The Skydiving and Aviation Related Photo Thread! (OT)

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Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 24, 2011 - 04:49pm PT
I've noticed that a lot of us on the Taco also enjoy tossing themselves out of airplanes or off of various fixed objects, or taking some damned cool airplane rides to get to various destinations all over the world.

So, here's the thread to put up your skydiving, BASE and airplane pics. I will even kick it off with a pic of my first skydive, taken in Sept. of 93. And yes, detractors, I know it's a shitty exit :p

I had been working at the DZ for a year and a half at this point, waiting to turn 18. For my reward, I was the first out on the demo load for my own first jump class. :-\

By sheer luck, I stood up the landing about 5 feet in front of them haha.



Looking forward to some awesome pictures in this thread!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 05:51pm PT
NICE one Ron!!

I actually have a dual roundy setup in storage...old Crossbow, one of the first dual back rigs. Only jumped it a couple times though. Pioneer 26 main and a Featherlite 22 reserve.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 06:03pm PT



Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 24, 2011 - 06:19pm PT
The Martin Mars, world's largest seaplane, while it was down from B.C. fighting
the Station fire.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 06:40pm PT
Ah, so that was YOU stinking up Dawse's greasy 3? :D That is indeed an enviable skill. I have to say tho, if you can stink out a tailgater that well, then you were indeed a master of the gas. Awesome story.

We had a grumpy old pilot once that hated farters. He kicked one guy out the door about 2 miles short of the spot after warning him several times.

Reilly, awesome shot of the Mars. I spent a couple years fighting wildland fires, and my favorite runs of the day was when the old PB4-Y would come in the line up - this was before they lost that one in Montana and they stopped flying them.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 06:50pm PT
Here's another old bomber....radials are my favorite, any model. I'm lucky that I got to work on them once upon a time.

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 24, 2011 - 07:53pm PT
Cosmico,
I'm with ya on leavin' before they're (the engines, that is) all burnin' or have stopped turnin'.


Vegas, did yous miss this thread?

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1500733/Why-Tojo-and-Adolph-never-had-a-chance-OT


Did I mention I luuuvvv nose art? Yeah, I got a big nose too.





PAUL SOUZA

Trad climber
Clovis, CA
Jul 24, 2011 - 07:58pm PT
I took this pic from the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson on our way home from our World Cruise in 2005.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 07:58pm PT
No such thing as a "perfectly" good airplane lol! Especially jump birds :D

The one in the first shot, had duct tape holding the baggage door shut.


Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 08:06pm PT
Reilly, I did miss that thread. Thanks for linking it in! I'd say that Chino and Evergreen have the best old flyin iron anywhere.

And that MiG-15 ...well if it flies like a Chevy, it would be one of the old trucks with no power steering haha. I used to work for a company that imported them. Built like a tank though, could land anywhere.

I love the nose art shots!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 08:21pm PT
Thanks much man!

Christina already called to brag about how great they looked, shes super happy.

You have our recommendation for sure!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 24, 2011 - 10:11pm PT
A sad day a couple of months ago - the Liberty Belle is no more.
I am happy to say all hands made it out.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 10:30pm PT
Yeah, I hate seeing rare birds go in. The company I used to work for, used to own the C123K that crashed in Denali several months back. It was used in several movies, most notably Con Air.

As far as the pictures go, let's try to keep it positive though ;)I've seen more then enough crash scenes.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2011 - 10:35pm PT
Here are a couple of odd airframes I saw at a museum visit. Anyone happen to know what they are?


TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 01:27am PT
Vegas climber:
You beat me to the punch...
But Cozmic, "There is no such thing as a perfectly good aircraft"

~~~~~~~~~~

Liberty Belle Ouuuuch my heart just sank.

~~~~~~~~~~

Never jumped but I don't think it is not to far away in my future
I am posting from a sewing machine here:
http://www.skydivingservices.net/


TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 01:29am PT

Since you 'Cosmic' interjected that you got Vegas climber's windows done...

Thankz for the call this eve I'll be over tomorrow to pick up my resoles ;)

TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 01:31am PT

Vegas climber:

Mystery plane #2?
Did you see that at a hanger/airstrip over near the south rim of the Grand Canyon? Was it actually a plywood airframe with a (at one time) jet engine in the tail of the fuselage ?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 25, 2011 - 01:39am PT


This is what I call an executive transport:



Who knows what this is?
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 02:14am PT
Looks like Rielly has been to the Reno air show ?

Modified Spitfire ?

Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jul 25, 2011 - 02:30am PT
My first sky dive was out of the DC-3 at Perris Valley in 1980. I was a little thing back then barely weighed over 100 lbs and the rig was heavy, old military junk-the belly wart reserve on front and the huge round canopy packed in its container on back.
I was number 8 out the door, wanted to go first, figured the quicker I got out the less time I would have to deal with my anxiety. All I remember, was when I threw myself out was not being prepared for the blast coming off those huge radial engines, there went any style that we were taught earlier in the day.
My next jump was out of a Cargo Beech 18, had to sit in the door way and shove off, that was interesting. The more interesting aircraft were the Cessna's, crawling out, handover hand on the strut finally letting the feet dangle in the wind and just letting go....... fun!

I need to see if I can figure out how to scan pictures.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 02:42am PT

TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jul 25, 2011 - 02:49am PT


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9FjWDGojq4&feature=related


Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2011 - 03:32am PT
Awesome shots and stories everyone!

And Trundle, I used to work with your boss I believe. Looks like you're working with Simon Wade, by the email address. I used to pack his tandem rig for a while, I used to work at Skydive Las Vegas when Michael still owned it. Good times!

And yes, the flying wing is the one at the grand Canyon base of the Chino museum. They also have part of a B29 hidden in the back yard.

I will get some more pics up in the morning. Keep em coming, all!
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Jul 25, 2011 - 11:56am PT
Skydive #28 or 29. My friend flipped me on my back so I flipped him off.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2011 - 05:29pm PT
Reilly, your mystery plane gave me fits, but I finally found it - it's a Fairey Firefly, I believe.

As an added bonus, I found my mystery plane #1 - turns out that it's a de Havilland Vampire, just post WW2.

Great shots Hank and all!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 26, 2011 - 12:05am PT
Vegas,
You da man! I knew I recognized those twin shark fins of the Vampire.
I just couldn't bring it out of the subconscious. :-)

Trundle,
I have been to Reno but these shots are from this year's Chino show - way
better than Reno IMHO.
The 22 ship grand finale was beyond awesome - a combined 60,000 HP!

OK, here's some trivia shots.

The only commercial airliner with counter-rotating turbo-props.
A Tupelov 114 which used to sit at the entrance to Dushanbe International.
Donini didn't answer me whether it is still there. Grrrr.

The most highly produced commercial aircraft in history, period - Antonov-2.
They should use the Buddy Lee jeans slogan - Can't bust 'em!
I got some hours in those things and they are the shiz! One takeoff was so
epic - overloaded, density altitude of a good 10K, etc. Weight and balance?
Fuggetabout it! I was sitting in the middle front pax seat holding the cockpit
door open with my foot (the latch was busted) so I could keep an eye on those
clowns. The clowns were good and it was an E-ticket ride. As they horsed
it off the dirt strip the stall horn was blaring like a brass band. The #2
casually sticks his head back into the cabin and says, "Pass as much baggage
forward as possible!" HaHaHaHa! Alacrity was the byword! It took a good
4 or 5 minutes before that damn horn quit.

Akbar - my homie the ramp agent proudly showing the USSA "I Ski" bumper sticker I gave him
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 26, 2011 - 12:22am PT
You're close Chief but Vegas was right, :-) Not a Hawker, trust me.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2011 - 01:00am PT
Reilly,

I posted on the AN-2 shot before on another thread. I know them pretty well, Aviation Classics owned 3 of them when I was there. Great planes.

Wind up starters.....such fun.
tolman_paul

Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
Jul 26, 2011 - 12:19pm PT
My father was the ship photographer on a carrier during WWII in the Pacific. I know he had a whole trunk full of photos, but these are a few he digitized and put on carriers website before he passed away.



Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Jul 26, 2011 - 02:10pm PT
Do you know what ship he served on? Just curious. Great shots.
tolman_paul

Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
Jul 26, 2011 - 02:22pm PT
USS KADASHAN BAY CVE 76

Here's their ships website: http://usskadashanbaycve76.homestead.com/main.html

Here's my fathers page:
http://usskadashanbaycve76.homestead.com/index.html

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 26, 2011 - 02:46pm PT
Nice Tolman! I didn't know they flew Bird Dogs off of carriers. Was it an
Army or Navy rig?
tolman_paul

Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
Jul 26, 2011 - 03:17pm PT
I don't know anything about the recon rig, all I know is my dad developed the recon photos. I did recall seeing some before and after bombing photos of a small island.

There are a whole lot of questions I shoulda woulda coulda but didn't ask my dad before he passed away. I really should have asked him some details about his climbing in Yosemite in the 50's. It would have at least been nice to have known what routes he'd climbed, and to go and climb them myself. But from the time I found out he had cancer to the last time I visited him was a little over 2 months, and there were a host of emotions running through me that kinda blocked out putting down a thorough list of questions. Such is life.
jstan

climber
Jul 26, 2011 - 04:13pm PT
My father crashed his cub doing touch and go on our air strip. Really sad. I wasn't in the plane at the time. I miissed my only opportunity to have an interesting experience.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Jul 26, 2011 - 04:31pm PT
I did six jumps at a DZ just over the Alabama line from Pensacola back in '72 (only the last one where I pulled). It was a run by some of the Navy team and I mostly remember a) being stunned by how fast the plane disappeared, and b) that I no idea what was what during the first couple of jumps.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 26, 2011 - 04:46pm PT
Just got this from my bro-in-law (a J3 is a Piper Cub). And 121.5 is the
universal guard/emergency frequency.

Yesterday I departed Minneapolis and was flying home to Toronto while monitoring 121.5 like I always do.

We heard an excited mayday call about an aircraft ditching in the water but did not answer because, as I expected, there were soon many joining in as well as the loud ELT signal. The original caller had given a call sign and described the aircraft as a J3 and his location but it seemed like he was somehow observing the ditching so I was a bit confused. We could see Lake Winnebago clearly as it was just to the right of our route but we were too high to spot anything on the southern end.

When we arrived in Toronto my F/O googled it on his cell phone and we were surprised to see it was already on the internet. Some divers had pulled two bodies from the plane. It was very sad to contemplate that others had gotten up in the morning with the rest of us and had gone flying on a beautiful day as we had but ended up drowning in 6 feet of water.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2011 - 03:05am PT
Awesome shots Paul! Thanks for sharing! Beautiful shot of that Bearcat.

Shame to hear about the Cub going in. Sad deal for all involved.
tolman_paul

Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
Jul 28, 2011 - 12:22pm PT
Here's a couple more



I know not an aviation photo, but this one is really touching. Imagine coming back after the cesation of the war and seeing this. The carrier transported troops back in addition to its crew.


I also marvel at the changes in the Bay Area my father saw in his 80 years, born in Berkley in the late 20's and lived in the East Bay his whole life.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jul 28, 2011 - 04:05pm PT







TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jul 28, 2011 - 04:26pm PT


healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Jul 28, 2011 - 04:32pm PT
Until about the age of 14 I flew most of the equipment United Airlines operated - either on my Dad's lap or in the co-pilot seat. Then the hijackings started and the party was over.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2011 - 04:57pm PT
WOW Tom.....great shots.

Also, very jealous right now lol. Thanks for adding these to the thread!

I have some T-28c time, but an A-4? Wow. I didn't even know there were any registered in private hands.

Still waiting for someone to make that one private Phantom flyable :-|

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 28, 2011 - 11:58pm PT
That may be a Mk.V Spitfire. The mystery plane #1 is probably a Dehavilland Vampire, but it could also be a Venom which looke almost identical but had a different engine.

Put me in the seat; kick the tires and light the fires!
skywalker

climber
Aug 10, 2011 - 01:06am PT
Damn Caylor and crew! Sweetiousness!

Cheers!!!

S...
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 10, 2011 - 01:26am PT
Dayum Hank!

Thats an awesome shot :D

jstan

climber
Aug 10, 2011 - 01:55am PT
I have to ask about the trip back from the Pacific on the Kardashan after the war. Did the crew get double rations? Your dad's site and the ship's site on the battles in the pacific are the best description of actions I have seen.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 12, 2011 - 12:22am PT
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 12, 2011 - 10:46pm PT
i'm not a big airplane buff, but i always liked the A-10 Warthog, personally.

Yeah, it would be a gud jump platform, eh?
Gary Carpenter

climber
SF Bay Area
Aug 13, 2011 - 01:24pm PT
Tom,
Your picture of the A-4 brought back lots of old memories!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 15, 2011 - 03:23pm PT
Gary, I wonder how many people on ST can imagine the experiences you had. The A-4 is a wonderful airplane. I just got a teaser taste of one; and wishing it wasn't created as a war machine.

Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Aug 15, 2011 - 03:55pm PT


Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 15, 2011 - 05:28pm PT
The star of this month's Nat Geo article on flight...


there's some rad pics, duh.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/personal-flight/shute-text
Wormly81

Trad climber
Aug 15, 2011 - 06:08pm PT
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Aug 16, 2011 - 04:03am PT
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Aug 16, 2011 - 09:41am PT

Wormly81

Trad climber
Aug 16, 2011 - 11:19am PT
Ney Grant

Trad climber
Pollock Pines
Aug 16, 2011 - 12:35pm PT
Here's my website of some flying, some climbing and some photography.

http://www.westcoastflyingadventures.com

G_Gnome

Trad climber
In the mountains... somewhere...
Aug 16, 2011 - 01:12pm PT
Hank, if that is the Yampa, how long does it take to walk out of there?
Gilwad

climber
Frozen In Somewhere
Aug 16, 2011 - 01:23pm PT
Recent trip by the Bugaboos.
jrrasmussen

Sport climber
San Francisco, CA
Aug 16, 2011 - 01:48pm PT
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Aug 16, 2011 - 02:20pm PT
A friend just sent me this. James May gets a ride up to 70K in a U2.

http://www.wimp.com/breathtakingfootage/

Pretty spectacular.
radair

Social climber
North Conway, NH
Aug 18, 2011 - 02:20pm PT
At the risk of being called a touron, here's a vimeo link to a tandem skydive I took my son on for his 19th birthday. Going out the door of that plane was an excellent adrenaline rush. The action doesn't start until about 3 minutes in if you want to skip the fluff. The freefall was from ~14k to about 4k ft. Ass kicking and highly recommended.
GLee

Social climber
MT
Aug 18, 2011 - 03:44pm PT
I have fond memories of HP doing great work for the Bureau of Land Management out of Fairbanks with this & their other PB4Y-2's dropping retardant low and close to the fire line in the tundra of Interior Alaska. You could see the pilots smiling & having a great time 'AT WORK'!

The PB4Y-2 is the Navy sub chasing version of the Army Air Corps' B-24 bomber.

HP PB4Y-2s were the best. I love radials. Then a wing came off HP C-130 Tanker 130, a wing came off HP PB4Y-2 Tanker 123, and that was the end of Hawkens & Powers (plus a few other retardent operators).

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 20, 2011 - 05:15am PT
Thanks for all the great additions while I was away!

I used to have some great PB4-Y shots that I took while working fires in Northern Nevada for the 02 season, but they got lost. *sadface* I used to love it when the old radials came coughing down the line. No one else in my crew was an airplane geek though so they didn't get it.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 20, 2011 - 06:49pm PT
Here's the ultimate radial firefighter - the Martin Mars seaplane. Our nice
neighbors in BC sent it down to help fight the SoCal Station fire, for a price,
as it well should be. This crappy pic (heavily cropped to boot) through
the thick smoke shows it 5000' above lining up its run on the Mt Wilson
area which as far as I heard was the only area of the fire it worked. It
was rather limited in this fire as the nearest body of water with a long
enough straight run to scoop was Lake Elsinore about 70 miles away so that
meant it could make only one drop per hour.

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Aug 20, 2011 - 08:39pm PT
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2011 - 09:15pm PT
Nice shots, Caylor and ECP.

Always did get a kick out of watching you wingsuit types open after half the load had already landed lol.

What DZ is that in CO, Hank?
squishy

Mountain climber
sacramento
Aug 22, 2011 - 09:28pm PT
I build home made RC airplanes all the time out of bubble gum, crackers and duct tape...the stuff is cheap these dayz and tons of fun...

sometimes I even get around to flyin them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WGPHff3AN4


Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2011 - 11:51pm PT
RIGLOOOOOOS!

I've been wanting to go there for years. Awesome climbing on some of the most peculiar rock anwhere. The towers look like they have potatoes growing out of them everywhere.

Awesome video!
ntanygd760

Gym climber
roanoke, TX
Aug 24, 2011 - 04:54am PT
seems like a good place to ask this. Has anyone BASE jumped the el cap face in the guadalupe mountains national park, not the one in CA obv
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 24, 2011 - 09:32pm PT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgdIE2t8QkM&feature=player_embedded#!

Jetman Yves Rossy flying the Grand Canyon
ntanygd760

Gym climber
roanoke, TX
Aug 24, 2011 - 11:02pm PT
yeah there are a few vertical areas in the 400ft range. according to wiki (take that for what it is worth) the rock is not very good for climbing but you could probably get a bunch of FA's on it. I don't know enough about BASE to judge the landing areas they look not great but It would depend on your glide rate or your chute. If that is the right term not sure, but if you had enough forward opening speed you can probably land in flat areas.
ntanygd760

Gym climber
roanoke, TX
Aug 25, 2011 - 12:08am PT
oh and for the record most of this info is from what I remember from going there a few years back. There is a trail going up to Guadalupe peak. From there you have to go through some slightly off trail rough areas for around a half mile or mile. I didn't have pants and the time so I didn't try it so I have no idea about the best jump ledges. I also didn't know how to climb at the time so I don't really personally know the rock conditions for climbing. Next time i go I am going to try and bring some climbing equipment and see if I can find any reasonable lines with decent protection. Then again I just started climbing so I might not have a clue what I am talking about.
soaring_bird

Trad climber
Oregon
Aug 25, 2011 - 12:19am PT
Guadalupe Peak?.... Wait. Go further south to Santa Elena Canyon; higher, steeper (overhanging in places), legal from the south side (Mexico).
ntanygd760

Gym climber
roanoke, TX
Aug 25, 2011 - 01:07am PT
what are the odds of getting shot while on the Mexican side?
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Aug 25, 2011 - 05:50pm PT
This will tick off all aviators.

I'm a paraglider pilot. Are they gonna make me file a flight plan now and monitor where I go to?

Yea right.


Private planes, private no more
August 24, 2011|Steve Chapman
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-24/news/chi-private-planes-private-no-more-20110824_1_private-planes-general-aviation-ed-bolen

General aviation groups aren't happy, and who can blame them? "There can be no legitimate reason for a government agency to facilitate the monitoring of wholly private activity by anyone with an internet connection," said Ed Bolen, head of the National Business Aviation Association.

But under LaHood's policy, Big Brother will be watching. And so will anyone else who wants to.


I'm really getting tired of the violations and the scrapping of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

NWO people. NWO.


(It sucks.)
perswig

climber
Aug 25, 2011 - 08:56pm PT





Dale

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 25, 2011 - 08:58pm PT
Now them there's some flyin' machines! Are they originals (not repros)?
What's the first one?
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 26, 2011 - 06:21am PT
Ditto.

Second pic on the left looks like a repro Sopwith Camel. Awesome shots though!

I need to dig some more up to add here.
perswig

climber
Aug 26, 2011 - 12:37pm PT
First pic is a repro F.E 8, WW1 British, originally powered with a 9cyl pusher like this?
Armed with .303, I think.

Third pic is a restored J-1, used locally along the southern ME coast for mail/supplies. Repowered with a period but not original engine (upgraded from 90ish HP to 130?)
Check out the wood! and it has leather wearpatches for the cable rigging. Pretty cool.

Middle pic is two repros, I'm pretty sure. Sopwith and maybe a Spad?

They were also flying a Waco UBF-2 (uncommon version, apparently) and a Stearman.

And while it wasn't out that day, they have a BEAUTIFUL repro Etrich Taube that I'd like to see aloft.
Talk about cloth and wire.


Dale

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2011 - 09:20pm PT
Great shots, Dale!

I haven't been able to locate many of my airplane shots. They may have gone into that hole in the sky where pictures go after a computer crash. I hope not, but I will keep looking.

To add some humor to the thread, here is a "handy cam" video of one of the loudest tandem students ever. Good thing I packed the main right, because I think the instructor was too busy laughing to deal with much...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsDmhxcvtu8
perswig

climber
Aug 30, 2011 - 09:49pm PT
Alright, that was gross.

Dale
Gene

climber
Aug 31, 2011 - 03:28pm PT
I found this one online of the SR-71 cruising above the Sierra. Can anybody help me identify the peaks?


LPP on the right?

g
BWB

Trad climber
Truckee
Sep 5, 2011 - 01:52pm PT
no pictures but I got a video of yesterday at lovers leap.

first ever tard over at the leap?

http://youtu.be/ettuc-5EkFA
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2011 - 12:38am PT
Awesome vid Hank, I saw that one a while back. Were you involved? Seriously hardcore.

I was raised around CrW dogs....did a biplane on my 3rd IAD jump. My jumpmaster and I both got grounded for a few days on that one.
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Sep 17, 2011 - 12:47am PT
flying that SR71 over the Sierra has got to be the greatest gig ever
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 17, 2011 - 12:50am PT
I remember seeing one in flight when I was on a commercial flight out of Reno, this was over 20 years ago now.

The captain came on to tell us one was passing our nose. Most planes, you can see them for a while, but this momma went out of sight in a few scant seconds. Never seen anything move that fast before or since.

The Blackbird was truly a aviation triumph. The pictured bird is probably the one owned by NASA, the only two seater still in operation.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 17, 2011 - 01:27am PT
I had the 6 o'clock high position on a SR-71 once. I had him dead to rights.
Course he was parked at the Palmdale Skunk Works and I was on final approach to
Lancaster. It was pretty cool though. Actually, there were six of them
there! I never have a camera with me at the right time. They must have
been changeing out their 8-tracks.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 19, 2011 - 02:38pm PT
"Hi HO,
HI Ho,
It's off to work we go!"

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Sep 19, 2011 - 03:01pm PT
Smokejumper en route to work...

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Sep 19, 2011 - 03:06pm PT

hopefully that wasn't fuel that my parachute was laying in...


ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Sep 19, 2011 - 03:20pm PT
Just a couple more..

Ecuador...


heading to a fire..

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2011 - 08:53pm PT
Awesome additions! Thanks much!

I wanted to smokejump, but never managed to get the initial attack time. Always had a lot of respect for them, especially on those old rounds.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 20, 2011 - 11:15am PT



TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 20, 2011 - 11:54am PT
i've been fascinated by the SR-71 since the early 60s

more recently at NASA Dryden i had free access to crawl all over two of them in a hanger
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 20, 2011 - 12:24pm PT
My climbing partner for many years worked for ........... when the SR-71 was still a black project.

The SR-71 had a celestial navigation system that was almost as accurate as GPS and worked by tracking three stars thru telescopes that fed an analog computer. Drum controler logic. Really an amazing piece of hardware.


Then there was the story about the C-5 full of Coors that was flown from Colorado to Florida "in support of the SR-71"
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Sep 20, 2011 - 12:56pm PT
My favorite airline:


Load up:


Helicopters are aircraft too..


Jump spot, Middle Eel wilderness.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 20, 2011 - 01:48pm PT
Nice new shots and stories!

I was lucky enough to be in Mesa for Halloween a couple years ago, and spent a good 45 minutes crawling around in Sentimental Journey with practically no one around. Loved every minute of it, they have a great museum there.

TGT, that was a really cool bit of info about the SR-71, thanks for sharing!

Ontheedge - those bambi buckets make me nervous. Had a pilot either bump a release or had the hook fail on a fire north of Reno many years back. It hit about 15ft from our team. Scary shite man. Was like a bomb went off.

Ron, I used to work at Minden for Tony Sabino. I think I heard about that story! Talk about a close one.

We had a similar incident at Stead when we were drop testing a new round chute that the DZO had developed. Except in this case, it was attached to a body weight dummy, and it took the right side horizontal and elevator off like a hot knife through butter. Surprisingly, the pilot managed to land it.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 20, 2011 - 04:20pm PT
A friend of mine figured he'd make some easy money and build time by scattering
ashes at sea from a 172. He wasn't so dumb as to discount the effects of
negative pressure so he put the ashes in a large trash bag. He had the theory
down pretty well but the devil was in the details and the execution. Uh, it
took hours with the FBO's shop vac to cleanse his conscience. No, he didn't
tell the family as he did scatter the ashes over the ocean, right?
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 21, 2011 - 01:20am PT
http://news.yahoo.com/declassified-us-spy-satellites-reveal-rare-look-secret-140205867.html

This story was updated on Sept. 18 at 2:45 p.m. ET.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Twenty-five years after their top-secret, Cold War-era missions ended, two clandestine American satellite programs were declassified Saturday (Sept. 17) with the unveiling of three of the United States' most closely guarded assets: the KH-7 GAMBIT, the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and the KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellites.

The vintage National Reconnaissance Office satellites were displayed to the public Saturday in a one-day-only exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, Va. The three spacecraft were the centerpiece of the NRO's invitation-only, 50th Anniversary Gala celebration held at the center last evening.

Saturday's spysat unveiling was attended by a number of jubilant NRO veterans who developed and refined the classified spacecraft and its components for decades in secret, finally able to show their wives and families what they actually did 'at the office' for so many years. Both of the newly declassified satellite systems, GAMBIT and HEXAGON, followed the U.S. military's frontrunner spy satellite system CORONA, which was declassified in 1995. [See photos of the declassified U.S. spy satellites]

Big spy satellites revealed

The KH-9 HEXAGON, often referred to by its popular nickname "Big Bird," lived up to its legendary expectations. As large as a school bus, the KH-9 HEXAGON carried 60 miles of high resolution photographic film for space surveillance missions.

Military space historian Dwayne A. Day was exuberant after his first look at the KH-9 HEXAGON.

"This was some bad-ass technology," Day told SPACE.com. "The Russians didn't have anything like it."

Day, co-editor of "Eye in the Sky: The Story of the CoronaSpy Satellites," noted that "it took the Soviets on average five to 10 years to catch up during the Cold War, and in many cases they never really matched American capabilities."

Phil Pressel, designer of the HEXAGON's panoramic 'optical bar' imaging cameras, agreed with Day's assessment.

"This is still the most complicated system we've ever put into orbit …Period."

The HEXAGON's twin optical bar panoramic mirror cameras rotated as the swept back and forth as the satellite flew over Earth, a process that intelligence officials referred to as "mowing the lawn."

Each 6-inch wide frame of HEXAGON film capturing a wide swath of terrain covering 370 nautical miles — the distance from Cincinnati to Washington — on each pass over the former Soviet Union and China. The satellites had a resolution of about 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to nearly 1 meter), according to the NRO. [10 Ways the Government Watches You]

According to documents released by the NRO, each HEXAGON satellite mission lasted about 124 days, with the satellite launching four film return capsules that could send its photos back to Earth. An aircraft would catch the return capsule in mid-air by snagging its parachute following the canister's re-entry.

In a fascinating footnote, the film bucket from the first KH-9 HEXAGON sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in spring 1972 after Air Force recovery aircraft failed to snag the bucket's parachute.

The film inside the protective bucket reported contained high resolution photographs of the Soviet Union's submarine bases and missile silos. In a daredevil feat of clandestine ingenuity, the U.S. Navy's Deep Submergence Vehicle Trieste II succeeded in grasping the bucket from a depth of 3 miles below the ocean.

Hubble vs. HEXAGON

Former International Space Station flight controller Rob Landis, now technical manager in the advanced projects office at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, drove more than three hours to see the veil lifted from these legendary spacecraft.

Landis, who also worked on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope program, noticed some distinct similarities between Hubble and the huge KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite.

"I see a lot of Hubble heritage in this spacecraft, most notably in terms of spacecraft size," Landis said. "Once the space shuttle design was settled upon, the design of Hubble — at the time it was called the Large Space Telescope — was set upon. I can imagine that there may have been a convergence or confluence of the designs. The Hubble’s primary mirror is 2.4 meters [7.9 feet] in diameter and the spacecraft is 14 feet in diameter. Both vehicles (KH-9 and Hubble) would fit into the shuttle's cargo bay lengthwise, the KH-9 being longer than Hubble [60 feet]; both would also fit on a Titan-class launch vehicle."

The 'convergence or confluence' theory was confirmed later in the day by a former spacecraft designer, who declined to be named but is familiar with both programs, who confided unequivocally: "The space shuttle's payload bay was sized to accommodate the KH-9." [Infographic: NASA's Space Shuttle from Top to Bottom]

The NRO launched 20 KH-9 HEXAGON satellites from California's Vandenberg AFB from June 1971 to April 1986.

The HEXAGON's final launch in April 1986 — just months after the space shuttle Challenger explosion — also met with disaster as the spy satellite's Titan 34D booster erupted into a massive fireball just seconds after liftoff, crippling the NRO's orbital reconnaissance capabilities for many months.

The spy satellite GAMBIT

Before the first HEXAGON spy satellite systems ever launched, the NRO's GAMBIT series of reconnaissance craft flew several space missions aimed at providing surveillance over specific targets around the world.

The satellite program's initial system, GAMBIT 1, first launched in 1963 carrying a KH-7 camera system that included a "77-inch focal length camera for providing specific information on scientific and technical capabilities that threatened the nation," according to an NRO description. A second GAMBIT satellite system, which first launched aboard GAMBIT 3 in 1966, included a175-inch focal length camera. [Related: Anatomy of a Spy Satellite]

The GAMBIT 1 series satellite has a resolution similar to the HEXAGON series, about 2 to 3 feet, but the follow-up GAMBIT 3 system had an improved resolution of better than 2 feet, NRO documents reveal.

The GAMBIT satellite program was active from July 1963 to April 1984. Both satellites were huge and launched out of Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The satellite series' initial version was 15 feet (4.5 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, and weighed about 1,154 pounds (523 kilograms). The GAMBIT 3 satellite was the same width but longer, stretching nearly 29 feet (9 m) long, not counting its Agena D rocket upper stage. It weighed about 4,130 pounds (1,873 kg).

Unlike the follow-up HEXAGON satellites, the GAMBIT series were designed for extremely short missions.

The GAMBIT 1 craft had an average mission life of about 6 1/2 days. A total of 38 missions were launched, though 10 of them were deemed failures, according to NRO documents.

The GAMBIT 3 series satellites had missions that averaged about 31 days. In all, 54 of the satellites were launched, with four failures recorded.

Like the CORONA and HEXAGON programs, the GAMBIT series of satellites returned their film to Earth in re-entry capsules that were then snatched up by recovery aircraft. GAMBIT 1 carried about 3,000 feet (914 meters) of film, while GAMBIT 3 was packed with 12,241 feet (3,731 meters) of film, NRO records show.

The behemoth HEXAGON was launched with 60 miles (320,000 feet) of film!

HEXAGON and GAMBIT 3 team up

During a media briefing, NRO officials confirmed to SPACE.com that the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and KH-9 HEXAGON were later operated in tandem, teaming-up to photograph areas of military significance in both the former Soviet Union and China.

The KH-9 would image a wide swath of terrain, later scrutinized by imagery analysts on the ground for so-called ‘targets of opportunity.' Once these potential targets were identified, a KH-8 would then be maneuvered to photograph the location in much higher resolution.

"During the era of these satellites — the GAMBIT and the HEXAGON — there was a Director of Central Intelligence committee known as the 'Committee on Imagery Requirements and Exploitation' that was responsible for that type of planning," confirmed the NRO's Robert McDonald, Director of the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance.

NASA's Rob Landis was both blunt and philosophical in his emotions over the declassification of the GAMBIT and HEXAGON programs.

"You have to give credit to leaders like President Eisenhower who had the vision to initiate reconnaissance spacecraft, beginning with the CORONA and Discoverer programs," Landis said. "He was of the generation who wanted no more surprises, no more Pearl Harbors."

"Frankly, I think that GAMBIT and HEXAGON helped prevent World War III."

Editor's note: This story was updated on Sept. 19 to correct the name of Phil Pressel, who designed the HEXAGON spy satellite camera system.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2011 - 02:47am PT
Awesome report Tom! Thanks for sharing.

Starting this last weekend, I got back into an old hobby of mine, wreckchasing.

Took my fiancee out with me, it was her first crash site. She really enjoyed the documentation process and the "investigation" to try and decipher the mechanics of the accident.

I don't want to post negative stuff like crashes in this thread, but I may start a thread on it at some point. If you would like to see the pictures, they are located at http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o137/vegasclimber/N4259J%20Crash%20Site/
mooch

Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
Sep 21, 2011 - 05:07pm PT
Mooch (crouching down) gathering telemetry data after another test flight of the F-35 Lightning II, Ed-weird AFB.



Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 21, 2011 - 05:29pm PT
Nice shot Mooch!

Have to say that I'm not much of an F35 fan yet. It's an interesting concept, but it seems to me that the ducting system is really complicated and could be very prone to damage in a combat situation. I'm also a dual engine fan as far as combat airframes go.

I haven't studied it a whole lot yet though, so I don't know what backup systems or protection is in place.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 21, 2011 - 11:53pm PT
Hard to imagine the Navy falling in love with a one-banger.
It is amazing that it can cruise SS without AB.

About 7 or 8 years ago the Air Force 'played' with the Indians and their Migs.
As I recall it two or three F-15's 'took out' 15 Migs. I know I have the
exact figures a bit off but not substantially.


"Hey, Sarge, check the rubber, please."
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 29, 2011 - 02:09pm PT
From an 1892 "Scientific American"


I guess it didn't 'take off'.
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Oct 1, 2011 - 09:35am PT
http://firstflightfoundation.org/first-flight-foundation-events/first-flight-foundation-soaring-100/

Soaring 100!

The centennial celebration of Orville Wright's historic, world record glider flight on October 24, 1911 of 9 minutes and 45 seconds heralding the arrival of modern soaring.

Almost a century ago, on October 24, 1911, Orville Wright soared for 9 minutes and 45 seconds in Kitty Hawk, a record that held for almost 10 years, and started the sport and science of modern soaring as we know it today.


Great article on the soaring record feat and experiments from Popular Mechanics 1911 (full original article):
http://www.firstflightfoundation.org/bm~doc/1911-11-popmech-lougheed_-secret-flights2.pdf
errett

Social climber
Grumpy Ridge
Oct 1, 2011 - 11:55am PT
Just did my very first jump last sunday over Longmont, Colorado. Now I'm bored. I may have to take up this silly business.
errett

Social climber
Grumpy Ridge
Oct 1, 2011 - 12:26pm PT
Yeee Haw! Totally fun and Rich was great.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 1, 2011 - 07:24pm PT
Errett -

Your first jump costs (on average) $200.

The rest cost you about half your life's income (exactly). :D

Congrats and welcome to skydiving!
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 4, 2011 - 07:14pm PT
1st vertical carrier landing.

F35B 10-3-11

http://www.marines.mil/news/pages/marinestv.aspx?pid=ybfCFNAZ7G4IbBhH7HnnngbnQNWfAjLr
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Oct 4, 2011 - 08:24pm PT
Sweet photos and stories erybody
Here's a vid of my first Week of free fall!
http://thekidcormier.blogspot.com/2011/09/twisting-turning-re-edit.html
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Oct 4, 2011 - 08:39pm PT
I bungee-jumped about 15 years ago and it scared the hell out of me. I'm thinking of getting into skydiving, and I figure it's less scary on account that one doesn't really feel the sensation of falling, with the frame of reference so far away.

that right? or am I fooling myself?
Trusty Rusty

Social climber
Tahoe area
Oct 4, 2011 - 10:39pm PT
Engine failure, 6 souls aboard, all walked.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 7, 2011 - 02:30am PT
I was at the San Diego Air & Space Museum and learned something!





Those piston rods are a good 1-1/4" thick!
FinnMaCoul

Trad climber
Green Mountains, Vermont
Oct 7, 2011 - 09:45am PT
Tragically my brother, Dave, was killed a couple weekends ago in Maine when his Cessna went down. Flying was his passion. We suspect it was a frame stall as he was flying low and slow and banking. He flew out of Greenville, Maine.

Be careful all you pilots out there. Just like climbing it only takes a moment for it all to change. He was a damn good pilot but one poor decision plus another... you know how it goes.

Don't mean to bring the thread down. I got to fly with Dave countless times and it is truly a special passion. We shared a bond; my climbing and his flying. I always enjoyed the hell out of being up there with him.

