Video: Avspecs Mosquito Engine Run - First Flight Getting Close!

 Avspecs Limited based on Ardmore Airfield in Aukland New Zealand is getting very close to having their incredible de Havilland Mosquito restoration project completed and flying. Wow, how cool is that! When it's back in the air it'll be the only flying Mosquito in the world. It's being restored for Jerry Yagen and his collection of flying aircraft at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach Virginia, and the quality of the work is simply stunning. The video above shows a recent run of the Rolls Royce Merlin engines... and if you didn't know, the only thing better than a warbird with a Merlin engine on it is one that has two of them!

(click pic to enlarge)  1942 photo of the beautiful and amazing de Havilland Mosquito
 

There's a special open house for the airplane taking place a week from today on September 29th at Ardmore that'll draw a crowd of Mosquito fans in addition to survivors that were crew on the Mosquito. It's sure to be a very special event for everyone who attends.

 You can see some additional photos of the restoration project on the Avspecs facebook page, and I'm sure we'll be seeing an excellent first flight video before too long. The extra video below is one from back in July that shows some of the effort that's gone into putting this amazing aircraft back into the air. The de Havilland Mosquito is an incredible airplane and this restoration is nothing short of spectacular!

CoolPix: Reno 2012 - Precious Metal Evening Engine Run... Wow!

(click pic for hi-res)  Precious Metal engine run on Thursday evening 9-13-12 at Reno

 I had several really great opportunities to take my photography up a few notches at the Reno Air Races this year, and one of the best of them was when Thom Richard moved his Rolls Royce Griffon powered P-51 Precious Metal out onto the Reno/Stead Airport ramp for an engine run up after the sun had set. Thom adds a lot of fun to the Reno pilot list with a very outgoing, open and accessible style... and when you add in that beautiful counter-rotating prop P-51, you get a really colorful addition to the Reno Air Races scene!

 The possibility of having the chance to capture an image like this one is exactly why I packed a full size tripod (disassembled) into my small suitcase for the trip. And when I found out that he was gonna do this after-sunset engine run, I knew there'd be some sort of cool prop effect going on, especially since the prop was very freshly polished. You may already know that the prop on Precious Metal this year is actually an all new one. This one has longer blades with a very different tip shape. The reworked prop has added 64 mph to the airplane's top speed! That's a huge increase and has put the airplane in the position of being faster than it's ever been in its race history. In fact, the race on Friday last week was the first 'Gold' race that the airplane had ever been in. If not for the pesky loss of an inner gear door during the Championship Gold race last Sunday, Precious Metal stood a very good chance of being in third place. It's exciting to realize that the future is looking very bright for this shiny Unlimited racer.

 I had the chance to sit down with Thom last Thursday and got some cool details on the changes to the prop - I'll have that post will be up before long. For now tho, I've taken one of the best pix from the evening engine run and put it here as the CoolPix image above. It's also available below in four popular desktop sizes in case your looking for something a little different for your computer's desktop pic. Those six polished blades made some wild reflections from the lights off in the distance. It really makes that wild prop combo look electrified! And you always gotta love some blue flames coming out of the exhaust too! Enjoy : )

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Steven Hinton And Team Strega Win Unlimited Gold At Reno 2012! (16 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge)  Reno 2012 Unlimited Gold champion Steven Hinton with Strega

(16 pix - click any pic to enlarge)

Get Reno Air Race results on this RARA page

 The winning streak for Steven Hinton and Strega continued as the pair breezed thru qualifying, the individual Heat races, and then the Gold race (Sunday September 16, 2012) to become the 2012 Reno Gold Unlimited champion! Congratulations to Team Strega for being fast, dependable and consistent... three things hard to achieve in the world of Unlimited air racing.

 But the real winner at Reno 2012 was the event itself - along with all the fans around the world that are passionate about the human desire to push ourselves to the limit. Reno 2012 was safe, extremely well run, and had sufficient attendance to show everyone that the world's fastest motorsport is prepared to move into the future and toward the 50th anniversary for next year 2013. Given the challenges encountered in the last year since the Galloping Ghost tragedy, it's truly amazing that the event was able to run this year. The hard work and dedication of so many has kept this long standing tradition alive and renewed our spirits. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of the event once again and I look forward to many more years of the National Championship Air Races!

Steven and Strega in Friday's Heat 2A race  (stylized from an image I captured)

 Here are 14 more pictures from the race on Sunday to give you a little feel for how well things went. The weather was perfect and the racing was great. Hoot Gibson finished second in September Fury and Dennis Sanders finished third in good ole Dreadnought. Thom Richard in Precious Metal was out of the race after just a lap or two when it was discovered that an inner gear door had left the airplane and was slowing it down significantly, and Stewart Dawson in Rare Bear pulled up and out later in the race. Both airplanes landed without incident bringing the 2012 Reno Air Races to a safe conclusion. Brent Hisey in Miss America and Curt Brown in Sawbones filled out the field of seven Unlimited Gold racers.

