I have been into aircraft basically since before I could walk...My father worked on aircraft at NAS/NARF Alameda....Around 1975-6 I started to buy AC magazines like Air Classics, and saw articles on the Unlimited racing, mainly in Reno, NV....wanted to go but had a lot on my plate...
My favorite airplane was the RB-51...A WW2 Mustang that had raced for years- modified a bit, then Ed Browning bought it and hired two Lockheed engineers to design modifications to it; Wings clipped, smaller cockpit and the really crazy mod; A Griffin 57 bomber engine with counter-rotating props.
A young man named Steve Hinton was flying it and winning a lot of the races- and in 1979 set the speed record for a recip aircraft at 499.018 MPH- bad weather limited the runs and performance. With better weather they believed the plane could hit 530.
At Reno that year, Steve was flying in an unlimited race when something went wrong- basically the shaft that drove the supercharger and the oil pump failed....the oil pressure controlled the prop pitch- this resulted in the props going to FLAT pitch (Like having a barn door on the front of the aircraft!)
Steve was trying to make an emergency runway, but RB-51 was being slowed and fell from the sky- his last words were 'Tell Karen I love her!" (His fiancée in the pits) The plane dropped below the end of the runway- Huge ball of fire and smoke....
His crew jumped in an old wagon (Parts chaser) and raced down the runway, clearing the 6-foot fence below the edge of the runway by driving off the end at high speed (Car was wrecked). They found he had survived!
The plane had hit a big boulder and the wings (Fuel tanks) had separated...The engine had pulled the fuselage clear of the fire- by the time it came to rest, the fuselage had disintegrated...The only aircraft part identifiable was the vert fin. Steve had several broken bones, but recovered. The fuselage on P-51s is well known to come apart in crashes, so the year before the crash they had strengthened the cockpit.
Painting I did in 1978 of the RB-51;
Several years later, he was back at Reno, flying a Super Corsair (With the Corncob/R-4360 engine)...He Won the trophy in 1985.
By the way, Steve married Karen, and had a son who, in 2009, became the youngest to win the Reno Championship (at 22)
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 11-26-2022).]
A Corsair crashed here in 1994, the pilot survived.
I was really looking forward to seeing that plane for several reasons, but I couldn’t get out there until the following day. On Sunday they held off all of the Unlimiteds until the end of the day. The plane crashed into the GM proving grounds while employees were present and GM said, “Never again.”
As you will see in the video, the pilot (who had never before used a parachute) opened the canopy and climbed out. He was slapped by the tail and broke a bunch of bones before he even got to the ground.
Pretty cool story. I also had no idea you could change the pitch of the blades on the prop. I guess it's a lot like on a helicopter. Learned something new!
I believe that is the same Corsair that Steve Hinton flew in 1985.
The prop on "Modern" aircraft (1930 on) had a "Power lever" that controlled engine power and prop pitch....basically, the engine stayed at the same RPM and the blade changed pitch to absorb more power.....You would "Flat pitch" the prop while on the ground running the engine (No thrust) and if you had an engine problem in flight you could "feather" the prop to create less drag to aid in gliding to a landing.
I worked on the last Recip/Radial-engine aircraft in the Navy back in 1979; The C-1A (Modified from S-2 anti-submarine aircraft)...Which was kind of dumb since I was trained in Avionics and the C-1A had (Basically) no electronics...But hey, I got to clean the wheel wells (I was a soggy mess)
It really makes me mad that they searched everywhere NORTH of her flight path but did not search Gardner (Nikumaroro) Island until much later. That was almost guaranteed where she ended up- they even (Later) found a skeleton of a thin Caucasian male....when the autopsy was reviewed years later it was stated that it might have been a female skeleton (But the skeleton had been lost) (Arrrgggghhhhhhh!)
They also found a few artifacts that may have belonged to Earhart.
USAF and Northrup 'unveiled' their new stealth bomber. B-21 Raider. Not much revealed about it and won't be in full production for some time yet.
quote
The first flight of the B-21 isn't expected until 2023. Six models are currently in various stages of final development at Northrop Grumman's facility in Palmdale, California. The aircraft shown at the tightly-controlled unveiling ceremony on Friday (Dec. 2) will be first used for ground testing of its engines and subsystems before any of the advanced bombers take to the sky.
My father worked on the Martin Mars at NAS Alameda....l almost got to see one of the Mars at Lake McClure back in the 2000s- went boating on the lake and my buddy mentioned "They had the Martin Mars here on the lake two days ago" to which l replied "Arrrggggggggggg!!!!!"
In June I rented and RV and took my neighbor's son up to Oregon to see the Spruce Goose- largest aircraft ever made- 320' wingspan and EIGHT Corncob 4360 radial engines... have wanted to see it for years but it was on display down in Long Beach- and I hate SoCal (Too many people)
They moved it up to McMinnville, OR (Just SW of Portland) and built a whole museum around it (Also have the SR-71- and it's engine- on display) along with a whole 'nother hanger with space stuff...
We also stopped at Lassen Volcanic NP, Newberry Caldera NM, Crater Lake NP and Lava Beds NM (Yes- l am a fan of volcanoes- as long as they do NOT go off when I am around them)
[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 08-05-2024).]