Rest in Peace, brother.




snakefoot

climber
cali
Oct 7, 2011 - 11:01am PT

Eiger mushroom exit this sept
Trusty Rusty

Social climber
Tahoe area
Oct 7, 2011 - 04:22pm PT
Very sorry about the loss of your brother Finn, that's a heavy blow. Reassuring that you shared a good bond and times, and that at least he was doing what he loved.
Ditto on your comment to pilots. Often more sketch as all the cockpit management in the world is second to mechanical failure.
As good as we perform in the world aloft, we're never more than a move from checkmate.
Regards to you and family.
Abe
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 11, 2011 - 12:57am PT
Sorry to hear that Finn. RIP to your bro.

Thanks for all the contributions lately folks - please keep sharing!

I was at the Midland airport and got some nice shots of the CAF Museum's planes - I will post them up once I get back to Vegas (hopefully tomorrow.)

The B-29 was there but they had it parked over at the main ramp so I didn't get a shot of her, which was a bummer.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Oct 11, 2011 - 02:44pm PT
hank,
looked like greece was nice. will talk later when i see ya, preferably screamin across at each other in flight.
GLee

Social climber
MT
Oct 11, 2011 - 05:18pm PT
Here is a story with a happy ending for those of us who are also skydivers, smokejumpers, pilots, or all of the above.
This is the story as told by the Extraordinarily Talented and Lucky Hawkins & Powers C-119 pilot (& skydiver), Ed Dugan:

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/c119-dugan_story.htm

A friend (who was still working as a Fairbanks BLM smokejumper in 1981) had a silkscreen made of the picture of the distressed HP Tanker 138 (as seen in the story by Ed), and printed it on T-shirts with the caption 'C-119 in Slow Flight'. I think the Bros bought that run out.

Here is a BEFORE of a Hawkins and Powers C-119 (sister HP Tanker 136):





Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 11, 2011 - 05:47pm PT
GLee,
Great story, thanks! It has something for everybody, as you noted.

This story, with balky piston engines and add-on jets, reminds me of a book by a C-123 driver in Viet Nam.
It is a fabulous book - very well written and a gripper!

Flying Through Midnight by John Halliday

Buy it, you won't regret it.
hooblie

climber
from where the anecdotes roam
Oct 22, 2011 - 04:25pm PT
john hartford, steam powered aereoplane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdgLtzWJhbU

1842: The Aerial Steam Carriage of William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow was patented, but was never successful, although a steam-powered model was flown in 1848.
1852: Henri Giffard flies a 3 horsepower (2 kW) steam-powered dirigible over Paris; it was the first powered aircraft.
1874: Félix du Temple flies a steam powered aluminium Monoplane off a downhill run. While it did not achieve level flight, it was the first manned heavier-than-air powered flight.
1894: Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (inventor of the Maxim Gun) built and tested a large steam powered aircraft. The machine generated sufficient lift and thrust to break free of the test track and fly but was never operated as a piloted aircraft.
1899: Gustave Whitehead built and flew a steam powered airplane in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Stoker/passenger Louis Darvarich was injured when the plane crashed into an upper story of an apartment building. He later flew steam aircraft in Hartford, Connecticut, and was visited by one of the Wright brothers well before 1903.[1] However, this flight has never been verified satisfactorily; there are no photographs, news stories, or other media from 1899 to confirm it. Likewise, the supposed visit of the Wright brothers to Whitehead is apocryphal; other than affidavits taken over thirty years after the fact, there is no evidence the visit ever happened. Mainstream aviation historians remain unconvinced of the Whitehead claims.[2]
1902: Louis Gagnon flew a steam helicopter in Rossland, British Columbia, called the "Flying Steam Shovel". Control problems caused a crash.
1920 The Bristol Tramp would have been a steam powered aeroplane but the turbine was over powered and the construction of a reliable boiler and condenser circuit was problematic.
1930s: George D. Besler and William J. Besler's prototype steam biplane, based on a Travel Air 2000, flew several times at Oakland airport. It was powered by a two-cylinder, 150 hp (110 kW) reciprocating engine designed by the Doble Steam Motors Company and Besler weighing about 500 lbs.[3][4] and was capable of STOL operation due to the ease of reversing the thrust.[5]
1944: A steam-powered version of the Messerschmitt Me 264a was hypothesized but never constructed. This was meant to be powered by a steam turbine developing over 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) while driving a 5.3 meter (17' 6") diameter propeller. The fuel would have been a mixture of powdered coal and petroleum. It seems that the steam turbines would have had an SFC of 190 gr/hp/hr. The main considered advantages to this powerplant were consistent power at all altitudes and low maintenance.[6]
1960s: Conceptual drawings were made for Don Johnson of Thermodynamic Systems Inc. Newport Beach, CA of an engine. It was to be in installed in a Hughes 300 helicopter. The steam engine was a compact cylindrical double-acting uniflow [similar in layout to the Dyna-Cam Aero engine], but never prototyped by Controlled Steam Dynamics, Inc. ~~~ wikipedia
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 22, 2011 - 06:47pm PT
I was at the Midland airport and got some nice shots of the CAF Museum's planes - I will post them up once I get back to Vegas (hopefully tomorrow.)

The B-29 was there but they had it parked over at the main ramp so I didn't get a shot of her, which was a bummer.

10-15 years ago on a flight back from Alaska I sat next to a CAF pilot and board member that was deeply involved in the B-29 restoration project.

When I told him I'd seen a couple of R-3350's in a surplus store yard in Cerritos it was like tellin' a kid that Santa was in the next room with exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

The father of the guy who got me into climbing was a navigator on B-29s and a member of the Caterpillar club.

His craft went down from engine overheating, a common B-29 problem.

Everyone made it out over the Nevada desert except the pilot.

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Oct 22, 2011 - 08:33pm PT

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2011 - 09:47pm PT
Awesome shots Ammon! Those taken at Lodi?

TGT, part of what took so long to get Fifi back in the air, was a complete redesign of the ducting and exhaust systems, for that very reason. That's part of what caused the problem on that bird as well.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Oct 24, 2011 - 01:27pm PT
Yes, my friend Zak took the photos of me over Lodi.

Here is another one that I took of that day:

Wormly81

Trad climber
Oct 24, 2011 - 05:07pm PT
Unedited video of descending my first climb in the Dolomites. Cima Grande Normal Route.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHmJ6VLP_GQ
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Oct 24, 2011 - 05:07pm PT
man those things must take tracking to a whole new level!
RtM

climber
DHS
Oct 25, 2011 - 11:46am PT
Back in the day! Not sure where this was taken, possibly the world meet at Eloy 1996

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 6, 2011 - 01:24pm PT
Wanna see a B737 built in 150 seconds?

B737 Fast Build

Crap, can they build a Hyundai that fast?
I liked the fat 12 year old playin' with the steering wheel and the spray booth!
Pretty sure that thing has its own zip code.
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Nov 6, 2011 - 02:29pm PT
Thanks for that Reilly!! Thats was awesome, | really enjoyed it, especially the painting part!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Nov 26, 2011 - 03:07pm PT
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Nov 26, 2011 - 03:22pm PT
Hankster,


Nice jumps. You know after you guys BASE, and free-fall for a few seconds, you are just low performing paraglider pilots. Lol.

There was a jumpable BASE parachute/paraglider developed, and it worked. You guys should be going the distance cross-country once you're under canopy and riding the thermals. You could top land and do it again!!!

Combining both worlds would be special.


;-))
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 26, 2011 - 06:39pm PT
You sure that isn't Dennis Miller?

Really well done short film with a twist at the end.

http://biggeekdad.com/2011/11/the-german/
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Dec 6, 2011 - 01:25am PT

Packed my first chute today.
It was a reserve, so what's that tell yah...


-Yes it was a crappy job that barely made it into the container.
-No it will never get used, because...
-No, it will never leave the shop (just a beater, practice canopy)
-Yes I am stoked just the same

I just started a Senior rigger's course with Simon Wade @:
Skydiving Services

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 20, 2011 - 03:27pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 2, 2012 - 09:45pm PT
The B-2 flyover before today's Rose Parade:


thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Jan 3, 2012 - 10:43am PT
@Trundlebum; You say you packed your first chute ever, so you are taking a rigging coarse with out having packed and jumped a main canopy, that must mean you dont have you A-license yet because that is one of the requirements...

I thought you need to have a few license before you could become a rigger...

Personally I'd like to know that the rigger who packed my reserve has had a few thousand jumps with a couple reserve rides in there for the experience.

-Luke
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Jan 3, 2012 - 04:51pm PT
Good way to start the new year!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 08:50pm PT

"Sgt. Scratch was born in Saskatchewan , July 7, 1919, and enlisted in the RCAF in Edmonton , as R60973 AC2 on July 20, 1940. He earned his wings as a Sergeant Pilot and flew with that rank for a long time. He flew Liberators from Gander , Newfoundland , as a co-pilot on anti-submarine patrols. Scratch was good at his job and was eventually raised to commissioned rank.

As a Flying Officer and with many hours to his credit, Scratch wanted to fly as aircrfaft commander, however, RCAF officials considered that, as he was slight in build, and had suffered ankle injuries in the past, he would not have the strength to control a Liberator in an emergency.

Sgt. Scratch wanted more action but was unsuccessful in getting an overseas posting. He became very depressed. One evening, June 19. 1944, in the mess, he entered into a debate about one man being able to take off, fly, and land, a Liberator. Scratch left the mess, went down to the hangar, fired up a Liberator, and took off. He shot up the American base at Argentia, and the base at Gander . When some fighters approached him to order him to land, they found him occupying, and rotating the mid-upper gun turret, with the aircraft on autopilot. The guns were fully armed and operational. When he returned to base he was placed under arrest, later court marshalled, and dishonorably discharged.

Mr. Scratch returned to Edmonton , Al berta , and went directly to the RCAF recruiting office where he was accepted back into the RCAF as a Sergeant Pilot. He was posted to No. 5 OTU, Boundary Bay . 5 OTU was training aircrew on Liberators for service against Japan . The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was winding down and many of the pilots were senior aircrew from Training Command. Again Sgt. Scratch found himself flying second pilot to officers with far less experience than himself. The training started on B-25 Mitchell aircraft and advanced to Liberators. When his experience and flying skills were not recognized, Sgt. Scratch again became frustrated.

On December 5, 1944, Sgt. Scratch attempted to take off, unauthorized, in a Liberator, Due to the fact that there was no official flying that night, the field was in darkness and the control tower un-manned, Scratch mistook a roadway for the runway and crashed into a wooden bridge wiping out the undercarriage. Undaunted, he returned to the hangar and signed out a B-25 Mitchell and took off.

Scratch flew down to Seattle, Washington, area and beat up the Seattle airport causing many aborted take offs. The Americans sent up fighter aircraft to bring the Mitchell down however, Scratch returned to Canada , disrupting and grounding flights at the Vancouver airport. He then flew around the Hotel Vancouver, well below the roof level and down Granville Street .

The following is an eye witness report by Norman Green. “7:00 hrs. December 6, 1944, while it was still dark, I was in the mess hall when it was shaken, and dishes fell to the floor as a result of an aeroplane flying low overhead. The same pass shook WDs out of their bunks.

As usual that morning at 8:00 hrs., 1200 airmen and airwomen, all ranks (I among them), formed up on the tarmac in front of the control tower for CO’s inspection. Just as the parade was about to be called to attention a B-25 Mitchell bomber came across the field at zero altitude, and pulled up sharply in a steep climb over the heads of the assembled airmen, just clearing the tower. Within seconds, 1,200 men and women were flat on the ground. The Mitchell then made several 25 ft. passes over the field. Group Captain Bradshaw dismissed the parade and ordered everyone to quarters.

Over the next two hours we witnessed an almost unbelievable demonstration of flying, much of it with the B-25’s wings vertical to the ground, below roof top level, defying gravity. We were continually diving into ditches to avoid being hit by a wingtip coming down a station road. He flew it straight and level, vertically with the wing tip only six feet above the ground without losing altitude, defying all logic, and the law of physics.”

After an hour of this, three P-40 Kittyhawks from Pat Bay Station arrived on the scene, fully armed, with orders to shoot the B25 down if it left the area of the station. They tried to get on his tail but could not stay with him in his tight turns below rooftop level. After two hours of this, Sgt. Scratch flew over a corner of the field and circled one spot vertically, with the Kittyhawks joining in like may pole dancers.

Sgt Scratch then climbed to 2,000 feet and wagged his wings as he crossed the field, boxed in by the fighters. When they were clear of the station, the Kittyhawks signaled Sgt. Scratch to land. He nodded his head, gave them the thumbs down sign, rolled over, pulled back on his controls, and, aiming at an uninhabited spot on Tillbury Island in the Fraser River , dived into it. The shattered red taillight lens was later located dead centre between the points of impact of the engines.”

Al l in all, a remarkable story, but further on in the forum where this account was published, someone named JDK put into workd very eloquently what my thoughts were about this psychopath: “I've always rather liked the saying that 'the superior pilot is one who uses his superior judgment to avoid using his superior skill'. Unless there's bits we don't know, Sgt Scratch was a disgrace with a few remarkable skills. As a military airman, wrecking several aircraft (and worse) simply because he wanted to do another job than allocated in wartime was utterly selfish and short-sighted. Flying skill to the extent of suicide while wasting government equipment and hazarding the lives of your fellow airmen hardly sounds like 'a superb pilot' to me.

Makes a good bar tale though. And his ghost walks the corridors to this day...”
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:08pm PT
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:14pm PT



One of the most celebrated images of a low pass is this shot of F-14 Tomcat driver Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass making a curving pass alongside USS America. Many web-wags have stated that this was unauthorized, dangerous or that it even was a photo of a Tomcat about to crash. However, Snodgrass explained: "It's not risky at all with practice. It was my opening pass in a Tomcat tactical demonstration at sea. I started from the starboard rear quarter of the carrier, slightly below flight deck level. Airspeed was about 270 kts with the wings swept forward. I selected afterburner at about a half-mile out, and the aircraft accelerated to about 315 kts. As I approached the fantail, I rolled into an 85-degree bank and did a hard 5-6G turn, finishing about 10-20 degrees off of the boat's axis. Microseconds after this photo was taken, after rolling wings-level at an altitude slightly above the flight deck, I pulled vertical with a quarter-roll to the left, ending with an Immelman roll-out 90 degrees and continued with the remainder of the demo. It was a dramatic and, in my opinion, a very cool way to start a carrier demo as first performed by a great fighter pilot, Ed "Hunack" Andrews, who commanded VF-84 in 1980-1988.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:18pm PT



A B-52 slides down the port side of USS Ranger (CV-61) in its typical nose down cruise attitude. Though it looks like it, this is not photoshopped. It happened in early 1990 in the Persian Gulf, while U.S. carriers and B-52s were holding joint exercises. Two B-52s called the carrier Ranger and asked if they could do a fly-by, and the carrier air controller said yes. When the B-52s reported they were 9 kilometers out, the carrier controller said he didn't see them. The B-52s told the carrier folks to look down. The paint job on the B-52 made it hard to see from above, but as it got closer, the sailors could make it out, and the water the B-52's engines were causing to spray out. It's very, very rare for a USAF aircraft to do a fly-by below the flight deck of a carrier. But B-52s had been practicing low level flights for years, to penetrate under Soviet radar. In this case, the B-52 pilots asked the carrier controller if they would like the bombers to come around again. The carrier guys said yes, and a lot more sailors had their cameras out this time. Photo was taken from the plane guard helicopter
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:19pm PT
Tom,
Is that Hetch Hetchy? I gotta try and get my bro-in-law to break open his
photo vault. When he was driving F-111's they would go down to Greece for
'exercises'. Yeah, right, drinking exercises. Oh, they would go out during
the day but that was just to determine who would be buying that night. And
you ask how was that determined? Easy - each right-seater brought his video
camera and they would video each other. Doing what you ask? Duh, who was
kicking up the biggest rooster tail! "And how big is big, Johnny?" Well,
a 90,000 pound airplane flying Mach .9 at 50' AGL makes a really big roostertail!
The pics I've seen I would guess 100'! WOO-HOO!

edit:
Great shot of the BUFF!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:20pm PT


In 2009, a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet crew got permission for a low-level demonstration flight as part of the opening ceremony for a speedboat race on the Detroit River , This is what it looked like for Motor City residents. Officials waived rules to allow the Navy flyers to swoop under 100ft along the waterway. One resident said, "I couldn't believe how low they flew and how close they came to our building. I'm sure the pilot waved at me." Photo: AP/The Detroit News, Steve Perez. Originally spotted at the Daily Mail.


TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:39pm PT

The Human Fly, a stunt man by the name of Rick Rojatt, makes a low pass on top of a DC-8 flown by the legendary Clay Lacy in front of the grandstands between events at the 1976 California National Air Races at Mojave. The aircraft is ex-Japan Airlines JA8002. It was owned and operated by American Jet Industries in 1976.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jan 3, 2012 - 09:55pm PT
I am gaining ground on my Sr. Riggers cert.
Alas, still some packing and testing to go.
'Eh I'm in no rush.

