LUCY THM: The Fine Line Between Genius And Insanity

From designer Pietro Terzi, the LUCY THM

Umm, the LUCY THM is, kinda unusual(!)

(5 pix + 2 videos)

 I’m guessing most of you would be quick to push this unusual bizarre looking aircraft well over on the ‘insanity’ side of the table, but I’m not so quick to do so.  I love outside-the-box thinking, tho I will admit that this seems to be a little more like inside-the-padded-room thinking.  However, I’ve learned that it’s far more wise to wait and see if someone is on to something good before I declare that it won’t work.

 The machine is called the LUCY THM (I don’t know why) and it comes from Italy and designer Pietro Terzi.  And while it appears that it hasn’t flown, you should take note that Terzi has designed other aircraft as can be seen in the last image (after the jump).  It’s also important to note that the workmanship on this carbon fiber airframe appears to be very excellent, which again should add some credibility to the concept.  Construction on the project began in 2007.

 The LUCY THM was conceived to be a ’Personal Air Vehicle’ or PAV.  That’s one of the reasons that it has those odd looking pods hanging below the cockpit… you sit in it more like a motorcycle, with your legs down in the pods.  It seems this arrangement is meant to make you feel more like the airplane is part of you, or as the LUCY website says: “a ‘technological suite’ worn to get yourself about in the air”.

 If I read the specs right, it has a max takeoff weight of about 880 pounds, so part of the idea here is to have a lightweight airframe coupled with lots of thrust to make it have great STOL performance.  And this is where I see something that I think makes a lot of sense in the design.  You can see from the images that the prop has a huge diameter, over 10 feet, and it's driven by an 84hp Hirth 2-stroke engine.  With the constant speed prop geared way down, this little machine should have some serious thrust!  And one thing I think we overlook in aircraft design is the ‘thrust’ we get out of our engine/prop combinations.  Horsepower doesn’t really mean much if a lot of it is lost at the prop.  Large slow turning props can move huge amounts of air, so I’m prepared to give the designer a lot of credit for working to make an aircraft with more thrust than its weight (which is their claim).  This is the reason they actually call it ESTOL (Extremely Short Takeoff and Landing), and why they also claim it would climb at 3,000+ feet per minute.  Max cruise is claimed at 130 mph.

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AirPigz Podcast #11: Flight Journal Editor & Pitts Fanatic Budd Davisson

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 Budd Davisson is the Editor-in-Chief of Flight Journal magazine

 
Budd also runs airbum.com with tons of aviation content from the last 40 years

 
Budd also has over 30 years experience giving dual in the Pitts Special!

Interview with Budd Davisson - 1:00:52 

 Budd Davisson has been writing about his amazing flying experiences for 40 years now, and he's still going strong!  He keeps busy as the Editor-in-Chief of Flight Journal magazine, a fabulous publication and website with an emphasis on aviation history, including detailed stories on aircraft, people and events from military aviation.

 Budd also runs airbum.com, a website full of his pilot reports and photography from the last 40 years of his work as an aviation journalist.  It's a tremendous resource for all kinds of great avgeek info.

 And if all that wasn't enough, Budd has been running a Pitts Special flight school for well over 30 years!  He specializes in teaching people how to handle the Pitts in the landing phase, and in the process winds up making much better pilots out of them.  He'll pass 5,000 hours of dual-given this year - amazing!

 This interview was especially cool for me since I first starting reading Budd's great articles back in the mid 70's when I was a teenager.  The type of aircraft he wrote about, and the informative, personal, and fun style of his writing made him by far the most influential aviation writer in my life.

Budd Davisson is sitting in the front seat of the prototype two-place Pitts Special back in 1973.  Bob Schnuerle is in the rear seat with Bob Herendeen sitting on the wing, and then Tom Poberezny, Curtis Pitts and Gene Dearing.  We talk about this fabulous photo in the interview.

Video: Wide Angle Alaska Landing With Big Wheel Super Cub

Cool Aircraft Ramp Spotters (CARS): DC-3 At KCCO (Plus Dillan!)

Dillan Rayfield with a DC-3 at KCCO near Atlanta, Georgia

 
This DC-3 is being restored at KCCO

 Bill Rayfield sent in these recent pix for a CARS post.  Not only is it cool to have another DC-3 to look at, but this is a team of Cool Aircraft Ramp Spotters!  That’s Bill’s boy Dillan showing his great enthusiasm for flying machines!  The bonus pic below shows Dillan in front of a great looking Decathlon too (it’s never too early to cultivate a love for taildraggers!)

 The DC-3 is in the restoration process at KCCO (Newnan Coweta County Airport), a nice looking airport just a little southwest of Atlanta, Georgia.  Hopefully we’ll get a lot more DC-3 pix to post as we move closer to the big 75th anniversary celebration of DC-3’s at Oshkosh 2010.  It’ll be here before long, and I gotta say I’m getting pretty excited!