 With the 2012 event a great success, and the talk that Strega will be retiring now, the future is wide open for Unlimited air racing. It'll to be interesting to see where Steven winds up and if more Unlimited teams will emerge as it's clear that air racing is very much alive and well.

Steven and Team Strega leading the parade to the starting spot in front of the grandstands

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14 Pix From 2012 Reno Air Races (Thru Sunday Morning 9-16-12)

(click pic to enlarge)  September Fury and Hoot Gibson in Heat 2A on Friday at Reno

(14 pix - click any pic to enlarge)

 It's been an awesome Reno Air Races thus far and we've got the big races going on yet today. I tend to keep my focus on the Unlimited Class, and once again we find Strega controlling the racing. Yesterday's Heat 3A finished with the same order of Strega, September Fury, Rare Bear, Precious Metal and Dreadnought in the top five slots. Remarkably, everyone finished with almost the exact speeds that they all ran in Friday's Heat 2A. The speed spread runs from Strega right around 472 mph on down to Dreadnought at around 420 mph.

 Based on what I've seen so far concerning the qualifying speeds seen earlier in the week from the various aircraft, along with the strategy of the teams over these last few races, it's fairly safe to say that this could be a fantastic Unlimited Gold race later today. Strega is strong as always and appears to have more speed if needed... but the other aircraft have shown the potential to be able to give some serious chase when it's needed. There's some real competition potential here. It's gonna be great.  

 Following is a collection of pix from the last few days... there's not enough time to share a lot of details now so you'll just get some captions along with one more encouragement from me to get to started right now making plans for next year and the 50th anniversary of the Reno Air Races - September 11-15, 2013. 

Get Reno Air Race results on this RARA page

Precious Metal and Thom Richard in yesterday's Unlimited Gold Heat 3A (4th place)

Strega and Steven Hinton in yesterday's Unlimited Gold Heat 3A race (1st place)

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CoolPix: Rare Bear And Strega - Thursday Evening At Reno 2012

(click pic for hi-res) As the sun was low I found Rare Bear & Strega together on the ramp

 The evening sun was wonderful at Reno last evening (as it often is here) and while a really sweet photo op that had been planned for Rare Bear and Strega kinda fell apart, there were a few moments where the two were in a pretty nice frame together. So, here's a great view of the top two qualifiers in the Unlimited Gold, both qualifying less than 10 mph away from 500 mph! There's an Unlimited Heat coming up late this afternoon that I actually have the opportunity to be out at a key pylon for to get some really good pix... that's why this is a pretty simple post, I need to get myself ready to be shuttled out there.

 I've been busy fetching pix all day already and should have something more detailed for you to check out before long. Until then, I hope you enjoy this hi-res CoolPix picture of two of the most fascinating airplanes on the planet : )

The Human Spirit Is Thriving At Reno 2012 - Thursday 9-13-12 (8 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge) Precious Metal last night in the pit area at the 2012 Reno Air Races

 (8 pix - click any pic to enlarge)

 A year ago when the 2011 Reno Air Races suddenly came to an end on Friday with the tragic accident with the Galloping Ghost that took 11 lives, it was very hard to speculate on whether we'd be here again this year or not. I'm very happy to be able to report that not only are we here, but the mood is good, strong and it just feels right. The event is acknowledging what happened last year, including a presentation mid day today that praised the heroic efforts of the first-responders and others that were involved in dealing directly with the tragedy. And of course, expressing care and concern for the families of those who were lost and for the many injured who will forever deal with the outcome of the accident.

 A great human spirit rose up when the accident occured to help those in need, and that spirit is very much alive and well here today at the races. I absolutely believe is was right to pursue moving forward for 2012, and based on what I've seen so far, we are all stronger for the determined effort that has made it all a reality.

 I arrived on-site at Stead Airport just as the sun was setting Wednesday evening. I quickly found myself with the opportunity to hang out with Thom Richard (the pilot and driving force behind the Precious Metal P-51) and his crew at their spot in the pit area. Wow, what a great way to experience coming back to Reno... a great group of people passionately pursuing life and their dreams. And then today I had the chance to sit down with Thom and talk about the significant changes to the 6-blades on the counter-rotating props on Precious Metal for this year. If things go well I'll share those details soon. Btw, if you think that PM looks kinda purple in the pic above, that's just a multi-color party light shining off the polished skin. (check out another pic I took that Thom posted on his facebook page : )

 The following are some pix from today (Thursday) with short captions. As a one-man-show, it's hard to get pix and info and then get them posted with lots of details. Hopefully the pix are enough to make it clear that you should be here too! I know for me that it sure feels good being part of the process of keeping the Reno Air Races alive!