I might get treated to my first jump this week end :)

~~~~~~~~~

Hank:
your name came up in the shop today.
Do you know Brandon Clemons of Bad Seed BASE?

Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jan 4, 2012 - 12:35am PT
My daughter soloed this today....

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 4, 2012 - 12:59am PT
Wow, Karen, talk about collectables! That must be yours cause it sure can't
belong to any flight school! :-)
I'm sure you've heard all the slanderous comments about Swifts almost all of
which are unfounded I'm sure. However, it sure does look like it would
love to ground-loop and I've also heard you don't want more than about a
10 kt cross wind to land in. True?

So was this your proud daughter's first solo or first tail-dragger solo?
Judging by the size of her smile I'm going with first solo, period. KOOL!

Two more questions:
Was yours built in the first half of the last century?
And why did they put the 'steering' wheels on upside down? :-)
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jan 4, 2012 - 01:35am PT
I just went back and caught up with the thread:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karen:
Woootah for your daughter, way cool !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank, I surely appreciate the positive 'tude. Thanks it gets my stoke up!
Make sure you're sewing skills are also getting trained.
I am a very accomplished sew'r, seamer, stitcher or what ever you want to call it. I am hesitant to say "I am a Blah,blahblah..." about most things. But I can and do use with pride, the statement "I am a sail maker".

My first 9-5 job at 17 was making sails at the same loft where my father was working and retired from. It was at the time the largest loft in the world. I have made 12 meter sails in Marblehead and I have jumped my own sailboard sails at Ho'okipa Maui.

Sewing I can do!

My trapping/tack'n pack'n leave something to be desired still yet,
but I'm getting it :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

thekidcormier:
@Trundlebum; You say... you are taking a rigging coarse with out having packed and jumped a main canopy, that must mean you dont have your A-license yet
TRUE/Right you are !

because that is one of the requirements...
FALSE/Not true, incorrect.

I thought you need to have a few license before you could become a rigger...
No offence, but now your assuming.
The only requirements for an F.A.A Senior Rigger certification are:

F.A.A Senior Rigger certification

FAR Part 65, Certification;Airman Other Than
Flight
crew Members, provides for the issuance of
two parachute rigger certificates: (1)senior parachute rigger
and (2) master parachute rigger. FAR Part 65 also
provides for four type ratings; (1) seat, (2) back,
(3) chest, and (4) lap. Each senior parachute rigger
applicant must meet the requirements for at least one
rating, and a master parachute rigger applicant must
meet the requirements for at least two ratings to be
issued a certificate.

General Requirements
FAR Section 65.113 states:
(A) To be eligible for a parachute rigger certificate a person must-
(1) Be at least 18 years of age;
(2) Be able to read, write, speak and
understand the English language.
(3) Comply with the sections of this subpart
that apply to the certificate and type rating
he/she seeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a nut shell the requirements to train, test and get certified as a senior rigger are:
1. Be over 18
2. Be fluent in English
3. Log at least twenty pack jobs for each of your rating type.
4. Pass an F.A.A administered written test
5. Pass an oral and 'Hands on' practical test

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is possible to become an acknowledged, experienced (civil) Master Parachute Rigger with out your feet ever leaving the ground except to get in and out of bed.
I am not sure but I think military riggers are required to jump at least every 90 days. But that is largely due to the fact that Military riggers are first and foremost 'AirBorne' div trained.
That does not apply in civilian regulations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
thekidcormier-
I am not defending any thoughts, or opinions one way or another.
I understand the desire to know:
"...that the rigger who packed my reserve has had a few thousand jumps with a couple reserve rides..."

However a few considerations are in order:

You don't have to be Alex Honnold to manufacture biners at Black Diamond!
The (skydiving)parachute rigging industry is very well regulated. It is a pretty smooth system of checks and balances. No rigger, that wants to keep his license is going to perform duties beyond the privileges of his certification.
As a Senior rigger I can do minor repairs, supervise the packing of mains, pack reserves etc.
I CAN NOT as a senior rigger, do major repairs or mod's to any canopy, harness or container.
I can however do any of the aforementioned work, under the supervision of a master rigger. At that point my work is then essentially his responsibility and I assure you he/she will see to it that it meets their work quality standards.
It is a little spooky to think that somebody that has as little as a one week course and 20 pack jobs just may have packed your reserve, but it doesn't really work quite that simply.
Just the same...
I climb in my own harness. At times I have worn a Black Diamond harness, which was probably sewn by some gal in the Philippines that perhaps has never even seen a cliff let alone been on a technical rock climb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In three years from now I hope to pass my Master riggers certification.
By then I may not have a single jump...
Or I may already be a proficient skydiver and BASE jumper who knows?
Either way I am going to continue to pursue the rigging industry, be it
parachute, entertainment, yachting or industrial rope access.

I however have hopes that in three years from now I will be proficiently jumping my own gear, my own main, harness and container ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edit:
I found out this afternoon that I might be ballast on a tandem jump on Saturday

WOOOOOHOOOOOO !

(but that would spoil my record of rigging with no jumps LOL)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wishing everybody, safe and happy landings through out the New Year !
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Jan 4, 2012 - 06:43am PT
Trundlebum you're wrong about packing a main for our A license. It is required.

http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Form_ALicenseProfandApp.pdf
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Jan 4, 2012 - 09:59am PT
Thanks for the clarification; I'm new to the aviation world so I need to ask questions to get the answers I'm looking for. Best of luck in the rigging business...

but who is this alex honnold guy you refer too, is he a salesman @ BD?

Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Jan 4, 2012 - 11:39am PT
@Trundlebum; You say... you are taking a rigging coarse with out having packed and jumped a main canopy, that must mean you dont have your A-license yet
TRUE/Right you are !


because that is one of the requirements...
FALSE/Not true, incorrect.


Yeah Hank, I know it's not required to be a skydiver to be a rigger. Theres a few people at my DZ that have like 2 skydives. It's weird but yeah you don't have to jump to pack. And it's like opposite for reserves, most skydivers can't pack their reserves but can pack their main everytime.
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jan 4, 2012 - 02:41pm PT
Reilly, yes the Swift is privately owned (her father) but I have no idea on the cross-wind issue, or when built, sorry!

Actually, she has never flown anything but tail draggers! She got her private in a Cessna 170 and also flies a Cessna 140 (see my avatar pic of the 170). She has completed all the requirements for her instrument and commercial and will attain those soon, I'm proud of her:)

Her dad collects vintage airplanes (Cessna 195, has 2 170's, 3 140', a North American Navion, the Swift, Beech 18, Seabee, and various "projects", i.e., Howard dga-15). Whew....he is obsessed to say the least!

Lastly, before we were divorced I earned my Private in the 140, needless to say, tail draggers are quite fun to fly.


edit to add: my avatar pic is of her flying the 170!
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jan 4, 2012 - 04:08pm PT

Thank you Hank, yah saved me a lot of typing M8 !
BTW Brandon Bad Seed Base and Simon Wade of Skydiving Sevices say Hello and a Nappy New Year !
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
bouldering
Jan 8, 2012 - 03:32am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 10, 2012 - 01:14am PT
Hard to fathom how 25 tons of whoopazz is obsolete but if yer gonna have a
'low-tech' weenie roast this 'un will still do the job. Check out the
'exhaust art'.

Taken at the Chino Planes of Fame Airshow in Oct (?)


ps
Karen,
Is yer ex still available? I think I'm in luv! All he's lacking is a DC-3! :-)
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 15, 2012 - 01:37am PT
F-35B Video http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Ki86x1WKPmE

An amazing aircraft.

This video is fresh (for the public). It was made just six weeks ago in the Atlantic, just off Newport News (Hampton Roads), Virginia.

These are the latest sea trials of the F-35B on the USS Wasp. They were very successful, with 74 VL's and STO's in a three week period. The media and the program critics had predicted that we would burn holes in the deck and wash sailors overboard. Neither of which happened. You will notice a sailor standing on the bow of the ship as the jet rotates. That was an intentional part of the sea trials.

The USS Wasp is an amphibious assault ship designed to embark a Marine Expeditionary Unit. It is capable of simultaneously supporting rotary and fixed wing STOVL aircraft and amphibious landing craft operations. For this test deployment the USS Wasp was outfitted with special instrumentation to support and measure the unique operating environment as the F-35B conducted short takeoffs and vertical landings.

No catapult...... No hook ............

The shape and scope of warfare – worldwide – just changed.
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Jan 18, 2012 - 12:48pm PT
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Jan 18, 2012 - 01:00pm PT
I like to fly, slowly working on becoming a commercial pilot... here is a video from last week landing on Oregon's shortest public runway... [Click to View YouTube Video]
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Jan 18, 2012 - 01:02pm PT
I just got a go-pro and have been having fun playing with it. Here is my first shot at editing something since the VHS days... Not that cool of a flight but the go-pro makes it look kinda cool. =)

[Click to View YouTube Video]
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Jan 28, 2012 - 08:47pm PT
Oct 4, 2011 - 05:39pm PT
I bungee-jumped about 15 years ago and it scared the hell out of me. I'm thinking of getting into skydiving, and I figure it's less scary on account that one doesn't really feel the sensation of falling, with the frame of reference so far away.

that right? or am I fooling myself?
buckie

Trad climber
Oregon
Jan 29, 2012 - 10:08pm PT
This is old thing comes in handy gettin around the Cascades Lakes.
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jan 30, 2012 - 02:37pm PT
ms5441, there is no sensation of falling skydiving, only if you jump from say a hot air balloon or a helicopter. The forward speed of an aircraft prevents one from feeling it, what you get to feel is an awesome sensation of the wind and a 60 second free fall is amazing. Think of how it feels when you put your hand out of a car window while traveling fast, that is how it feels except a lot cooler-going terminal velocity is almost cushion like.

Hank you probably can explain it better:)

Reilly, he wants a DC-3. Have you ever flown one? It is a hoot, heavy on the controls like a big lumbering giant. Story for you, years ago when Perris Valley still used DC-3's, my ex and I took one up for a flight just the two of us. We spaced out not knowing the ladder was still in the doorway, so the office radios us up to report this. Well, my ex tells me to fly it while he puts on a parachute to go in the back to pull it inside. It seemed like he took forever, when I noticed the air speed was getting a bit low, at that time (really no experience flying) but I knew enough to lower the nose to gain speed. My ex got back in time, thank goodness since I think the 3 was getting ready to stall. Crazy.

Another thrill was taking off in it on that short runway at Perris. Full power was applied while feet on the brakes, when he would let go of the brakes it would shake like crazy, the sound was incredible, the whole experience was just plain fun! Miss that. Oh, the guys often did low fly-bys after dropping off the sunset loads, screaming by you could see the fire coming out of the engines, the 3's were called the fire breathing dragons.

Lastly, I live under the final approach by Long Beach airport and every time that Catalina DC-3 flies over I practically get ..., lol, use your imagination!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 30, 2012 - 04:32pm PT
Karen,
Let me know when he gets his DC-3 so I can get a divorce. Not only have I
not flown one I've not even flown in one! From what I hear you were in no
danger of stalling it - all it would have done was mush and nose over on its
own.

What I really want is a PBY. I went through one that was for sale about
15 years ago. The dood had pimped it out BAD! We're talking tuck-and-rool
white leather setees under the blisters, a chef-worthy galley, and a couple
of Ritz Carlton staterooms! Oh yeah, and he had these big-azzed speakers
installed on the underside of the wings so he could fly over some idyllic
bay and hail the natives.

"I say my good people, might I land in yer lagoon and have a palaver?"
hooblie

climber
from where the anecdotes roam
Jan 30, 2012 - 07:40pm PT
it's not hard to love a dc-3. departed in one from a dirt strip outside cabo san lucas back in '75. we walked along the runway to the terminal taking note of the tires marking the edge. each one had a several plies revealed by wear. i suppose those were the ones that didn't get carted off and remounted. still it was unsettling to realize that they were in use with three out of four plies exposed. surely things have changed since the airport is paved now. it might have lights!

how about a little love for the c-46 ... curtis-wright commando. this outfit made regular fuel deliveries in their less pampered one of these to our village along the yukon. as the weather guy i would host the crew in my office while the truck was off unloading a third of what they brought.

their coveralls were basicly saturated with polished diesel grime seasoned with aged urine which i assumed resulted from inflight relief out some hole air was rushing into. i'm not sure since i never took them up on the standing offer to ride along. anyway, we've all learned some empathy for the condition, though for the sake of the office upholstery, i provided each a trash can to park on.


pretty lax these guys. when the (non-explosive rated) pump would catch fire under the belly they would gather round and casually kick snow on it.

on one (luckily summer) occasion they called from twenty miles out and i provided the full airport advisory which included the obvious showers in the vicinity. when they announced three mile final for straight in runway 24, i gave them a windcheck since things had gotten gusty. before long i was startled to hear them roaring by at midfield, tail up fully loaded with 2k ft of gravel remaining.

a lot of dust and commotion down that end. i looked at my instruments and the wind had reversed direction in that short time. i was mortified but very relieved to see them back taxi. one can presume a microburst like condition existed where a column of descending air hits the ground and blows out in every direction. as it passes directly overhead one can watch the windsock swing right around, and that's what i should have been doing.

an unexpected downwind landing only barely phased these guys,
but that was cold water out past the threshold
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jan 31, 2012 - 12:24am PT
Reilly, you know what I would like?

Stagger wing beech
Single engine otter on floats
Super cub all set to be STAL

And the money for all the fuel !!!

Vintage planes rock!!!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 31, 2012 - 01:48am PT
Hooblie, who was flying that crate in the second picture? I know damn well
it doesn't have an autopilot.

Karen,
You have good taste in airplanes.



A few more from last October's Planes of Fame show.
If you missed the original thread:
Planes of Fame

Might as well get something for yer tax dollar!

Is he running Premium?

The original Stealth Bomber...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 1, 2012 - 10:58pm PT
Karen, I've changed my mind. I'm not gonna get a PBY. It's gonna be an
Ekranoplan or nuthin'! I know it doesn't look real sleek but you don't
wanna be in its way especially seeing as how it could only fly a maximum
of 60' off the deck! But it could haul a boatload of vodka at 300 kts!

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 3, 2012 - 10:51am PT
An interesting article in LA Times about hang gliders vs paragliders brings
up some disturbing similarities to 'trad' vs 'sport'. Oh, and there are
curmudgeons involved!

Riding the winds of change
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 3, 2012 - 07:15pm PT
No photos but interesting article.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aerospacedaily&id=news/asd/2012/02/01/02.xml&headline=USAF%20Reveals%20Latest%20X-Plane:%20X-56A
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 3, 2012 - 08:47pm PT
It seems odd that they can't do adequate flutter testing in a wind tunnel
although I do realize there are limitations especially of scale.
perswig

climber
Feb 3, 2012 - 09:03pm PT
Big agree with Reilly on the PBY. I've always thought they were beautiful airframes.
That behemoth above is a horse of a different color.

Haven't been back to this thread in awhile. Thanks for all the recent addtions.
Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 6, 2012 - 12:31pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

http://martinjetpack.com/video-gallery.aspx
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 7, 2012 - 10:06pm PT

DRAGON FLYING IN CHINA

http://player.vimeo.com/video/31481531?autoplay=1
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Feb 7, 2012 - 11:53pm PT
Great stuff, Hankster!

Sorta reminds me of this wingsuit attempt in 1912



Click here if that doesn't play http://youtu.be/_7sZQ9WaPj0

PS: Loved the BASE segment in Front Range Freaks. That was right about the time I was just getting interested in BASE. That and having Frank G's video and Will Ox's Baffin footage were all part of getting me psyched to learn.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Feb 8, 2012 - 12:06am PT
i shot this video last week... was a nice day to fly through the gorge

[Click to View YouTube Video]
walt

climber
Kirkwood, CA
Feb 8, 2012 - 11:37am PT
Looks Like Fun!
MBrown

Big Wall climber
The Eastside.... UUUUHHHHHHH!
Feb 24, 2012 - 11:44am PT
^ HAHAHAHA! classic! good thing that pilot is safe and did not get trampled too bad. But the real bummer is his wing. It' s FU*#ED
thekidcormier

Trad climber
squamish, b.c.
Feb 24, 2012 - 11:49am PT
that is freakin hilarious, what a dumb dumb. I've only done one ground launch so far but made sure there was livestock in my way!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 24, 2012 - 11:58am PT
HANK! I almost spit my yogurt! That rooskie 'tard is clearly the frontrunner
in this year's Darwin Award race. But Hollywood needs to find that chick
who was doing the Exorcist moaning track in the background.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 25, 2012 - 04:44pm PT
http://www.dump.com/2011/10/26/raw-cockpit-footage-taken-during-a-blue-angels-air-show-video/
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 25, 2012 - 09:11pm PT
Why you don't want to follow a 'heavy':






Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 28, 2012 - 06:57pm PT
Looks like I missed some great posts while I have been out doing the real life thing!

Love the Eagle shots, Tom. Thanks for sharing, everyone!
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Feb 28, 2012 - 07:28pm PT
Walt, that glider picture is amazing! Wow, how fun....




This is for you Reilly....Kalinin K-7




Crazy isn't it?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 29, 2012 - 01:03am PT
Karen, thanks so much! When will it arrive?




That thing looks more like a Hollywood set design.
Yeah, those Rooskies like to think big. Talk about drag! Whazzup with those
gear housings, or whatever you wanna call them? No wonder the designer
was shot by Stalin.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Nice shots, Tom! Yeah, a friend got sequenced into LAX a little too tightly
one night flying the night bank checks. All looked good until about
50' when the vortex slid sideways into his path and his Navajo turned turtle.
He survived, barely, but that was the end of his flying career.

Sadly he had survived a previous crash, of which he was blameless (he was
dead-heading-yeah,ironic,eh?), that really should have killed him. I say
sadly because to have survived the first he should have been allowed by
the powers that be to enjoy his true passion. What was more sad was
that the second crash occurred before new rules about landing spacing
were adopted by the FAA. As I recall he had no idea how close he was to
the jet ahead of him.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
BREAKING NEWS!
A former former Cal quarterback just launched a paper airplane on a 227' flight!
Who needs real airplanes?
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 7, 2012 - 01:12pm PT
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Mar 7, 2012 - 01:30pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Hoffbrow

Trad climber
California
Mar 7, 2012 - 01:32pm PT
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 7, 2012 - 01:46pm PT
Tom-

THX for posting the Blue Angels link! Also, THX for all the great photos!The wake turbulence photo says it better than anything a CFI could ever tell a noob or wannabee pilot about the dangers there.
I've had occasion to follow a C-17 in the pattern; when told by ATC "to be aware of wake turbulence," my response was to say "extending downwind for wake turbulence avoidance." I then extended downwind for about 2 miles before turning base. I missed all the thrills that way.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 7, 2012 - 02:11pm PT
Still messin around with my Go-Pro, shot this last week flying home after going to Chico for some In-N-Out... 2hr flight compressed into 9min kinda cool as the sun sets and landing with no landing light.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 7, 2012 - 02:18pm PT

with 1% of Earth's atmospheric density, Mars features extreme winds and turbulence; and take-off speeds on Mars exceed Mach 1
redrocker

climber
NV
Mar 7, 2012 - 02:23pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 7, 2012 - 02:27pm PT
I've got that whole dead stick take-off video, that guy is pretty nuts! Tons of cool rock footage of Leslie Gulch area as well!
corniss chopper

climber
breaking the speed of gravity
Mar 7, 2012 - 03:07pm PT

Adventure Kite Surfer fights off Red Sea Sharks with a his knife while floating for 2 days during a failed attempt to set a crossing record of the body of water.
Saudi Coast Guard rescued him after tracking his emergency radio beacon.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/weird/NATL-kite-surfer-kills-red-sea-sharks-141598613.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 7, 2012 - 05:53pm PT
Hoffbrow, shweeet! Where did you launch from? How did you get to 14K?
Did you ride a wave up San Gorgonio?




Redrocker, you want dead stickin'? Here's some good ones:
__Gimli_Glider__

And perhaps the most impressive: __Air_Transat_Flight_236__

Interesting that two of the three most famous ones were conducted by
Canadians after they screwed up their fuel management.


Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Mar 7, 2012 - 10:02pm PT
We got to get more paragliding represented in this thread . . . It's incredible what you can do and how far you can go on thermals, ridge lift, convergence, and evening magic lift . . .

Fusion Nuclear Reactions safely 93 million miles away ---> full EM spectrum sent towards Earth --> sun-light heats the ground ---> ground heats the air immediatley above it ---> convection and differences of air pressure (wind) thoughout the lower atmosphere boundary layer ---> essentially free energy to travel 100s, even potentially 1000s of miles on just nylon canopies and string. Incredible really.



An oldy (1999) but a goody . . .


From Nowhere to the Middle of Nowhere (directors promo)
The first paraglider crossing (tandem) of Western Nepal with John Silvester
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGU0c78V9qI


PARAGLIDING - Cross Country Over Swiss Mountains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBwlOHjzRw


When you are really good with your canopy and have become one with it and you're a little insane you can do #$@! like this!

First Tandem Paragliding Infinite Tumble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr13xRIPfvk&feature=related


The incredible journeys to be done via XC flying on a paraglider have really just begun. Vol Bivouc all the way, doing traverses across massive mountain ranges, circumnavigations and triangles through massive mountain ranges, and flat-land flying for 1000s of miles. Climbing and paragliding. Nothing really like it. It's a dream come true.



What it's all about . . .


Red Bull X Alps 2011 Event Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-UYu8cc-Y&feature=relmfu
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Mar 7, 2012 - 10:15pm PT
Cool arse thread.

Tom your posting some great stuff.
That shot of the Shuttle coming out above the clouds is fantastic.

I love those shots of cloud and vapor illuminating the massive tip vortices off the big jets. It is a wonderful, visual representation of the airflow kinda like that fighter jet pic where the wings are almost entirely engulfed in condensation.
Great pic and stories folks, keep'm coming !

K I will now stop playing hookie and go back to work.
I have two Icaraus, 330, tandem mains to reline and a third to deline :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 7, 2012 - 11:16pm PT
TomCochrane: Those wake turbulence pictures are wild!
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Mar 7, 2012 - 11:25pm PT
so many cool photos -- is the Space Shuttle one real? and the F15 with ass on the tarmac is great too

has anyone built an airplane? My uncle did this maybe 20 years ago and still flies. I was thinking of following in his footsteps, under his tutelage.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 7, 2012 - 11:26pm PT
Was a nice day to go scope some crappy Oregon rock...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 8, 2012 - 05:03pm PT
Just a guess here, but I suspect the shot of the shuttle is one taken while the vehicle was still on the launch pad, sitting shrouded in low lying fog? The orientation is too vertical for in-flight, since it has a pretty aggressive attitude change as it begins tilting over on it's back for orbital entry. The astronauts wind up flying the beast head down, towards the Earth once orbit is achieved.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 11, 2012 - 03:46am PT
I re-edited the video I posted above, slowing it down n stuff so its easier to see the cool stuff. Probably much more enjoyable to watch...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Mar 11, 2012 - 12:38pm PT
Paragliding Mont-Blanc, Chamonix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZgxO6Foxlw


[Click to View YouTube Video]
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 14, 2012 - 01:41am PT
New photos from Cassini:






Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 14, 2012 - 01:47am PT
Jack Herer, where's that airport with the port-a-potty by the taxiway?
That's a first for me I do believe! A crapper and a pay phone, what more
could one ask for?
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
Mar 14, 2012 - 02:11am PT
Reilly,

Thats my home strip in Corvallis, the same one landed at. The owner of the FBO really makes his money off of owning Honey Bucket porto-pots. So its great, that one in the video is one of the cleanest ones I've seen! Corvallis is a great airport, not much traffic, big runway, lots of IAPs, was/is a great place to learn.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KCVO


Cheers,
Tyler
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Mar 16, 2012 - 04:05pm PT
Skydive just went down from 71,000 feet

Photos http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Article/Red-Bull-Stratos--Test-in-the-Death-Zone---021243179035293

Video http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Video/Red-Bull-Stratos-2012--First-Manned-Test-Flight-021243179002966
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 19, 2012 - 02:43am PT
http://news.yahoo.com/missing-balloon-pilot-saved-others-crashing-040127153.html

Missing balloon pilot saved others before crashing

FITZGERALD, Ga. (AP) — Authorities searched Sunday for a hot air balloon pilot from North Carolina who went missing in the South Georgia woods when his balloon crashed during a weekend thunderstorm.

Ben Hill County Sheriff Bobby McLemore said 63-year-old Edward Ristaino of Cornelius, N.C., was taking five skydivers into the air Friday evening during a festival in Fitzgerald, Ga., when a storm hit.

Ristaino told the skydivers to jump from the balloon. None were injured.

"He saved our lives," Jessica Wesnofske, 30, one of the skydivers, told The Charlotte Observer. "Another minute, we would have been in the storm with him."

Erin Daly, whose brother was one of the skydivers, called Ristaino a hero who saved lives.

The sheriff said strong winds then forced the balloon up to about 18,000 feet before it collapsed in a downdraft and plummeted to the ground.

Authorities have not found the balloon. Ristaino, who had nearly two decades experience flying hot air balloons, had brief radio contact with authorities.

"He told them he was in trouble," the sheriff told The Associated Press on Sunday evening. "He didn't think he was going to make it."

McLemore said the pilot was reading off his altitude readings as he fell, in an apparent effort to assist any search. The sheriff said crews would resume a ground and air search of the mostly wooded area on Monday morning.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 20, 2012 - 08:16pm PT
I'm so glad that in addition to all the private money being spent now the
government sees fit to waste more time on this to expunge the collective
guilt over a mediocre pilot who was clueless about navigation and radios.

Amelia Earhart mystery: Hillary Clinton announces U.S. support of new search
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 22, 2012 - 12:31pm PT
Check out this chopper crash. Hard to believe there were no "serious injuries".

Military Helicopter Crash

What happened? Pretty clearly a case of the mustard coming off the hotdog.
Dood might have survived the crash but he's gonna be in the ICU from the chewing-out.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 24, 2012 - 04:26pm PT
I read somewhere that the crew now faces criminal charges. Destruction of govt property to start with.


On a happier note.

A solution to the sonic boom?


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/16/supersonic_biplane/
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 25, 2012 - 11:11pm PT








TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 29, 2012 - 12:37am PT
It's finaly here!

The Tacocopter.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=19748145&nid=1014&title=tacocopter-would-deliver-tacos-via-unmanned-drone&s_cid=featured-4

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 31, 2012 - 10:52pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Mar 31, 2012 - 11:03pm PT
Red Bull vid was anticlimactic. Shows the dood moving out of the capsule, but fades to black before showing free-fall. Bullsh#t. Or rather, Red Bullsh#t.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 3, 2012 - 12:06am PT
Passenger lands plane with Wis. pilot unconscious

Associated Press – 1 hr 31 mins ago

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — An 80-year-old woman was able to successfully land a twin-engine airplane in northeastern Wisconsin after her husband became unconscious at the controls and died.

Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel says the dispatch center was told just after 5 p.m. Monday that a Cessna about 6 miles south of Sturgeon Bay had declared an emergency.

The pilot, an 81-year-old man from the Sturgeon Bay area, had suffered a medical emergency and was unconscious. His wife, who was the passenger, was flying the plane.

A certified pilot was able to fly alongside the plane and coach the wife. Just after 6 p.m., her right engine ran out of fuel and lost power.

She was able to land at Door County Cherryland Airport. The wife suffered minor injuries. Her husband was pronounced dead.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

While she had, no doubt, watched he dear husband land many times this is
a more impressive feat in light of her losing an engine which can make
a twin considerably more tricky to fly. To me the most remarkable thing
is that the poor thing had the composure to do so.


80 yr old lands twin Cessna
Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
Apr 5, 2012 - 01:48pm PT
Oh man Reilly - I found this audio this morning. GRIPPING. I cannot imagine being her son and the others.

I'm gripped.

audio of the event as she talks with the other pilot, tower personnel and her son:

http://doorcountysheriff.homestead.com/april_2012_002.mp3
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 16, 2012 - 06:54pm PT
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Lost_Spitfire_Squadron_206526-1.html

April 15, 2012
Lost Squadron Of Pickled Spitfires Found


By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief



Aviation historians and warbird enthusiasts are drooling at the discovery of at least 12 and maybe as many 20 perfectly preserved brand-new Spitfire Mark 14s buried in Myanmar, which was formerly Burma. Thanks to the tenacity (and apparently considerable diplomatic skills) of British farmer David Cundall, the lost squadron of pristine fighters was found where they were buried by U.S. troops in 1945 when it became clear they wouldn't be needed in the final days of the Second World War. At least a dozen of the aircraft, one of the latest variants with their 2,035-horsepower Roll Royce Griffon engines replacing the 1,200-1,500-horsepower Merlins in earlier models, were buried without ever being removed from their original packing crates. It's possible another eight were also buried after the war ended. After spending 15 years and $200,000 of his own money, Cundall was rewarded with visual proof of the magnitude of his discovery. "We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates," he told the Telegraph. "They seemed to be in good condition."

The aircraft were declared surplus when they arrived in Burma because the Japanese were in retreat by then and carrier-based Seafires were getting all the action. They were ordered buried in their original crates, waxed, swaddled in grease paper and their joints tarred against the elements. Cundall found some of the soldiers who buried the planes by placing ads in magazines and was able to narrow down the search before using ground-penetrating radar to confirm the burial site. The next obstacles to recovery are political. Myanmar's former military junta was under a variety of sanctions, among them an international convention that prevented the transfer of military goods to and from the country. Recent political reforms have led to the lifting of that ban effective April 23. Cundall will also need the permission of the new Myanmar government to unearth the treasure. He helped his own cause by making numerous trips to the country and earning the trust of government officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to seal the deal with Myanmar President Thein Sein during a visit.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 16, 2012 - 08:32pm PT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvtQ3g0ELuE&feature=related

IMAX Fighter Pilot
murf02

climber
NYC
Apr 16, 2012 - 08:46pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 19, 2012 - 10:44pm PT
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/19/buried-treasure-in-burma-squadron-lost-wwii-spitfires-to-be-exhumed/?intcmp=features

Still in cosmolene and buried in the original packing crates.
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Apr 19, 2012 - 10:47pm PT
what are the odds of a n00b launching off the Cap and not getting caught or tased? I'd guess that, all things considered, there's a 2-in-7 chance of things not going well
Robb

Social climber
The other side of life
Apr 20, 2012 - 02:19pm PT
Awesome Red Flag video!
Thanks Tom
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Apr 21, 2012 - 10:54pm PT
In spite of missing the Todd Gordon fest in Joshua Tree today, life was still good!

My damaged airplane was finally fixed last week, and Wednesday my CFI signed me off for my High Performance Airplane logbook endorsement. And today, I made my first solo flight in the "Rainbow Bird." I had another pilot in the right seat, but I was flying as PIC (pilot in command). Brian was a CFI candidate, waiting for HIS checkride with the FAA Designated Examiner, and wanted a chance to ride in the airplane as an observer. Yep. We had fun.

Finally some good pictures:



Even though it looks very sleek and racy, it isn't a speed machine; it's my flying SUV and a heavy load hauler. Normal cruise speed in normal flying conditions is 137 KIAS, and 146 KIAS is about the top speed in calm air. (That's 158 and 168 mph, respectively)
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 22, 2012 - 01:53am PT
SWEET! Now you just have to keep idiots away from it and keep the shiny side up.
But you knew that although I don't think you have "Keep idiots away" on the checklist. :-)

Don't feel bad. My bro-in-law was in a part of Canada that they tell a lot
of jokes about. It was a couple months ago and he landed as a big blizzard
was rolling in. He had an early departure the next morning so he went out
to the airport to make sure the ground crew got the plane prepped properly
and on time. He saw a mechanic on a stepladder holding an 18' flex duct that
was hooked up to a 'Herman Nelson' to pre-heat the engine. A 'Herman Nelson
is one of those giant propane heaters that looks like a small jet engine.
Andrew went up to the mechanic and asked him how long he had been heating
the engine. He got a rather vague reply. Andrew informed the guy that he
could probably speed up the operation if he would make sure the flex duct
was actually connected to the heater. There, now you know a true-life 'Newfie' joke!
Mind you this was a union mechanic. ;-)
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 27, 2012 - 11:30am PT
Apr 26, 2012 - 11:21pm PT
Asteroid Mining Plans Revealed by Planetary Resources, Inc. (with video)

"Planetary Resources, Inc. announced today its plan to mine Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals. Through the development of cost-effective exploration technologies, the company is poised to initiate prospecting missions targeting resource-rich asteroids that are easily accessible."

http://spaceref.biz/2012/04/asteroid-mining-plans-revealed-by-planetary-resources-inc.html

View our multi-media news release with photos and video: http://prn.to/PlanetaryR

Resource extraction from asteroids will deliver multiple benefits to humanity and grow to be valued at tens of billions of dollars annually. The effort will tap into the high concentration of precious metals found on asteroids and provide a sustainable supply to the ever-growing population on Earth.

A single 500-meter platinum-rich asteroid contains the equivalent of all the Platinum Group Metals mined in history. "Many of the scarce metals and minerals on Earth are in near-infinite quantities in space. As access to these materials increases, not only will the cost of everything from microelectronics to energy storage be reduced, but new applications for these abundant elements will result in important and novel applications," said Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Additionally, water-rich NEAs will serve as "stepping stones" for deep space exploration, providing space-sourced fuel and water to orbiting depots. Accessing water resources in space will revolutionize exploration and make space travel dramatically more economical.

"Water is perhaps the most valuable resource in space. Accessing a water-rich asteroid will greatly enable the large-scale exploration of the solar system. In addition to supporting life, water will also be separated into oxygen and hydrogen for breathable air and rocket propellant," said Eric Anderson, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Of the approximately 9,000 known NEAs, there are more than 1,500 that are energetically as easy to reach as the Moon. The capability to characterize NEAs is on the critical path for Planetary Resources. To that end, the company has developed the first line in its family of deep-space prospecting spacecraft, the Arkyd-100 Series. The spacecraft will be used in low-Earth orbit and ultimately help prioritize the first several NEA targets for the company's follow-on Arkyd-300 Series NEA swarm expeditions.

Chris Lewicki, President and Chief Engineer, said "Our mission is not only to expand the world's resource base, but we want to increase people's access to, and understanding of, our planet and solar system by developing capable and cost-efficient systems."

"The promise of Planetary Resources is to apply commercial innovation to space exploration. They are developing cost-effective, production-line spacecraft that will visit near-Earth asteroids in rapid succession, increasing our scientific knowledge of these bodies and enabling the economic development of the resources they contain," said Tom Jones, Ph.D., veteran NASA astronaut, planetary scientist and Planetary Resources, Inc. advisor.

Planetary Resources is financed by industry-launching visionaries, including Google CEO Larry Page and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group, who are committed to expanding the world's resource base so that humanity can continue to grow and prosper:

 Eric E. Schmidt, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: "The pursuit of resources drove the discovery of America and opened the West. The same drivers still hold true for opening the space frontier. Expanding the resource base for humanity is important for our future."

 Ram Shriram, Founder of Sherpalo, Google Board of Directors founding member and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: "I see the same potential in Planetary Resources as I did in the early days of Google."

 Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., Chairman of Intentional Software Corporation and Planetary Resources, Inc. investor: "The commercialization of space began with communications satellites and is developing for human spaceflight. The next logical step is to begin the innovative development of resources from space. I'm proud to be part of this effort."

The company's advisors include film maker and explorer James Cameron; General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.); Sara Seager, Ph.D.; Mark Sykes, Ph.D.; and David Vaskevitch.

Founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Planetary Resources, Inc. is establishing a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the solar system within humanity's economic sphere of influence by enabling low-cost robotic exploration and eventual commercial development of asteroids. For more information, please visit www.PlanetaryResources.com.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 27, 2012 - 11:31am PT

http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2012/120426yachtings-lsa-akoya-luxury-amphib-to-land-in-us.html?WT.mc_id=120427epilot&WT.mc_sect=tts
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Apr 27, 2012 - 12:11pm PT
Here's what the future of air freight looked like sixty years ago...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
squishy

Mountain climber
Apr 27, 2012 - 12:18pm PT
I prefer the little ones, they are much cheaper, and believe it or not, harder to fly...

[Click to View YouTube Video]

or FPV views...
[Click to View YouTube Video]
mouse from merced

Trad climber
merced, california
Apr 27, 2012 - 12:44pm PT
If anyone cares about the history of the aircraft, visit one of Central California's best museum displays in Atw#ter, Calif.

It is well worth the time.

http://castleairmuseum.org



Has anyone knowledge or photos of the downed jet located in the gully above Tenaya Canyon to the left of Pywiack Cascade?

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10972487

In 1970 or 1971, part of our search team was detailed to descend the gully shown near the left side of the photo and we found the wreckage half-way down. The fuselage but no wings, no engines, and I don't remember about the tail. Schmitz was the leader of this group. He can vouch for it. I am certain he must remember it. It involved tragedy.

Werner, you been in there yet?
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 27, 2012 - 04:54pm PT
F-35B Ship Suitability Testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Ki86x1WKPmE&feature=colike
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 28, 2012 - 09:40am PT
2012 Raytheon Award Video.

http://vimeo.com/40935850
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Apr 28, 2012 - 12:03pm PT
Another "must visit" air and space museum is in McMinnville, Oregon: the Evergreen Air and Space Museum. It's the home of the Spruce Goose, world's largest all wood airplane. It's a really huge bird. Many other outstanding aircraft there as well.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 2, 2012 - 11:41am PT
It seems that they just can't fix the F-22's O2 system so now pilots are
refusing to fly it! Are you kidding me? I can't believe the AF is even
admitting this although I guess they must have some reason other than just
being up front and open.

F-22 pilots refuse to fly
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 2, 2012 - 01:30pm PT
Oberleutnant Franz Stigler also narrated the English soundtrack of the original German W.W. II training film of the Me 262 jet fighter.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 2, 2012 - 02:09pm PT
Mutant space microbes attack ISS: 'Munch' metal, may crack glass

http://rt.com/news/iss-bacteria-mir-mutation-765/?goback=.gde_48305_member_110223536

Seventy-six types of unregulated micro-organisms have been detected on the International Space Station (ISS). Though many are harmless, some are already capable of causing severe damage. And no one knows how they will mutate in space.

­“We had these problems on the old MIR space station, now we have them on the ISS. The microflora is attacking the station. These organisms corrode metals and polymers and can cause equipment to fail,” Anatoly Grigoryev, the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Interfax news agency.

Despite extensive precautions, most of the microbes are accidentally brought to the space station with various cargoes.

One of the early Russian crews also carelessly released a fungus that was later allowed to spread.

Of particular concern is the Zarya – the first ISS module launched into space in 1998.

But the crew is also in potential peril.

“Uncontrolled multiplication of bacteria can cause infectious diseases among the crew,” said Grigoryev.

­
Surprisingly common problem

As stations grow older, microbe contaminations get worse.

On the predecessor of the ISS, the Russian MIR (Peace), there were 90 different micro-organisms in 1990, four years after its launch. By the time it was decommissioned in 2001, the number had risen to 140.

In the relatively sterile and temperature-controlled environs of the station, bacteria were allowed to spread easily.

Micro-organisms also evolved and became highly aggressive. Cosmonauts reported corroded illuminator glass, holes in the metallic casing of the control panel, and exposed leads, the insulation of which had been eaten away.

The ISS is expected to be in operation at least until 2020.

Russian scientists also believe that particularly resilient bacteria can survive for years in extreme conditions on the outside of the station, as several experiments have proved.

Whether their mutations could be dangerous if these are allowed to escape is not clear.

Currently, Russian cosmonauts are wiping down surfaces in their modules with anti-bacterial liquids, but it is not possible to reach all contaminated areas by hand. Russian scientists are planning to deliver a powerful anti-bacterial UV lamp in one of the next shipments to combat the growing problem.
