Aviation BS and Photo Thread

They had another one in PBI the other day as a demo. If you get a chance, go out and photograph it. The inlets were polished all the way back to the fan and looked amazing. I wish I had more time to grab my camera and get some shots.

 

I also saw a new aircraft that's still in the prototype stage. Some of you may have heard of it. It's called Cobalt and it is being tested at the Hayward, CA airport. There is a 2nd prototype at the Castle/Merced airport. It's supposed to compete with Cirrus and the Colombia. Supposedly it goes 220 knots.

Again, sucky photos

 

Wow, that cockpit looks crazy! I like it when people apologize for "bad" photos when they look better than most of the photos I take with my 4 year old phone. Haha

 

Speaking of odd aircraft, I have captured a few rare ones over the years. The image quality isn't very good. I need to find the original images and work with them more.

Adam A500



ATG Javelin MK-10 Prototype

 

During our 20 years of racing at Reno, we saw a lot of stuff. Some of it awesome, some of it horrible. This was both.

I got to see the Rutan-designed Bob Pond racer in action, a plane that aimed to change the sport of air racing and break out of the warbird realm.

I saw it arrive the first year, like a spaceship.

I also saw Rick Brickert descend to his death in it, a fireball exploding just out of site off the mesa in Lemon Valley, as he attempted to land it off-field during a mayday.










https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p7iNuTe3w0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd0...ug1nW4MZf74sZHsk37VGkDQfihzHc_xwtB7WlEwgFFbdw

 

Looks like a podracer.

 

I would have loved to see that fly as long as I didn't have to see the crash. I have been lucky in my 3 trips to Reno that I have only seen a couple of relatively minor incidents with one aircraft destruction where the pilot survived.

 

LOL indeed it does!

Those two turbo 300Z engines sounded like buzzsaws. But if it lost power, it had the glide slope of a toolbox. It made everyone think about what warbirds do offer: toughness. Flying 300-500 MPH at 300-500 ft AGL and pulling up to 4+ Gs nearly constantly for the entire race, that can be important. It is also critical to be able to exchange speed for altitude extremely quickly, even more so if your vision is obscured by an oil bath over the windscreen and canopy.

My first Reno was in 77. I was 11. I also witnessed my first fatality then, a midair between two Texans out around Pylons 5-6.

I've seen too many maydays to count, but most end without major incident, other than the pilot needs surgery to extract his seat cushion afterward.

I saw another fatal midair between two Texans, a very dramatic one: they were coming down the shoot at race start. All eyes were riveted on the action. The pace plane released them, they made their moves, and one put his wing hard into another's wingtip and tail. The offender lost an entire wing in the air about 400 feet off the deck, and what remained of his aircaft plummeted nearly straight down into the ground in an oscillating spiral. Knowing that someone is going to die in the next few seconds is just awful. The struck aircraft had the good fortune to be lined up on the main runway. He was able to immediately drop his gear and get it on the deck. We later learned he had lost aileron control, so it was all rudder and power. What made this crash even more terrifying personally is that we had a plane in that race. My friends little brother was in that start, too, and initially, we could not tell who was involved in the crash until we saw him pass the pylon on front of us. It all happened behind him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC3RvZu8_ic

I saw Brent Hisey crash and cartwheel Miss America across the middle of the airfield in a botched dead stick landing. He lived, relatively unscathed.

I saw Kevin Eldridge bail out of the flaming Super Corsair at the short-lived Phoenix 500. He ended up with a compound-fractured leg and broke neck when he bailed out and hit the tail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqPPCCKAFp8

I am glad I was not at Reno to watch the Galloping Ghost go down in the crowd.

I can't wait to take my son. Right?

 

That a500 is cool but was a bitch to stack in the hangar. Ill have to dig back through my photos when i was working the ramp. I have a few of a piaggio that went off the runway and was covered in more mud than 90% of thr tacomas on here will ever see. One of my regrets is not taking as many pics as i should have.

 

Where did you work with the A500? I saw that and the A700 fly several times. I have no idea if any are still left flying.

 

@Beers : One time it came to KLOT to overnight due to weather in oshkosh. When i was working at KPWK it came in for a business jet show. I dont think they ever caught on.

 

My whole family lives around there.....1 brother in Stead, another in Reno, parents in Loyalton. When the last crash happened into the crowd I panicked a bit and started calling everyone to make sure nobody had gone to the races that day.

 

The air races are on my bucket list to attend.

 

I did the same thing. I was not sure who was there, but basically anyone from the team family, and many others met over the years. Turns out my buddy and his dad were right there.

 

First thing at work this morning...

 

Haven't seen one either. Used to catch the quarry submarine races regularly back in Ohio.

 

Back to work and the Honda jet is still there. In daylight this time.

 

That intake is gonna be a PITA of some poor mechanic if those catch on.

 

Boeing was paid alot of dough to replace the wings and other upgrades... don't count on the F35 to be a TRUE CAS replacement for the battle proven A-10

http://www.defensenews.com/story/de...orce-clarifies--10-retirement-plans/81902954/

 

Agree ... everytime the shooting starts the Army starts asking where the A-10s are

Here is an F-35 pilot ... He tries to defend the F-35 ... not very well imho

http://theaviationist.com/2015/04/09/f-35-never-as-a10-in-cas/