in a B-17, and even more that I was sitting in the nose!

 Here's the view out one of the left side windows in the bombardier area where I was seated.  BTW, I kept shaking my head at this point wondering if this was really happening!  I also had a small video camera with me but unfortunately I don't think there's gonna be much usable from it.  More on that later when I put together a second and much more detailed post about riding in Yankee Lady.

  Here we are in the air, heading over the edge of Indianapolis on our way to downtown.  This is a good time to say: if this had just been a simple ride around the pattern in a B-17, it would have been awesome.  But this ride was so much more than that!  Not only was I riding up front where I could see EVERYTHING, but we were flying about 1,500 feet above the ground heading right for downtown Indianapolis... again I'm wondering if this is all a dream : )

 While I was the only one sitting in the nose for take off and landing, we were allowed to move all around once in the air.  That gave others the chance to see out the front, but it also gave me a chance to move all over finding good places to point a camera thru.  There were several.

 This picture is from the large blister over the gunner station right behind the cockpit.  You have to climb up a bit to see out of it, so you get a little different view of looking 'down' onto the wing from here.  You can also tell that we have some bank angle here.  We made quite a few turns as the fly-over timing was worked out, and a couple of those turns were pretty tight ones too.  We spent about 10 minutes flying just outside of downtown as the akro guys were over the baseball field.  During this time I was able to move around to several different locations for fresh camera perspectives.

 Here we're looking over the arm and shoulder of flight engineer Norm Elleckson at pilot Dave Cobaugh and co-pilot Ray Hunter.  The cockpit layout is a little unusual for several reasons, but I'm gonna save those details for an extended post on this ride in the near future.  I will say that they did a fabulous job of flying the airplane and the whole crew made us all feel right at home.  They all represented the Yankee Air Museum really well.  Thank you men.

 This pic isn't the sharpest view of the pilot and co-pilot, but we had overcast skies, I was shooting thru a small plexi blister on the top of the fuselage, and they were in a somewhat dark cockpit.  Having said all that, this is essentially my favorite picture from the whole trip.  It's in seeing this picture that my strongest thoughts about the men who fought in WWII are brought to life.  To be looking right into the faces of men guiding a crew off to do battle is a very powerful experience for me.  While it's easy for us today to look at an airplane like this and think it's 'cool', it's far more important to understand the fear, pain, death and courage that was experienced by the people who did battle.

Here's another amazing view to see.  There's a plexi hatch about half way back the airplane, right in front of where the vertical fin starts.  They had decided that the chance of rain was small so they removed the hatch to give us some better cabin airflow.  The hole the hatch covers is pretty large, so it has some bars that run across it to keep you from climbing out, falling out, or doing anything else undesirable.  It made an incredible place to stick your head out of and look around.  It was especially stunning to be looking right down the vertical fin at the world moving away from us.  It was even more stunning to have that world be downtown Indianapolis as this pic shows : )

 And here's a fabulous view of downtown where you can see Victory Field in the lower left and Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Colts play, on the right.  This picture was also taken thru the hatch opening.  How cool (and crazy) is it that I'm riding in a B-17 looking at downtown Indy with my head stuck out a hole on the top of the airplane?  Wow.  

 After we had completed the fly-over, we headed straight back to the Mt. Comfort Airport.  I was back up in the nose as we made a pass over the airshow grounds.  We were also flying formation at this time with two of John Klatt's airplanes and Billy Werth in his Pitts... the akro guys who had been over the ballpark with us.  I'll have more info and pix of all that in the extended post yet to come.

 I'll also have a lot more details to share about the entire experience.  It was all such a huge blessing to me, and I'd like to thank Roger Bishop and all of the Indy Air Show staff and volunteers for the opportunity.  And of course, the Yankee Air Museum and the dedicated crew of people that keep this important part of American history flying.  You're all the best!

Video: Horsemen Aerobatic Team - Why We Love The P-51 Mustang

 I'm pretty excited to be heading down to Indianapolis later today for the start of the Indy Air Show tomorrow.  On Saturday and Sunday, the Horsemen Aerobatic Team will be flying 3 authentic WWII P-51's in the airshow, and this video shows why they (and all of us) love the P-51 Mustang so much.

 Wow.  What an airplane!