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
May 2, 2012 - 07:08pm PT
Sort of on-topic, though macabre:
Hang-gliding pilot William Jonathan Orders is accused of swallowing key evidence in the death of Lenami Godinez, who fell 300 metres after becoming detached from a tandem glider last weekend.

Affidavits filed in Chilliwack Provincial Court, and obtained by Global News, suggest Orders attempted to withhold evidence by swallowing a memory card recording the fatal flight.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pilot+involved+fatal+hang+gliding+accident+accused+swallowing+evidence/6549902/story.html#ixzz1tkyG7t3O

Chilliwack is about 100 km east of Vancouver.
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
May 2, 2012 - 07:09pm PT
two questions: (1) how much does a standard rig cost, and (2) how soon can one do a solo jump?
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
May 2, 2012 - 07:42pm PT
Your first AFF jump is solo, but they hang onto you. You don't need to go tandem or anything, you can just start the AFF jumps.

I think AFF level 5 is like your first solo jump where you dive out and they don't touch you but just hang out next to you.

And then after 7 AFF's you can go solo and do coach jumps, but you need your A licence after 25 jumps to jump with your friends.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
May 2, 2012 - 08:01pm PT
Every dropzone is different, in Lodi they require you to do a tandem first. Riley, let me know if/when you make it to Lodi. I'll do some jumps with you. Cheers!
snakefoot

climber
cali
May 3, 2012 - 07:36pm PT
oh we had so much fun that day hank. oooops, i mean we were so scared and hated every minute, almost shed a tear thinking about your drive.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2012 - 02:25am PT
Great to see this thread is still coming up with some great posts and pics - keep it up!

I remember riding right seat in a Tw#tter during Diamond Quest at SkyDance...this was back in 93 I think.

Pilot was letting me fly, and as I was getting in the pattern he tells me "Put in 10deg of flaps, but you will have to correct for it..." boy he wasnt kidding...felt like I was going to have to shove the wheel into the panel to keep the nose down. Figured out real quick how those things used to fly in and stop so damn short in Alaska :D

More pics!!
perswig

climber
May 6, 2012 - 05:26pm PT
Today's the 75 ani of the Hindenburg crash at Lakehurst, NJ.
Be careful around dirigibles, folks.

Dale
Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber
Retired in Appalachia
May 6, 2012 - 07:22pm PT
Here are some aviation-related photos from my distant past....

Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School, Pensacola, Florida
I hated my D.I. (drill instructor)
God damn Marines

Sierra Ledge Rat, call sign "BAD DOG"

My centurion patches - 100 traps each

Back when I was a jet pilot flight instructor and I still had a full head of hair. Dig the cool Ray Bans. Still in my ejection seat harness and "speed jeans" (G-suit)

Flying over Mount Baker, great way to scout routes

Gentleman, start your engines!

Suckers! Tomcats on the fantail, sucking everyone else's fumes.

Waiting behind an A-7 Corsair and the jet blast deflector for my turn on the catapult
Zero to 150 m.p.h. in 2.5 seconds
Whoopie!

F-14 Tomcat in full after-burner for launch

Mass air strike: A-6 Intruders, A-7 Corsairs and EA-6B Prowlers

F-14 intercepting a Russian Bear bomber

Rolling into the upwind leg, in formation, heading for the break

1-2-3 down and locked
Flaps 30
Stab shifted
Slats full
Boards out
Hook down
Harness locked
"On centerline, slightly high, 3/4-mile, call the ball"
"604, Prowler Ball, 8-point-oh"
"ROGER BALL!"
.....................................................Who is Roger Ball?

In the beginning: I get paid to do this? (:
In the end: You can't pay me enough for this dangerous sh#t ):
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 6, 2012 - 09:05pm PT
Sierra Ledge Rat-

Were you an A-6 "Intruder" driver? Judging from the canopy, that would be my guess.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
May 6, 2012 - 11:53pm PT
Wow, yeah S.L.R. is freaking hard core!!! That is some serious shit!!

Now here's some more of my boring videos flying around in the Skyhawk. And one of my first experience in a glider.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber
Retired in Appalachia
May 7, 2012 - 08:50am PT
Glad you like the photos.

I was a right-seater (copilot) and flight instructor in the EA-6B Prowler. Haven't flown in 20 years.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2012 - 08:23pm PT
Seriously awesome pics, S.L.R. - thanks for adding them to the thread!

Love the Tomcat shot with the Bear intercept. Double Uglies and Tomcats were about the newest birds I liked to see - prefer the older iron!

Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber
Retired in Appalachia
May 8, 2012 - 12:55am PT
HEY WHO YOU CALLIN' DOUBLE UGLY?

I hope you're referring to the Prowler and not the Phantom, 'cause the Phantom is a wet dream come true.

jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
May 8, 2012 - 01:53am PT
Here is another boring one flying around Mt. Theilson in Oregon looking for ice lines. Shot in my friends Cherokee.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 8, 2012 - 02:31pm PT
I flew a navigation exercise yesterday from Casper, WY. to Chadron, NE as part of the requirement towards my Commercial certificate. I spotted some rock outcrops in the Sandhills region of Western Nebraska that looked interesting, but my photographic efforst were fruitless. Nevertheless, my first experiment in aerial photograpy is shown below:


I generally fly as high as possible for maximum glide distance; in the event of an engine failure I might make it to a good landing site. It does nothing, however, for photography of--maybe- 30' high boulders.

Total time aloft yesterday: 5.2 hours; two separate flights.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 8, 2012 - 06:45pm PT
It seems to be lost to history that the X-37 was originally a NASA project to provide an economical alternative for the Space Shuttle. The X-37A sat unappreciated, neglected and unfunded for years in a hanger at NASA Dryden; where I had it all to myself to examine in detail. I was trying to get people interested in equipping it for solo piloted missions for asteroid exploration. However at the time it was a NASA career-kiss-of-death to mention asteroid missions. Then the Air Force decided to stick it on top of an Atlas and declare it top secret; and its NASA genesis now appears forgotten.

http://www.space.com/15575-secret-x37b-space-plane-mission-success.html

Secret Air Force X-37B Space Plane Mission a 'Spectacular Success'



TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 11, 2012 - 12:33am PT
Alpine Coaster with no brakes

http://zanylol.com/coaster.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 11, 2012 - 11:57am PT
Good stuff Ron! Amazing how big the Regulus was!

Ledge Rat, great shots! I'm cornfused though about the Bear intercept shot.
When did Prowlers fly CAP with Tomcats? ;-) Or were you guys in the area
and came around for the photo op?


On a side note - if you want to read how effed up the Indian aviation industry
is then here ya go...

I wouldn't fly with these clowns

Nosewheel landings? Are you kidding me?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 11, 2012 - 05:31pm PT
A mint condition P-40 was just found in the Libyan desert.
The pilot clearly survived the landing but no trace of his remains were found.

WWII P-40 found in Libya
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
May 11, 2012 - 05:49pm PT
What a bummer to crash in the middle of the desert.

Does anyone else remember that old movie about the bomber crew that crashes in the desert? Their ghosts spend their days playing baseball until some explorer or something finds the wreckage. They find the bodies and send them home, letting the ghosts find their peace. They disappear from the screen one by one, except for one whose body does not get found. He's left there alone forever. Depressing movie!

Ledge Rat-- awesome photos!!
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 11, 2012 - 08:16pm PT
On a side note - if you want to read how effed up the Indian aviation industry
is then here ya go...

I wouldn't fly with these clowns

Nosewheel landings? Are you kidding me?

years ago I managed a rather large project for Pepsi for security lighting upgrades for every facility in N. America. In a meeting someone asked the director of security, (an ex secret service guy)what his biggest concern was.

It was employees flying on then Russian airliners that have an unnerving habit of falling out of the sky. Back then, about one a month.
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
May 17, 2012 - 05:15pm PT
There's a big Airshow in Moreno Valley/Riverside this weekend at March ARB. Thunderbirds are performing (7 of them plus a spare were practicing today and probably will be tomorrow, got a pretty good show myself about an hour ago), B52, C17, KC135, lots of other aircraft performing and several static displays.

Sat and Sun.
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
May 17, 2012 - 11:10pm PT
My first AFF jump from last year.
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
May 18, 2012 - 12:23am PT
It's been nice out... FINALLY!!! So I've been ticking off some new grass strips. Now I've landed at every public airport in the NW corner of Oregon... WOOHOOO!!

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
May 18, 2012 - 06:23pm PT
More info on the March ARB airshow this weekend. Today a load of stuff arrived, T-birds are out there right now practicing.

Arrived today: F-18, C5, KC10, A10, B25, P36, F-86 Sabre, AV-8 Harrier (this thing is badass), and a whole lot more. F/A-18 doing a slow pass was ridiculous and that C5 is probably bigger than most of our houses. Watching a Harrier hover and rotate, then back up is mind boggling.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 18, 2012 - 07:32pm PT
Russia now has #1 fighter plane in the world... SU-30MK -Vectored Thrust with Canards.

The maneuverability of this plane is incredible.

This plane would be nearly impossible to defeat in a dogfight.

As you watch this airplane, look at the canards moving along side of, and just below the canopy rail. The "canards" are the small wings forward of the main wings. The smoke and contrails provide a sense of the
actual flight path, sometimes in reverse direction.

This video is of an in-flight demonstration flown by the Russian's

The fighter can stall from high speed, stopping forward motion in seconds. (full stall). Then it demonstrates an ability to descend tail first without causing a compressor stall.

It can also recover from a flat spin in less than a minute. These maneuver
capabilities don't exist in any other aircraft in the world today.

We don't know which nations will soon be flying the SU-30MK, hopefully China isn't one of them.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Note: Friends worked with advanced aircraft flight control systems and concepts for many years as an extension of stability control and means of control...

Canards and vectored thrust were among many concepts examined to extend our fighter aircraft performance. Neither our current nor our next generation aircraft now poised for funding & production can in any way match the performance of this Russian aircraft NOW FLYING in any near combat situation.

Somehow the bankrupt Russian aircraft industry has out produced our complex politically tainted aerospace industry with this technology marvel. Scratch any ideas of close in air-to-air combat with this aircraft in the future.

Take a look at the video with the sound up. This aircraft is of concern to U.S and NATO planners. Maximize your screen for best viewing.

trying to figure out how to paste the video
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 18, 2012 - 07:42pm PT
Uh...Tom-

Where's the link?
jack herer

Big Wall climber
Veneta, Oregon
May 20, 2012 - 03:53pm PT
I re-edited one of the earlier videos and made it half the length with out techno music for once, a little more enjoyable to watch.

I'm especially psyched because I just got my license on January 31st. So this was like the first day I went out by my self and "on-sited" some grass strips. So I finally feel like a real pilot!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 20, 2012 - 04:08pm PT
Jack, Le Tour de Grass! Boy, grass strips in Oregon don't get overused, eh?
What, four months of flyin' and 8 months of hard muddin'?
Man, don't like a wall of trees at the TO end, but maybe that's just me. ;-)
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 20, 2012 - 05:17pm PT
Coolest airplane I ever rode in: Helio Stallion. I'm not sure if there are any left. You could fill it full of lead and take off in 200 feet. It was Air America's version of a Pilatus Porter on steroids.

Funnest: I gave an airshow pilot a free tandem and he took me up for 45 minutes in a Christen Eagle (sic). It was basically a 2 seat Pitts biplane.

Within 15 minutes I cold do a decent roll, keeping the nose flat. You could do anything in that airplane.

5 gees kind of makes you grunt, but 2 negative gees makes you feel like your eyes are going to pop out. Negative gees are extremely uncomfortable.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2012 - 04:57am PT
SLR, I was indeed referring to the Prowler when I said Double Ugly.
If I was talking about the Phantom, I would have said "clean air converter" :p

J/k of course, phantoms phorever!
Crag

Trad climber
Pennsyltuckey
May 23, 2012 - 09:33am PT






TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 24, 2012 - 03:03am PT


http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/

"SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon: According to this morning's IMMT (ISS Mission Management Team) meeting, "the vehicle is performing nominally and all planned demonstration objectives have been successfully completed to date. There are currently no known issues that would prevent proceeding with the planned ISS fly-under demonstration, currently scheduled for early tomorrow morning. During the fly-under, Dragon will briefly approach to within 2.5 km of the ISS to perform another series of demonstration objectives."



Thursday, May 24 (Flight Day 3): Live NASA Television coverage from NASA's Johnson Space Center mission control in Houston as the Dragon spacecraft performs its flyby of the International Space Station to test its systems begins at 2:30 a.m. EDT and will continue until the Dragon passes the vicinity of the station. A news briefing will be held at 10 a.m. following the activities.

Friday, May 25 (Flight Day 4): Live coverage of the rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon spacecraft to the station begins at 2 a.m. and will continue through the capture and berthing of the Dragon to the station's Harmony node. A news briefing will be held at 1 p.m. after Dragon is secured to the station.

Saturday, May 26 (Flight Day 5): Live coverage of the hatch opening and entry of the Dragon spacecraft begins at 5:30 a.m. and will include a crew news conference at 11:25 a.m. NASA TV also will provide live coverage of the departure and reentry of the Dragon spacecraft once a date is determined.
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
May 24, 2012 - 12:05pm PT
^Holy f*ck that is scary. I know there is a vid where the tandem master forgets to clip 2 of the points in on his student, but he gets them in freefall. But this one is way worse.
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
May 24, 2012 - 01:30pm PT
Solar powered plane on 1500 mile trip

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/24/11861805-solar-plane-takes-off-for-its-first-transcontinental-flight?lite
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
May 24, 2012 - 03:25pm PT
Nice one, Hank... I was just about to post the same vid. I like how Mikey tried to come in and help, realized it wasn't going to happen and bailed. I'm sure Bill fired the tandem master after that one.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
May 25, 2012 - 03:12am PT
We recently had some WWII bombers come through town. I pulled my son from school to check them out. He is too young to understand the horror of it all, but I wanted him to see these planes.


I've always thought that being a ball turret gunner would have been especially terrifying. Imagine being 18 years old, probably never having been in an airplane before and being made to crawl inside this and having fighters swooping up at you? These gunners apparently had the worst rates of survival among bomber crews.


This is looking forward to where the bombadier and nose gunner sat.


Maning the top turret.


Waist gunner



It was really cool crawling through these planes. It was kind of intense seeing vets checking them out. I'm guessing some had not been in a B-17 or a B-24 since WWII!

Once my son got impatient working our way through a plane because this super old guy was touching everything and was having a hard time with the small spaces- obviously the guy had flown bombing missions. My son is 7 so doesn't get it all, but I told him to shut his mouth and be respectful.

Interesting and more intense morning than I anticipated.

edit: a couple more photos--


hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
May 25, 2012 - 06:27am PT
thanks for the dose of perspective. it takes more effort to grasp than forget, except for our veterans. respect
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 25, 2012 - 02:35pm PT
this morning's arriving traffic at the International Space Station

i participated in the early planning meetings for this mission, briefing them on how to interface with ISS communication and control systems, briefed them on my SimStation Project and how to interact with Houston Mission Control, acted as a technical reviewer for all their planning documents submitted to NASA, acted as adviser on parachute recovery operations, and was a NASA observer for the first test firing of their operational configuration of nine Merlin main engines





meanwhile back in the NASA barn, we spent five years of our lives designing the Orion and Ares launch vehicle, and this is where it is right now:

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
May 26, 2012 - 06:39am PT
It just made the front page of yahoo!http://www.viddler.com/v/fb107c3d

Will you pros tell us what happened? did something come undone when they were fighting to get out the door?
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 26, 2012 - 09:26am PT
Considering how much $$$ and effort was expended on the Ares I and Ares V, the abandonment of what was becoming a successful flight test program was utterly supid. Of course the present administration would rather spend the NASA budget on more failed "social engineering" programs. I'm a supporter of Dr. Robert Zubrin's "Mars Direct" concept, by the way.

Skip the Moon, and go straight for the Gusto: MARS!
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
May 26, 2012 - 11:00am PT
It's been a very slow Saturday morning here in Wyoming; totally foggy and rainy! No climbing, no flying, but the internet surfing is great. I just went back through all this thread and enjoyed everything. A few comments:

Jack Herer-I just noticed that you fly out of CVO, Corvallis. I began my flight training at S12, Albany, 5 years ago. I've visited Corvallis umpteen times in a C-152, N25899. I've visited a fair number of airports in NW Oregon myself: McMinnville, Tillamook, Independence, Salem, Lebanon, Hillsboro, and Cottage Grove.

Tom-I particularly loved the U-2 footage and the 70,000 feet! I've been to 51,000 feet onboard a C-135 back in 1964, and the curvature of the Earth is distinctly visible from that altitude, as well.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
May 26, 2012 - 01:03pm PT
did something come undone when they were fighting to get out the door?

No, nothing came undone. She was curled in a ball when the instructor exited, forcing her leg loops to slide down towards her knees. They could have been a bit loose but this wouldn't have happened if she wasn't fighting, sitting down and curled up like that. The tandem instructor shouldn't have exited the plane, he should have gone back to the seats and let others go and try to calm her down. If that didn't work they should have gone down with the plane.

I'm not a tandem instructor but have seen ten's of thousands gearing up, exiting, landing, etc. This is just my observations.
BASE1361

climber
Yosemite Valley National Park
May 26, 2012 - 04:40pm PT
I agree Ammon. You can even see in the video the orange warning sticker on the passenger that should be tight to the TM chest. It almost looks like she's also coming out of the top of the harness.

Of the 3 DZ's I've jumped at this vid was a shocker. Not one of the TM's at each DZ would have exited the plane with her fighting that much.

Hope to see ya soon.

p.s.

I wonder if she was even conscious during FF? People do pass-out and if she was that scared, her sympathetic system in overdrive just shutting her down.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
May 26, 2012 - 04:40pm PT
Pretty crazy stuff. maybe the instructor was ex military jumpmaster and not used to dealing with the civilin type situation where a boot in the arse is not always the best solution?
Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
May 26, 2012 - 04:46pm PT
I haven't tandem skydived. I did static line to free-fall progression.

But I can't help but think that once a paying (or non-paying) passenger has second thoughts sitting in the door about taking "The Long Lonely Leap," isn't an instructor obligated to stop and back-up? How can he just fight over this decision and jump anyway? Seems unethical and morally wrong.

Also seems the tandem harness needs to be redesigned so no passenger can back-out of a harness or wiggle out no matter what they do.

My buckle-less "Thin Redline" paragliding harness is very difficult to get into, and when you have everything secured properly, I'm not coming out in any direction. In case of a water landing I will have to cut my way out with a cutaway knife.

Man that was a scary video to watch. I thought she was going to plummet sans harness, instructor, and parachute. Yikes!!!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
May 27, 2012 - 01:44pm PT

Yeah Ron, I know what you mean. They sent a whole load down once at the Couch Freaks Boogie a few years back because of too many clouds. I was GRIPPED! Thought we were going to crash.

Usually, on an observer ride they dive the plane for about 10k' because they make more money the faster they can pick up more jumpers. Pretty thrilling but quite scary if you don't know it's coming, ha haa.

I love Bill's comment on the Yahoo report: "This happened a long time ago and everything worked as advertised," said Parachute Center owner Bill Dause in a statement to ABC News. "No one got hurt or injured."

Too funny! No wonder he's been in a bad mood lately.


http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/80-old-womans-skydiving-trip-hell-201811864--abc-news-topstories.html
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 27, 2012 - 10:43pm PT
#3 Thunderbird, Right wing.

Maj. Caroline Jensen, and Staff Sgt. Tacota LeMuel



yeah, the USAF tends to go for overkill on photo resolution.
Captain...or Skully

climber
May 28, 2012 - 02:34am PT
Jet Chicks are hot.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
May 28, 2012 - 08:41am PT
Uh, a little late stich... look up thread




TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 28, 2012 - 10:28am PT
This weekend out at the Mojave bone yard.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2012 - 02:41am PT
Ammon...when ISN'T Bill in a bad mood?!

Day one there, after a half hour: "you pack too slow, you're fired"

Ten minutes later: "Quit standing around and get back to work!"

Lol...good old Bill.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 29, 2012 - 11:36am PT
I used to do a ton of tandems, and no way should anyone fall out of the harness. That will be operator error.

It is common to ride to altitude without the hip attachments undone. It is just too uncomfortable. However you give yourself plenty of time before exit to run through the checklist.

Lots of studies have been done, and any one of the four main points of attachment is sufficient to keep both harnesses attached during freefall.

In tandem master school, it is more or less a bunch of experienced skydivers trying everything to kill each other. Grabbing hands, not getting the drogue out. Full blown karate fights in free fall.

It is all fun.

The normal MO is this: When you are all rigged up and at the door, there is no going back. It is too dangerous to bring an active rig into the plane.

We used to do that with static line jumps as well. We would go out and pry their fingers from the strut.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 2, 2012 - 01:23am PT
The lone remaining Dornier 24 is back in the air, albeit with updated PT-6's.

Dornier DO-24
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jun 4, 2012 - 02:13pm PT
"The U.S. government's secret space program has decided to give NASA two telescopes as big as, and even more powerful than, the Hubble Space Telescope. Designed for surveillance, the telescopes from the National Reconnaissance Office were no longer needed for spy missions and can now be used to study the heavens. They have 2.4-meter (7.9 feet) mirrors, just like the Hubble. They also have an additional feature that the civilian space telescopes lack: A maneuverable secondary mirror that makes it possible to obtain more focused images. These telescopes will have 100 times the resolving power of the Hubble, according to David Spergel, a Princeton astrophysicist and co-chair of the National Academies advisory panel on astronomy and astrophysics."
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jun 4, 2012 - 10:33pm PT
Secret mission accomplished: America's mysterious space plane to land after a YEAR in orbit - and no one knows what it did up there

The X-37B has been circling the Earth at 17,000mph and was due to land in California in December
Mission of highly classified robotic plane extended for unknown reasons
Will now land in mid- to late-June


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2154405/Secret-mission-accomplished-Americas-secret-space-plane-land-YEAR-orbit--knows-did-there.html#ixzz1wslcPKQh

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2154405/Secret-mission-accomplished-Americas-secret-space-plane-land-YEAR-orbit--knows-did-there.html?fb_action_ids=10150846543371603%2C10150846542351603%2C10150846465746603&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline

squishy

Mountain climber
Jun 11, 2012 - 04:31pm PT
how about an airplane, skydiving?
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4fd_1339327478
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Jun 11, 2012 - 11:15pm PT

A couple of BASE jumps in the past weeks. Gotta laugh at the second one's landing, ha ha

Both legal, gotta love THAT!


https://vimeo.com/43430942


https://vimeo.com/43858015


Why not video embedding from Viemo?
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jun 17, 2012 - 03:19am PT
http://news.yahoo.com/mystery-mini-space-shuttle-x-37b-lands-california-154330257.html

Mystery Mini Space Shuttle X-37B Lands in California

The mysterious unmanned mini-space shuttle on a classified mission has finally returned to earth.

It landed early Saturday morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after weather conditions kept pushing back landing attempts the last few days.

The Air Force's X-37B, is an unmanned reusable spacecraft built by Boeing that has spent more than a year on a classified mission in space.

Measuring 29 feet in length and having a 15-foot wingspan, the unmanned reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle looks like a miniature version of NASA's now retired space shuttles.

The spacecraft landed at Vandenberg at 5:48am PDT after having spent 469 days in orbit.

The craft went into orbit on March 5, 2011, but as was the case during its first launch in 2010, very little has been known about its mission or what payloads it might be carrying because its missions are classified.

That has led to speculation that the spacecraft is involved in intelligence gathering operations or the testing of new technologies.

In keeping with the scarce mission details for the X-37B, all the Air Force would say in a statement Saturday wais that the spacecraft had "conducted on-orbit experiments" during its mission.

Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B program manager said, "With the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development." He added, "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs. We're proud of the entire team's successful efforts to bring this mission to an outstanding conclusion."

Even the initial announcement about an upcoming landing details kept the details vague. A May 30 Air Force statement said the spacecraft would return to earth in the "early- to mid-June time frame."

Designed to stay in extended Earth orbits, the X-37B remained in orbit for 224 days during its maiden mission in 2010.

This mission kept it in orbit more than twice as long this time around.

An Air Force statement announcing Saturday's landing says the X37B will launch again later this fall aboard an Atlas V booster.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber
Retired in Appalachia
Jun 17, 2012 - 07:36am PT
Jet Chicks are hot.


Q: Why can't a chick be a pilot?

A: Because it's a COCKPIT not a BOX OFFICE
.
.
.
Q: Why can't a chick fly upside-down?

A: Because then she'd have a hairy crack up.
.
.
.
Naval Aviator to Air Farce guy: "Flare to land, squat to pee."
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 17, 2012 - 12:27pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Walked away with a sprained ankle
Sierra Ledge Rat

Social climber
Retired in Appalachia
Jun 17, 2012 - 02:06pm PT
"A Brazilian airline says one of its female pilots tossed a passenger off a flight because he was making sexist comments about women flying planes.

"Trip Airlines says in a Tuesday statement the pilot ejected the man before takeoff as he made loud, sexist comments upon learning the pilot was a woman. The jet continued on to the state of Goias after a one-hour delay...."

Female pilot tosses passenger for sexist remarks

Q: Why shouldn't women fly airplanes?
A: Because they have bad tempers
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 19, 2012 - 10:56pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 22, 2012 - 12:37pm PT
Is this the beginning of the end for manned naval air?



http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/U_S__Navy_Northrop_Grumman_Complete_X_47B_Flight_Testing_at_Edwards_Air_Force_Base_Move_Second_Unmanned_Aircraft_to_East_Coast_999.html
squishy

Mountain climber
Jun 22, 2012 - 12:58pm PT
Still working on my own UAV's, we have been asked to use a quad-copter for a video inspection of a roof, if it works out we can begin getting paid. Both of these videos were recorded on the ground from the video feed coming from the airplane, it also carries a nice HD camera for viewing later.


adventures in failure
[Click to View YouTube Video]

testing
[Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 22, 2012 - 04:03pm PT





really boring here with nothing to do...ha
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 26, 2012 - 11:17am PT
another bump for the crags of norway.

kjerag heliboogie


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 29, 2012 - 11:41am PT
http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-debris-said-1952-air-force-crash-010753364.html

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 29, 2012 - 12:11pm PT
TGT, interesting that. When I lived up there in '84 or so a Herc or a KC-135
crashed outside Valdez. It was during a typical lengthy winter storm and by
the end of the storm they couldn't find the wreckage. They notified everybody
in SC Alaska they were going to send a Blackbird up from Beale to look for
it with its side-scan radar. They also warned the residents north of Anchorage,
that would be us, that due to the Blackbird's 135 mile turning radius we would
get a double pass, which we did. It did pinpoint the wreckage but it wasn't
until late summer that they could safely access it.
perswig

climber
Jul 26, 2012 - 09:45am PT
1913 Etrich Taube

Glider over Mt. Washington

Dale
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jul 26, 2012 - 10:49am PT
hank,

yes, I saw her doing all sorts of acrobatics, but did not chat it up.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jul 30, 2012 - 09:16pm PT
http://news.yahoo.com/apollo-moon-landing-flags-still-standing-photos-reveal-212000880.html

Apollo Moon Landing Flags Still Standing, Photos Reveal


An enduring question ever since the manned moon landings of the 1960s has been: Are the flags planted by the astronauts still standing?

Now, lunar scientists say the verdict is in from the latest photos of the moon taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC): Most do, in fact, still stand.

"From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11," LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson wrote in a recent blog post. "Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!"

Each of the six manned Apollo missions that landed on the moon planted an American flag in the lunar dirt.

Scientists have examined images of the Apollo landing sites before for signs of the flags, and seen hints of what might be shadows cast by the flags. However, this wasn't considered strong evidence that the flags were still standing. Now, researchers have examined photos taken of the same spots at various points in the day, and observed shadows circling the point where the flag is thought to be. [Video: Moon Photos Prove Apollo Flags Still Stand]

Robinson calls these photos "convincing."

"Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did," Robinson wrote. "What they look like is another question (badly faded?)."

Most scientists had assumed the flags hadn't survived more than four decades of harsh conditions on the moon.

"Intuitively, experts mostly think it highly unlikely the Apollo flags could have endured the 42 years of exposure to vacuum, about 500 temperature swings from 242 F during the day to -280 F during the night, micrometeorites, radiation and ultraviolet light, some thinking the flags have all but disintegrated under such an assault of the environment," scientist James Fincannon, of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, wrote in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.

In recent years, photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have also shown other unprecedented details of the Apollo landing sites, such as views of the lunar landers, rovers, scientific instruments left behind on the surface, and even the astronauts' boot prints. These details are visible in photos snapped by the probe while it was skimming just 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the moon's surface.

LRO launched in June 2009, and first captured close-up images of the Apollo landing sites in July of that year. The $504 million car-size spacecraft is currently on an extended mission through at least September 2012.

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

Photos: New Views of Apollo Moon Landing Sites
Driving on the Moon: Photos of NASA's Lunar Cars
NASA's 17 Apollo Moon Missions in Pictures

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 30, 2012 - 09:47pm PT
Tom-

I've seen some of the early photos from the LRO showing the shadows cast by the remaining descent stages, but it's now been several years. Post them up here, please!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 30, 2012 - 10:37pm PT
Don't nobody tell Klimmer.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 2, 2012 - 06:38pm PT
New Private Space Plane Has NASA Roots - Space.com.

Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceDev's new Dream Chaser, evolved from NASA HL-20, and Soviet BOR-4, and what might have been

We're spreading rumors about a old yet new Russian Space Plane on your Spacevidcast for April 28th, 2010.It seems that unmanned space planes are all the rage these days. The Air Force recently launched their X-37B and last Friday Russia hinted that they may revive one of their long dead space plane programs. The Russian Multipurpose Aerospace System or MAKS is an innovative space plane that had its development frozen in 1991. In response to the US Air Force's recent launch of the X-37B, the Russian aerospace designer Vladimir Skorodelov has said that this could spur Russia to restart their own defunct Space Plane program.The Russian Shuttle is much like the X-37B, about the same size, same style, it is unmanned and can't get to orbit on its own. Back when it was designed in the 80's the Russian shuttle would launch aboard an An-225 airplane carrier, much like Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnight carrier. Unlike Virgin Galactic the MAKS vehicle will sit atop the airplane, not below it.The interesting thing about MAKS is that there is both an unmanned and manned configuration of the vehicle. Actually, there are three versions of MAKS on the table: MAKS-OS which is the manned orbital plane. MAKS-T which is designed to inject heavy payloads in to orbit. And finally MAKS-M which is a completely reusable unmanned space plane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-snm5HqR2Uc&feature=related

http://www.hobbyspace.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=30581

Decades ago Russia (or Soviet Union) and the US could have had small, relatively low-cost, reusable lifting body vehicles launched on expendable boosters and capable of taking 3 or 4 people to orbit. In the US such a vehicle could have been sold as a compliment/backup to the Shuttle, especially after Challenger, for support of the planned space station. Subsequent development of a reusable booster would have resulted in a fully reusable system by now. Woulda, coulda, shoulda....

http://englishrussia.com/2007/09/09/first-space-shuttle-ever/

What you see here is what had to be the first space shuttle ever. Twenty two years before first Russian space shuttle “Buran” or 10 years before the first American shuttle Soviets projected and built manned spaceship aircraft that could land from the orbit by itself. It had space only for one pilot and was more rather a proof of concept for the spacecraft that can land as a normal plane. It is not very clear these days if this one had any successful launches and landings just because all the projects was classified, but still there are photos of it now and then.






From SPIRAL to MAKS

The SPIRAL Orbital Plane and the BOR-4 and BOR-5 Flying Models

General Mikoyan S.A.
The paper tells about the SPIRAL system and flight tests of its analogue. It is explained the usage of the BOR-4 model of the SPIRAL Orbiter for creation of the BURAN orbiter’s Heat Protection. Problems, course of tests of the BOR-4 and BOR-5 flying models and main results are described.

Since the middle of 1960s in the Design Bureau, headed by General Designer Mikoyan A.I., it has been developing the SPIRAL aerospace system, consisted of an orbital manned plane with a rocket booster and a hypersonic booster-plane.

The Head Designer under this project was Dr. Lozino-Lozinsky G.E. Among leaders were Mr.: Seletsky Ya.I., Dementyev G.P., Voinov L.P. and Samsonov E.A. and later, at the stage of production and tests, also Mr.: Shuster P.A. and Blokhin Y.D.

The SPIRAL orbital plane is a single-seat aircraft of a lifting body configuration with fuselage nose of big radius. The 50* sweep wings with the noses of little radius had longitudinal axis of rotation and before transition to the atmospheric flight should have been deflected up thus excluding their direct flow by heated stream when flying through plasma formation leg.

When a velocity decreased approximately down to value M = 2, the wings opened and the angle of attack decreased down to usual plane’s values. The angular attitude control of the plane in orbit should have been ensured by means of the low-thrust jet control engines (RCS) and in the atmosphere dense layers – by means of the elevons, rudder and balancing flap.

An undercarriage of the plane was retractable, four-legs with round skis – ‘plates’. The rear skis were equipped with ‘knifes’ to provide stability at landing run.

During testing and on the first phase of usage, before creation of the carrier-plane it was supposed that the orbital plane would be injected into an orbit by means of a ballistic rocket. The orbital plane should have glided on the legs of atmospheric descent and landing on the airdrome, but the turbo-jet engine should have been used to define landing approach.

The subsonic piloted prototype of the SPIRAL orbital plane (105 Vehicle) was developed to test the landing approach and landing legs as well as to determine the aerodynamic and controllability characteristics.

To test taxiing and hop flight (flight at low height) the skis front legs were exchanged for the wheel ones.

The 105 Vehicle has been slung beneath a fuselage of the TU-95 (specially modified) bomber and then it should have been uncoupled at 5500-meters altitude above the airdrome. The first flight took place on 27-th October, 1977 and in 1978 additional five flights were fulfilled. The flights were performed by the test pilots from Mikoyan design bureau Mr.: Fastovets A.G., Ostapenko P. and pilot from the Air Force scientific research institute Mr. Uryadov V.E.

The government resolution draft about creation of the SPIRAL orbiter plane has never been signed due to negative decision made by the Minister of Defense Mr. Grechko A.A. though the signatures of all interested commanders-in-chief of different armed forces as well as the Ministers of Defense industries were presented. All works were conducted in accordance with decision of the Ministry of the Aircraft Industry.

The major participants of the SPIRAL project from the Mikoyan design bureau and its department placed in Dubna city as well as some participants of this project from other organizations have passed to NPO MOLNIYA Scientific & Industrial Enterprise which was specially-organized for creation of the reusable space vehicle in 1976. NPO MOLNIYA under the direction of Dr. Lozino-Lozinsky G.E included the Bisnovat M.R design bureau, the Potopalov A.V. design bureau and the Myasischev V.M. Experimental Machine-Building (EMZ) plant.

The General Designer of NPO ENERGIA – the major system designer in spite of the intentions and preliminary developmental works of the NPO MOLNIYA, based on the SPIRAL project, has decided to use the configuration similar to the American Shuttle, excluding the main engine (ME) replaced to the rocket-launcher. By the decision of the Ministry of the Aircraft Industry all works on the SPIRAL project was stopped.

The experience resulted from the works on the SPIRAL project was used in the development of the BURAN orbiter and the ideas of the SPIRAL project have been enhanced further in new projects of the aerospace systems.

Now the SPIRAL analogue is presented in the Air Force museum in Monino, near Moscow.

The BOR-4 Flying Orbital Model

The BOR-4 flying model was designed during studies on the SPIRAL project. It was the orbiter’s prototype on 2:1 scale. It was used for experimental launches into an orbit for the interest of SPIRAL project development. The previous models (BOR-2 and BOR-3) of less dimensions were used to research the aerodynamic characteristics, heat exchange and elements of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) at altitudes up to 100 km and velocity up to M = 13.

During development of reusable space vehicle BURAN in NPO MOLNIYA the BOR-4 flying model was supposed to be used for the heat protection test. So, for the first time before BURAN Orbiter’s flight the BOR-4 model allowed to test capacity for work of the materials and the construction elements of TPS in real descent through atmosphere along the trajectory similar to the trajectory BURAN. Such decision was made because the outlines of model nose was equal to BURAN Orbiter’s nose outlines, including the ventral fuselage (Figure 1).

The BOR-4 model was equipped with the heat protection in accordance with the heat protection of the BURAN vehicle (above the panels of usual ablation TPS of the original project left for emergency). The general surface consisted of panels made on the base of a quartz fiber. On the top surface of the body a flexible TPS on the basis of nonwoven fabric of organic fiber was used. The nose cowling was made from carbon-carbonic composite material.

The BOR-4 model was equipped with remote telemetric system. The information has been received from 150 thermocouples located generally on a duralumin sheathing of model under the heat protection panels. Besides, several dozens of temperature and pressure sensors were built in as well as thermal indicator paint and melting indicators.

The information from accelerometers, rate sensors, pressure sensors and position sensors of wing panels was also transmitted into the telemetric system. The information was recorded on the board and transmitted in packets when pass through two special measuring ships and when descend also to the on-ground receiving station.

The BOR-4 model weight is approximately 1450 kg. The model was being injected into an orbit by a K-65M-RB5 ballistic rocket and fulfilled the Earth single-orbit flight at 225 km altitude. It was controlled by micro jet engines (RCS) in accordance with a program of on-board autonomous control system, which was receiving information from the inertial navigation system.

The wing panels of the BOR-4 model as well as the SPIRAL plane wing panels could deflect up. At that, the angle of deflection (the angle of dihedral) of the wing panels determined the angle of attack when the model was self-balanced during upper-air flight. When the BOR-4 model was located under the rocket nose cone, the wing panels were completely folded. After separation, they were transferred into a position which ensured the model’s balancing in the atmosphere at 60…70 km altitude and with 57* angle of attack in the first flight and 52…54* in the following flights. In vacuum the model was controlled by eight micro jet engines of angular orientation. The differential deflection from balance position was used for the roll control.

After braking, gliding at the upper-air and passing through a plasma formation zone, at approximately 30-km altitude the model was being forced by the control system into a tight spiral. This was done to decrease the flight velocity, and then (at approximately 7500-m altitude) a parachute was being developed to provide an alighting on water with 7-8 m/s vertical velocity.

The first model copy with TPS made of ablation materials was launched into sub-orbital trajectory to test the whole system. This flight was done from the Kapustin Yar test range in the Balkhash lake direction on the 5-th December, 1980.

The first orbital flight of the model (KOSMOS 1374 satellite) took place on the 4-th June, 1982. The second launch (KOSMOS 1445) was on the 16-th March, 1983. The third launch (KOSMOS 1517) – on the 27-th December, 1983 and the fourth launch (KOSMOS 1616) – on the 19-th December, 1984. The tests confirmed efficiency of TPS as well as considerable heat decrease due to the catalytic neutrality of the surface. It allowed to decrease cover thickness and as a result a total mass of the BURAN orbiter. The received real characteristics have confirmed adequacy of technique used for recalculation of results received in a wind tunnel for nature conditions.

The planned launch of the fifth BOR-4 orbital model became unnecessary.

In the first two flights the model alighted on water in the Indian Ocean approximately 900 km to the west from Australia and after searching one were being lifted aboard. During the next two flights alighting on water took place in the Black Sea to the west of Sevastopol. The ships of USSR Navy performed the searching and evacuation. One of the model alighted on water in the Black Sea was not found.

The BOR-4 orbital model was created in the Flight-Research Institute (Ministry of Aircraft Industry) under the leaders of Dr. Utkin V.V., Shogin U.N. and Fedorovich F.F. on the basis of the existing original project. Manufacturing model with gluing of heat protection panels was done in the TUSHINSKY Machine Building Plant under the leader of Mr. Zverev I.K. and Vostrikov M.N..

The Deputy Chief Designer of the BOR-4 model from NPO MOLNIYA was Mr. Mikoyan S.A., the leading designer was Mr. Gress V.U.

In the creation of the model from NPO MOLNIYA took part Mr.: Ezhov V.P., Rozanov I.G., Mikrukov I.F. and other.



The BOR-5 Sub-Orbital Flying Model

To receive the experimental aerodynamic characteristics during development of the BURAN space vehicle, the BOR-5 flying model was designed. It presented geometrically similar copy of the BURAN reusable space vehicle made in the 8:1 scale.