 

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How Many Generations Can You Fit Into One Flying Bathtub? (Newhouse Aeronca C-3)

(click pic to enlarge)  16 year old Hayden Newhouse - 4th generation to fly NC11422

(7 pix)

 I stumbled across a fabulous story a little over a week ago at the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In near Blakesburg Iowa... the story of 16 year old Hayden Newhouse and his journey from Rockford Illinois to Blakesburg in a 1931 Aeronca C-3. If the story stopped there it would still be a great one. A 16 year old with both the desire and the skill to fly an antique airplane powered by an Aeronca-built engine of just 36 horsepower. It's enough right there to give us all some great encouragement for the future of aviation. But, Hayden's cross country to Blakesburg is just the beginning of this story.

1931 Aeronca C-3 NC11422 with Newhouse Flying Service (Princeton N.J.) paint
 

 NC11422 was bought new in 1931 by Hayden's great-grandfather Richard Newhouse. Richard had come to America from Germany in 1908 and shortly after started designing and building flying machines. In 1929 he started Newhouse Flying Service in Princeton New Jersey. This little Aeronca C-3 became part of the operation in 1931.

 The Newhouse family has been full of aviators since those early days, and now four generations have flown this humble little Aeronca C-3! Hayden flew to Blakesburg along with his father Robert Newhouse who brought their 1931 Bird CK biplane. Spending some time getting to know Robert and Hayden at Antique Airfield was definitely one of the highlights to my trip the the 2012 AAA Fly-In.

(click pic to enlarge) An original Aeronca engine of 36hp powers this 2-seat Aeronca C-3

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CoolPix: 1934 Waco YMF-33 In The Air - Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res)  1934 Waco YMF-3 departing Antique Airfield last Sunday morning

 This post is a lot like the last one - it's another CoolPix of a beautiful antique airplane departing the AAA Fly-In last Sunday morning. I'm doing another post like this for two reasons... one, it's a really sweet pic of an awesome ole biplane; and two, I'm seriously backed up with too much 'day job' work going on right now (plus some really frustrating sciatic nerve pain going on with my back) and I needed something relatively simple to post.

 I was really pleased that I got some pretty decent images at the fly-in like this one and the Command-Aire pic where I used a slow shutter speed for a really blurred prop but still kept the airplane pretty sharp. I've got a long way to go to get really good at this but I'm making progress. I like how the background blurs up a bit as well giving you a lot more of a feel for the speed of the airplane. This Waco was making a fast pass down the runway at the time. You gotta love an airport and a fly-in that encourages a proper and safe fast pass as part of the routine! 

 I'm really looking forward to finding a way to carve out the time to be at Antique Airfield and the AAA Fly-In for the entire event next year : )

CoolPix: 1929 Command-Aire 5C-3 In The Air - Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res) 1929 Command-Aire departing Antique Airfield last Sunday morning

 I will freely admit that I don't know much about the Command-Aire aircraft that were built back in the late 20's and early 30's, but when I saw this recently restored 1929 example of a 5C-3 at the NAHI event at Reno during the air races last September, I was captivated by its great lines. The restoration was pretty amazing too, so you can imagine that I was really pleased to see it at Antique Airfield for the AAA Fly-In a few dyas ago. I was also pretty pleased that I captured several really nice pix of it when it departed before noon on Sunday. Be sure to click the pic to see it in a hi-res CoolPix.

 If I ever get to the point where I run AirPigz full time (any aviation angels out there interested in supporting this insanely underfunded effort?) I'll be able to get in-depth info on airplanes like this on a regular basis. As it was, my time at Antique Airfield was relatively short and dominated by getting the best images I could. Regardless, I continue the pursuit of Avgeek World Domination on next-to-nothing resources hoping y'all are enjoying the ride, I know I am : )

CoolPix: Iconic Stearman At Antique Airfield 2012

(click pic for hi-res)  Mike Porter's beautiful Stearman about to depart Antique Airfield

 My journey over to the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In near Blakesburg Iowa would have been completely worth it if the only thing I saw was the big Boeing 40C biplane, but wow, have I seen a fantastic collection of antique airplanes in the last 30 hours! And even tho there wasn't much happening in the air on Saturday with the drizzly sky and higher winds, Sunday brought much better weather and lots of flying at Antique Airfield. As it turns out, most of the aircraft moving Sunday morning were actually heading home from the event, but that still allowed me to get a lot of images with spinning props and airplanes off the ground. I'll have more posts with those pix soon.

 This unique CoolPix is of Mike Porter and his Stearman as they were about to depart Antique Airfield, but he wasn't headed for home... he was heading east a bit to Galesburg Illinois and the National Steaman Fly-In. And since Galesburg is right on my way back home to Indiana, I think I just might stop by to check out the aircraft that are already on hand as they prepare for the first day of their fly-in tomorrow. Maybe I can even snag a ride in that beautiful Stearman since I've featured it in a CoolPix!

 Btw, I used a really slow shutter speed to get that prop in one nice big disc, and then I did a few unique things to the image in photoshop to give it a special look. The enhanced contrast and shadows were a bit of an experiment for me but I really like they way it turned out. If you like the effect, feel free to let me know... and if you don't like it, feel free to remain silent : )