 It’s also great to see a little guy with so much enthusiasm for airplanes.  We need more of that.  Thanx Bill and Dillan for being Cool Aircraft Ramp Spotters : )

Wanna be a Cool Aircraft Ramp Spotter?  Check out this CARS post for details

Dillan with a great looking Decathlon

Cool Aircraft Ramp Spotters (CARS): Paintless DC-3 At KDKX

(click pic to enlarge)

 Matthew Everett, who runs LeavingTerraFirma.com, sent in this CARS pic of a pretty sweet  looking DC-3 even if it doesn’t have any paint.  It has the faded markings of Dodson International Air, but I don’t really know any additional specifics.  But I figure with the 75th anniversary of the DC-3 upon us, and the fact that a really big celebration of one of the most important aircraft ever made is scheduled to take place at Oshkosh this year, you just can’t look/think/live 'DC-3' too much these days : )

 As this EAA story about DC-3’s coming to Oshkosh tells, there might be 50 or more headed for OSH10, with as many as 40 arriving all at once!  That sight alone is gonna make this something extremely special to see.  I can hardly wait!

And as a reminder, here’s the info on CARS submissions:

 Fresh pix please, within the last month

 Gotta be Cool!  Rare aircraft, amazing paint, unique, odd or otherwise noteworthy

 Prefer jpg file, in sharp focus and at least 600 pixels wide

 Looking for everyday airport pix, NOT airshow/fly-in pix

 Send pix, questions or comments to mcc@airpigz.com

Fantasy Of Flight: Hangar #1 Overview - Lotsa Airplanes!

 In addition to a beautiful entrance area that includes an excellent gift shop and the gorgeous Compass Rose diner, Fantasy of Flight includes some interesting diorama’s depicting WWI and WWII settings.  The bulk of the aircraft however are on display in the two main hangar areas.   In this post are some pix of the first hangar area.

 The flying boat is the Short Sunderland which has a wingspan of 112’, so you can quickly see this is a mighty big hangar!  You can see the Sunderland has wheels in this pic, but they’re actually just beaching gear to get it in and out of the water… the Sunderland is a seaplane, not an amphibian.

 It’s also very cool to see both a Stinson Tri-Motor (black and gold) and a Ford Tri-Motor (white and red) in the same hangar.  These pix are taken from an elevated walkway that runs around the perimeter of the hangar so you can get a great view of the airplanes from above in addition to seeing them from ground level.

 A closer view of the Sunderland that shows by its windows that it has two levels inside the cabin.  You can go inside the flying boat to check out the interior, but access to the cockpit area is not available.  Below the Sunderland’s wing trailing edge is the little light blue, unusual flying-car concept, the Trautman Road Air that I detailed the other day.  The German biplane at left is a Focke Wulf FW-44 Steiglitz, a WWII era primary trainer designed by Kurt Tank who also later designed the Fw-190.  In front of the Sunderland is a Stampe biplane, and as you can also see, there are a few antique cars placed around as well.

 Moving around the walkway now getting a great view of the airplanes from the golden age of air racing.  FoF is pretty much Gee Bee headquarters these days!  The yellow and black one is a Gee Bee Z replica, one of two that have been built.  This is not the one used in the Rocketeer movie, but is actually a slightly more true to the original one built in 1996.  The two-place open cockpit one is a Senior Sportster replica, and the bright white and red one is the Gee Bee R-2 replica that Delmar Benjamin flew for many years thru the 90’s.  The all red #33 is a Brown B-2 ‘Miss Los Angeles replica built back in the early 70’s.

 Here you can see the stairs that lead you into the Sunderland.  A Fokker Triplane is at right along with a really nice Spirit of St Louis replica that’s out of view.  The area at right contains a lot of interesting smaller displays including some cockpit sections that are very educational.  There’s even the only airworthy Hiller Hornet tip-jet helicopter tucked into that area!  There’s a lot more in this hangar than even these pix show, and all of it is well displayed and very interesting to see. 

 You have to look closely to be able to tell, but the huge hangar doors were open which helps you to realize that it’s pretty easy for them to pull these aircraft out and let them do what they were meant to do… fly!

check out FantasyOfFlight.com/collection for more info on the specific aircraft

Fabulous Fieseler Storch Flight Demo By Kermit Weeks

 Even tho my day at the Fantasy of Flight Museum was overcast with light rain, the daily flight demo was not held up.  Kermit Weeks, the museum founder, was on hand to demonstrate the Fieseler Storch that's on display at FoF.  It's a pretty cool museum that keeps its huge hangars doors open during the day, and then just rolls out one of the gorgeous aircraft on display and fires it up to show it off in the sky!  This was definitely one of the highlights of my FoF experience.

 Before the flight, Kermit (near the cockpit, facing the airplane) gives some interesting background info on the WWII German observation aircraft.  A good size crowd had gathered to listen and then watch it fly.