The model weight was approximately 1450 kg.

The model development and tests were the parts of general program on BURAN creation.
The BOR-5 purposes were:

to determine major aerodynamic characteristics in real flight conditions at high velocities;
to determine aerodynamic coefficients, lift-to-drag ratio, balancing characteristics, roll, pitch stability and to compare them with calculated characteristics;
to investigate pressure distribution along model surface;
to determine heat loads;
to determine acoustic loads;
to check adequacy of techniques for calculation of aerodynamic characteristics.

The launch of the model into sub-orbit was being fulfilled by the K65M-RB5 ballistic rocket from the launch pad located in the Kapustin Yar test range in Balkhash lake direction. The rocket with the model was being approaching maximal altitude, approximately 210 km, and after separation the model continued its way along ballistic trajectory with approximately 5 km/s velocity. In atmosphere, from approximately 50 km altitude the model flight was being done with programmed variation of bank angle and angle of attack at trajectory, chosen to provide optimal dependence Reynolds number from Mach number corresponded to the flight path of the BURAN space vehicle. It demanded greater indicated speed - from approximately 1070 km/h in the beginning of test leg to 850 km/h in the end (while maximum speed of the BURAN orbiter on this leg is 650 km/h).

As a result the temperature on the vehicle’s surface was greater on 1000 degrees than for the full-scale BURAN vehicle. That’s why the heat protection of quartz tiles similar to the protection of the BURAN orbiter could not be used there. On the model ablation heat protection was made of materials on the basis of mineral fiberglass plastic and the nose cone was made of tungsten-molybdenum alloy. The radioparent heat protection material (fiberglass plastic with silica filling) was tested too.

The model’s programmed control was performed by the on-board autonomous control system, which was receiving information from inertial navigation system.

On sub-orbital trajectory the model angular orientation of the model was ensured by micro jet engines and after upper-air descending the model was controlled by plane-like control surfaces, which for the first time were used in our country at such great velocity and such great kinetic heating of material.

The flight range of the BOR-5 model from starting point to landing was approximately 2000 km. At 7…8-km altitude the on-board program control system forced the model by means of rudders into the tight spiral for decreasing of the flight velocity. And at approximately 3-km altitude the parachute was being developed to provide landing with 7*8 m/s vertical speed (Figure 2).

The on-board telemetry system recorded all information internally and then transmitted it to the Earth for analyzing of aerodynamic characteristics. The information was received from several accelerometers, rate and acceleration sensors, free gyroscopes, pressure indicators, ailerons and rudder deviation sensors and sensor for measuring hinge moment on rudders. Besides, the information was transmitted from temperature thermocouples, calorimetric sensors and other temperature sensors.

The thermal indicator paint and the melting indicators were also used.
From 1984 five launchings have been fulfilled:

501 model – on 6th July, 1984;
502 model - on 17th April , 1985;
503 model - on 27th December, 1986;
504 model - on 27th August, 1987;
505 model – on 22nd June, 1988.

The first two launching were performed in accordance with a program of flight-design tests of launcher rocket specially modified for the BOR-5 model. They included tests of model system functionality.

During the first launching the separation of the model from rocket launcher didn’t appear because of electrical failure and they fell down together while the second launching was absolutely successful.

Three launching according to the program of the BOR-5 model test appeared to be successful, were passed and they provided specialists with the full amount of data needed. The actual lift-to-drag ratio of the model appeared to be greater than calculated one.

The BOR-5 model was designed in NPO MOLNIYA under the direction of Deputy Chief Designer Dr. Samsonov E.A. The leading designers were Mr. Bogov U.P. and then Grachev I.G.. The construction design was made under the direction of Mr. Kavunovsky N.P. by Mr.: Chistov V.A., Khorev D.M., Glotov V.I., Mendzilo V.V., Frolkov V.M., Kiryanov I.V and other.

The models were produced on the Myasischev V.M. Experimental Machine-Building Plant under the direction of Mr.: I.M. Lipkin I.M. and Tvorogov N.G..

The BOR-4 and BOR-5 models were equipped with autopilots with a computer and on-board measure system. These systems were produced by the Flight Research Institute (Ministry of Aircraft Industry) under the leaderships of Dr. Vladychin G.P., Dr. Kondratov A.A., Dr. Fedorovich A.A., Mr. Khanov I.K. and Tishenko V.V.
documentation, work, book, scientific study, political analysis, buran, energiya, spiral, USSR

Figure 2. The scheme of the BOR-5 model’s sub-orbital flight

The tests of both model versions (BOR-4 and BOR-5) were performed by the representatives of LII under the direction of Dr. Vladychin G.P. and Dr. Kondratov A.A. The specialists of the Military-Research Institute, NPO MOLNIYA and other organization under general supervision of the State Commission, headed by the first Deputy Director of GUKOS, General of aviation, Mr. Titov G.S. also took part in testing.

The Conclusion

The application of orbital and sub-orbital flying models for the confirmation by experimental data of the heat protection efficiency and reliability of aerodynamic calculation became a news in developing of the aerospace systems (ASSs) and was fulfilled for the first time in the world. Such models will find the application in further researches of aerospace systems (ASS).

The tests results of the BOR-4 flying model were used not only in the BURAN program, but also in development of the MAKS Multipurpose aerospace system with the AN-225 MRIA subsonic carrier aircraft. The orbital plane in this system as well as the SPIRAL plane and BOR-4 experimental plane have identical aerodynamic scheme ‘lifting body’ with deflected wing panels.

Wide experience of experimental researches in natural conditions of the BOR-5 model’s orbital and sub-orbital flight and SPIRAL analogue’s launching allowed to choose a well-founded aerodynamic configuration of orbital plane of the MAKS advanced system. In the nearest future this system will allow to decrease the cost of space missions and open new possibilities for fulfilling different tasks due to the advantages of air launch from the subsonic carrier-plane.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 2, 2012 - 11:57pm PT
we are being deprived...


http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/wing.html


SkyRay

Get ready to fly at 186 mph.

By Michael Abrams

Want to soar like an eagle? Then go with a parasail or a hang glider. But for those who dream of screaming through the air like a superhero, there's the Skyray - a solid, triangular, carbon-fiber contraption that lets skydivers shoot above the clouds at 186 mph for two exhilarating minutes. That's quadruple the air time of the usual free fall and almost twice the speed of the world's fastest bird, the spine-tailed swift.

Nearly ready for mass production, the 9-pound Skyray is the brainchild of Munich-based inventor Alban Geissler, who has designed earthbound objects from hot rods to hot-water pumps. His innovation: delta wings, like those on an F-102 fighter jet. Instead of sticking out perpendicular to the body, the Skyray's wings are angled back, eliminating the need for a stabilizing tail and making any kind of spin - the fatal flaw of many a wing suit - impossible. When the high-speed joyride is over, the jumper pulls a rip cord and parachutes in for landing - wings still attached.

Geissler had never skydived before he came up with his invention, and since then he's managed just 25 jumps. (His girlfriend gets jealous when he flirts with death.) So he turns to Christoph Aarns, part owner of Dädalus, one of Germany's four drop zones. Aarns has a wife and two kids and is obsessed with safety. For playing guinea pig, Aarns gets 10 percent of Geissler's company, Freesky, and, of course, he can take a Skyray out whenever he likes. (Geissler has recently added a second test flier, Patrick Barton.)

After Aarns' first flight in 1999, he had a few suggestions for Geissler. "Velcro is not a good idea when you're flying at 200 miles per hour," he says dryly. The wings also had no handles, and Aarns had to eject from the suit after the turbulent ride. A few prototypes later, Aarns is now able to fly the Skyray "instead of it flying me." After squeezing diagonally out the door of a twin-prop plane at 13,500 feet, he dives straight down to pick up speed, then grabs onto the wings' handles and zooms across the horizon. "The Skyray is like a bullet," he says. "It's like an arrow." Bull's-eye.




http://gizmodo.com/177606/gryphon-single+man-flying-wing

Gryphon Single-Man Flying Wing

At first we thought this was a joke—didn't Batman have a pair of wings like this? But no, this Gryphon Single-Man Flying Wing is a parachute system whose 4.9-foot Delta wing has two jet engines on board that can carry a paratrooper 110 miles on a half gallon of jet fuel. The device will be tested in an third quarter of next year, but we'd hate to be the first guy to try it. He'll have to be pretty hefty, too, because the thing weighs 66 pounds.

The mission starts when the brave soul wearing this birdman outfit takes a flying leap out of an airplane at 33,000 feet—hopefully equipped with warm clothes and oxygen—and flies the jet wing wherever he's going until he gets to an altitude of about a mile. At that point, somehow our intrepid hero sheds his wing and opens a parachute, letting that wing dangle below him as he floats to the ground. Better you than me, buddy. Tailwinds. – Charlie White



http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/james+bond-style+strap-on+jet+pack+flying+wing+to+extend+special+forces%27-206910/

A parachute system equipped with a 1.5m (4.9ft)-span delta wing and two micro-turbojets which could propel a paratrooper 200km (110nm) from a drop point could be tested from third-quarter 2007.

The wing has aileron- and flap-like control surfaces along its trailing edge, and around 2 litres (0.5USgal) of jet fuel housed in flexible containers in its leading edge. The surfaces would be controlled by the parachutist using handles linked to servomechanisms.

The engines are likely to be built into the wing, which also has a cargo compartment. The turbojets are expected to weigh around 7kg (15.4lb) each and could be model aircraft engines, industrial impellers or a new design. The wing system will weigh approximately 30kg with engines but no cargo.

“We have a lot of interest from special forces. Jumping from 4,000m [13,000ft] with the propelled system you could fly for 200km,” says civilian skydiving instructor and wing-parachute system test pilot Frank Carreras.

A parachutist could jump from up to 33,000ft using the system, with oxygen equipment and thermal clothing. On reaching an altitude of 3,000-5,000ft, the parachute is opened and the wing lowered on a cord to hang several metres below the user.

Carreras has been working for the parachute system’s developers, German electronics and technology companies ESG and Dräger, which originally developed an unpowered version for the German army. Flight testing of this 14kg system is expected to finish by year-end, after which the prototype will be used for marketing. With the unpowered system a soldier could glide for 50km from a 33,000ft jump.


per a phone conversation i had with the inventor, Alban Geisler:

helmet mounted avionics display
fly-by-wire stabilization system
oxygen system and pressure suit
120 mile range with mini jet engines
ripple-fired solid rocket boosters in wing trailing edge for suborbital space flights

Special Parachute and Logistics Consortium (SPELCO), a German venture between two companies, produces a variety of parachute systems, helmets, oxygen supplies, and other gear and services. One of their most interesting products is the Gryphon attack wing, a modular upgrade for parachute systems for use in “high-altitude, high-opening” (HAHO) jump missions, typically carried out by Special Forces. The 6-foot wing gives a glide ratio of 5:1, which means that a drop from 30,000 feet will allow the jumper to glide about 30 miles. SPELCO estimates that this would take around 15 minutes, giving an average speed of about 60 miles an hour.

“All equipment is hidden in a lifting body optimized for stealth, the radar-signature is extremely low,” says the Gryphon data sheet (PDF). “Detection of incoming Gryphon soldiers by airborne or ground radar will be extremely difficult.”

Gryphon has a guidance system and heads-up display navigation. With the addition of small turbojets used in UAVs, range is increased to more than 60 miles.

Source: "Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults" by David Hambling on the Danger Room blog
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/look-out-below-wingsuits-pushed-for-airbone-assaults/

Gryphon data sheet: http://www.spelco.eu/library/media/solutions/Gryphon.pdf[/quote]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNw57sPl57s&feature=player_embedded#!






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_lxO1giIeY

A top-secret one-man jet-wing that can fly over 150-miles, at low-level NOE (nap-of-the=earth)penetration missions, undetected by even the most sophisticated air defense systems. An independent inventor and commercial airline pilot designed and built a prototype, and the US military Special Operations folks picked up on it very quickly for use as a covert insertion platform for operators. Rumor has it that it has been operational for some time in Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Pakistan

think what you could do if you are not carrying all that military baggage!

would you like to skydive like this (just make one a little bigger)??:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCYLaItJ-YA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFsHBqmV53U

SkyRay and Gryphon wwere originally designed by Alban Geisler in Munich as a toy for skydivers. Is it such a surprise that this disappeared into the black hole of the military before it could be brought to the open market??

Spelco used to sell the Gryphon from their web page. They still have a picture of it on their home page, but don't list this as one of their products

http://www.spelco.eu/code/home/default.aspx

and is it such a stretch to solo space flight?? (if you always really wanted to be an astronaut, then build one in your garage!)

here's where you get the engines:

http://www.jetcatusa.com/

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2012 - 12:25am PT
Awesome additions to the thread Tom!

Love the picture you put in as well Hank, one of my favorites.

I've been doing a lot of wreckchasing this year, searching out old crash sites in the Vegas area. Hopefully I will get motivated one of these days and post all my pics in one place. So far this year I have surveyed the following types:

F-100 (2)
Piper PA-28 (2)
F-106
DC-7
P-80 (2)
P-39
B-26
H-34

Going after an F-15 site this weekend, and perhaps a B-25 depending on how things go. Next spring, I will be searching for the remains of the F-4 that Dean Martin, Jr. perished in.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 3, 2012 - 01:55am PT
Jet Powered Parachute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7xm4YE7y24&feature=related
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 3, 2012 - 02:04am PT
Chinese farmer builds flying saucer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=B5P68ExcgD0&NR=1
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 3, 2012 - 11:49am PT
Looks more to me like he built a piloted Cuisinart.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Aug 5, 2012 - 08:01pm PT
I had a rare treat at the airport in Casper yesterday afternoon; after flying for 1.6 hours and landing, there was a very rare old airplane on the ramp. It was a 1929 Travel Air biplane, registration number NC689C. I also met the owner in the pilot's lounge, and he described what he was doing here. On the way back home to California from the big fly-in in Oshkosh, WI. I'm planning on stopping at the airport again tomorrow, since he was doing a multiday layover...maybe I can get a few pictures!

The 1929 Travel Air actually put Wichita, KS on the aviation map, since it sold quite well at the time (over 6000 aircraft of all different models). The Travel Air Company was later sold to Curtis-Wright and the airplane continued in production from that company. The original owners and management team were impressive: Clyde Cessna, Floyd Stearman, and Walter Beech. These gentlemen went on to found Cessna, Stearman, and Beech Aircraft (Beechcraft). These 3 companies remained in Wichita, KS, and became the nexus of General Aviation aircraft manufacture to this day. Stearman Aircraft, in particular, produced something of an upgraded and improved version of this airplane that became THE primary trainer for most Army and Navy pilots during W.W. II.

The particular speciman on the ramp at KCPR is one of only 6 airworthy and flyable model 4000 Travel Airs left from a production of over 2000 aircraft.
perswig

climber
Aug 5, 2012 - 08:51pm PT











Dale
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Aug 5, 2012 - 10:16pm PT
Here's a link to the Travel Air:

http://www.airventuremuseum.org

I tried the complete link, but Internet Explorer doesn't take one there...directly. Go to the site, and then follow collections, airplanes, and then travel Air 4000.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 6, 2012 - 05:26pm PT
Really nice shots Perswig..and a Travel Air, a nice thing to see.

I got a rare treat this weekend, a friend of mine that works for Zappos offered us seats on their jet flying from Vegas to Scottsdale, so we jumped on the chance. Was an Embraer Phenom 100 with a full glass Garmin 1000 panel, which I haven't used before and enjoyed getting to play with a little en route.

Rented a car and drove to Sedona for some camping. Quite a nice weekend, and the jet was awesome.

Wow, 400 posts in this thread. Really happy that I chose a topic that has gotten so much attention and great posts - keep up the good work!
perswig

climber
Aug 7, 2012 - 07:21pm PT
Wow, 400 posts in this thread. Really happy that I chose a topic that has gotten so much attention and great posts - keep up the good work!

Forgot that you started this thread - many thanks, Vegas!
I love the variety - wingsuits, combat airframes, weird commie planes, dope and wire, crashes.
Keep up the submissions everyone, please.

Dale
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 12, 2012 - 07:46pm PT
President Obama signs Pilot’s Bill of Rights

AOPA commends President Barack Obama for signing into law the Pilot’s Bill of Rights on Aug. 3. The legislation guarantees pilots under investigation by the FAA expanded protection against enforcement actions via access to investigative reports and air traffic control and flight service recordings, and it also requires the FAA to provide the evidence being used as the basis of enforcement at least 30 days in advance of action.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 12, 2012 - 08:05pm PT
The real credit goes to Jim Inhofe.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1335
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 14, 2012 - 08:36pm PT

Jaxa - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
HTV-3 External Cargo Operations completed aboard ISS
The docked Mission of H-II Transfer Vehicle 3 is progressing on schedule with internal cargo operations being in full swing aboard the complex of ISS and HTV-3. External Cargo activities were completed this week aboard the International Space Station and all procedures were performed successfully.
Operations to remove HTV-3's Exposed Pallet from the Unpressurized Logistics Carrier got underway on August 6, 2012. The HTV Exposed Pallet was removed by Canadarm2 which was grappled to the EP before. JAXA made significant modifications to the Unpressurized Cargo Carrier's Exposed Pallet. HTV-3 uses the Multi-Purpose version of the EP for the first time. In addition, the Exposed Pallet Holding Mechanism was improved and features a simpler design. Being controlled from the ground, the Station's Robotic Arm was commanded to remove the EP, start the procedure to maneuver it to the handoff position and wait for the Japanese Robotic Arm to grapple the Pallet. Working from inside the Japanese Experiment Module, Joe Acaba and Aki Hoshide controlled Kibo's Remote Manipulator System to grapple the Exposed Pallet. The Payload was handed off and the astronauts moved it to its install position at Exposed Facility Unit 10 of the external Exposed facility of the JEM. There, it was installed by using capture latches. With the hardware installed and electrical connections in place, the Japanese Robotic Arm was deactivated overnight.
The following day, Candarm2 picked up the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, Dextre for short, which was used to unberth the ScAN testbed and install it on its permanent location on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-3 via the Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism of the Carrier. On August 9, the Crew was involved in external Cargo Operations once again. Acaba and Hoshide worked several hours with the Japanese Arm to unberth the Multi Mission Consolidated Equipment and install it on Exposed Facility Unit 8 on the JEM Exposed Facility, closing capture latches and activating payload heaters to complete the procedure.

Ground Controllers then took over once again, grappling the Exposed Pallet with the Japanese Arm and unberthing it from the Exposed Facility followed by a maneuver to its handoff position at which it was grappled by the Station's Robotic Arm. JEMRMS let go of the EP and SSRMS was left in this position until the crew was ready for EP re-installation on Friday. Working from the Station's Cupola Robotics Work Station, Joe Acaba and Suni Williams completed the EP Re-Installation to place it back inside HTV's Unpressurized Logistics Carrier completing HTV-3 External Cargo Operations.
With the EP back in place, all external activities related to HTV Cargo Operations are complete and the Space Station has received two new external payloads.

Source JAXA/SpaceFlight101/NASA/ Photo Nasa
JayMark

Social climber
Oxnard, CA
Aug 14, 2012 - 10:03pm PT
The X-51A flew today but no word on the outcome. Anyone heard anything ?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/hypersonic-craft-x-51a-put-to-the-test/2012/08/14/40697b0c-e61e-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_blog.html
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 15, 2012 - 05:20pm PT
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/hypersonic-craft-x-51a-put-to-the-test/2012/08/14/40697b0c-e61e-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_blog.html


Update 2:41 p.m. ET, Aug. 15: The Waverider X-51A test was a failure. The vehicle was launched successfully from a B-52 bomber Tuesday over Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range at about 11:35 a.m. PT. But 16 seconds after launch, “a fault was identified with one of the cruiser control fins.” Then, about 15 seconds after the craft separated from the rocket booster, the cruiser lost control.

“It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the Scramjet engine,” said X-51A Program Manager Charlie Brink via a news release Wednesday. “All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives.”

The test is a blow to the Waverider program, but also a setback for the development of hypersonic flight, since the control subsystem responsible for the failure had proven “reliable” in past flights.

According to the release, “Program officials will now begin the process of working through a rigorous evaluation to determine the exact cause of all factors at play.”

One of the four X-51A vehicles is left, but there is no official word as to whether it will actually fly.

A roundtable will be scheduled in two weeks, after officials have analyzed data from the failed test.

Original post: Imagine going from New York to London in less than an hour.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 17, 2012 - 10:04pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

This is a good one - tandem master Brent Buckner at Skydive Las Vegas a few years ago. Guy was screaming so loud he could hear him in free fall and just lost it. Good thing my pack job was solid, cause I think he was laughing too hard to deal with anything.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 18, 2012 - 10:36am PT
Constant Peg

MIGs in the USAF

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/20120818.aspx
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 18, 2012 - 04:58pm PT
http://www.space.com/17131-sprite-lightning-video.html
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Aug 19, 2012 - 12:52pm PT
Yeah Ron, a bunch of my friends were on that load. AMAZING!


http://vimeo.com/46978286


yo

climber
Mudcat Spire
Aug 19, 2012 - 12:58pm PT
Got sucked into instrument videos somehow. Check out this hairball cat III shizz:

[Click to View YouTube Video]


Edit: Ho man, look at this one!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 20, 2012 - 11:46am PT
This dude in NZ got lucky...chopped at 4k and the reserve didn't open until 750 feet...

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/16/13310516-nz-skydiver-survives-harrowing-plunge-to-ground-after-parachute-fails?lite
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Aug 20, 2012 - 08:02pm PT
Speaking of skydiving, I used to jump out of this baby 30 yrs ago (yikes, old). Anyway, really proud of my daughter-that is she in the window-she'll be checked out on this bird this coming weekend!!!! I never dreamed when she earned her pilot's cert. she'd end up flying an old DC-3, cool !

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 20, 2012 - 08:13pm PT
WOW! That is way cool. As you well know you don't fly those babies
with your feet on the floor- you fly it or it'll fly you.
It seems only a few months ago she was flying your ex's little tail dragger.
Now she's gotten her MEL and Commercial?

Now she can go get a job with Buffalo Airways in Northwest Territories, eh?
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Aug 20, 2012 - 08:40pm PT
Great Issue of the Anchorage Daily News about Bush Pilots and some legendary flying and fliers. Great Doug Geeting Story and more.

Archive interface but page through till ya get it.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1828&dat=19890618&id=RHNhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gb4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2792,1108654
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Aug 20, 2012 - 09:49pm PT
Looks like a pretty nice old Gooney Bird! That would be an absolute kick to fly. Congrats, Karen!
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Aug 21, 2012 - 12:50pm PT
Thanks guys! Reilly, on top of all her aviation fun she's a third year Law Student, (she is way more stressed by school than out flying).
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 26, 2012 - 04:12pm PT

They wouldn't let him sit in one in the museum,


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084019/Shot-elf-n-safety-Hero-Spitfire-pilot-refused-chance-cockpit-case-hurts-himself.html


so,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2190705/Flying-high--Spitfire-pilot-shot-elf-n-safety-Hero-91-takes-controls-rare-seat-aircraft-70-years-flew-legendary-plane.html
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Aug 26, 2012 - 10:40pm PT
As usual, the "you might be injured" crowd had their say. Fukkem! Great that he was given a flight in a fully restored dual seat trainer.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
California
Aug 31, 2012 - 04:20am PT
Yup, this is a great thread...

Here's my dad circa 1977:


We used to watch my dad every weekend jump out of a Cesna, back then it was five bucks a jump to 9k'. We had a blast running around the desert near St. George, Utah. I had two brothers and two sisters but it was usually the boys who liked to watch him jump and each of us got a pair of bino's for xmas. We would lay on our backs and watch them exit the plane, freefall and then usually end up miles out in the cactus somewhere, depending on the wind that day. It was our job to locate the jumpers and point out where we thought they landed out in the rolling hills of the desert. Sometimes it would take hours to find them.

One Saturday my mom woke us up yelling, "Boy's, your dad is jumping into the golf course. Let's go surprise him". We jumped in the truck and off we went. It seemed like it was a secret mission, my mom told us maybe they didn't have permits to land there. She wasn't sure why our dad hadn't told us about the jump, as she found out about it from a friend of a friend that was on the load.

We arrived at the golf course on the North side of town and waited around for an hour, or so. Finally, we heard the familiar engine of the Cesna circling above, the sound of it cutting and we quickly located four figures falling through the sky.

"AAahhh, they formed a round 4/way", we exclaimed with excitement. Which didn't happen all that much back in the day, when 100 skydives meant you were an expert at the sport. My dad just upgraded from a round to a square green and blue 7 cell, and we were just getting used to the new colors. Some of the other guys had just bought new gear, as well. So, it was hard to identify who was who.

"There he is", I yelled. "That's dad's colors". I was sure I had studied his colors on the ground well enough to recognize them floating three thousand feet in the air. But, as he got closer to the ground, my confidence wavered.

He didn't have his green jumpsuit on, I thought. Is that him? He has a tan or brownish suit. I scoped the other jumpers. What the hell? They all have tan jumpsuits on. I started to wonder if they formed some kind of skydiving team and ordered all matching suits. COOL!!!

A few minutes later they landed and us boys blasted through the 6th hole towards our dad, excited to hear about the new team he was on. From behind us we hear our mom screeching in the highest voice I'd ever heard.

"KIDS, GET YOUR BUTT'S BACK HERE"

We scoffed, but turned around and obeyed. She had the doors of the truck open and was herding us inside, slammed the doors and peeled on out of there. I looked back just in time to see my dad and three of his friends running across the golf course, with their parachutes wrapped around them like togas and piling into a getaway car.

I was always puzzled by what had happened and when I asked questions, it was a subject that, "we don't talk about". I was seven years old, so it took me a few years to put the pieces together but it was like a light bulb going on when I figured it out... I started an uncontrollable laughing fit.

They had done a naked skydive, ha haa
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2012 - 12:24pm PT
Awesome story Ammon, and thanks for adding this to the thread. My jaw about hit the desk when I saw that shot in the other thread. Some of the old mods were wild for sure - buy a surplus canopy and tear into it with pinking shears until it worked for you.

That story about the Spit pilot was amazing. Really appreciate that being shared, and that he got back into the air.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 31, 2012 - 12:47pm PT
Good find, TGT! I've never heard of the Brits being in Murmansk. The first
thing that popped into my head was how the bloody 'ell they got those Merlins
started in the cold.

"‘It was absolutely freezing. Our aircraft and transport vehicles had to be started
up every 20 minutes to prevent them from freezing for good."

snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 1, 2012 - 12:07pm PT
flyin around some clouds today in lauterbrunnen, switz.

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 1, 2012 - 05:49pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 2, 2012 - 07:26am PT
latest pics from gopro facing backwards in switz

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2012 - 12:43pm PT
Awesome shots snake!
snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 2, 2012 - 07:51pm PT
vegasclimber, taking one for the team,
glad you enjoy.
same exit, tracking if ya know what i mean


JayMark

Social climber
Oxnard, CA
Sep 2, 2012 - 09:04pm PT
ElCapPirate, that's a great shot. Classic surplus canopy mod. I made my first one in '63 on my mom's Singer, a 7 panel TU. Single pilot chute, eh? Those were the times !! TFPU

John
thekidcormier

Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
Sep 2, 2012 - 10:57pm PT
F*#kin awesome story Ammon! Thanks for sharing
snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 3, 2012 - 03:16pm PT
another day in paradise
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Sep 3, 2012 - 06:30pm PT
I was out flying today, but didn't get any photograph; it was simply way too smoky from all the forest fires. I flew from Casper (KCPR) to Gillette (KGCC) and back, but couldn't see very much beyond 5-7 miles even at 9,500 feet. I was hoping for a lovely view of the Big Horn Mountains...sadly, no joy. I got a late start, so it was a bumpy ride!
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Sep 3, 2012 - 07:55pm PT
Any of you guys attending the Reno Air races this year?





keep the cool pics going....
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2012 - 08:38pm PT
Hmm. One really bad one, and a scary one.

Bad one was jump #6 for me. Was watching a MiG land at Stead while I was under canopy, and flew right into a dust devil, at about 70 feet off the deck.

Next thing I know, I'm looking up at the bottom of my canopy and the ground PAST it, and thinking "well this sucks, I'm screwed." As the canopy snapped into a hard spin, I did the only thing I could think of, which was bury the toggles. Was under a nylon overcast Titan 260 main, and I weighed all of 160 lbs at the time. Big chute saved my ass, which is why I've never been a fan of these nylon napkins most of y'all jump. I like CrW anyways.

Luckily, the chute spit out of the devil into flare at the last second, and I hit hard. I laid there for a minute going "ow. Ow." and then remembered "Oh, right, I'm supposed to stand up and tell them I'm ok!"

I stand up, wave and stumble back to the LZ and packing area. Drop my chute, and everyone is asking me if I'm ok, and I'm like yeah, yeah, I'm fine, as I'm flaking my main out. Then I feel a breeze where I normally don't, look down and my shirt is torn open and I have about a 14in light cut down my ribs bleeding pretty freely...

Took me three days before my stubborn ass went to the hospital. Hyper extended about everything tendon wise from the waist down, hairline fractures in both ankles, both wrists, and right hip. Two broken ribs, messed up left shoulder. Had my knees in braces for several months and still feel it every morning, but could have been a lot worse.

About 5 months after I got back in the air, I had the scary one. Jumping an old Pegasus main, I toss the old leg pocket hand deploy and seriously got my bell rung on opening - felt like a reserve and then started shuddering like an old dog. I looked up and saw blue sky through the center cell, and fabric coming off in shreds...

No question on that one, chink chink bloop, and I'm under my black and scarlet Pioneer T28 reserve. All good and dandy, but being stood up and starting to accelerate under canopy scared the hell out of me. Stopped jumping for many years after that, and got really good at packing and running the ground stuff as I couldn't get away from the DZ by then...was just too tied up in the life. Eventually got back in the air long enough to prove to myself I could still do it, and then hung it up. Almost 15 years off and on rigging, and nothing to show for it to speak of - other then amazing people and fun times that is :D

Still wander out to the DZ from time to time, but now it's just to watch like any other whuffo.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 4, 2012 - 03:18pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]


But what happens when you start thinking about your girl friend?
snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 7, 2012 - 12:30pm PT
no real bad rides for me yet.

getting ready for a movie shoot in switz on the high nose.

sequence of my friend john exiting behind me.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2012 - 12:57pm PT
Thanks for posting all the awesome shots lately Snake. Looks like you are getting after it hard, and I wish I was in Europe right now myself. Blue skies!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Sep 7, 2012 - 01:12pm PT

Bad landing at the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, ID. I was really surprised at the damage it caused. It was a pretty routine jump, 2/way with a friend, I pulled a hair low but not nearly in the danger zone. Just couldn't make the regular landing, flared, wasn't even coming in hot, hit a burly bush... and SNAP!

Doesn't take much for bones to start breaking/shattering.

Stay safe out there guys, Cheers!


Edit: Yeah Ron, I popped it back in place and just thought I'd need a few weeks and would be good to go. I knew I needed to go to the ER when it wouldn't stay in place... it was crookered than a dog's hind leg, ha haa
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 10, 2012 - 11:15pm PT
2012 Raytheon award.

http://vimeo.com/40935850#



This video was created to commemorate the 67FS winning the 2011 Raytheon Trophy for outstanding aerial achievement, given to the top air-to-air squadron in the USAF.

The footage was shot over 1 year of flying with a Sony HD Handycam and GOPRO Hero. The footage was shot entirely by pilots, no combat camera personnel were used. The video was edited with Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD over 2 weeks by Jersey. Footage includes flying and aircraft from both the 67FS "Fighting Cocks" and the 44FS "Vampire Bats", entirely on location at Kadena AB, Japan. Most of the over water footage was filmed while we were raging like demons from hell in the skies over the pacific ocean like our brothers did 70 years before us.

Credits.
-All Tower footage filmed by Jersey
-Unrestricted Climb ground view camera: Wreck and Switch
-Backseat Unrestricted climb pilot: Egg
-GO Pro captains: Blue, Hozen,Egg
-Go Pro Majors: Jersey, Lips, Crusher
 2 ship BFM footage pilots: Jersey, Hozen, Snizzler, Trip, Wreck
 Large Force Engagement Radio Voices: C*#k 1: Jersey, C*#k 2: Match, C*#k 3: Flash, C*#k 4: Blaze
 BFM radio voices: Guano and Jersey

All editing by Jersey.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 10, 2012 - 11:50pm PT
Wow. Sh#t Hot. Thanks TGT, nice one.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 11, 2012 - 12:45am PT
TGT, good find! Very impressive video for an amateur. That has some of the
best shots I've ever seen - way better than the IMAX "Red Flag" in many respects.
These guys had the good sense to pull back for the wide shots. I don't know
why it is but 'pros' seem to think every shot has to be tight.
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Sep 11, 2012 - 02:30pm PT
Amazing TGT. Thanks!!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 12, 2012 - 12:39am PT
http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2012/120905new-take-on-x-plane-wins-nasa-grant.html?WT.mc_id=120907epilot&WT.mc_sect=tts&cmp=ePlt:Phto


Cleared for Mach 2 after departure, this supersonic jet of the future would yaw 90 degrees and put a new set of wings into the wind. The brainchild of Ge-Chen Zha of the University of Miami, the “supersonic, bi-directional flying wing” recently landed a $100,000 NASA grant to continue development of a concept that could cut the New York to Tokyo travel time to four hours—and perhaps significantly faster than that, Zha said.

Zha, who is collaborating with peers from Florida State University on the concept design, said “there’s no limit” to the potential speed the star-shaped airframe could allow, with single-stage to orbit and hypersonic speeds (above Mach 5) well within the realm of possibility. That speed would be delivered with low drag, low fuel consumption, and no sonic boom—the noise of which has stalled previous attempts to create supersonic travel routes over populated areas.

While the concept design is sized as a business jet, Zha said there should be little difficulty scaling it up to airline size.

Zha, who has followed recent difficulties that the U.S. Air Force has had launching a missile to Mach 5, said propulsion and aerodynamic challenges must be overcome, and many of those challenges still are not well-understood. It may take decades to solve some of the problems faced by all hypersonic designs.

Still, Zha said, the bi-directional design “does provide a very promising configuration.” By combining the virtues of two very different wings, the concept sidesteps—literally—one of the major challenges posed by high-speed flight: Wings that provide the lift required for low-speed maneuvering, including takeoff and landing, produce too much drag to be efficient at supersonic speeds. An ideal high-speed wing, on the other hand, would be downright dangerous in the traffic pattern.

Computer models predict the bi-directional aircraft would perform well both at low speeds—taking off and landing from airports—and at high speed. Making the 90-degree rotation that exchanges wings would be a complicated maneuver, controlled by a computer to span the transition over several seconds and make the change barely perceptible to passengers and crew in flight. As engines rotate and control forces transfer to different sets of control surfaces, passengers would feel an acceleration of just 0.2-Gs as the aircraft rotated on its axis, Zha said, noting the concept has been extensively modeled in digital form. Long, thick wings designed for low-speed flight would rotate to the longitudinal axis, and shorter, thinner wings better suited for efficient high-speed flight would provide lift at supersonic speeds—and beyond.

The funding from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts grant program is just enough to begin wind tunnel testing, Zha said. Design refinement and mission analysis will also be paid for with the one-year grant; Zha hopes to secure a Phase II grant from the same NASA program that would bring another $500,000, but that is still a small amount relative to what will be required to build a prototype. Zha said private investment could accelerate the process, and make a certified aircraft available in as little as a decade.

“If we have all the money we need, probably 10 years could be doable,” Zha said.

A more realistic estimate, however, puts this new design in the air in about 20 years, Zha said, noting that the research team is eager to work with private investors interested in speeding things up.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 12, 2012 - 12:42am PT
Pilot and author Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull) remained in serious condition after his aircraft crashed while he was attempting to land in Washington state, according to media reports. The amphibious aircraft came to rest inverted in a field Aug. 31 after clipping a power line on approach to landing at a grass strip, his son James Bach told The Associated Press.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Sep 12, 2012 - 10:15am PT
For Richard Bach---my wishes for a speedy recovery!
snakefoot

climber
cali
Sep 12, 2012 - 10:18am PT
vegasclimber,
the boys and girls are tearing it up over there(europe). back now and just a few shots from the vid cam.




great stories and pics everyone.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Sep 29, 2012 - 06:19pm PT
snakefoot

climber
cali
Oct 4, 2012 - 03:05pm PT
hank, we just missed each other. walked out to the mineral bottom exits, but it was too windy.

Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Oct 4, 2012 - 03:37pm PT
When is some angry hippy gonna climb up there and chop that BASE platform?
snakefoot

climber
cali
Oct 4, 2012 - 03:38pm PT
hank, where are the wheel chair access points and i am old school.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Oct 6, 2012 - 02:49am PT
[quote]Sunbathing spiders on Mars? No, thankfully. Scientists think these little black flecks are actually caused by carbon dioxide geysers! http://n.pr/PaGazJ[/quote]

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 6, 2012 - 01:45pm PT
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/10/more-evidence-that-voyager-has-exited-the-solar-system/
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Oct 8, 2012 - 04:16pm PT


Heal well Ammon-

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner ready to skydive from edge of space Tuesday morning
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Oct 9, 2012 - 02:10am PT
SCIENTISTS DISCOVER ANCIENT RIVERBED ON MARS

The latest rover mission to Mars, Curiosity, has stumbled upon something quite remarkable. There have been previous findings supporting the theory that liquid water did exist on the red planet at one point in time. But this is the first time that anything quite like this has been found. Curiosity has found what appear to be riverbeds on Mars that are remarkably similar to the ones found on Earth. There is evidence of water erosion as well as river-looking stones cemented into a gravel conglomerate rock. The shape and placement of some of these stones indicates long-distance travel, showing that these rivers were not just there, that they indeed flowed quite freely and were fairly long channels.

Previous research on channels on Mars had hypothesised about the flows that created them. This is the first time researchers have been able to see water-transported gravel on Mars. Rather than speculate about the size of streambed material, scientists can now directly observe it. The riverbed was found between the north rim of Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp, an area which was imaged from Mars orbit and therefore allows for further interpretation of the gravel-conglomerate. The imagery from orbit shows that the ancient streambed is part of an alluvial fan. A sedimentary feature made up of, among other things, many channels that have washed material down from the rim. The shape of stones within deposits like this allows geologists to interpret the forming environment. As the stones found are rounded, this indicates long-distance travel from above the rim where a channel named Peace Vallis feeds into the alluvial fan. Read about how alluvial fans form here: http://on.fb.me/QOKhP8. The longer a stone is transported, the more rounded it becomes from abrasion. If the stones were angular shaped, the deposit would be called a breccia and the source would be interpreted to be much closer. There is a range of grain size within the conglomerate, from a grain of sand to a golf ball. Though most of the stones are rounded, some are angular. The size of the stones within the conglomerate shows that they could not have been transported by wind, but must have been transported by water flow.

By looking at the size of the objects that the river was carrying, it is estimated that the water was flowing at just under 1 meter per second, and that this particular ancient river discovered was anywhere between ankle and waist-deep. These discoveries came after investigating two outcrops, given the names "Hottah" and "Link". The Curiosity science team may also decide to examine the chemical compositions of the cement that holds the conglomerate rock together, as well as the stones themselves.

Curiosity’s main destination is the slope of Mount Sharp. Clay and sulphate minerals were detected from orbit; these minerals can be good preservers of carbon-based organic chemicals, which are potential ingredients for life.

The images show the Link outcrop of rocks on Mars (left) compared with similar rocks seen on Earth (right). The image from Mars shows that the gravel fragments within the conglomerate are rounded and up to a few centimetres wide, and highlights a piece of gravel that is about 1 centimetre across. The image from Earth is of a typical sedimentary conglomerate formed of gravel fragments in a stream.


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 9, 2012 - 08:32pm PT
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/10/satellite-images-capture-cias-secret-bin-laden-training-facility/57771/
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 10, 2012 - 10:48am PT
Tom-

Great stuff, re: Mars!
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Oct 10, 2012 - 07:10pm PT
In the need for some aero plane pics.....






Reno Air Races last month....love the sound of those Rolls Royce Merlin engines!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2012 - 07:23pm PT
Thanks for adding those shots Karen!