From a very selfish perspective, the loss (and opportunity loss) of exceptionally cool aircraft during the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been hard to watch. However anyone feels about Russia and the USSR, they made some REALLY cool planes. It's like something the US' crazy uncle would make in his shed.
Case in point, the big Ekranoplans have been abandoned again. I was extremely excited the Lun-class was getting preserved when they towed it to a 'military park' site, but the site was never finished and it's just rotting somewhere new now. Same thing with the Spasatel, which was supposed to be getting refurbished for some cool arctic stuff but instead is still sitting rotting away. At least it's partially covered, and hopefully inside sometimes on that rail.
I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the KM Ekranoplan that these are based off of, but it's one of my very favorite aircraft. It was the heaviest and longest aircraft ever until the An-225 (sad times), and...I mean LOOK at it:
Originally posted by Patrick: The Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber flew its final flight this past Sunday. Glad to see it got the royal sendoff it very much deserved.
' Whew ! It's a story that parallels the CF105 Arrow ! ' Political intrigue that ruined the effort to defend the Nation. What today would be a giant defense industry, building modern military aircraft for worldwide clients, a composite 105, a Carbon 105, twice as fast, stealthy, lighter, stronger. ' Woulda, shoulda, coulda ! ' Didn't, ' Nuts ! ' The dastardly effects of Soviet military intelligence penetration within Canadian political power, the only benefactor to the cancellation, the Arrows designed to destroy their aggression. A sharper weapon.
[This message has been edited by Valkrie9 (edited 08-22-2024).]
I have a weird sense of nostalgia for post WWII aviation that this actually harmonizes with. To a large extent I feel like the Russians never stopped trying to make the next bigger, faster, cooler version of things, while we went a...different route. It's still cool, and I can't hate on the F-35s efficacy, but it's missing all of the raw "YEEEAAAH!" of airframes like the X-15 and the Valkyrie. Something about networked information sharing, fast drones, and stealth just doesn't hit the same, no matter how much of an improvement it is on an actual battlefield.
I have a weird sense of nostalgia for post WWII aviation that this actually harmonizes with. To a large extent I feel like the Russians never stopped trying to make the next bigger, faster, cooler version of things, while we went a...different route. It's still cool, and I can't hate on the F-35s efficacy, but it's missing all of the raw "YEEEAAAH!" of airframes like the X-15 and the Valkyrie. Something about networked information sharing, fast drones, and stealth just doesn't hit the same, no matter how much of an improvement it is on an actual battlefield.
If you compare Soviet era jets to American jets of the same era, it is obvious that the Americans understood the value of appearance as an intimidation factor. The American fighters "looked the part".
Modern jets are like modern race cars. A modern Le Mans car looks like crap compared to those of the '60s.
If you compare Soviet era jets to American jets of the same era, it is obvious that the Americans understood the value of appearance as an intimidation factor. The American fighters "looked the part".
Modern jets are like modern race cars. A modern Le Mans car looks like crap compared to those of the '60s.
Just the opinion of an old retired gearjammer
I agree the American jets all look WAY better through the 50s - early 60s. By the mid 60s though....the Flogger and the Foxbat both look pretty awesome. And by that time the big Ekranoplans were cruising around the Caspian, and ugly as they are they are extremely hard to beat in cool factor for me.
John Carter, eh? Okay, I'm intrigued. I've reserved the DVD at my local library. And for good measure, I also reserved the Blu-ray of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 08-23-2024).]
Having read the books, I enjoyed the movies. The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen is a now classic tale of the impossible feats of an enlightenment hero. The opening scene is perhaps the most memorable of all. There was this guy.. joined the Continental Army in '76 at Philadelphia, did all those things, and why the story resonates as plausible. Took a dozen or so family children to a showing on a big 70mm screen ~ '90, they, all as preteens were dazzled, mesmerized, as was I. Outstanding film, the Sultan's Harem scenes are epic. Then there's Uma Thurman.. ' Unngghh ! '
The John Carter movie is pretty good- but the beginning is a little...befuddled; In the book he is trying to escape Indians and then goes in cave and winds up on Barsoom (Mars)...Much more straight-forward.
By far my favorite book by ERB is "At the Earth's Core" (The movie sucks azz- Do not waste your time) (Only good thing about the movie is Caroline Munro)
That story is about the Earth being hollow- and a whole world is on the inside of the earth's shell- the "Sun" is the radiative core hanging in the center...two things I thought were really interesting- A) There is no horizon...you keep looking farther away and soon are looking up.....and everything in the distance disappears into mist or haze. B) There is no way to "Tell time" because the "sun" does not move; The main character escapes the Mahars (Who control the inner world) and goes to an island- goes thru many adventures then comes back to help his friend- and finds that his friend has just been reading old manuscripts and just eaten ONE meal during that same time
Not real "big" on steam-punk...I did watch Wild Wild West when l was a kid- best part in that show was Artemis Gordon played by Ross Martin...And one of my favorite shows is The Adventures of Brisco County starring Bruce Campbell (and a bunch of old western stars + John Astin)
, Did the Gypsy V12 engines too.