 One of the guys from the Pitcairn Autogiro crew was the lucky one to get to go along for a ride.  After the Storch fired up and taxied out, they let the people move out onto the ramp closer to the grass runway to watch.  Pretty much everyone went out to watch even tho there was a little light rain falling.

 

 The unique looking and sounding Storch was a real joy to watch as Kermit made several passes back and forth showing off the slow flying and tight turning capabilities of the airplane.

 Leading edge slats, big flaps, and ailerons that droop give the Storch some nifty STOL performance.  If I had a lot of money, I think I'd have at least one of these in my hangar for sure : )

 Right after the engine was shut down, the people were allowed right up to the airplane to get a closer look and to talk with Kermit.  He answered any and all questions.  It was obvious that the people really enjoyed being able to see the airplane fly and then spend some time with plane and pilot afterward... I know I sure enjoyed it.

 A nice look inside the Storch cockpit shows a roomy pilot's seat with some seriously good visibility out of all that glass.  All things considered, this is my idea of a nearly perfect cockpit setting.

 As the rain increased a little, under the wing became the popular place to be!  In addition to the Storch, the Pitcairn Autogiro can be seen in the background loaded on the truck getting ready for its drive back home.  

 The aerial demo is an extremely cool part of the Fantasy of Flight Museum experience and I know I'm really glad I had the chance to observe it.  The demo truly brings aviation to life for everyone to be part of... and that's one of the main objectives of the museum, to be a spark to light a fire of passion for aviation.

Video: Relentless Beauty - Nemesis NXT

Words not needed.

The Morane A-1 Tailcone As ‘Fantasy Of Flight Week’ Begins!

Entrance to the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida 

 ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ begins

 I was at Sun n’ Fun in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday just over a week ago, but Sunday turned out overcast and rainy so I decided to scoot on over to Polk City to the Fantasy of Flight Museum.  I’ve actually known about this museum since long before it was built, but I’d never had the chance to visit, so I was pretty pleased to finally be checking it out.

 My dad had been there several times, including just a few weeks before he passed away in January of 2009.  He was a really big fan of the Gee Bee R-2 and Delmar Benjamin, so he’d stop by anytime he could to see the amazing R-2 that Delmar flew at so many airshows thru the 90’s.

 There are many unique experiences to be had at the museum, and thru this week I’ll be sharing a wide variety of the ones I had .  I’ll start off by saying that this really is a fantastic facility that’s definitely a must-see for any avgeek.  It’s especially exciting to know that there are plans for so much more to be built here as time goes by!

 So, I've decided to start off ’Fantasy of Flight Week’ in an usual way, by looking closely at a small portion of one of the airplanes on display.  First, I love what flying represents in the form of freedom... breaking the bonds of gravity while also giving us the most amazing opportunity to see God’s creation from above.  But I’m also a fanatic about ’design’, especially as it relates to flying machines.  Sometimes the smallest details can really get me worked up.

 That’s exactly what happened when I saw the tailcone of the Morane A-1 at FoF.  Here’s an airplane built in 1918, not far from 100 years ago(!) with a tailcone execution that stirs me big time in 2010.  It’s really a very simple design, just a smooth tapering cone down to a very small point.  But it’s a pretty rare design element.  Very few airplanes carry a circular cross section all the way thru the tail surfaces, and in fact a large portion of the aircraft from that early era had square or rectangular cross sections.

     
The 'pointy' tailcone of the Morane A-1

I love this fabric covered tailcone with metal faring underneath!

 I realize there’s a fair chance you’ll think me crazy for fixating on such an insignificant part of a French built fighter aircraft from WWI, but you’ll get over it.  I spent almost half an hour looking at it and I’m ready to go back and see it again!

 Another thing I really like is that this it reminds me of an airship tailcone.  I’m a bit of an airship freak as well, so this Morane feeds that fire a little too.  Another part of my fascination comes from the fact that this tailcone is fabric covered.  Seeing the shape of the stringers as they all taper down to a point and then covered with cotton and reinforcing tape just tickles my core in a way that’s hard to describe.

 I’ll finish off my odd little obsession with a mention of just how cool that tail skid is, and the metal faring that runs all the way to the aft point underneath.  Wow, all this coolness in 1918!

 The rest of ’Fantasy of flight Week’ won’t be quite this eccentric, but it will be entertaining as there was a lot to see.  Lastly I’ll say that this would be a good time for any other 'tailcone freaks' to stand up and be counted!  Leave me a quick comment to let me know you get what I’m talking about… and if you think I'm a kook, then please move along, nothing more to see here : )

Unusual round cross-section tapering to a point

  
WWI French monoplane fighter: the Morane A-1

Video: AVweb And The Waco Classic At SNF10

 A really nice and fun video from AVweb covering the Waco Classic on display at Sun n' Fun last week.  You might also want to check out the Waco Classic post I put together recently, which includes a link directly to their nifty 360 virtual cockpit experience.