I worked the Air Races for several years, and was on the team that tore one of the planes in the last picture, Rare Bear, apart when then owner Lyle Shelton blew the motor on it and had to have it trucked home.

I still remember the look on his face when he walked in the hangar and I had a foot long drill bit going into the side of his plane to separate the aft section from the cockpit. Heheh.

Good to see Strega still out there, Bill (Destefani) was always a nice guy to hang around and he could make that thing move for sure. For many years it was a foregone conclusion before the race even started that he or the Bear would win. The first sounds you heard from the pack in the long stretch was either the whine & whistle of the souped up Merlin or the "lub lub lub lub" of the Bear's oversized paddle blades. At the time it ran a Lockheed Constellation modified hub with three chopped blades from a P-3 Orion - I see they have a four blader on there now.

I miss going to the races, hopefully I will get to go again someday before they stop running them.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 10, 2012 - 08:57pm PT
I too, went to the Airshow today...er..Airport today.

My plane was already pulled out to the ramp parking for it's "test flight" with the new avionics, Graphic Engine Monitor, and all new cockpit glass. As I drove in and parked outside the gates, my eye was caught by something other than just another Bizjet: The Canadian Royal Air Force demonstration F 18 Hornet. Woo Hoo, and it was only parked 50 feet away from my bird! So, nosy guy that I am, I asked what it was doing here (Casper, WY) my A & P said it had developed a fuel leak enroute back to Canada from an airshow over the weekend, and landed at Natrona County International Airport for emergency repairs and refueling.

I was initially pi$$ed off that I didn't have my camera along, but the demonstration pilot left some brochures in the pilot's lounge:

Ta da!:



After I flew some laps in the landing pattern with Leroy, the Avionics Shop manager to make sure the GEM and GPS were all functional, I dropped him off and flew several more touch and go landings before calling it a day.

I then noticed that everyone from The FBO was sitting outside as the line crew brought out the GPU (ground power unit) and that the pilot was wearing his helmet onboard the aircraft, and the engines were being started as I crawled out of my plane. Wow! Pretty noisy out there! I then joined the "happy throng" at the outdoor picnic area where all the line guys and A & Ps were congregated to watch the show. Even the office crew was outside waiting for the show, and an F 18 full-power takeoff IS a real show. The pilot held it down on the deck passing our area at about 4,000' and didn't really rotate into a climb until ~ 6,000' feet down the runway. But he then executed a very steep climbing right turn that brought the airplane on a 180 degree heading from the takeoff so we could appreciate just how fast it was moving. It really "made my day!"
Sagebrusher

Sport climber
Iowa
Oct 11, 2012 - 04:35pm PT
Most awesome ever!
[Click to View YouTube Video]
yo

climber
Mudcat Spire
Oct 13, 2012 - 12:44am PT
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 15, 2012 - 08:35pm PT
CAUTION - Aviation Porn!




I flew over the Skunk Works one day and looked down to see 6 or 7 'Sleds'
waiting to have new cassette decks put into them. That was pretty cool.


Do click on this link if you want to read an excerpt from Sled Driver.
You know you want to - the dood takes his ride beyond Mach 3.5!!!!

Sled Driver
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 15, 2012 - 11:08pm PT


The navigation system uses three telescopes to track stars, is completely analog and about as accurate as a modern GPS system. Every bit as amazing as a Norden bomb sight or the fire control computer on a WWII battleship.

A cart with a big block chevy to start it, (the round bump on the bottom of the engine nacelles is for the starter hookup)

http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/startercart.php

They have one out at the March AFB museum, I think it's still there. The most impressive thing are the seals on the control surfaces. I don't think there's room for a matchbook cover between them. How that thing went through the kind of thermal expansion it did and still had anything move is really amazing.

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 15, 2012 - 11:34pm PT
Oh Holy Crap! That's my favorite airplane of all time! What a great link to the book, too!

I've seen only one Blackbird "up close and personal" at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville, OR. What a bird for "bird lovers," just sitting there under the wing of the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose."
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Oct 16, 2012 - 07:52am PT
I once attended the pre op workup of an SR71 at RAF Mildenhall, met the pilot, listened to the ops brief and then watched the thing light up the sky as it headed off on a dank Autumn day.

Exploited the imagery the next day, All in all an amazing thing to be part of - even if ground based.

Steve
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 16, 2012 - 09:57am PT
I always thought the SR71 had a beautiful but sinister aura about it; for sheer beauty, the F104 Starfighter was in a class by itself.

One thing about the "skunk Works" designs: they were all aesthetic masterpieces, and looked perfect for the roles they were intended to play.

Lockhheed also built the Constellation airliner, which was a beautiful design.
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Oct 16, 2012 - 10:56am PT
Functional design - if it looks right, it probably is!

Steve
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 16, 2012 - 10:58am PT
For those that read the excerpt didn't you love the part where he pulls the
throttles back over Sicily and still overshot the tanker at Gibraltar?
"Honest, officer, I guess I just wasn't paying attention."
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 16, 2012 - 11:40am PT
I believe the turn radius on a Blackbird was about 150 nm. Talk about an aerodynamic marvel!
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Oct 16, 2012 - 01:10pm PT
Awesome Reilly!!!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Oct 16, 2012 - 02:43pm PT
A long and winding road: 3.8 billion miles and a trunk full of memories later, NASA's Cassini spacecraft celebrates 15 years since launch. More info: http://1.usa.gov/R1DzHb

This graphic shows Cassini's orbits around the Saturn system.


TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Oct 18, 2012 - 01:12am PT
This is one absolutely amazing remote controlled [RC] model airplane.

Not only did they build its jet engines, but included a retractable landing gear, and built it into a fully scaled model of the SR-71 "Blackbird" that flies just like the real McCoy. This SR-71 model was built by an Engineer/RC enthusiast in Germany.



http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SDbQ5xvsrIU
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2012 - 03:43am PT
That's really awesome Tom!

Embedded version:

[Click to View YouTube Video]

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Oct 24, 2012 - 12:06pm PT
Flight HUD for skydivers and base jumpers

http://labs.reconinstruments.com/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Advert&utm_content=Black%2BWingsuiter&utm_campaign=Facebook%2BAdvert%2BHUD%2Bfor%2BSkydivers%2B
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 27, 2012 - 07:39pm PT

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/10/air-force-b-52-turns-60-has-lots-life-left-102112w/

Since it first entered service in April 1952, the B-52 has been updated numerous times, replacing much of the original technology that is now obsolete, such as vacuum tubes,

In fiscal 2012, the mission-capable rate for the B-52H was 78.3 percent even though the bomber’s average age is 50.8 years — blowing the doors off the B-1B’s 56.8 percent mission-capable and the B-2A’s 51.3 percent mission-capable rate.

Damn thing is almost as ancient as I am.
perswig

climber
Oct 27, 2012 - 08:41pm PT
A new addition recently flew in to the Owls Head Transportation Museum.





Anyone recognized it?
Apparently, a crosswind surprised the delivery pilot into a wingwobble at touchdown. He didn't feel anything, but the museum crew found scuffing on the tip of the port aileron. No damage to the wing fabric, though...


A sporterized Pitcairn Mailwing, original powerplant (air-cooled Wright Whirlwind).
The life of a mail pilot - flying by AAA road maps, keeping a crib sheet of mountain elevations. When grounded by weather or a crash, flagging down a train with a flashlight to hand off the mailbag to the next town.

Dale
squishy

Mountain climber
Oct 27, 2012 - 10:40pm PT
I built a foam SR-71 recently, only took me a few hours and the thing went 90mph...

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 28, 2012 - 01:52am PT
Some really badass posts here guys! LOVE the foamjet!
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Oct 28, 2012 - 04:59am PT
The rockstar line at Chamonix.

Look for the climber in the dihedral a couple seconds after they jump.

"3.. 2.. 1.. See ya!"

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Damn, I wish that I was younger and my shoulders didn't pop out of their sockets....
jbar

Mountain climber
urasymptote
Oct 29, 2012 - 01:56pm PT
I thought this video was incredible. Especially the film angles and how close to the ground he is flying/falling.

http://vimeo.com/50006726
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Oct 29, 2012 - 02:38pm PT
Another proud moment for this Mom. My daughter flew this Beech 18 from Chicago to Hemet a couple of weeks ago. She plans on using this baby to obtain her multi-engine rating.


Yesterday my son -he was totally thrilled to be able to fly at out of a military base - here is his plane, a Great Lakes.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Nov 3, 2012 - 02:32am PT
International Space Station at Risk

http://spaceref.biz/2012/10/whats-happening-to-the-russian-space-industry.html


What's Happening to the Russian Space Industry?

By Meidad Pariente
Posted October 29, 2012 8:48 AM

ILS Proton Launch of Intelsat 23

On the morning of August 6, the Russian space industry woke up to yet another failure in a long list of failures over the last 2 years. 2 months later, on October 16th that failure became a catastrophe with the explosion of the Briz-M upperstage. Are we witness to the end of the dominance of the Russian space industry?

Launches of Russian satellites and various space vehicles have become a routine occurrence, and why not? On the one hand, they have a wide array of launchers, from the small Dnepr and Rokot, to the medium sized Soyuz and Zenith, and on to the giant Proton. To go along with the launchers, they have a wide selection of launch sites, from Plesetsk and Baikonur, located well for polar missions, and the floating launch platform Odyssey, ideally located west of California for communications satellite launches. With such a wide array of capabilities, it's no wonder that 40% of the world's launches are Russian launches.

However, from a lofty 96%, the Russian launch success rate has plummeted to below 90%. That drop doesn't seem like much, but when each failed mission costs 300-400 million dollars, it's highly significant. This article will try to shed light on the reasons for this trend.

A PROMISING BEGINNING

The success of "Sputnik" in 1957 astounded the world, and caught the American space industry totally by surprise. No one in the west had any idea how advanced the Soviet space program was. The explanation, both surprising and unexpected, was the openness, and competitive nature of the Soviet space program. While NASA, under the leadership of James Webb, completely controlled and dominated the direction and development of the American space industry, the Russian program was openly competitive, with various engineering groups, both military and civilian vying with one another in creating original and daring concepts, as well as setting the goals for the entire program.

This internal competition brought the Soviet Union to a leading position in space exploration according to every parameter. Among the achievements of the Soviet space program are the first satellite ("Sputnik", 1957), the first data transmission from space (1959), the first pictures from the far side of the moon (1959), the first man in space (1961), the first formation flying of two space vehicles (1962), the first woman in space (1963 - 20 years before an American woman went to space), the first space mission with a crew of more than one (1964 - three cosmonauts), the first space-walk (1965), the first unmanned landing on the moon (1966), the first docking in space of 2 unmanned space vehicles (1967 - accomplished by the Americans only in 2006), the first robotic vehicle in space (1970), the first space station ("Salyut" in 1971), the first successful landing on another planet (Venus in 1975), the first African in space (1980), the first permanent space station ("Mir" in 1986), and lastly, the first crew to spend more than a full year in space (1987).

At the beginning of the 80's, the Soviet space agency was working on the space shuttle "Buran" which was an upgrade of the American space shuttle. While the Americans were planning to use the shuttle mainly as a service and supply vehicle for the international space station (which was mainly made of Soviet modules), the Soviets were planning to use it for a manned mission to Mars. On November 15, 1988, "Buron" made its maiden flight, orbited the earth twice and then successfully landed a few kilometers from its launch site at Baikonur. However, that was Buron's last flight. The breakup of the Soviet bloc, the end of the cold war, and the re-allocation of scarce and dwindling resources to other important issues, brought the Soviet (and now Russian) space program almost to a complete halt.

As a result of this economic crisis, the Russian space program, returned to innovation and the search for creative solutions, mainly in an effort to survive. These efforts resulted in the first commercial advertisement made in space, (an Israeli commercial for Tnuva milk in 1997), the birth of space tourism (space flight of billionaire Dennis Tito in 2001), and even the rental of space facilities (the space station "Mir" was rented out for a period of a year). During this period after the breakup of the Soviet empire, the space program invested most of its energies in survival, resulting in few if any significant achievements in research or development.

RENEWED DEVELOPMENT

In 2005, renewed economic development in Russia caused the Russian government to consider an enlarged budget for the Russian space program. A budget of 900 million American dollars was approved for 2006, with an expected annual growth of 5% to 10% over a period of 10 years. This renewed budget coupled with a burgeoning world interest in space technology, and the Russian government's interest in returning to world prominence, resulted in renewed development of several major programs. Among them were the navigational system "GLONASS", which was planned to provide world-wide coverage by the end of 2012, and more significantly, the commercial launch program.

The prescient conversion of ballistic missiles to be used as satellite launching platforms allowed the Russians to offer launch services at significantly lower prices than the Americans, the French, the Indians or the Chinese. Even the Israeli space industry has made great use of the launch capabilities of the cheap and dependable Russian launch systems, and it would be possible to write an entire paper on this relationship. In fact, all the commercial Israeli launches, except for "Amos 1", were launched by the Russians. "Amos 3" for example, was the first western communications satellite launched directly into a geostationary orbit by the Russian launcher "Zenit", and the maneuverable upper stage "Blok-DM".

During the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, the Russian launch industry was responsible for 40% of satellite launches world-wide. While the American and Chinese launch industries were busy with internal launches, the Russian launch industry specialized in commercial launch services. Russian missiles like the "Soyuz", "Zenit", "Dnepr", and "Proton", along with maneuverable upper stages like "Blok" and "Briz" have been providing launches at a rate of 3-4 per month and at with a success rate of over 96%. In comparison, the French Arianne, during the same period, had a launch about once every 2 months.

A SERIES OF FAILURES

At the end of 2010, things changed. The frequency of launches continued, and with the increase in cost of alternative launces, the general outlook was that it would continue to grow. However, a series of failed launches occurred which changed this situation.

It started on December 5, 2010 with the launch of 3 "GLONASS" satellites atop a "Proton" launcher. The launch failed and the 3 satellites fell into the ocean. This failure caught the attention of the president's office in Moscow, particularly in light of the governmental decision several months earlier to remove the military oversight of the space industry, and turn the space agency into an independent body, with commercial aims.

This unwanted attention resulted in a purge of the agency's management team and a partial "changing of the guard". This in turn resulted in great uncertainty among the remaining leaders of the space agency.

The failure of December, 2010, was quickly followed by another failed launch in February, 2011, this time a military satellite "GEO-IK". On August 18, there was a failed orbital insertion of a communications satellite, "Express-AM4" because of a fault in the "Briz-M" upper stage, and only a week later, there was a "Soyuz" launch failure of the supply satellite "Progress M".

The series of failures continued with the failure of "Phobos Grunt", with a Chinese micro-satellite onboard, when its motors failed to operate. Instead of going to Mars, it eventually burned up in the atmosphere as it fell back to Earth. This awful year culminated in another failure of a "Meridian" military satellite launch, on December 23.

2012 ENDS WITH A BANG

The following year, 2012, started off very well, until the failure of August 6th, which developed into a full catastrophe.

After the launch failure, Vladimir Popovkin, the Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency ROSCOSMOS, assured the world that although the stranded Briz-M upper stage was heavily fueled, it is safe and should not endanger other space assets. On August the 16th, ITAR-TASS reported Vladimir Popovkin as saying there was no danger of an explosion of the Briz-M because internal pressures in the propellant tanks had been reduced to zero.
On the evening of October 16th, Space Track suddenly deleted the Briz upper stage from its tracked space debris catalogue, and later on replaced it with a growing number of breakup debris, a clear indication of an explosion.

On Oct 19th, a notice went up on Space Track reporting the breakup of the Briz-M. Russian press agency and newspaper web sites carried a press report on October 22nd quoting Space Forces spokesman Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin saying that Briz-M had broken into twelve fragments and they were being tracked, but the formal debris count from US and European sources stated that there are at least 80 significantly large (more than 10 centimeters diameter) debris particles being closely tracked.

Initial analysis of the "breakup" points to a possible mixture of oxidizer and fuel within the Briz-M, causing the heavily fueled vehicle to explode. The Russian space agency apparently did not take all the necessary safety measures, allowing the oxidizer and fuel within the tank to heat up whenever the Briz swept through its low altitude perigee at a velocity of more than 7 kilometers per second (more than 15,600 mph). Not surprisingly the explosion took place when the Briz was at its closest distance from Earth.

POSSIBLE IMPLICATIONS

The Debris cloud is at a trajectory that puts a significant number of LEO satellites at risk, and especially the manned International Space Station. According to a source in Space Track, the debris is crossing the ISS orbit at almost right angles in its 50.2° inclination orbit.

Unfortunately, the intersection of the two orbits occurs where the debris is at about the same altitude as the ISS (about 405-425 km altitude). The Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC Space) has reported it "is currently tracking over 500 pieces of debris".

According to Zarya.info, unlike other recent fragmentation events, such as the interception of Fengyun 1C, fragments from this event pass through the orbital altitude of the ISS. The differing rates at which the two orbits precess around the Earth's polar axis mean that the ISS orbital path will periodically move in and out of the debris cloud, and will sometimes spend several days at a time with a large part of its orbit within the cloud.

Depending on the actual number of fragments, this event may eventually be considered to be the most dangerous fragmentation event ever to have occurred in space.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 3, 2012 - 09:45pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
little Z

Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
Nov 4, 2012 - 12:41am PT
perswig

climber
Nov 8, 2012 - 08:08am PT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PljkJTYt7M&feature=related

Dale
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 9, 2012 - 01:15pm PT
squishy

Mountain climber
Nov 9, 2012 - 01:27pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Nov 9, 2012 - 02:26pm PT
That was real cool, Squishy. Now get that thing up on a cliff, chase some peregrine ass!
squishy

Mountain climber
Nov 9, 2012 - 05:04pm PT
I'm worried about those climbers though, wouldn't want to ruin their wilderness experience be taken out to the parking lot..
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Nov 9, 2012 - 11:55pm PT
China's Mystery Space Plane Project

http://www.space.com/18410-china-space-plane-project-mystery.html

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Nov 10, 2012 - 12:05am PT
Warp Field Mechanics 102 – How hard is interstellar flight? This talk identifies the colossal challenge of sending a robotic probe (let alone human mission) to our nearest stellar neighbor, and speculates on how, using a loophole in general relativity, we might bring the stars within our grasp. A short review of the Alcubierre warp drive metric is provided to describe how the idea of a space warp might work. The impractical energy requirements discussed in the literature are identified, and a warp bubble topology optimization approach is discussed. The idea of a warp drive in a higher dimensional space-time (manifold) is briefly considered by comparing the null-like geodesics of the Alcubierre metric to the Chung-Freese metric and another energy optimization technique is identified. The energy optimization results are presented and show that the idea of a space warp may have been moved from impractical to plausible. Finally, an overview of the warp field interferometer test bed being implemented in Eagleworks Laboratories at the Johnson Space Center will be detailed. — at SEDS SpaceVision 2012 Conference.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 10, 2012 - 06:52pm PT
Wow, we are up over 500 posts! Way to go, everyone.

I would really appreciate it if that "political" post would be removed from this thread. Take that stuff to the threads for them. Thanks.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 11, 2012 - 12:10pm PT
Not only are we above 500 posts, but I took another step last Friday (11-2-2012) towards my Commercial Certification! I completed my final Cross Country requirement: A 2 hour or more duration night cross country flight to an airfield greater than 100 nautical miles from point of takeoff. My instructor pilot, as my safety pilot, was on board to make sure I didn't kill myself :D.

The flight was from KCPR (Casper, Wy) to KRAP (Rapid City, SD) over the Black Hills, and back after one stop-and-go landing. We came back over illuminated Mount Rushmore! Total time on the Hobbs Meter was 3.0 hours, engine start to engine shutdown. Great circle distance flown: 326 nautical miles.
perswig

climber
Nov 11, 2012 - 01:16pm PT
(I didn't understand a damn thing in Tom's post above.)

Big congrats, BDC! Any gut-checks along the way, or pretty uneventful?

Dale
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 11, 2012 - 01:36pm PT
Way to go Broke! 326 miles, let's see now - that would have been 7 minutes
in an SR-71, right? :-)

Why are you bothering with getting a Commercial? You've already your Instrument, right?
Just the challenge? That's cool.

Holy crap! A huge roar overhead! It is a C-17 at 1000' AGL!
Oh, right, Veterans Day. But I can't figure out where he is headed.


C-17 office

'Space heater' in a C-17's garage

Really important place in a C-17. I guess in the Air Force they gotta
be told what it is.

Bottom part of above door -

whitemeat

Trad climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
Nov 11, 2012 - 01:58pm PT
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Nov 11, 2012 - 02:11pm PT
congrats, brokedown -- you pilots are too cool

so how long does it take, typically, to get the garden-variety rec pilot license?
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 11, 2012 - 04:13pm PT
I'm working on both my Instrument and Commercial at the same time. I'm a lot closer to completion on the Commercial.

All it takes to get a Private Certificate is "time and money," in addition to having good enough vision and overall heath to pass an FAA Medical Exam. It can be done in less than a year, but it took me a bit less than 2 years because of weather considerations in Wyoming.

Perswig-No "gut checks" at all. Just came into Rapid City a with a little too much spare altitude due to a strong tailwind that threw off my calculation on TOD miles out. (TOD = Top Of Descent). I was flying at 11,500 feet msl, and needed to lose ~8,000 feet. I began my descent 18 miles out (GPS) at 500 feet per minute, but the tailwind had increased my ground speed by about 40 kts. With that said, I simply overflew the VOR still descending into a 270 degree turn that brought me right on the glide slope on a 3 mile final with 2 balls red and 2 balls white on the PAPI. I had to smirk as my senior instructor called it a textbook perfect approach. I love night operations!! Very smooth air and no turbulence.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 11, 2012 - 04:47pm PT
^^^ Shoulda just done a Split S! :-)
Or what we do in sailplanes is throw out the spoilers and point the nose
straight down and spiral in.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 11, 2012 - 06:30pm PT
Saw the C-17 while on a little bike ride up to Santa Fe dam, down to Whittier and back.

He was headed straight north and probably threading under the controlled airspace for LAX, ONT and Burbank, headed from March back to Travis or McChord.


Barney, (Fred's short fat little friend) is the loadmasters dream aircraft.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 11, 2012 - 06:50pm PT
Sounds like a good flight BDC, way to go!

"Aviation Nation" the airshow out as Nellis is this weekend, but I stopped going a few years ago. The last time I went it took over two hours to get from the parking area, onto a bus and to the base. Not worth it for me.
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Nov 11, 2012 - 06:54pm PT
Photo I took a couple months ago at the Reno Air Races.


A few weeks later at NASA Ames.

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 11, 2012 - 07:42pm PT
Vegasclimber- I'm really fortunate to have an older instructor who just happens to be a climber (Vedauwoo), too! He worked his way through University of Wyoming some 30 years ago by giving flying lessons and piloting the C-206 for skydivers. The guy's also a local High School Science teacher and Vice Principal, so we get along very well on our flights. He's a fountain of very cool geological information as we overfly some interesting formations.

This coming week: Chandelles, 55 degree bank steep turns, 180 degree power off accuracy landings, and lazy eights on pylons.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 13, 2012 - 12:27pm PT
Bump for aviation and skydiving!
sempervirens

climber
Nov 13, 2012 - 01:07pm PT
Hey Brokedown,
Thats very cool, getting your commercial and IFR.
I'm still just a wannabe dreaming of aviating.

How is the 2-hour cross country night flight requirement different from the requirments for the private pilot certificate? It doesn't sound that different since the private also has night and cross country flight requirements.
Anyway, way to get after! TFPU!
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 14, 2012 - 07:20pm PT
The difference is the distance flown requirement. The Private cert has a 50 nm cross country night (straight line one way) flying requirement and the Commercial has a 100 nm (one way, as well). My flight to Rapid City took 3 hours, round trip due to adverse headwinds on the return leg.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 16, 2012 - 08:12pm PT
Shot by a friend in France.



"Hey, boys, that might be a tad too realistic, n'est-ce pas?

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 18, 2012 - 12:32am PT
Since we're into posting photos, here's one from my old computer that popped up when I was transferring files from it to a USB drive:


I happen to quite a fan of the older MiGs. After talking with the pilot, he said they really don't like being landed in crosswind conditions.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Nov 19, 2012 - 12:10am PT
Unidentified Aerial Object As High As Jet Stream?

“I would estimate the unidentified flying object was anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 feet in altitude because I could easily see that passenger jets flew under it.” - Allen Epling, Amateur Astronomer, Virgie, KY

October 16, 2012, 2 to 4:30 PM, mysterious,unidentified aerial object remained stationary above airliner traffic,perhaps near 50,000 feet or more in the rapid jet stream. How could the object remain stable and unmoving for 2.5 hours?

Telescope image © 2012 by Allen Epling.


Two Kentucky Counties Flood Police with Alarm Calls About This Unidentified Aerial Object.

“Several jets appeared to fly in the vicinity of this UFO.
Contrails could be seen zigzagging all around the object.
...At times it appeared to get brighter.”

 The Daily News, Williamson, West Virginia
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 20, 2012 - 09:28pm PT
I used to work for a company that imported MiGs. They don't like crosswinds, you can g lock the 17's ailerons and have to use the stick extender, they have pneumatic wheel brakes. Oh and if you turn on the emergency fuel pump on the 15 you have a 50/50 chance of blowing the tail off.

The main thing that bites people in the ass is the engine takes a very long time to spool up - you get below the power curve on final and you're toast.

On the plus side, they are built like tanks. Air show pilot Bill Reesman ground looped his 17 at Reno Cannon at about 130kts. Blew a brake line, popped 2 rivets on the nose gear, and knocked the main gear doors out of alignment. Not bad.

1000 hours, a commercial rating, and you can get into a 15 2-seater for about 125k. Fairly cheap to fly, but the line maintenance regulation costs kill you on an active bird.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 23, 2012 - 04:01pm PT
I had no idea that the 747 was still in production, let alone a radically upgraded model.

http://boeing.com/stories/videos/vid_12_747-8_power.html

ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Nov 23, 2012 - 07:23pm PT
any home-builders here?? I am toying with the idea of building one up from a kit
perswig

climber
Nov 23, 2012 - 07:24pm PT
A 747?
Cool.

Dale
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Nov 23, 2012 - 07:33pm PT
The main thing that bites people in the ass is the engine takes a very long time to spool up - you get below the power curve on final and you're toast.


That's why naval aircraft have large speed brakes and they land with the speed brakes fully extended. You can retract the speed brakes a lot faster than you can spool up the engine. The A-7 Corsair was notorious for settling on final.


snakefoot

climber
cali
Nov 26, 2012 - 09:17am PT
did anyone say balloon jump?

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 26, 2012 - 11:14am PT
The only two-seat A-12 trainer built is at the Cal Sci Ctr.
It was nicknamed The Titanium Goose.
It is not an optical illusion - the rear cockpit is off-center!


hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Nov 26, 2012 - 01:04pm PT
if that crate was in my neighborhood the scrappers would have it
hauled to mexico by now. don't need no stinkin' pink slip there
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
Nov 26, 2012 - 01:08pm PT
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 26, 2012 - 01:10pm PT
hooblie, HaHaHa! I guess you don't know where the Cal Science Center is, eh?
Don't think it hasn't been salivated over. But I suspect it would be a tad
hard to get rid of 15-20 tons of titanium. :-)
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Nov 26, 2012 - 03:03pm PT
That UFO is clearly a Balloon with some very interesting equipment inside it. Wonder what it was for?
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Dec 3, 2012 - 02:34pm PT
All Landings at San Diego Int Airport Nov 23, 2012

https://vimeo.com/54658957

(edit: not my video)
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 3, 2012 - 02:43pm PT
Yikes! That's impressive, Ammon. Imagine if they were all at once like that *shudders*

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 3, 2012 - 02:47pm PT
Y'all should go to the top deck of the parking structure that drives pilots
nuts on approach to Rwy27...and this isn't a 'long' shot. In fact is 'wide'!




San Diego is really scary!
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
Dec 3, 2012 - 03:25pm PT
snakefoot

climber
cali
Dec 3, 2012 - 09:37pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 5, 2012 - 09:20am PT
http://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2012/12/04/korean_wars_ghost_pilots_and_mystery_planes.html
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 23, 2012 - 06:58pm PT
When I was a kid I read a book titled "the Mouse That Roared".

If you ever read it, you'll get the connection.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 24, 2012 - 12:07pm PT

The story behind this incredible photo.

https://www.merriam-press.com/ww2ejour/articles/iss_001/is001_01.htm


I found this here along with 25 pages of historic photos.


http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=ForumsPro&file=viewtopic&t=14428&finish=15&start=0

to keep it climbing related, A-29 Hudsons and McKinley


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 25, 2012 - 09:31pm PT
Merry Christmas

[Click to View YouTube Video]


http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123330440
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Dec 29, 2012 - 03:00am PT
NASA plan to 'lasso' asteroid the size of two buses and turn it into a 'space station' to orbit the moon, Daily Mail

"NASA scientists are planning to capture a 500 ton asteroid, relocate it and turn it into a space station for astronauts on their way to Mars. The White House's Office of Science and technology will consider the £1.6bn plan in the coming weeks as it prepares to set its space exploration agenda for the next decade. NASA declined to comment on the project because it said it was in negotiations with the White House, but it is believed that technology would make it possible within 10-12 years."
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
Dec 31, 2012 - 01:47pm PT
Finally got my bro to come out and do a tandem the other day. It was snowing through the grapevine on our way to Taft, but luckily it cleared up enough to jump. So f*#king cold!


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 2, 2013 - 09:45pm PT
http://www.planecrashinfo.com/lastwords.htm

Self explanatory link.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jan 5, 2013 - 01:25pm PT
These aren't my vids, but I've been there.

We used to run a low-level flight in the desert of Oman, called Star Wars Canyon.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Here is a low-level flight in the same bird I used to fly. The route is the VR-1355, takes you right over Glacier Peak. The fastest I ever flew the VR-1355 was 550 knots (632 m.p.h).

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 6, 2013 - 03:34am PT
Crews narrow search area for skydiver in Wash.

http://news.yahoo.com/crews-narrow-search-area-skydiver-wash-222643441.html



NORTH BEND, Wash. (AP) — A more focused search for a skydiver who vanished during a jump above Washington's Cascade foothills failed to locate the Florida man as darkness fell Saturday.

About 145 searchers combed the Mount Si area east of Seattle for 29-year-old Kurt Ruppert, who disappeared Thursday afternoon after he jumped out of a helicopter at 6,500 feet.

King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said they looked specifically in a quarter-mile-square area near the summit, but kept searching other areas as well.

At the time of the jump, Ruppert, of Lake City, Fla., was wearing a special wing suit with fabric under the arms to allow him to glide like a flying squirrel. The suit is brown and green, and likely blends into the terrain, though his parachute was reportedly blue.

He was skydiving with two friends, and they were taking turns jumping from the helicopter. The friends were waiting at a grassy landing area, but no one saw whether Ruppert's chute deployed.

West said they made the decision to narrow the search area based on the flight pattern of the helicopter he jumped from and information from his cellphone's location just before the jump.

She expected the search to resume at dawn Sunday.

Searchers were hoping Ruppert was stuck in a tree with his parachute or perhaps lost in rugged state-owned land around 4,200-foot Mount Si, West said.

Ruppert has been skydiving seven or eight years and is good at handling a wing suit, said a friend, Art Shaffer, owner of Skydive Palatka in Palatka, Fla.

Shaffer jumped with Ruppert at midnight on New Year's Eve and said Ruppert left Tuesday to jump with friends in Washington.

Ruppert is not married and once owned a landscaping business, said Shaffer, who is in contact with Ruppert's family and friends.
perswig

climber
Jan 6, 2013 - 08:33am PT
Somehow I missed you were a Prowler (Queer!) driver, SLR. Bee-youtiful plane, I think anyway, but damn, they're loud.

Could only smile into my tea at about 4:00 of your first link.
Thanks.
Dale
wilbeer

Mountain climber
honeoye falls,ny.greeneck alleghenys
Jan 6, 2013 - 06:58pm PT
slr,those vids are awesome!
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jan 7, 2013 - 10:55pm PT
Could only smile into my tea at about 4:00 of your first link.


I'm kinda partial to the part at 5:00-5:25 in the first video.

In college I was trying to figure out what to do when I grew up. I received a recruiting postcard in the mail of a picture of a Navy jet and it said, "This desk does Mach 1."

That's all it took. I signed up that afternoon. (:
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:39pm PT
Somewhere in AZ:

the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:52pm PT

One of several heavy helicopters used in wildland firefighting today. Though they can't carry near the payload of a Skycrane their large fuel tanks and speed work to their advantage. They seem to work especially well in the lowlands of Texas with typically long distance initial attacks. The machine in this photo was born around 1961.
The POTUS flies in an S-61.
Tragically, in August 2008 an S-61 crash killed nine wildland firefighters in northern California.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:52pm PT
In flight bevy service, amazon circa early 90s...

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:54pm PT
Loading up in one of them sikorskys... probably not far from Payson.


the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:03pm PT

Though these machines are extremely expensive to operate (near 100K for a full day of work), they are one of our most effective firefighting tools today provided water and fuel are nearby. They burn something like 450 gallons fuel an hour and typically carry 1000-1400 gallons of water.
These babies are awe-inspiring crafts all the way around.
Probably born around 1960.

A friend of mine was ferrying a Crane back from the FL wildfires in 98 or so and watched as his two colleagues in front in a similar aircraft lost a main rotor blade and plummeted to their end in the CA deserts.
the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:06pm PT
OTE that's an Sikorsky S-58T.
I don't recognize it, but its probably still flying. They are apparently very reliable. Born late 1950s. That Sikorsky was an incredible genius in the helicopter world.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:08pm PT
Whoa Albatross- I used to be a smokejumper and got sent to Florida that season to do ramp management stuff- we were qualified to work around aircraft. Anyway, that ship worked out of the airport I was at and I remember hearing about that accident after I returned to my base. Sad!
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:31pm PT
Some days everyone is just pissing into the wind (Idaho or Montana)....

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:42pm PT
Alright one more and I'll shut up. Southern California....

the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 19, 2013 - 12:08am PT
OTE after hearing rumors for a decade or more about the Crane accident, it was thought provoking to hear the story from the man who witnessed it. I think being a wildland fire pilot is one of the riskier professions around. Almost as dangerous as driving a motor vehicle to a fire.

Nice pic of the Bell 205s, lots of those mid-late 70s models still hauling us around.




ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 19, 2013 - 12:14am PT
Cargo run!


(somewhere in Northern California)

Do you go to the saw box or try to get the pop tarts out of the food box? What kind of man are you???!!!1
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 19, 2013 - 12:39am PT
OMG! Federal workers sleeping on the job!! In their defense I'll say we were unpressurized at 12,000ish feet and it was cold as f*#k.


(wyoming)
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jan 19, 2013 - 01:45am PT
The first thing that happens to most passengers above 12,000 feet is they fall asleep. Some commercial operators will fly almost to 14,000 but are themselves on oxygen, when the passengers are obnoxious. Invariably the a$$holes fall into silent dreamland! Federal regs demand that passengers be provided with oxygen ABOVE 14,000!

I for one, really enjoy high altitude flying. My trip out to City of Rocks this past July 4th was at 12,500' over the Wasatch Mountains near Logan, UT. I set the timer and measured out my "legal" time above 12,500 which occurred just as I crested the range. Then a fast ride "downhill" to 10,500 at Malad City. That was a 500 fpm descent rate at 156 kias.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 19, 2013 - 02:13am PT

Look familiar brokendown? We spent several days there and then finally jumped a fire in the B-T.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Jan 19, 2013 - 03:01am PT
alright alright I'm posting too much.... here's a couple guys about to join us, probably on the Shasta-T NF (Northern California).

Leggs

Sport climber
Home away from Home
Jan 19, 2013 - 03:06am PT
I've only done two static line jumps at 3,000+ ft...

I am terrified of heights, so it was kind of a big deal for me.

It was also a big deal that I hit my chin on the wheel of the plane after climbing out on the wind strut and "letting go". I didn't lose any teeth, thankfully.

I did, however, have a tire mark on my chin for about 3 months. No lie.

Good times.

~peace

EDIT: Terrified of heights = Skydiving, bungee jumping, and becoming a climbing instructor, teaching others to conquer their fears.

Still terrified of heights, which keeps me in "check", but chasing adventure!! :)
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jan 19, 2013 - 06:33pm PT
OTE&STD!

It's now Atlantic Aviation!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 19, 2013 - 07:09pm PT
Igor Sikorsky started building airplanes, or more accurately, flying boats.
I saw an interesting interview with him during which he recounted flying in
one of his clippers down the coast of Florida at low altitude along the beach.
While doing so he was suddenly overcome by a strong sense of deja vu. Then
he realized with a start that he was seeing the exact scene that he had
previously seen 60 years before as a child in Russia only that time it had
been a dream! Whoa!
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jan 21, 2013 - 01:44pm PT
nice hank, will be down there in a month to play.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2013 - 02:07pm PT
Awesome stuff Hank! Thanks for sharing.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jan 22, 2013 - 08:20pm PT
just a little fun with friends

hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Feb 6, 2013 - 12:27pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 9, 2013 - 05:35pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 23, 2013 - 03:31pm PT
r Dave over at Shorpy.com allows us to see history in an entirely new light with his ongoing submissions of large-format Kodachromes. Dave's website generally focuses on extracting pictures from the online catalog of the Library of Congress and sharing them with a wide audience, but his personal effort to adjust the color and contrast of these archived transparencies has amplified their reality and even enlivened them.

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/alfred-t-palmer-dave-shorpy-kodachromes

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Feb 23, 2013 - 04:11pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Edit- That looks like a fun one Hankster.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 24, 2013 - 10:39pm PT
.... here's a couple guys about to join us, probably on the Shasta-T NF (Northern California).

you guys are still jumping Paracommanders??!...(round parachute with 32 holes in it)
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 26, 2013 - 08:02pm PT


Plane #13 In Doolittle's Tokyo Raid

> This is a firsthand account by the pilot of aircraft #13 on the Doolittle Raid off the Hornet in 1942. Take the time and enjoy a bit of history:

> My name is Edgar McElroy. My friends call me "Mac". I was born and raised in Ennis, Texas the youngest of five children, son of Harry and Jennie McElroy. Folks say that I was the quiet one. We lived at 609 North Dallas Street and attended the Presbyterian Church.
> My dad had an auto mechanic's shop downtown close to the main fire station. My family was a hard working bunch, and I was expected to work at dad's garage after school and on Saturdays, so I grew up in an atmosphere of machinery, oil and grease. Occasionally I would hear a lone plane fly over, and would run out in the street and strain my eyes against the sun to watch it. Someday, that would be me up there!
>
> I really like cars and I was always busy on some project and it wasn't long before I decided to build my very own Model-T out of spare parts. I got an engine from over here, a frame from over there, and wheels from someplace else, using only the good parts from old cars that were otherwise shot. It wasn't very pretty, but it was all mine. I enjoyed driving on the dirt roads around town and the feeling of freedom and speed. That car of mine could really go fast; 40 miles per hour!
> In high school I played football and tennis, and was good enough at football to receive an athletic scholarship from Trinity University in Waxahachie. I have to admit that sometimes I daydreamed in class, and often times I thought about flying my very own airplane and being up there in the clouds. That is when I even decided to take a correspondence course in aircraft engines.
> Whenever I got the chance, I would take my girl on a date up to Love Field in Dallas . We would watch the airplanes and listen to those mighty piston engines roar. I just loved it and if she didn't, well that was just too bad.
>
> After my schooling, I operated a filling station with my brother, then drove a bus, and later had a job as a machinist in Longview , but I never lost my love of airplanes and my dream of flying. With what was going on in Europe and in Asia , I figured that our country would be drawn into war someday, so I decided to join the Army Air Corps in November of 1940. This way I could finally follow my dream.
> I reported for primary training in California . The training was rigorous and frustrating at times. We trained at airfields all over California . It was tough going, and many of the guys washed out. When I finally saw that I was going to make it, I wrote to my girl back in Longview , Texas . Her name is Agnes Gill. I asked her to come out to California for my graduation. and oh yeah, also to marry me.
