CoolPix: Precious Metal Shining In The Sun (Reno 2013)

(click pic for hi-res)  Precious Metal in the sunshine getting lots of TLC before more racing

 I was able to capture this unique CoolPix of Precious Metal in the pit getting some serious work done on the engine... no major problems there, just lots of fine tuning to get as much out of this 'spare' engine as possible. I decided this was a better pic than yesterday's pylon pix for right now, especially since it was taken about an hour ago, plus it's a lot easier to get one pic up during the day!

 Steve Hinton with Voodoo has been well collected after posting the fastest qualifying time this year, as has the Sea Fury 232 with Hoot Gibson who qualified faster than a Sea Fury ever has at just under 480 mph. The Rare Bear crew and pilot Stewart Dawson have been battling issues making all the power it should be able to, and Strega with Matt Jackson has been working its way up from the back of the pack after having the setback of losing the canopy several days ago and spending time making the repairs. Strega easily won its race earlier today tho and I believe will race tomorrow to try to earn its place in the big race.

 The Gold race for tomorrow is definitely shaping up!

Video: Excellent Reno 2013 LiveAirShowTV Update For Monday 9.10.13

 LiveAirShowTV has put together this excellent update of the excitement that's already been part of Reno 2013, the 50th anniversary of the National Championship Air Races. This 5-and-a-half minute video with some info about Monday qualifying in the Unlimited Warbird Racing Class is definitely worth your time to check out. (here's the link to the full RARA qualifier report for Monday September 10, 2013)

 And remember, if you aren't able to make it to the races, watch them on the internet via LiveAirshowTV's live stream on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click here for the live feed page.

 I'm heading out by car tomorrow morning and hope to arrive on site at the races Thursday evening... I can't wait to get there!

Screenshot: Steven Hinton in Voodoo - fastest qualifier on Monday at 492.699 mph

Reno Week Begins As Precious Metal Sneaks In Under The Wire

Precious Metal in her new paint for the 50th Reno Air Races  (photo: facebook)

 Qualifying at the 50th anniversary Reno Air Races begins today, and fortunately for Thom Richard (and his Precious Metal P-51) he arrived from Florida just in time yesterday to be eligible to race. The combination of his race engine failing in a recent ground run, the time needed to build up a useable last-minute replacement engine, and weather that wasn't safe to make the journey from Florida all ran the clock right down to the wire!

 But he's there now and joining Steven Hinton who this year is flying the P-51 Voodoo, Matt Jackson in the P-51 Strega, Stewart Dawson in the F8 Bearcat Rare Bear and Hoot Gibson in the Sea Fury 232 to round out the flashy side of the Unlimited Warbird Racing Class. The full UWRC line-up for Reno 2013 can be seen at this link, and as always with racing, you never know who will come out on top! And of course there are the Formula One, Biplanes, Sport, T-6 and Jet classes as well... it's gonna be a huge week! Actual racing begins on Wednesday and then runs thru Sunday.

 I'm leaving Indiana Wednesday morning to drive all the way out to Reno and hope to arrive Thursday afternoon. It's a 33 hour drive plus fuel stops and a 5-hour sleep. I push hard and hope to arrive 38 hours after I depart! Once there I'll be fetching up some great pix to share with you, but you can also experience the races via the LiveAirShowTV internet broadcast that runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click here for the live boroadcast, or check out LiveAirShowTV.com for more info. You can also get details later in the week on the LiveAirShowTV facebook page.

Precious Metal now with filled-and-profiled wings and many other mods (photo: facebook)

 Low. Fast. Left. Reno!

Video: The Slick View Of OSH13 - Must See!

 We didn't get a video from 'Slick' for OSH12 with his involvement in the U.S. Navy, but this year he was able to get behind the camera at OSH13 and capture more awesome avgeek beauty from the world's greatest aviation event!

Well done Slick, you've definitely still got it : )

Check out the OSH10 video and the OSH11 video from Slick

Screenshot from Slick's fabulous video of Oshkosh 2013

Jetman In The Sky OSH13 - But You Gotta look Close! (With Video)

Jetman high (very high) over the Oshkosh sky... pic taken with a long telephoto lens!

 We were tempted to call him Speckman rather than Jetman after Yves Rossy flew on Tuesday (July 30, 2013) at Oshkosh... apparently the FAA wouldn't let him fly any lower than 2,500' during the demonstration. The pic above was taken with a pretty long telephoto lens and he still looks really small! We all pretty much agreed that what he does is very cool and awesome, but it's not the world's best spectator sport. However, the live-feed that that LiveAirShowTV had up on the two big LED screens during the airshow did help a lot. 

 Fortunately the video below gives you a much better view of what Jetman looks like in flight from up close. And wow, formation flying with a B-17, that's pretty hard to beat!