Freaky Cool LUCY THM: First Flight Coming Soon

(click pic to enlarge)

 I posted several pix and lots of info on this very unique aircraft in my LUCY THM: The Fine Line Between Genius And Insanity post a couple weeks back.  Then I sent an email to the contact address on their website expressing interest in whether or not the machine had flown yet.  I got an answer back a few days later, which is now a little over a week ago, that said they were still doing some development work and that the first flight should be made before long.

 I've got a good feeling about this most unusual aircraft, but I could be wrong... I was pretty sure Clinton wouldn't get elected the first time, and I knew he couldn't get elected the second time!  Oh well, I think it's gonna be very interesting to see what the results are of the first flight attempts.  Feel free to keep an eye out with me by watching the LUCY THM website for updated info on flight testing.  Then I'll race ya to see who can tell Batman first that his airplane is finally flying : )

AirPigz Podcast #12: Kent Pietsch Akro And The Indy Air Show!

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 Kent Pietsch and his Jelly Belly sponsored Interstate Cadet

Interview with Kent Pietsch - 37:47

 It's not every day you talk with a guy who often lands an airplane on top of a moving motorhome or pickup truck!  But that's exactly what Kent Pietsch (sounds like 'peach') does on a regular basis, as the video below shows.  He's been performing at airshows since 1974 and he does some really cool flying with his 1940's era Interstate Cadet... like landing on that tiny moving platform; or doing a crazy comedy act that has him bouncing all over the place, dragging wingtips and even losing an aileron; or his 'deadstick' routine where he does aerobatics with the engine shut down from 6,000 feet, and then stopping the airplane exactly where he wants it back on the ground. It's great airshow performing by an excellent pilot and a really nice guy.

 Kent is one of many fabulous airshow pilots that will be making the 2010 Indy Air Show such a great event to take the family to if you're anywhere near the Indianapolis area Friday thru Sunday June 11th - 13th.  It'll be my first year at the event and I'm really looking forward to it.

 In addition to Kent, other performers that I've talked to recently for podcasts that will also be at Indy are Red Bull Air Racer Michael Goulian (podcast #10) as well as Kyle Franklin and Matt Younkin (podcast #8).  These interviews really help to give you some insight into what it's like for these unique people to be flying at the highest levels.  Turns out they're all really nice people too!

 If you're an A-10 Warthog Fan like I am, you'll love seeing the Air Combat Command put on a special A-10 demonstration at Indy.  This video from 'A-10 Warthog Week' gives you a great idea of what to expect!  Check out IndyAirShow.com for all the details, schedule, and ticket info... it's gonna be more aviation than you can shake a stick at(!) and I hope to see you there : )   

I'm looking forward to some great aviation at the 2010 Indy Air Show!

 Learn more about Kent Pietsch at PietschAircraft.com

A Beautiful New Waiex (HOTY) Makes First Flight

Kip Laurie's gorgeous new Waiex with Jabiru 3300 power   photo: Sonex Aircraft

First flight for Waiex N111YX was on May 20, 2010   photo: Sonex Aircraft

 It’s kinda funny that just yesterday, in the Grand Slam Homebuilt post, I was saying how a lot of people don’t find the Sonex airplanes to be ‘electrifying’… and then this hot orange Waiex hits the scene!  It was built by Kip Laurie from Atlanta, Georgia, and the first flight was less than 2 weeks ago on May 20, 2010.  You may already know that I’ve been a fan of the taildragger Waiex for quite some time now, and even named it homebuilt of the year (HOTY) at the start of 2009!  BTW, a 2010 HOTY will probably be named at the end of this year : )

 I think the taildraggin’ Sonex is a fine airplane, but when you trade the straight tail for the V (and that tiny little rudder at the tail post!) I think an ‘ok’ airplane turns into a real hotty.  And Kip’s airplane, with that simple but awesome paint really brings the Waiex to life. 

 The fact that this little airplane can be built for under $30K puts it very close to Grand Slam status, but in my mind, that’s ultimately reserved for a single-seat airplane that can slash build and operating costs to about half of that.  It looks like the Onex (single-seat Sonex derivative) won’t be far from that, but it’s gonna need a V-tail option to have a chance of being electrifying.  So far I don’t see any mention of a V-tail for the Onex, but they are still very early in the development process. 

 But the real point here is that Kip’s orange and white Waiex is one fantastic looking airplane - great job!