>
> I graduated on July 11, 1941. I was now a real, honest-to-goodness Army Air Corps pilot. Two days later, I married "Aggie" in Reno , Nevada . We were starting a new life together and were very happy. I received my orders to report to Pendleton , Oregon and join the 17th Bomb Group. Neither of us had traveled much before and the drive north through the Cascade Range of the Sierra Nevada 's was interesting and beautiful.
>
> It was an exciting time for us. My unit was the first to receive the new B-25 medium bomber. When I saw it for the first time I was in awe. It looked so huge. It was so sleek and powerful. The guys started calling it the "rocket plane" and I could hardly wait to get my hands on it. I told Aggie that it was really something! Reminded me of a big old scorpion, just ready to sting! Man, I could barely wait!
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> We were transferred to another airfield in Washington State , where we spent a lot a time flying practice missions and attacking imaginary targets. Then, there were other assignments in Mississippi and Georgia , for more maneuvers and more practice.
> We were on our way back to California on December 7th when we got word of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . We listened with mixed emotions to the announcements on the radio, and the next day to the declaration of war. What the President said, it just rang over and over in my head, ".With confidence in our armed forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God." By gosh, I felt as though he was talking straight to me! I didn't know what would happen to us, but we all knew that we would be going somewhere now.
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> The first weeks of the war, we were back in Oregon flying patrols at sea looking for possible Japanese submarines. We had to be up at 0330 hours to warm up the engines of our planes. There was 18 inches of snow on the ground, and it was so cold that our engine oil congealed overnight. We placed big tarps over the engines that reached down to the ground. Inside this tent we used plumbers blow torches to thaw out the engines. I figured that my dad would be proud of me, if he could see me inside this tent with all this machinery, oil and grease. After about an hour of this, the engines were warm enough to start.
> We flew patrols over the coasts of Oregon and Washington from dawn until dusk. Once I thought I spotted a sub and started my bomb run, even had my bomb doors open, but I pulled out of it when I realized that it was just a big whale.
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> Lucky for me, I would have never heard the end of that!
> Actually it was lucky for us that the Japanese didn't attack the west coast, because we just didn't have a strong enough force to beat them off. Our country was in a real fix now, and overall things looked pretty bleak to most folks. In early February, we were ordered to report to Columbus , South Carolina . Man, this Air Corps sure moves a fellow around a lot! Little did I know what was coming next!
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> After we got settled in Columbus , my squadron commander called us all together. He told us that an awfully hazardous mission was being planned, and then he asked for volunteers. There were some of the guys that did not step forward, but I was one of the ones that did. My co-pilot was shocked. He said "You can't volunteer, Mac! You're married, and you and Aggie are expecting a baby soon. Don't do it!" I told him that "I got into the Air Force to do what I can and Aggie understands how I feel. The war won't be easy for any of us."
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> We that volunteered were transferred to Eglin Field near Valparaiso , Florida in late February. When we all got together, there were about 140 of us volunteers and we were told that we were now part of the "Special B-25 Project.
> We set about our training, but none of us knew what it was all about. We were ordered not to talk about it, not even to our wives.
> In early March, we were all called in for a briefing, and gathered together in a big building there on the base. Somebody said that the fellow who head of this thing is coming to talk to us and in walks Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. He was already an aviation legend, and there he stood right in front of us. I was truly amazed just to meet him.
> Colonel Doolittle explained that this mission would be extremely dangerous, and that only volunteers could take part. He said that he could not tell us where we were going, but he could say that some of us would not be coming back.
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> There was a silent pause; you could have heard a pin drop. Then Doolittle said that anyone of us could withdraw now, and that no one would criticize us for this decision. No one backed out! From the outset, all volunteers worked from the early morning hours until well after sunset. All excess weight was stripped from the planes and extra gas tanks were added. The lower gun turret was removed, the heavy liaison radio was removed, and then the tail guns were taken out and more gas tanks were put aboard. We extended the range of that plane from 1000 miles out to 2500 miles.
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> Then I was assigned my crew. There was Richard Knobloch the co-pilot, Clayton Campbell the navigator, Robert Bourgeous the bombardier, Adam Williams the flight engineer and gunner, and me, Mac McElroy the pilot. Over the coming days, I came to respect them a lot. They were a swell bunch of guys, just regular All-American boys.
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> We got a few ideas from the training as to what type of mission that we had signed on for. A Navy pilot had joined our group to coach us at short takeoffs and also in shipboard etiquette. We began our short takeoff practice. Taking off with first a light load, then a normal load, and finally overloaded up to 31,000 lbs.
> The shortest possible take-off was obtained with flaps full down, stabilizer set three-fourths, tail heavy, full power against the brakes and releasing the brakes simultaneously as the engine revved up to max power. We pulled back gradually on the stick and the airplane left the ground with the tail skid about one foot from the runway. It was a very unnatural and scary way to get airborne! I could hardly believe it myself, the first time as I took off with a full gas load and dummy bombs within just 700 feet of runway in a near stall condition. We were, for all practical purposes, a slow flying gasoline bomb!
> In addition to take-off practice, we refined our skills in day and night navigation, gunnery, bombing, and low level flying. We made cross country flights at tree-top level, night flights and navigational flights over the Gulf of Mexico without the use of a radio. After we started that short-field takeoff routine, we had some pretty fancy competition between the crews.
> I think that one crew got it down to about 300 feet on a hot day. We were told that only the best crews would actually go on the mission, and the rest would be held in reserve. One crew did stall on takeoff, slipped back to the ground, busting up their landing gear. They were eliminated from the mission. Doolittle emphasized again and again the extreme danger of this operation, and made it clear that anyone of us who so desired could drop out with no questions asked. No one did.
> On one of our cross country flights, we landed at Barksdale Field in Shreveport , and I was able to catch a bus over to Longview to see Aggie. We had a few hours together and then we had to say our goodbyes. I told her I hoped to be back in time for the baby's birth, but I couldn't tell her where I was going.. As I walked away, I turned and walked backwards for a ways, taking one last look at my beautiful pregnant Aggie.
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> Within a few days of returning to our base in Florida we were abruptly told to pack our things. After just three weeks of practice, we were on our way. This was it. It was time to go. It was the middle of March 1942 and I was 30 years old. Our orders were to fly to McClelland Air Base in Sacramento , California on our own, at the lowest possible level. So here we went on our way west, scraping the tree tops at 160 miles per hour, and skimming along just 50 feet above plowed fields. We crossed North Texas and then the panhandle, scaring the dickens out of livestock, buzzing farm houses and a many a barn along the way.
> Over the Rocky Mountains and across the Mojave Desert dodging thunderstorms, we enjoyed the flight immensely and although tempted, I didn't do too much dare-devil stuff. We didn't know it at the time, but it was good practice for what lay ahead of us. It proved to be our last fling. Once we arrived in Sacramento , the mechanics went over our plane with a fine-toothed comb. Of the twenty-two planes that made it, only those whose pilots reported no mechanical problems were allowed to go on. The others were shunted aside.
> After having our plane serviced, we flew on to Alameda Naval Air Station in Oakland . As I came in for final approach, we saw it! I excitedly called the rest of the crew to take a look. There below us was a huge aircraft carrier. It was the USS Hornet, and it looked so gigantic! Man, I had never even seen a carrier until this moment.
> There were already two B-25s parked on the flight deck. Now we knew! My heart was racing, and I thought about how puny my plane would look on board this mighty ship. As soon as we landed and taxied off the runway, a jeep pulled in front of me with a big "Follow Me" sign on the back. We followed it straight up to the wharf, alongside the towering Hornet.
> All five of us were looking up and just in awe, scarcely believing the size of this thing. As we left the plane, there was already a Navy work crew swarming around attaching cables to the lifting rings on top of the wings and the fuselage. As we walked towards our quarters, I looked back and saw them lifting my plane up into the air and swing it over the ship's deck. It looked so small and lonely.
> Later that afternoon, all crews met with Colonel Doolittle and he gave last minute assignments. He told me to go to the Presidio and pick up two hundred extra "C" rations. I saluted, turned, and left, not having any idea where the Presidio was, and not exactly sure what a "C" ration was.
> I commandeered a Navy staff car and told the driver to take me to the Presidio, and he did. On the way over, I realized that I had no written signed orders and that this might get a little sticky. So in I walked into the Army supply depot and made my request, trying to look poised and confident. The supply officer asked "What is your authorization for this request, sir?" I told him that I could not give him one. "And what is the destination?" he asked. I answered, "The aircraft carrier, Hornet, docked at Alameda ." He said, "Can you tell me who ordered the rations, sir?" And I replied with a smile, "No, I cannot." The supply officers huddled together, talking and glanced back over towards me. Then he walked back over and assured me that the rations would be delivered that afternoon. Guess they figured that something big was up. They were right. The next morning we all boarded the ship.
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> Trying to remember my naval etiquette, I saluted the Officer of the Deck and said "Lt. McElroy, requesting permission to come aboard." The officer returned the salute and said "Permission granted." Then I turned aft and saluted the flag.. I made it, without messing up. It was April 2, and in full sunlight, we left San Francisco Bay . The whole task force of ships, two cruisers, four destroyers, and a fleet oiler, moved slowly with us under the Golden Gate Bridge . Thousands of people looked on. Many stopped their cars on the bridge and waved to us as we passed underneath. I thought to myself, I hope there aren't any spies up there waving.
> Once at sea, Doolittle called us together. "Only a few of you know our destination and you others have guessed about various targets. Gentlemen, your target is Japan !" A sudden cheer exploded among the men. "Specifically, Yokohama , Tokyo , Nagoya , Kobe , Nagasaki and Osaka . The Navy task force will get us as close as possible and we'll launch our planes. We will hit our targets and proceed to airfields in China ." After the cheering stopped, he asked again, if any of us desired to back out, no questions asked. Not one did, not one.
> Then the ship's Captain then went over the intercom to the whole ship's company. The loudspeaker blared, "The destination is Tokyo !" A tremendous cheer broke out from everyone on board. I could hear metal banging together and wild screams from down below decks. It was quite a rush! I felt relieved actually. We finally knew where we were going.
> I set up quarters with two Navy pilots, putting my cot between their two bunks. They couldn't get out of bed without stepping on me. It was just fairly cozy in there, yes it was. Those guys were part of the Torpedo Squadron Eight and were just swell fellows. The rest of the guys bedded down in similar fashion to me, some had to sleep on bedrolls in the Admiral's chartroom. As big as this ship was, there wasn't any extra room anywhere. Every square foot had a purpose... A few days later we discovered where they had an ice cream machine!
> There were sixteen B-25s tied down on the flight deck, and I was flying number 13. All the carrier's fighter planes were stored away helplessly in the hangar deck.. They couldn't move until we were gone. Our Army mechanics were all on board, as well as our munitions loaders and several back up crews, in case any of us got sick or backed out. We settled into a daily routine of checking our planes. The aircraft were grouped so closely together on deck that it wouldn't take much for them to get damaged. Knowing that my life depended on this plane, I kept a close eye on her.
> Day after day, we met with the intelligence officer and studied our mission plan. Our targets were assigned, and maps and objective folders were furnished for study. We went over approach routes and our escape route towards China . I never studied this hard back at Trinity. Every day at dawn and at dusk the ship was called to general quarters and we practiced finding the quickest way to our planes. If at any point along the way, we were discovered by the enemy fleet, we were to launch our bombers immediately so the Hornet could bring up its fighter planes. We would then be on our own, and try to make it to the nearest land, either Hawaii or Midway Island .
> Dr. Thomas White, a volunteer member of plane number 15, went over our medical records and gave us inoculations for a whole bunch of diseases that hopefully I wouldn't catch. He gave us training sessions in emergency first aid and lectured us at length about water purification and such. Tom, a medical doctor, had learned how to be a gunner just so he could go on this mission.. We put some new tail guns in place of the ones that had been taken out to save weight. Not exactly functional, they were two broom handles, painted black. The thinking was they might help scare any Jap fighter planes. Maybe, maybe not.
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> On Sunday, April 14, we met up with Admiral Bull Halsey's task force just out of Hawaii and joined into one big force. The carrier Enterprise was now with us, another two heavy cruisers, four more destroyers an another oiler. We were designated as Task Force 16. It was quite an impressive sight to see, and represented the bulk of what was left of the U.S. Navy after the devastation of Pearl Harbor . There were over 10,000 Navy personnel sailing into harm's way, just to deliver us sixteen Army planes to the Japs, orders of the President.
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> As we steamed further west, tension was rising as we drew nearer and nearer to Japan . Someone thought of arming us with some old ...45 pistols that they had on board. I went through that box of 1911 pistols, they were in such bad condition that I took several of them apart, using the good parts from several useless guns until I built a serviceable weapon. Several of the other pilots did the same. Admiring my "new" pistol, I held it up, and thought about my old Model-T.
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> Colonel Doolittle called us together on the flight deck. We all gathered round, as well as many Navy personnel. He pulled out some medals and told us how these friendship medals from the Japanese government had been given to some of our Navy officers several years back. And now the Secretary of the Navy had requested us to return them. Doolittle wired them to a bomb while we all posed for pictures. Something to cheer up the folks back home!
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> I began to pack my things for the flight, scheduled for the 19th. I packed some extra clothes and a little brown bag that Aggie had given me, inside were some toilet items and a few candy bars. No letters or identity cards were allowed, only our dog-tags. I went down to the wardroom to have some ice cream and settle up my mess bill. It only amounted to $5 a day and with my per diem of $6 per day, I came out a little ahead. By now, my Navy pilot roommates were about ready to get rid of me, but I enjoyed my time with them. They were alright. Later on, I learned that both of them were killed at the Battle of Midway. They were good men. Yes, very good men.
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> Colonel Doolittle let each crew pick our own target. We chose the Yokosuka Naval Base about twenty miles from Tokyo . We loaded 1450 rounds of ammo and four 500-pound bombs... A little payback, direct from Ellis County, Texas! We checked and re-checked our plane several times. Everything was now ready. I felt relaxed, yet tensed up at the same time. Day after tomorrow, we will launch when we are 400 miles out. I lay in my cot that night, and rehearsed the mission over and over in my head. It was hard to sleep as I listened to sounds of the ship.
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> Early the next morning, I was enjoying a leisurely breakfast, expecting another full day on board, and I noticed that the ship was pitching and rolling quite a bit this morning, more than normal. I was reading through the April 18th day plan of the Hornet, and there was a message in it which said, "From the Hornet to the Army - Good luck, good hunting and God bless you." I still had a large lump in my throat from reading this, when all of a sudden, the intercom blared, "General Quarters, General Quarters, All hands man your battle stations! Army pilots, man your planes!!!" There was instant reaction from everyone in the room and food trays went crashing to the floor. I ran down to my room jumping through the hatches along the way, grabbed my bag, and ran as fast as I could go to the flight deck. I met with my crew at the plane, my heart was pounding. Someone said, "What's going on?" The word was that the Enterprise had spotted an enemy trawler. It had been sunk, but it had transmitted radio messages.. We had been found out!
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> The weather was crummy, the seas were running heavy, and the ship was pitching up and down like I had never seen before. Great waves were crashing against the bow and washing over the front of the deck. This wasn't going to be easy! Last minute instructions were given. We were reminded to avoid non-military targets, especially the Emperor's Palace. Do not fly to Russia , but fly as far west as possible, land on the water and launch our rubber raft. This was going to be a one-way trip! We were still much too far out and we all knew that our chances of making land were somewhere between slim and none. Then at the last minute, each plane loaded an extra ten 5-gallon gas cans to give us a fighting chance of reaching China .
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> We all climbed aboard, started our engines and warmed them up, just feet away from the plane in front of us and the plane behind us. Knobby, Campbell , Bourgeois and me in the front, Williams, the gunner was in the back, separated from us by a big rubber gas tank. I called back to Williams on the intercom and told him to look sharp and don't take a nap! He answered dryly, "Don't worry about me, Lieutenant. If they jump us, I'll just use my little black broomsticks to keep the Japs off our tail."
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> The ship headed into the wind and picked up speed. There was now a near gale force wind and water spray coming straight over the deck. I looked down at my instruments as my engines revved up. My mind was racing. I went over my mental checklist, and said a prayer? God please, help us! Past the twelve planes in front of us, I strained to see the flight deck officer as he leaned into the wind and signaled with his arms for Colonel Doolittle to come to full power. I looked over at Knobby and we looked each other in the eye. He just nodded to me and we both understood.
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> With the deck heaving up and down, the deck officer had to time this just right. Then I saw him wave Doolittle to go, and we watched breathlessly to see what happened. When his plane pulled up above the deck, Knobby just let out with, "Yes! Yes!" The second plane, piloted by Lt. Hoover, appeared to stall with its nose up and began falling toward the waves. We groaned and called out, "Up! Up! Pull it up!"
> Finally, he pulled out of it, staggering back up into the air, much to our relief! One by one, the planes in front of us took off. The deck pitched wildly, 60 feet or more, it looked like. One plane seemed to drop down into the drink and disappeared for a moment, then pulled back up into sight.
> There was sense of relief with each one that made it. We gunned our engines and started to roll forward. Off to the right, I saw the men on deck cheering and waving their covers! We continued inching forward, careful to keep my left main wheel and my nose wheel on the white guidelines that had been painted on the deck for us. Get off a little bit too far left and we go off the edge of the deck. A little too far to the right and our wing-tip will smack the island of the ship.
> With the best seat on the ship, we watched Lt. Bower take off in plane number 12 and I taxied up to the starting line, put on the brakes and looked down to my left. My main wheel was right on the line. Applied more power to the engines, and I turned my complete attention to the deck officer on my left, who was circling his paddles. Now my adrenaline was really pumping! We went to full power, and the noise and vibration inside the plane went way up.
> He circled the paddles furiously while watching forward for the pitch of the deck. Then he dropped them, and I said, "Here We Go!" I released the brakes and we started rolling forward, and as I looked down the flight-deck you could see straight down into the angry churning water. As we slowly gained speed, the deck gradually began to pitch back up. I pulled up and our plane slowly strained up and away from the ship. There was a big cheer and whoops from the crew, but I just felt relieved and muttered to myself, "Boy, that was short!"
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> We made a wide circle above our fleet to check our compass headings and get our bearings. I looked down as we passed low over one of our cruisers and could see the men on deck waving to us. I dropped down to low level, so low we could see the whitecap waves breaking. It was just after 0900, there were broken clouds at 5,000 feet and visibility of about thirty miles due to haze or something. Up ahead and barely in sight, I could see Captain Greening, our flight leader and Bower on his right wing. Flying at 170 mph, I was able to catch up to them in about 30 minutes. We were to stay in this formation until reaching landfall, and then break on our separate ways. Now we settled in for the five hour flight. Tokyo , here we come!
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> Williams was in the back emptying the extra gas cans into the gas tank as fast as we had burned off enough fuel. He then punched holes in the tins and pushed them out the hatch against the wind. Some of the fellows ate sandwiches and other goodies that the Navy had put aboard for us... I wasn't hungry. I held onto the controls with a firm grip as we raced along westward just fifty feet above the cold rolling ocean, as low as I dared to fly. Being so close to the choppy waves gave you a true sense of speed. Occasionally our windshield was even sprayed with a little saltwater. It was an exhilarating feeling, and I felt as though the will and spirit of our whole country was pushing us along. I didn't feel too scared, just anxious. There was a lot riding on this thing, and on me.
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> As we began to near land, we saw an occasional ship here and there. None of them close enough to be threatening, but just the same, we were feeling more edgy. Then at 1330 we sighted land, the Eastern shore of Honshu . With Williams now on his guns in the top turret and Campbell on the nose gun, we came ashore still flying low as possible and were surprised to see people on the ground waving to us as we flew in over the farmland. It was beautiful countryside.
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> Campbell, our navigator, said, "Mac, I think we're going to be about sixty miles too far north. I'm not positive, but pretty sure." I decided that he was absolutely right and turned left ninety degrees, went back just offshore and followed the coast line south. When I thought we had gone far enough, I climbed up to two thousand feet to find out where we were. We started getting fire from anti-aircraft guns. Then we spotted Tokyo Bay , turned west and put our nose down diving toward the water. Once over the bay, I could see our target, Yokosuka Naval Base. Off to the right there was already smoke visible over Tokyo . Coming in low over the water, I increased speed to 200 mph and told everyone, "Get Ready!"
> When we were close enough, I pulled up to 1300 feet and opened the bomb doors. There were furious black bursts of anti-aircraft fire all around us, but I flew straight on through them, spotting our target, the torpedo works and the dry-docks. I saw a big ship in the dry-dock just as we flew over it. Those flak bursts were really getting close and bouncing us around, when I heard Bourgeois shouting, "Bombs Away!"
> I couldn't see it, but Williams had a bird's eye view from the back and he shouted jubilantly, "We got an aircraft carrier! The whole dock is burning!" I started turning to the south and strained my neck to look back and at that moment saw a large crane blow up and start falling over!
> Take that! There was loud yelling and clapping each other on the back. We were all just ecstatic, and still alive! But there wasn't much time to celebrate. We had to get out of here and fast! When we were some thirty miles out to sea, we took one last look back at our target, and could still see huge billows of black smoke. Up until now, we had been flying for Uncle Sam, but now we were flying for ourselves.
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> We flew south over open ocean, parallel to the Japanese coast all afternoon. We saw a large submarine apparently at rest, and then in another fifteen miles, we spotted three large enemy cruisers headed for Japan . There were no more bombs, so we just let them be and kept on going. By late afternoon, Campbell calculated that it was time to turn and make for China . Across the East China Sea , the weather out ahead of us looked bad and overcast. Up until now we had not had time to think much about our gasoline supply, but the math did not look good. We just didn't have enough fuel to make it!
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> Each man took turns cranking the little hand radio to see if we could pick up the promised radio beacon. There was no signal. This is not good. The weather turned bad and it was getting dark, so we climbed up. I was now flying on instruments, through a dark misty rain. Just when it really looked hopeless of reaching land, we suddenly picked up a strong tailwind. It was an answer to a prayer. Maybe just maybe, we can make it!
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> In total darkness at 2100 hours, we figured that we must be crossing the coastline, so I began a slow, slow climb to be sure of not hitting any high ground or anything. I conserved as much fuel as I could, getting real low on gas now. The guys were still cranking on the radio, but after five hours of hand cranking with aching hands and backs, there was utter silence. No radio beacon! Then the red light started blinking, indicating twenty minutes of fuel left.
> We started getting ready to bail out. I turned the controls over to Knobby and crawled to the back of the plane, past the now collapsed rubber gas tank. I dumped everything out of my bag and repacked just what I really needed, my .45 pistol, ammunition, flashlight, compass, medical kit, fishing tackle, chocolate bars, peanut butter and crackers. I told Williams to come forward with me so we could all be together for this. There was no other choice. I had to get us as far west as possible, and then we had to jump.
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> At 2230 we were up to sixty-five hundred feet. We were over land but still above the Japanese Army in China . We couldn't see the stars, so Campbell couldn't get a good fix on our position. We were flying on fumes now and I didn't want to run out of gas before we were ready to go. Each man filled his canteen, put on his Mae West life jacket and parachute, and filled his bag with rations, those "C" rations from the Presidio.
> I put her on auto-pilot and we all gathered in the navigator's compartment around the hatch in the floor. We checked each other's parachute harness. Everyone was scared, without a doubt. None of us had ever done this before! I said, "Williams first, Bourgeois second, Campbell third, Knobloch fourth and I'll follow you guys! Go fast, two seconds apart! Then count three seconds off and pull your rip-cord!"
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> We kicked open the hatch and gathered around the hole looking down into the blackness. It did not look very inviting! Then I looked up at Williams and gave the order, "JUMP!!!" Within seconds they were all gone.
> I turned and reached back for the auto-pilot, but could not reach it, so I pulled the throttles back, then turned and jumped. Counting quickly, thousand one, thousand two, thousand three, I pulled my rip-cord and jerked back up with a terrific shock. At first I thought that I was hung on the plane, but after a few agonizing seconds that seemed like hours, realized that I was free and drifting down.
> Being in the total dark, I was disoriented at first but figured my feet must be pointed toward the ground. I looked down through the black mist to see what was coming up. I was in a thick mist or fog, and the silence was so eerie after nearly thirteen hours inside that noisy plane. I could only hear the whoosh, whoosh sound of the wind blowing through my shroud lines and then I heard a loud crash and explosion. My plane!
> Looking for my flashlight, I groped through my bag with my right hand, finally pulled it out and shined it down toward the ground, which I still could not see. Finally I picked up a glimmer of water and thought I was landing in a lake. We're too far inland for this to be ocean. I hope! I relaxed my legs a little, thinking I was about to splash into water and would have to swim out, and then bang. I jolted suddenly and crashed over onto my side. Lying there in just a few inches of water, I raised my head and put my hands down into thick mud. It was rice paddy! There was a burning pain, as if someone had stuck a knife in my stomach. I must have torn a muscle or broke something.
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> I laid there dazed for a few minutes, and after a while struggled up to my feet. I dug a hole and buried my parachute in the mud. Then started trying to walk, holding my stomach, but every direction I moved the water got deeper. Then, I saw some lights off in the distance. I fished around for my flashlight and signaled one time. Sensing something wrong, I got out my compass and to my horror saw that those lights were off to my west. That must be a Jap patrol! How dumb could I be! Knobby had to be back to my east, so I sat still and quiet and did not move.
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> It was a cold dark lonely night. At 0100 hours I saw a single light off to the east. I flashed my light in that direction, one time. It had to be Knobby! I waited a while, and then called out softly, "Knobby?" And a voice replied "Mac, is that you?". Thank goodness, what a relief! Separated by a wide stream, we sat on opposite banks of the water communicating in low voices. After daybreak Knobby found a small rowboat and came across to get me. We started walking east toward the rest of the crew and away from that Japanese patrol. Knobby had cut his hip when he went through the hatch, but it wasn't too awful bad.
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> We walked together toward a small village and several Chinese came out to meet us, they seemed friendly enough. I said, "Luchu hoo megwa fugi! Luchu hoo megwa fugi!" meaning, "I am an American! I am an American!" Later that morning we found the others. Williams had wrenched his knee when he landed in a tree, but he was limping along just fine. There were hugs all around. I have never been so happy to see four guys in all my life!
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> Well, the five of us eventually made it out of China with the help of the local Chinese people and the Catholic missions along the way. They were all very good to us, and later they were made to pay terribly for it, so we found out afterwards. For a couple of weeks we traveled across country. Strafed a couple of times by enemy planes, we kept on moving, by foot, by pony, by car, by train, and by airplane. But we finally made it to India .
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> I did not make it home for the baby's birth. I stayed on there flying a DC-3 "Gooney Bird" in the China-Burma-India Theatre for the next several months. I flew supplies over the Himalaya Mountains, or as we called it, over "The Hump" into China . When B-25s finally arrived in India , I flew combat missions over Burma , and then later in the war, flew a B-29 out of the Marianna Islands to bomb Japan again and again.
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> After the war, I remained in the Air Force until 1962, when I retired from the service as a Lt. Colonel, and then came back to Texas , my beautiful Texas . First moving to Abilene and then we settled in Lubbock , where Aggie taught school at MacKenzie Junior High. I worked at the S & R Auto Supply, once again in an atmosphere of machinery, oil and grease.
>
> I lived a good life and raised two wonderful sons that I am very proud of. I feel blessed in many ways. We have a great country, better than most folks know. It is worth fighting for. Some people call me a hero, but I have never thought of myself that way, no. But I did serve in the company of heroes. What we did, will never leave me. It will always be there in my fondest memories. I will always think of the fine and brave men that I was privileged to serve with.
> Remember us, for we were soldiers once and young. With the loss of all aircraft, Doolittle believed that the raid had been a failure, and that he would be court-martialed upon returning to the states. Quite to the contrary, the raid proved to be a tremendous boost to American morale, which had plunged following the Pearl Harbor attack. It also caused serious doubts in the minds of Japanese war planners. They in turn recalled many seasoned fighter plane units back to defend the home islands, which resulted in Japan's weakened air capabilities at the upcoming Battle of Midway and other South Pacific campaigns.
>
> Edgar "Mac" Mc Elroy, Lt.. Col. , U.S.A.F. (Ret.) passed away at his residence in Lubbock , Texas early on the morning of Friday, April 4, 2003.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Feb 27, 2013 - 01:59am PT
bump 4~ Lt. Col Edgar "Mac" Mc Elroy
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 27, 2013 - 03:08am PT
Awesome post, Tom. Thanks for sharing that tale.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 27, 2013 - 03:41am PT
unusual information compilation from Russian TV:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUpPwyyvLw&feature=player_embedded
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Feb 27, 2013 - 09:30am PT

Amazing stuff,

So matter of fact! Such folks did amazing things.

Much respect,

Steve
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Feb 27, 2013 - 11:56am PT
Absolutely great post, Tom!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 27, 2013 - 01:32pm PT
Tom, thanks so much. Of course I've read a lot about this before but I found
Col. McElroy's account very well written and, at times, beautifully so to
the point that I lost track of all the times I got worked up.

"We kicked open the hatch and gathered around the hole looking down into
the blackness. It did not look very inviting!"

Uh, roger that.

I didn't get why they flew south along the Japanese coast instead of heading
due west or southwest immediately. I bet he just failed to say SW as the
coast runs almost exactly SW.

I also loved the extra 50 gallons worth, what, 50 miles? Good to the last drop!
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 28, 2013 - 02:52am PT
This is the right place to post a recruitment poster...Hankster??

Wanted: Married Couple for Private Mars Voyage in 2018

http://news.yahoo.com/wanted-married-couple-private-mars-voyage-2018-180850635.html



WASHINGTON — A new nonprofit led by the world's first space tourist is mounting an ambitious plan to launch the first manned mission to Mars in 2018, a voyage that could include an adventurous married crew.

The project, led by American millionaire Dennis Tito — who paid his own way to space in 2001 — aims not to land people on the surface of the Red Planet, but to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment that would allow a relatively easy, quick flyby of Mars.

Tito announced the private Mars voyage plan today (Feb. 27) here at the National Press Club, where he held a press conference to launch his new organization, the Inspiration Mars Foundation, to back the mission.

Tito hopes to choose a space capsule and rocket from among those already on the market, and modify them to carry two people to Mars and back in 501 days.

And to combat the loneliness and isolation that would doubtless set in during such a mission, Tito is proposing something that's never been tried before: sending one male and one female, preferably a married couple.

"When you're out that far and the Earth is a tiny, blue pinpoint, you're going to need someone you can hug," Tito told SPACE.com. "What better solution to the psychological problems you're going to encounter with that isolation?" [9 Mars Mission Questions for Dennis Tito]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 3, 2013 - 01:11am PT
Love the information and stories that have been shared by all of you - thanks for keeping this thread so awesome.

Tomorrow the better half and I are going out on our first wreck chase of the season, an f-86 that crashed in 1954. This is by far the most remote site I have ever attempted, being a 10-15 mile round trip slog to get to. I only know of it being visited once, in 1996. We are hoping that the remote location will give us a rare chance to visit a nearly undisturbed site.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 3, 2013 - 01:21am PT
Good luck, Vegas! When you're ready for a really remote site let me know.
My brother-in-law was just telling me about one nobody has visited*. It is
at about 13,000' on Mt Mikeno north of Goma, Congo where he used to fly out of. :-)

*As in no remains recovery. Pretty standard for Africa.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 3, 2013 - 08:47am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 3, 2013 - 08:12pm PT
Reilly, I try to avoid those when I can - have encountered fragmented remains at a few sites. Not to mention the whole leaving the country thing haha.

We went up the wrong wash today and ended up in a box canyon less then a mile from the site. Didn't have the time to hike out of it, and try again. So we will take another try at it in a month or so if it isn't too hot already.
jabbas

Trad climber
phx AZ
Mar 3, 2013 - 08:26pm PT
What happened - Catastrophic failure or what ?
jabbas

Trad climber
phx AZ
Mar 3, 2013 - 08:28pm PT
What happened? Catastrophic failure or what?
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Mar 5, 2013 - 03:03am PT
Today....



tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Mar 5, 2013 - 07:07am PT
Hankster. Always like you and wifeys videos..
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Mar 15, 2013 - 11:47am PT
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2013 - 12:02pm PT
Nice to see you back in the air Ammon! Congrats on your recovery, stay out of those leg-snapping bushes. Hope you and Kait can make it down to Vegas soon, or we can make it up to Reno, either way.

Hank, for some reason every time I see you and the Wifey posting now, I think of that packing pic you shared on FB...haha. You lucky barstard.
Gunkie

Trad climber
East Coast US
Mar 16, 2013 - 10:25am PT
I'm amazed at how precise these guys can fly and still walk away.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 16, 2013 - 12:00pm PT

More here.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294284/WWII-color-Rare-photos-1942-Flying-Fortress-bombers-heroic-crews-The-Mighty-8th-Command.html
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Mar 16, 2013 - 01:53pm PT
Great find TGT.

Flying B-17s was remarkably dangerous duty . I am just reading the Manchester and Reid bio of Churchill and they tally the cost to the allied air forces of the bombing campaign over Germany:

Britain: 55,000 killed and 11,000 planes lost
US: 26,000 killed and 8,000 planes lost

Hard to imagine.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 19, 2013 - 08:03pm PT
Flying with eagles


http://www.youtube.com/v/pd5BMP_41bI%26rel%3d0%26hl%3den_US%26feature%3dplayer_embedded%26version%3d3
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 19, 2013 - 11:17pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 20, 2013 - 12:06am PT
TGT-
Very cool video! The P 51 Mustang is one of the quintessential Warbirds of all time. I'd really love the opportunity to fly one. It's one of my top 5 that I lust to be at the controls. The others are, in no particular order: Me262, Ar234, B25 Mitchell, and MiG21UM. Of course 2 of them are an impossible wet dream since there are no airworthy Ar234s or Me262s around.
I'll be getting my multiengine rating later this spring at the end of April in a Beech P58 Baron (Turbocharged and pressurized).
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 21, 2013 - 08:14pm PT
For you pilot types with a few bucks to burn,

Get type rated in an ME262

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/ma_me262program.htm

Only $3,000 an hr plus fuel.

There are three reproductions.

Two here and one in Europe.
dave729

Trad climber
Western America
Mar 21, 2013 - 09:01pm PT
Those crazy French para-gliding without air traffic control
Dune du Pyla and the pattern is full

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ilx6WjvVXWU&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUqL0J6hih4


Eagle vs Russian paraglider - midair collision , profanity laced crash landing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGzzSIZvA40







Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 25, 2013 - 01:40pm PT
The Confederate, er, I mean the Commemorative Air Force came to Burbank
yesterday.

The Original Big Can o' Whoopazz - Fifi...

Not good light but, oh, what a symphony!
600 clams got you a ride in the back. 1100 got you into the right seat!

The Battle of Britain Can o' Whoopazz. (Actually, a later model)...

The Baddest Little Can o' Whoopazz of them all (and designed mere yards away!)...
1500 clams got you a 20 minute ride... you, not me. ;-(

Only $65 for a ride in the back of The Bucket (C-45), $135 for the right seat...
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 25, 2013 - 08:22pm PT
How much for the LEFT seat? <grin>
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 25, 2013 - 08:26pm PT
HaHaHaHa! Like Sir Thomas Lipton said about yachts,
"If you have to ask how much you can't afford it." ;-)
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 25, 2013 - 09:45pm PT
Nice shots Reilly!

They will be here in Vegas starting Wednesday. Looking forward to finally getting to see Fifi.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 26, 2013 - 01:04am PT
Reilly-

I'll be doing my multiengine rating towards the end of April with a friend who's then retiring from UAL as a Captain. He made me the offer of free instruction (he still has his MEI Rating) and the use of his P58 Beech Baron, if I pay for the fuel. What a can of whupass that is--twin TSIO 520s. I can get some turbocharger hours as well as the ME rating. All for about $210 an hour for the fuel.
I looked into buying one of those older Beech G18s, but the maintenance costs are horrendous. They are pretty cool, though, and BIG!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 26, 2013 - 01:17am PT
Broke, yeah you mentioned you were gonna go multi and I was wondering why,
other than for the fun of it. And a Turbo Baron definitely spells F-U-N!
At least that thing has enough power to actually fly with one turning and
one burning. ;-)

Next time we meet I'll tell you about my friend who was, pardon the term,
deadheading in a B-18 when the PIC fell asleep (about 0100) and drove them
into the top of Mt Tehachapi! Another 100' and they would have made it.
Well, happily, they both did make it, if only just.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 26, 2013 - 09:20pm PT
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-250313.html
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 1, 2013 - 08:26pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 1, 2013 - 08:52pm PT
Well, we had a great time this week with Fifi in town.

Went out right after they got in Wednesday afternoon, and got to spend a good hour poking around and in the bird without the crowds around. We went back out Saturday morning to watch her fly and then again in the afternoon as the better half wanted to see inside.

The warbird community being what it is, I ran into a couple of the crew who had mutual friends, so ended up having some great BS sessions about warbirds. Been a while since that happened for me.








[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 1, 2013 - 09:38pm PT
Looking at the pic of the radio stack,

I have a working BC-348 Q receiver (Lower rt corner) in the garage that needs a good home.

No ARC-5's for years,(the three in the middle) but I do have some 807's if someone is looking for replacement final amp tubes.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 13, 2013 - 12:28am PT
Staring Burgess Merideth With Ronnie in a supporting role

[Click to View YouTube Video]

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Apr 13, 2013 - 12:37am PT
Last week:

Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Apr 14, 2013 - 12:44pm PT
Re: Fifi
I was in LA last month and heard the unmistakable sound of big piston engines, so I ran outside and was rewarded to see a B-29 lumbering past.

Thanks for clearing up the mystery of what it was doing there.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 15, 2013 - 10:38pm PT
http://pal-v.com/
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 15, 2013 - 10:43pm PT
A Bensen with a fancy FRP skin

[Click to View YouTube Video]

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Apr 16, 2013 - 02:53am PT
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2013 - 01:40pm PT
NIIIIICE one Ammon! Get some!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Apr 16, 2013 - 04:12pm PT
Alexander Polli's amazing flight:

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2013 - 04:49pm PT
Holy hell. He came damned close on that one - not that there was much room to begin with. Nice vid.

Ron, I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but winds at NLV at that time yesterday were nuking at about 50mph, and there were wind shear warnings all the way up to Reno. Why someone gets stupid enough to take off in weather like that I will never get. I will check in with my CAP buddy and see if he knows anything, news here isn't even covering it.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Apr 16, 2013 - 04:50pm PT