 I hope he eventually convinces the FAA that a pass at 500 feet is safe... you now, so we can actually see him in flight : )

Video Screenshot of Jetman flying formation with a B-17!

OSH13: Dawn Patrol - Warbirds (Thursday 8.1.13 - 6 Pix)

(click pic to enlarge)  North American FJ-4B in the beautiful morning sun

 Getting up early and heading out about 5am to get sunrise pictures of fabulous airplanes is one of the most satisfying things to do at Oshkosh. My first Dawn Patrol experience at OSH13 was yesterday morning with three other CampBacon avgeeks. It was the Warbird area that we wondered thru looking for just the right combination of aircraft and rising sun. The warm glow of the sun and sometimes stunning cloud formations can sure produce some wonderful images. And if things go well with weather, and my desire to get up early, then I'm hoping to join a Dawn Patrol tomorrow morning thru the antiques!

(click pic to enlarge)  A little different view of the FJ-4B - great clouds above!

(click pix to enlarge)  Fabulous Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in the morning sun

(click pic to enlarge) A line of T-28's as the sun gets another day at OSH13 under way
 

more pix coming soon!

Jack Bally's MANNED 1/3 Scale B-17 Nearly Ready To Fly!

Jack Bally's incredible 1/3 scale B-17 next to a Cessna 140! (photo: facebook)

 Some new pictures surfaced last evening on the Bally Bomber facebook page showing Jack Bally's incredbile 1/3 scale B-17 replica fully assembled and sitting next to a Cessna 140. Wow! The mind is really tied up in a knot trying to process what's seen there... it looks like a model but sooo big - but then it looks like a real B-17 but sooo much smaller!

 This project, coming to life in Dixon Illinois, has to rank as one of the most fascinating homebuilt aircraft projects of all time. It's the kind of idea that weird people like me dreram up but rarely does anyone actually follow though. With an estimated 20,000 hours of labor required to build this cute little beast, it's understanable why. With a 34ft 7in wingspan, estimated 1,800 pound weight and four 60hp engines for a total of 240hp, the Bally Bomber is just pure awesome! Be sure to check out the hundreds of pix from the build process along with additional info at TheBallyBomber.com

 The not-so-big cockpit really shows the overall scale!  (photo: theballybomber.com)

 
 The project was started back in 1999 and is just now nearing completion. The airframe is all scratch built (of course) and made out of aluminum. The main gear retracts just like the real B-17, and has proven to be the most complicated part of the project. The engines are the Hirth 3002 4-cylinder 2-stroke that usually have a reduction unit and make about 80hp. Jack chose this engine because of its size... it was small enough to fit inside a properly scaled nacelle. However, to make it fit properly, the reduction unit is removed which will bring the power down around 60hp each, with the engines spinning the 46.4" diameter props at about 3,300 rpm.

One of four 2-stroke Hirth 3002 (formerly F-30) engines  (photo: theballybomber.com)

 Even though the airplane looks finished, I noticed in a facebook comment last night that they say there's still some wiring, plumbing and detail work yet to complete. It would appear that the first flight is still off in the future a bit. Mostly that means that there's little hope of seeing the Bally Bomber at Oshkosh in a few weeks. There's little doubt in my mind that whenever this fabulous piece of work gets to Oshkosh, she'll be the Queen for the entire week!

 The accuracy in the scale shaping is simply fantastic!  (photo: theballybomber.com)

 The accuracy of the shapes and scaling look excellent on this project. I remember back in the 70's there were several scaled-down military one-of-a-kind replicas, but most all failed to get the profiles, proportions, or prop scaling correct... the Bally Bomber appears to be getting it done right. Bravo!

The amazing Bally Bomber is almost ready to fly!  (photo: theballybomber.com)

 
 Can you even imagine how cool it would be to see this 1/3 scale B-17 in the air! No doubt the videos of the first flight will be a huge internet sensation... stay tuned to the Bally Bomber facebook page for updates on the first flight... this might be as big a deal as the full-scale Mosquito last fall!

Why Oshkosh Matters (With CoolPix Marathon - 19 Hi-Res Images)

(click pic for hi-res)  Ray Hegy's El Chuparosa at Oshkosh 1970 (see original post)

 Oshkosh 2013 is fast approaching (July 29 - Aug 4), and I'm as excited as ever to be planning to attend. I was there in 1970 (as a 9 year old) when the very first Oshkosh took place at Wittman Field in beautiful Wisconsin. The annual EAA fly-in and convention was held in Rockford Illinois prior to Oshkosh and I was even at the last one of those in 1969. I've missed a handful of the events over the years, but I've attended well over 30 of them since that picture above of Ray Hegy's El Chuparosa was taken.

 Oshkosh has changed a lot over the years, but in the ways that really matter, it hasn't really changed at all. It's still people (lots and lots of people) who are in love with aviation gathering together to share that love with each other. It's goodness, discipline, ingenuity, and achievement all rolled into a week of learning, sharing, and enjoying. There's just nothing else like it... no other tool we have that does so much good for the world of general and sport aviation. That's why I believe that Oshkosh truly matters.

 I'm well aware that many people have frustrations at times with the EAA and the way Oshkosh is run, and while I've had the same kinds of frustrations going back even into the 1970's, I'm as convinced as ever that the EAA ultimately does a huge amount of good for those of us who love to fly. I can't imagine any other organization (or new group of people) who could, or would do better (or even as well) at fostering a genuine love for flying. So I hope you'll join me in being a big supporter of what Oshkosh does for us all... come to Oshkosh this year and be amazed, entertained, educated, and impressed. But please don't come expecting Oshkosh to do all that TO you, instead, come to Oshkosh and BE PART OF that process. Give, and share, and receive too. It's the human interactions that truly make Oshkosh the beautiful thing that it is.

 To celebrate some of the great avgeekery of Oshkosh, here's an extensive collection of CoolPix images I've captured since 2009 to get you primed and ready for the world's greatest aviation event. I hope you enjoy! Oh, and you might notice that I never ever call the event A**V******, it's Oshkosh to me and always will be. I look forward to the day when that ad agency concocted word is dropped from the EAA vocabulary. And hey, maybe they should go back to a logo that looks more like tho old one too : )

(click pic for hi-res)  Pitcairn Autogiro at Oshkosh 2009  (see original post)

(click pic for hi-res)  Airbus A380 preparing to depart Oshkosh 2009  (see original post)

Click to read more ...

Video: Thom Richard And Precious Metal Prepare To Impress At The 50th Anniversary Reno Air Races!

 The guys at LiveAirShowTV put together a great interview piece on Thom Richard and his Rolls Royce Griffon powered P-51 Precious Metal. With the 63 mph speed increase seen at Reno 2012 from the updated prop design, Precious Metal became a real contender for Unlimited Gold... but there can be quite a distance between being a contender and being a champion.

 For 2013, the 50th anniversary of the Reno Air Races, Thom and a crew of friends and volunteers have been making significant upgrades to PM in the quest for another big increase in race speed. With all the work that's being done it's very realistic to think that Precious Metal will be right in the thick of things, even if Strega comes back to defend her winning streak that stretches back to 2008.

 Don't forget you can watch the races live this September via LiveAirShowTV and you can also keep an eye on the progress of Thom and the airplane via facebook.com/airrace. This is a great time to be paying attention to the world's fastest motor sport!

Precious Metal evening engine run at Reno 2012 (see hi-res version here)

Wounded Tiger Book: Kickstart This Amazing (And True) WWII Story Of Redemption

Mitsuo Fuchida: leader of the air attack on Pearl Harbor... to Christian evengalist in the U.S.

check out the Wounded Tiger book kickstarter campaign now (ends July 1st)

 If the story about the Japanese miltary officer who coordinated and then led the air attack on Pearl Harbor, who after the war found forgiveness and redemption in Jesus (and even preached the good news throughout the United states) wasn't a true story, it would be very hard to believe. But true it is.

 Mitsuo Fuchida's journey from a young and highly determined Imperial Japanese Navy pilot, on through the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, being at Hiroshima the day before and the day after the atomic bomb drop, and then on to redemption is a truly fascinating story... and it's one you can experience in great historically accurate detail in a book by my friend Martin Bennett. Wounded Tiger is extremely well written and tremendously engaging. And the connection to Doolittle Raider bombardier Jacob De Shazer, who spent three years as a POW, is chronicled in detail as well in the book.

Doolittle Raider bombardier Jacob De Shazer who became a Christian while a POW

 I read the manuscript two years ago and was highly impressed. This book succeeds on so many different levels, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it. Forgiveness is one of our most powerful emotions, and when experienced on the level portrayed in Wounded Tiger, it's truly epic.

 Martin's efforts to get the book published (and a full-length feature film made) have proven a difficult and challenging road... however, Martin's kickstarter campaign for the book has it about 80% funded with just six days left to go in the campaign. If you're familiar with kickstarter, you know it's all or nothing, so now is the the time to get behind this project and give this incredible (and true) WWII story the wings it deserves.

 Please go now to the Wounded Tiger kickstarter page, watch Martin's video about the project, and then note that for $10 you can get an ebook version, and for $25 you can get a signed paperback version of the book. Or, $35 gets you a signed hardcover of the book... all have an estimated delivery date of November 2013. There are also several additional levels of contribution and a variety of rewards of interest.

 Wounded Tiger is a story everyone needs to be familiar with, I hope you'll take the time to check it out.

Click the pic to check out the kickstarter campaign and video for the Wounded Tiger book