alex P is a blast to hang with, we tore it up in kjerag freeflying last year. another fun year is about to begin.... nice "A" launch Ammon.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 19, 2013 - 10:25pm PT
Slide show.

Multi agency, mass casualty,swift water rescue exercise.

http://www.af.mil/photos/slideshow.asp?id={8702FF3F-301E-45B8-B896-CAD7444E83F2}
BASE1361

climber
Yosemite Valley National Park
Apr 19, 2013 - 11:35pm PT
Holy Sphincterballs!!!!

That is the line of a lifetime. The calculations and commitment of that jump is beyond comprehension.

WTF over!!!

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 22, 2013 - 05:54pm PT
Want to Live on Mars? Private Martian Colony Project Seeks Astronauts
By Clara Moskowitz | SPACE.com – 3 hrs ago

NEW YORK — If a one-way trip to Mars appeals to you, now's the time to apply to be part of the first crew of a Red Planet colony.

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One is planning to fly teams of four astronauts to the Red Planet, with the first landing slated to occur in 2023, exactly 10 years from today (April 22), to establish a human settlement on our planetary neighbor. Today, the organization opened up its astronaut selection process, which it hopes will raise some of the funding for the project.

Those over age 18 interested in spending the rest of their lives in space can apply by submitting applications and short videos to the Mars One site. There is no maximum age for applicants, nor a required technical background or even nationality or language — astronaut candidates will have a few years to learn English if they don't speak it already.

Successful applicants will have intelligence, resourcefulness, courage, determination and skill, as well as psychological stability, said Mars One ambassador Gerard Hooft, a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist.

"Selecting these people will be a very difficult task," Hooft said during a press conference here to announce the selection process. "There shall be no exclusion on the basis of race, nationality, religion and gender."

There will be a minor fee associated with submitting an application, which will range from $5 to $75 depending on the gross national income of the applicant's home country, officials said. The application fee for United States citizens is $38.
GLee

Social climber
Missoula MT
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:12pm PT
ENJOY Fly It Forward World Team 222 @ Eloy, AZ April 6-12, 2013!!!!

http://vimeo.com/user17357893/videos/all

Organized by BJ Worth, who started as a University of Montana Silvertip Skydiver in the late '60's......

Leggs

Sport climber
Is this a trick question?
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:13pm PT
Hohman! I have been itching to skydive again lately...

This thread is awesome for the stoke.

~peace
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 29, 2013 - 11:20pm PT
Glad you like it Leggs.

I worked with BJ a couple times, great guy but kind of a hardass lol.
Leggs

Sport climber
Is this a trick question?
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:24pm PT
^^^ Hahahahhahaha!


I do love it... visit it often... and like I said, been getting the itch again lately... Which is interesting. I've only jumped twice... for the past 10 years I've said there is no WAY I'd jump out of a perfectly good airplane again...
Funny how that feeling can change.


~peace
Leggs

Sport climber
Is this a trick question?
Apr 29, 2013 - 11:30pm PT
Vegasclimber...

My first static line jump (I think i've mentioned this already on this thread) I hit my chin on the wheel of the plane ... HOW the F*#k does someone do THAT??

Didn't scare me. Went back 2 weeks later and jumped again!


~peace
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 29, 2013 - 11:43pm PT
Only one thing for it, Leggs....

Time to get yer knees in the breeze and take an air bath. Get on it! :D
Leggs

Sport climber
Is this a trick question?
Apr 30, 2013 - 09:37am PT
Time to get yer knees in the breeze and take an air bath. Get on it! :D

Well, when you put it THAT way.... OK!



~peace
Michelle Gill

climber
Redding, CA
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:16am PT
My first tandem jump a couple of years ago. Trevor and I are going on May 17th, the day of Ian's cancer diagnosis. He will be flying with us.
Leggs

Sport climber
Is this a trick question?
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:18am PT
Michelle... you're beautiful and awesome.

GREAT photo!

~peace to you and your family
squishy

Mountain climber
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:29am PT
I crashed the hell out of my fpv flying wing last week...it make for some really exciting video...even buzzed a cop..

[Click to View YouTube Video]
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 10:55am PT
After watching Tom Cosgriff fly right over us on Mescalito, I just HAD to do that.

Any route on the Dawn wall is the perfect observation point. After he did the first solo of Tribal Rite, he jumped right over us. We saw him topping out that afternoon and we (and apparently the rest of the valley) knew he would be hucking that evening. So we were laying in our portaledges waiting for it.

So we see this object falling and thought it was him. It wasn't him. While scrambling around looking for the exit point he accidentally bumped into a monster dead log with stump and roots, which fell right over the side. It was freaking amazing. The thing must have been fifteen feet long and five feet around at the roots. It didn't tumble or anything, it just went roaring by about 50 feet away from the wall. It was surreal. When it hit the ground and exploded, we heard a faint scream from the base. "F......!!!! YOU!!!!!

Well, we didn't exactly knock any trees off of Mescalito, but the boom of that log shattering woke up every bird on El Cap.

About fifteen minutes, here he came, a dark silhouette tracking. The roar of a falling human body is unreal loud, and he opened right in front of us a couple of hundred feet from the wall. Even a half assed track will put you 200 feet from the wall on El Cap. He yelled to us, "Sorry about the log, it was an accident!"

Then we got to watch the flashlights of the rangers searching for, finding, and busting him for the next hour.

It was one of the more mind bending sights that I have ever seen. So I thought, "DUDE!! I just GOTTA do that!!"

So that winter I managed to find a couple of skydivers who had jumped the New River Gorge Bridge on Bridge day. There weren't very many experienced BASE jumpers back then. Mainly it was skydivers who did the minimal number to get their BASE numbers and then they quit.

So I did 24 jumps, including all of my student static lines. I bought an ancient rig for 250 bucks, which consisted of a Strato Star main, a wonderhog container (with belly band), and a 29 foot navy conical reserve. I had three malfunctions on that rig in the 25 jumps that I owned it, resulting in three reserve rides. I'm not making this stuff up. It didn't have 3 ring releases, but old R-3's, which were on each shoulder and had to be pulled at the same time. I actually cut away once and had a pilot chute in tow for five seconds because the old reserve bridles were so short. All in the 25 jumps (and one BASE jump) that I put on that rig.

Here is a shot of me jumping that eternal POS rig from El Cap in the early eighties. There was 5 feet of snow on top and Walt took us up Eagle Gulley on 'cid the day before. That is a story of it's own.

Anyway, Google up Strato-Star. It was one of, or the first, square parachute. It landed so hard that it was rare to be able to stand up, and the glide ratio was so bad that I cleared the trees into the meadow with about fifty feet beneath my feet.

I thought it was fun as hell. I didn't know any better. So I went back home and the three of us ended up being like the Three Stooges, and all had long BASE careers. Back then there were so few full on BASE jumpers that everyone in the country knew every one else. The world, for that matter.

It really took off in the late eighties, but this is what it was like for me, because my two buddies had "modern" gear. I still have that green hat:

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 11:05am PT
I ended up finding Phil Smith, who at over a hundred BASE jumps was the most experienced in the world. A lot of the sites that today's jumpers do today are ones that we opened. Some of those sites have been burned. That really sucks, because some were excellent. Phil and I were really close friends and did a ton of traveling around and finding objects with him.

I always got really upset when somebody did something stupid to shut down an object. We developed a really strict ethical code to protect objects, and we were careful enough for the first building with 100 jumps on it as it was going up. The easiest way to shut down objects is to get whacked. We wouldn't take anyone up who wasn't ready. Even then we policed ourselves, and did a pretty good job.

Back then, we would write letters to each other, call expensive long distance, and visit other states and other jumper's turf. They would take us along and show us the beta for how to properly jump an object without detection, and we had a whole slew of objects that never saw a daytime jump. We found the alarms, we befriended both security guards and even cops in LA, who would all come around and drink coffee watching the locals knock down the library tower and some other L.A. monuments.

I gotta tell the story of the fully charged 50,000 watt AM tower that we used to do. I can still hear that radio station at night sometimes.

FM and TV towers have a wave guide tube that exits at a hundred foot dildo on top. AM towers are fully charged and sit on huge ceramic insulators.

Getting onto that thing without grounding was pretty wild. It is its own story.

It was a great time, and the gear was getting figured out at a fantastic rate. A guy in Perris Valley figured out the first Velcro BASE rigs. His name was Handbury, and I used to jump one of Carl Boenish's before I had my own built. You would go buy an old days rig, cut everything off, and then sew a container onto it. We started using long bridles and HUGE 52 inch pilot chutes, figured out the line release mod to defeat line overs on slider down jumps, and the tail pocket, which is basically the modern tailgate. I remember J.D. Walker building the first smaller pilot chutes built for BASE. 52 inches is just too huge.

It didn't take us long to figure out that doggy seven cells were ideal, and we would all get our preferred seven cell skydiving main. There were no BASE manufacturers then. It blossomed in a two year period around 1987 to 1989 as far as gear went.

There were maybe fifteen or twenty BASE rigs in the world, and here I am jumping mine, which Greg Chalfont built using his singer sewing machine. The only available color was black.

Here it is. I later traded it to John Hoover (RIP) who used it for many more years.


Here is what the 52 inch pilot chutes looked like. Check out how badly they distort the main and slow forward speed. They made it hard to stand up a landing, and nobody made it to 100 without spending time in plaster..

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 11:23am PT
^^^^^^Ha ha! Yep. We were that caveman.

To be honest, I was an early teen when the Brady Bunch was on. Later on I found out that Marsha Brady had gotten so into drugs that she traded sex for drugs. Man. If I had only known.

Here is a good picture, taken in Navajo land," circa 1989 or so. The Navajo's loved BASE jumpers and hated climbers. Our guide's house was filled with pictures of jumpers going back to Carl Boenish, the godfather of modern BASE.

BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 11:41am PT
We were all into punk, particularly Fear, The Sex Pistols, Black Flag, etc.

Nobody smoked weed. It was beer and hallucinogens. Camp 4 was like that for a while as well. If you look at the picture above, you will see the high top converse shoes that were cool at the time.

I remember Fish, Deucey, Swilliam, all in that same era. It was pretty wild.

Now I would be worried about some jackass noob getting on his cellphone and calling 911 if you jumped El Cap and they saw it.

BITD, the climbers and the BASE jumpers were a very tight knit family. A climber would never burn a jumper. Before me there were a few climbers who had gotten into BASE, like Randy Leavitt, Rob Slater, Tom Cosgriff, and a few others who I should remember but can't. I think that I was the first one to get totally sucked into BASE and actually gave up climbing other than a wall now and then. It was a very cool time and place. I pillaged the valley one year, usually alone, but often with SoCal buds who were passing through.

I was living right under the LEO's nose and they couldn't figure out who I was. They knew that I existed, but I was rarely seen by anyone but climbers, and never got busted, although I did have to split from the valley a couple of times to let things cool down.

I used to keep my rig and jumpsuit up under a boulder in the woods beneath Sentinel. I was uber paranoid and uber secretive. I savaged the place that one year. Ask Deuce or Walling or Swilliam or Mimi. They all kind of vaguely knew what I was up to, but I still didn't tell anyone unless they had to know.

I still feel paranoid about it.

I had it totally dialed. I knew where the rangers were at all times, studied them, and had the place all to my own.

Ammon. Dude. You gotta stop hucking El Cap. Go up to Half Dome where they will never catch you.

The first thing is to separate you from the rig. Hide it beneath a boulder. Then move a distance from it and crawl under a boulder and pull leaves over you if you even think that the heat is around the corner.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 30, 2013 - 12:06pm PT
Wow, BASE. Thanks a lot for sharing some tales on this thread. Awesome stuff. Those pictures are classic to the extreme.

That shot of the Wonderhog (used to say the wonder was for "wonder if it's going to open this time") is super hard core.

I started jumping in the early 90s, and my jumpmaster Hank Winig was one of the early adopters of BASE. Back then they were doing direct-bag jumps out at Lake Powell, all kinds of crazy stuff using XL Clouds, Pegasus, anything that had 7 cells.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 12:26pm PT
I opened up Lake Powell. Carl Boenish found it and did a few static line jumps off of a little cliff, but we went there later on and opened up the big cliff next door. We spent a full week and did over 100 jumps between 4 of us.

Direct bag is lame. It is an easy way to get numbers. That's all. You might as well be a sack of sh#t. Sorry, that is just how we felt when Mark Hewitt went out to a little bridge and did almost twenty direct bags so that he could beat out Phil Smith with the most jumps in the world.

Phil was scouting and doing new objects. I think the number of objects matters more than the number of jumps. I know that there is at least one guy at the Potato Bridge who has a thousand or some crazy number of jumps.

We always thought that slider up and long delays was much cooler than 1 second delays (no offense, Hank). Now with wing suits, I just cry that I missed it.

Here is a shot of the first jumps at Lake Powell. I'm the low guy on the round. You could really burn it down with a round.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 30, 2013 - 12:37pm PT
No offense taken, BASE. Hank moved away from the DB stuff pretty quick, and had a good time on a lot of other objects. His main love was CRW, and he was on the Diamond Quest team for a few years. Fun times, packing for those guys.

Oldest rig I currently have in storage is a dual roundy. Crossbow container, Pioneer 28 main and a Featherlite 22 reserve. Still in great shape.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 30, 2013 - 12:56pm PT
I'm not trolling - was there 'base' before Sylvester?

ps
Vegas, I've had a B-17 fly over me twice this week!
Yesterday it went right over my house at 1000' AGL! But it was foggy
so I could only sort of see it. Ohhh, but that music!
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:10pm PT
There were a couple of guys who jumped El Cap with rounds way back in the day. They ragdolled around and got pretty banged up. From what I know, this was the first Valley BASE jump. Sylvester did it with skis, and then famously skied off of Asgard in the scene that supposedly resurrected the James Bond films from their slow death.

If you haven't seen that scene, well, it rules. He was jumping a round Piglet with the Union Jack on it.

I don't know if anyone knows what a Piglet is, but it was a smallish round that had a bunch of vents and stuff in it. Phil Smith had a light weight one built out of F-111 fabric, and I used to jump the snot out of that sucker on jumps where the landing was good..overhanging cliffs. It opened soooo evenly every time that I would burn it down very low. I later took to taking my reserve (a preserve III) out and jumping it, as you can see in that Lake Powell shot above.

You can't do much more than a three second delay on a square without a slider without risking blowing it up. The rounds fit that 4-6 second delay range very well. I did a whole bunch of jumps on rounds.

I even saw George Roso jump a Para Commander (the popular round until squares came along) off of the big cliff at Powell.

If anyone knows anything about a Para Commander, you will realize that BASE jumping one off of a 600 cliff was pretty out there. I saw it happen, though. He found the canopy in a pile of old stuff under the rigger's table at the dropzone, free to whoever wanted to make a car cover.

Those old parachutes were incredibly bulky. The lines were huge, the fabric was heavy. A 25 or 30 lb weight was not uncommon.

There was a period just before square reserves showed up where everyone had 9 cell skydiving mains and round reserves. We would use those round reserves for certain jumps. nobody does this anymore, but they worked great. The openings were incredibly predictable. It wasn't legal to sneak it back into your container, but a couple of us did it. by that time, the round reserves would pack down to a tiny size and you could stand up a landing sometimes. The idea was to pull so low that you would land before hitting the object. It worked very well.

They landed too hard for buildings. They were best with sandy or water landing spots.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:24pm PT
I meant Hankster. He has been doing too many short delays. As an aging fart, long delay terminal flights are the best. When you see people tossing their pilot chutes right at exit, those kind of suck.

I wish that I could convert some old VHS to CD and post them up. I've got a copy of John Hoover flying through a window in L.A. he came back out and spun in on top of a 2 story building. Unhurt other than a zillion stitches.

Hank Caylor has the all time best building strike story in the history of BASE. He flew through a window into a room, took the elevator down in a bloody mess, and was later caught. The way he tells it is sooo funny. I need to meet Hank some day. I am a big fan!

This is one of the funniest interviews that you will ever seen. The Taco's own Hankster..

I have to admit that we could do most things drunk as well....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQe3kqTYW4c
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:26pm PT
Not a sleeve. We would just flake the rounds and put a rubber band over the vent hole at the top.

The rounds that I used were fine and other people used them. But yep. I witnessed (now Doctor) George Roso jump a PC off of a 600 foot cliff. If it had sniveled he would have gotten mangled, even in water.

It wasn't me, but I witnessed it.
JayMark

Social climber
Oxnard, CA
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:43pm PT
Base, the Strato Star was my first square too. I weighed about 175 then and that being a 5 cell really went upwind great. You had to really stick the landing though or you could just drill yourself in to the ground :) I liked mine though, until I blew the front lines off opening at too fast a speed. I went to the Cloud after that and missed the great upwind approaches. I still have the Star and the Cloud as I've been away from jumping for some time now. Great to read your posts. Thanks.

JEM
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:47pm PT
What a great thread. Thanks all.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 30, 2013 - 04:49pm PT
Yeah, Base, I've heard Rick's stories first-hand.
I bet you didn't know he was into cross-dressing. ;-)

Jingy

climber
Somewhere out there
May 3, 2013 - 09:53pm PT
About that Solar Plane...

http://grist.org/list/watch-a-solar-plane-fly-across-america/?utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&kmi=robbertken2008%40mac.com&km_subscriber-email=1&km_subscriber-daily=1

 There is a video of the action as its happening…. They are on-board, and announcing while this is going. Supposed to be landing the plane around midnight Mountain Time…..

I just watched an explanation of how they figured out the waste problem of a flight of this type with a plane of this type….


Slow and steady wins the race….
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
May 3, 2013 - 11:53pm PT
Fun jump from last week
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2013 - 02:25am PT
Nice shot T! It's been a long time since I pulled that move. Classic shot at a VERY classic DZ! Taft was one of the first DZs in the state.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 4, 2013 - 03:02am PT
Strato Star main, a wonderhog container

i started out with a double-L, then a TU, then a ParaCommander, then Papillon, then a Strato Star, then a Cloud, currently a Diablo
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
May 4, 2013 - 12:30pm PT
Flight in the last operational B-24 with one of the original pilots.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 4, 2013 - 12:52pm PT
Tfish, what the hell is on the underside of the Cessna's wing?
And I hope you had sunscreen on yer bare arms!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A very sad accident this week - it seems that upon takeoff the load in this
747 shifted rearwards causing an unrecoverable stall.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 4, 2013 - 06:10pm PT
JayMark,

Cool! Somebody knows what I'm yacking about. The Sratostar was a pretty pathetic parachute, but prior to that, everyone was jumping rounds with big belly mounted reserves.

The Para Commander came out and that sucker was so full of vent holes that it boggled the mind. It did have some forward speed, so you could target a landing spot. Nothing like a square.

Yeah, JM. My buddy John Hoover jumped a StratoCloud. Those were actually good BASE canopies other than the pack weight. I can't even remember my first real rig. I don't recognize that first El Cap route to be my real rig, because it had so many steering line entanglements. I cut it up and used it for stuff. It was total junk. 3 malfunctions in 25 jumps (luckily none on that El Cap jump).

Malfunctions used to be fairly common. Later in my jumping career, the skydiving canopies got better and better. This was all prior to the first BASE specific canopies. The market used to be so tiny. At one point I was in the top 10 in the world with 100 BASE jumps.

By the time I had a Sabre, gear was super good. Sabre's were super fast and you could jump a tiny one. What ended my BASE career was jumping a 1500 foot antenna with the Sabre, because I was too lazy to get my BASE rig together. I opened off heading and flew through the wires.

I landed and was pretty freaked out. My son was about 2 years old, so I hung it up. Never did another one. Skydiving went out the window shortly afterwards. Too much money if you have a family to take care of.

All in all, I'm happy with my choices. My son is in college, handsome like his mother, (who is smoking hot), making good grades and is generally a good person. That is a chore worth nigh anything. No regrets.

Damn. I can't think of the name. Everyone was jumping 220 sq ft seven cells fairly rapidly. Nine cells came out very quickly, but they were too hot for BASE. One guy had a Unit, one friend had a Pegasus, Ravens were good when they finally came out. For the life of me I can't remember the model of that rainbow canopy above, and it was a very popular paraflite model.

The way that we used to pick BASE canopies was skydiving. Some parachutes just wouldn't open straight, or had line twists, or a slow snivel on the opening. Then we would nab that one canopy and use it for BASE. It sounds sort of primeval these days, but back then the quality control was so poor that a certain model could have great ones and shitty ones.

I got that rainbow rig above from a dead guy's estate. He was kinda reckless and inexperienced. He had a malfunction and cut away too low. His reserve was barely out of the container, and he landed kind of on his ass and backwards, so it had these eternal grass stains on the pin flap and the inside of the container.

It was brand new, man. The rigger sewed it back up in 30 minutes and then I skydived and BASE'd the sh#t out of it.

Some people were freaked a little about the death rig, but it was super cheap, modern for the time, and I always had this reply to questions about its history:

"What are the odds of it happening twice on the same rig?"

Then I became a horrible low pull artist and got banned from a few DZ's for a while.
JayMark

Social climber
Oxnard, CA
May 4, 2013 - 08:04pm PT
Base104,

That all sounds so familiar. I started in '63 on a Double-L also and then modified a 28 round in to a 7 panel TU. Before I got the Strato Star I was jumping a Thunderbow Piggyback. That thing was a load. I was a Navy rigger in those days back in '64-68. Home DZ was Arvin til 67 and then Calif. City and finally Taft. Many trips to Elsinore and Perris Valley followed. No base jumps though. It's fun to hear about your experiences. We probably know a lot of the same jumpers, although maybe frequented different DZ's. Hottest canopy I jumped was the Moriah or something like that, again an early 7 cell from the '80s.

Did you know Spike Yarder, Spikes Beech ? We lost it in the '80s in a crash on take off at Taft. The have a reunion up there at Taft occasionally. Those were the days, much like the 70's in climbing.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2013 - 09:57pm PT
Reilly,

As soon as I saw the video and read about the manifest that was my guess. That was a sad deal for sure. Nasty video of what a full blown stall at low altitude looks like.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 4, 2013 - 10:02pm PT
I know more then I would like to about old rigs haha. The DZ I started at, InStead Skysports, was a bit of an outlaw place with a lot of the old gear still in use.

I started there as a packer when I was 16, and did my first IAD the day after my 18th birthday with all my own gear. Had a Condor container with a leg pocket, a Titan 260 main and a Pioneer 28 reserve.

My first mal was on a Pegasus, had a super hard opening and looked up to a bunch of confetti flying off of it - blew the center cells all to hell. Not a fun ride.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
May 6, 2013 - 02:13pm PT
Yesterday!



snakefoot

climber
cali
May 6, 2013 - 02:48pm PT
wild stories BASE104, truly a different age with the specialized gear now.

nice Ammon, nothing like burning a hole in the sky.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 7, 2013 - 05:12pm PT
How fast were they, Hankster?
snakefoot

climber
cali
May 7, 2013 - 05:22pm PT
hank is also sponsored by T&A
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2013 - 06:07pm PT
Dayum Hank! Saying that LZ was gnarly is an understatement. Well done! That was some sick stuff!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
May 7, 2013 - 08:03pm PT
Awesome Hank!
thekidcormier

Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
May 7, 2013 - 08:32pm PT
Righting hankster
Tfish

Trad climber
La Crescenta, CA
May 9, 2013 - 12:11pm PT
Reilly, the thing on the wing of the 182 in my pic is the janky door.
thekidcormier

Gym climber
squamish, b.c.
May 9, 2013 - 12:27pm PT
Does anyone here jump at Lodi? I'm hoping to get a days worth of jumps there new the end of the month....

Does anyone have beta on whether there's transit to the DZ from the town of Lodi. Or like a DZ shuttle to get there.

I'm rolling on the train...

If anyone is willing to share some beta please PM me.
snakefoot

climber
cali
May 9, 2013 - 12:35pm PT
kid,

call the dz and get a hold of a local... beta will flowith
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 9, 2013 - 12:50pm PT
Ammon jumps there often, he can probably point you towards some good beta. Overall, the jumpers there are pretty cool and you shouldn't have a problem getting rides.

Whatever you do, do NOT PISS OFF BILL. He will toss you off the DZ without a second thought lol. Best just to leave him alone unless he talks to you. He's a bit....cantankerous? Yeah, that works. Blues!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
May 10, 2013 - 09:57pm PT
I really like Bill and have a lot of respect for him. If I had to manage a bunch of misfit skydivers and BASE jumpers I'd be a bit cantankerous too, ha ha. But, yeah that's good beta. Don't lie to him, or cause any problems. Just say, "Yes Bill", if he asks you to do something. And make sure you get on as many loads as possible, ha ha. And don't forget to have fun!

I have lot of friends that go back and forth in all directions. Message me and I'll try to work something out, for you.

Damn if I didn't forget to switch my camera on the right setting today, after taking a pic of a desert antelope yesterday. But, this is a pic of a friend from yesterday:


TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
May 11, 2013 - 01:34am PT

Many stories emerged on 9/11 outside of what happened in New York and that field in Pennsylvania. This is one of them.
An article from the Washington Post

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, put an F-16 pilot into the sky with orders to bring down United Flight 93
By Steve Hendrix, Friday, September 09,1:20 AM
Late in the morning of the Tuesday that changed everything, Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney was on a runway at Andrews Air Force Base and ready to fly. She had her hand on the throttle of an F-16 and she had her orders: Bring down United Airlines Flight 93. The day’s fourth hijacked airliner seemed to be hurtling toward Washington. Penney, one of the first two combat pilots in the air that morning, was told to stop it.
alt-tag
“I genuinely believed that was going to be the last time I took off,” says Maj. Heather “Lucky” Penney, remembering the Sept. 11 attacks and the initial U.S. reaction.
alt-tag
The one thing she didn’t have as she roared into the crystalline sky was live ammunition. Or missiles. Or anything at all to throw at a hostile aircraft.
Except her own plane. So that was the plan.
Because the surprise attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes, Penney and her commanding officer went up to fly their jets straight into a Boeing 757.
“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft,” Penney recalls of her charge that day. “I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot.”
For years, Penney, one of the first generation of female combat pilots in the country, gave no interviews about her experiences on Sept. 11(which included, eventually, escorting Air Force One back into Washington’s suddenly highly restricted airspace).
But 10 years later, she is reflecting on one of the lesser-told tales of that endlessly examined morning: how the first counterpunch the U.S. military prepared to throw at the attackers was effectively a suicide mission.
“We had to protect the airspace any way we could,” she said last week in her office at Lockheed Martin, where she is a director in the F-35 program.
Penney, now a major but still a petite blonde with a Colgate grin, is no longer a combat flier. She flew two tours in Iraq and she serves as a part-time National Guard pilot, mostly hauling VIPs around in a military Gulfstream. She takes the stick of her own vintage 1941 Taylorcraft tail-dragger whenever she can.
But none of her thousands of hours in the air quite compare with the urgent rush of launching on what was supposed to be a one-way flight to a midair collision.
First of her kind
She was a rookie in the autumn of 2001, the first female F-16 pilot they’d ever had at the 121st Fighter Squadron of the D.C. Air National Guard. She had grown up smelling jet fuel. Her father flew jets in Vietnam and still races them. Penney got her pilot’s license when she was a literature major at Purdue. She planned to be a teacher. But during a graduate program in American studies, Congress opened up combat aviation to women and Penney was nearly first in line.
“I signed up immediately,” she says. “I wanted to be a fighter pilot like my dad.”
On that Tuesday, they had just finished two weeks of air combat training in Nevada. They were sitting around a briefing table when someone looked in to say a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. When it happened once, they assumed it was some yahoo in a Cessna. When it happened again, they knew it was war.
But the surprise was complete. In the monumental confusion of those first hours, it was impossible to get clear orders. Nothing was ready. The jets were still equipped with dummy bullets from the training mission.
As remarkable as it seems now, there were no armed aircraft standing by and no system in place to scramble them over Washington. Before that morning, all eyes were looking outward, still scanning the old Cold War threat paths for planes and missiles coming over the polar ice cap.
“There was no perceived threat at the time, especially one coming from the homeland like that,” says Col. George Degnon, vice commander of the 113th Wing at Andrews. “It was a little bit of a helpless feeling, but we did everything humanly possible to get the aircraft armed and in the air. It was amazing to see people react.”
Things are different today, ­Degnon says. At least two “hot-cocked” planes are ready at all times, their pilots never more than yards from the cockpit.
A third plane hit the Pentagon, and almost at once came word that a fourth plane could be on the way, maybe more. The jets would be armed within an hour, but somebody had to fly now, weapons or no weapons.
“Lucky, you’re coming with me,” barked Col. Marc Sasseville.
They were gearing up in the pre-flight life-support area when Sasseville, struggling into his flight suit, met her eye.
“I’m going to go for the cockpit,” Sasseville said.
She replied without hesitating.
“I’ll take the tail.”
It was a plan. And a pact.
‘Let’s go!’
Penney had never scrambled a jet before. Normally the pre-flight is a half-hour or so of methodical checks. She automatically started going down the list.
“Lucky, what are you doing? Get your butt up there and let’s go!” Sasseville shouted.
She climbed in, rushed to power up the engine, screamed for her ground crew to pull the chocks. The crew chief still had his headphones plugged into the fuselage as she nudged the throttle forward. He ran along pulling safety pins from the jet as it moved forward.
She muttered a fighter pilot’s prayer — “God, don’t let me [expletive] up” — and followed Sasse­ville into the sky.
They screamed over the smoldering Pentagon, heading northwest at more than 400 mph, flying low and scanning the clear horizon. Her commander had time to think about the best place to hit the enemy.
“We don’t train to bring down airliners,” said Sasseville, now stationed at the Pentagon. “If you just hit the engine, it could still glide and you could guide it to a target. My thought was the cockpit or the wing.”
He also thought about his ejection seat. Would there be an instant just before impact?
“I was hoping to do both at the same time,” he says. “It probably wasn’t going to work, but that’s what I was hoping.”
Penney worried about missing the target if she tried to bail out.
“If you eject and your jet soars through without impact . . .” she trails off, the thought of failing more dreadful than the thought of dying.
But she didn’t have to die. She didn’t have to knock down an airliner full of kids and salesmen and girlfriends. They did that themselves.
It would be hours before Penney and Sasseville learned that United 93 had already gone down in Pennsylvania, an insurrection by hostages willing to do just what the two Guard pilots had been willing to do: Anything. And everything.
“The real heroes are the passengers on Flight 93 who were willing to sacrifice themselves,” Penney says. “I was just an accidental witness to history.”
She and Sasseville flew the rest of the day, clearing the airspace, escorting the president, looking down onto a city that would soon be sending them to war.
She’s a single mom of two girls now. She still loves to fly. And she still thinks often of that extraordinary ride down the runway a decade ago.
“I genuinely believed that was going to be the last time I took off,” she says. “If we did it right, this would be it.”
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 14, 2013 - 09:57pm PT
Naval aviation entered a new era today.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 17, 2013 - 08:23pm PT
70'th anniversary flight.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Michelle Gill

climber
Redding, CA
May 18, 2013 - 03:15pm PT
Trevor and I in the plane, getting ready to jump and giving a big F-U to cancer!! For my husband and my son's father, Ian.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 18, 2013 - 08:35pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
May 22, 2013 - 01:00pm PT


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 23, 2013 - 08:32pm PT
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
May 23, 2013 - 09:08pm PT
Mais qui, spot of tea jimmy?
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
May 23, 2013 - 09:22pm PT
Cool Hank. Start pulling lower. I have a hilarious bounce story about pulling just a tiny bit too low. It was on Half Dome BITD.

perswig

climber
May 26, 2013 - 08:05pm PT

Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 27, 2013 - 04:37pm PT

In the spring of 1944, Bill Overstreet of the famous 357th FG was hot on the tail of a German ME109G. The pilot of the 109 flew right over Paris where German anti-aircraft artillery was heavy, probably in hopes they would solve his problem by eliminating Bill and his P51C named the “Berlin Express”. Bill persisted through intense flak closing the gap with the enemy fighter. Already hit in the engine, as a last resort the ME109 pilot aimed his aircraft toward the imposing Eiffel Tower and in a breathtaking maneuver flew right under it. Even this was not enough to shake Bill as he followed right behind scoring several more hits in the process. The German ME109 crashed moments later and Bill escaped the heavy flak around Paris by flying low and full throttle over the river.

http://kerrymccauley.com/wordpress1/
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 31, 2013 - 12:51pm PT
Vegasclimber alert! Or maybe Licky? ;-)

I suggest you check out the LA Times page for more pics, a map of all the
crash sites, and a cool vid showing the crash site of the first F-111A which
crashed when 20 mm rounds started cooking off in the plane! Happily the
crew ejected safely.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _



Pair of 'geeks' sifts through history for aviation ruins

Peter Merlin and Tony Moore, self-confessed aviation geeks, find and sort through military crash sites in the Mojave as a hobby. They call these weekend expeditions 'aerospace archaeology.'

By W.J. Hennigan

Photography by Brian van der Brug

Video by Don Kelsen

Reporting from Mojave

May 31, 2013


Peter Merlin trudges through the desert, side-stepping sage brush and creosote until he reaches a spot barren of vegetation. He points out a faint crescent-shaped scar in the earth 100 feet long.

Merlin kneels and scoops up a handful of sand and lets it sift through his fingers, leaving behind three gray pebbles, each no bigger than a quarter.

"See these rocks?" he asks. "They're actually fragments of melted aluminum. This is the impact point where the flying wing crashed, and the crew lost their lives. Right here. This is the incident that gave Edwards Air Force Base its name."

The pebbles were remnants of the YB-49, an experimental bomber that crashed in 1948 carrying Capt. Glen Edwards and a crew of four. His untimely death prompted the military to rename Muroc Air Force Base in his honor.

Finding and sorting through military crash sites in the Mojave is Merlin's hobby and pastime. He and Tony Moore, his partner on these weekend expeditions, call it "aerospace archaeology."

"Living this close to Edwards is like an Egyptologist living in Egypt," Merlin said. "It has been called the 'valley of the kings.'"

The skies above the Mojave Desert are legendary. The first American jet plane flew here. The sound barrier was broken here. Space shuttles returned to Earth here. But less heralded are the failures and crashes, tragic footnotes to these remarkable accomplishments.

Merlin and Moore refer to themselves as "The X-Hunters," a nod to the Air Force's use of "X" in naming experimental planes. Their findings have broadened the military's understanding of Southern California's aerospace history.

"Their value to the office is a great one," said Richard Hallion, a retired official who worked 20 years as an Air Force historian. "In many cases, there was only rough approximation of where the crashes took place."


Despite the vastness of the Mojave, there are few crash sites that Merlin and Moore have yet to find. They have compiled a list of more than 600 locations amid the sun-scorched sand and rock, and so far they have examined more than 100.

Merlin and Moore are unlikely confederates. Merlin, 49, the introvert, is prone to extended pauses when talking. He has a thin Errol Flynn-esque mustache and is known to wear a safari hat and leather jacket with "The X-Hunters" emblazoned on the back.

Moore, 55, is a large, affable man who walks with a metal trekking pole because of bad hips. He grew up in Northridge and has long been fascinated with Edwards, and seems to have a story about any aircraft that was ever built.

They both work at Edwards, but in 1991 the self-confessed aviation geeks were employed at the Burbank airport when they had a conversation about the region's aerospace history. Moore told Merlin he had found the wreckage site of the XB-70, an experimental bomber that collided with an F-104 in 1966.

Merlin was intrigued. But aviation buffs are secretive about the information they have — like fishermen who won't tell where the big ones are — so Moore gave Merlin vague directions to the site: about 12 miles north of Barstow.

The following Monday, Merlin came to work, smiling. He had found the site.

"I was shocked," Moore said. "I must have given him a two-mile area to search through. But he found it, to his credit."

After recognizing their shared infatuation, they decided to team up. When the two men started researching airplane wrecks, they mostly relied on files from the Edwards History museum and a 1993 environmental impact study of the base that listed only 15 sites.

On their first expedition, Moore and Merlin turned to a book written by a former test pilot that documented the crash of Maj. Michael Adams, who was killed in 1967 when the North American Aviation X-15 rocket plane he was piloting broke up at 62,000 feet while traveling at 4,000 mph.

According to the book, the wreckage was located several miles northeast of Johannesburg. But once they arrived at the spot, the terrain didn't resemble what was depicted in the book's grainy black and white photographs.

After several hours of fruitless searching, they decided to head home. As they drove toward U.S. 395, Moore noticed a mountain in the distance that looked like one pictured in the book.

They pulled onto a dirt road and rumbled toward the mountain. More landmarks began to line up. There was a ridge with an outcropping of white rocks near its crest.

They got out of their Jeep and began walking toward the mountain, stopping at intervals to consult the book. Merlin then looked at the ground and saw a piece of weather-beaten metal tubing.

"We're here," he shouted, noticing the ground was littered with more metal fragments.

For two years, they combed over the debris field and recovered 125 pounds of parts, including a warning light that likely glowed in the cockpit while Adams fought to save himself and the aircraft. These items are at the flight test museum at Edwards.

A memorial now marks the site. It was erected in 2004. More than 60 people, including Merlin, Moore and members of Adams' family, attended the dedication.

"We often approach these sites from a historical perspective," Merlin said. "But there's a human element that lives on. To see the emotional reaction from the family really showed me how much the sites can mean to people."

Among their other finds was the crash site for another flying wing, an experimental bomber constructed of wood, dubbed the N-9M. The plane went down 12 miles west of Edwards in 1943.

The men also located pieces of the Bell X-2, which in 1956 tumbled out of control, killing test pilot Capt. Milburn Apt on impact in the Kramer Hills off the eastern edge of the base.

Seven miles west of California City, they found the location of the NF-104A crash that would have killed Chuck Yeager in 1963 had he not ejected in time. A more recent non-fatal wreck was the X-31 that crashed less than a half-mile from California 58 in 1995.

When a plane goes down in the desert, the military tries to recover as much of the wreckage as possible. Retrieving hefty, hulking pieces is a priority.

Most of the time, Merlin and Moore are searching for smaller parts such as twisted stainless-steel skin, rusted fasteners and fittings, or crushed cowl flaps.

They scan the horizon for glinting metal when they think they're in the right spot. Once they uncovered a part of a tail fin. But finding such items is rare, and often what they think is an aircraft part shimmering in the distance ends up being a Mylar balloon.

"I've seen enough deflated Mickey Mouse balloons to last me a lifetime," Merlin said.

When they do find something that they think they can identify, they take it home and weigh and measure it. They verify the part's authenticity by chasing down serial numbers, inspection stamps or examining a manufacturer's book on the aircraft. After documenting it, they'll donate it to the flight test museum or other institutions. They have written a book about their exploits titled "X-Plane Crashes."

Critics believe that the significance of the men's findings is slightly exaggerated. Raymond Puffer, retired Edwards historian, said their work is more of a hobby than anything else.

Other explorers, like G. Pat Macha, prefer to leave the crash sites intact.

"That's a big issue in this field: To simply take a picture or take the stuff home with you," said Macha, 67, who has identified and documented crash sites in Southern California for 50 years.

Macha, however, appreciates that rather than holding onto what they have recovered, the two men have given their findings back to the base.

Merlin and Moore take pride helping families who have lost a son or a father in one of these fatal crashes.

While standing at the YB-49 crash site that killed Edwards, Moore saw something glimmering in the dirt. He picked it up: It was a star sapphire, perfect except for a slight chip on one side.

The small stone was a mystery until Moore was talking to an engineer who had been on the base the day the YB-49 crashed.

The engineer mentioned that a member of the crew, Maj. Daniel H. Forbes, had been married just a few weeks before the accident. His wife had given him a sapphire ring. The military had found the setting but not the stone.

Moore was stunned: "We found the stone," he said. "We found it five years ago right in the middle of the site.'"

He mailed a photograph of the sapphire to Air Force personnel, who went to visit Forbes' widow.

A half-century had passed since the tragedy. The widow had remarried and at first didn't seem to remember the ring. Then they showed her the pictures.

Without saying a word, she walked to her bedroom and returned with a matching star-sapphire ring in her hand. The stone was eventually returned to her in a ceremony at the Kansas air base that bears Daniel Forbes' name.

"It's unbelievable how many things needed to happen in order for that ring to be reunited with her," Moore said. "It validated all our work."


Contact the reporter

Follow W.J. Hennigan (@wjhenn) on Twitter


Edwards AFB Crash Geeks
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Maybe the coolest thing was finding the pilot's wedding ring stone and
sending it to his widow?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 31, 2013 - 11:10pm PT
http://xbradtc.com/rip-carroll-lefon-neptunus-lex/
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2013 - 03:18am PT
Thanks for sharing, Reilly.

The "X Hunters" are pretty dedicated guys, for sure. I talk to them every couple months or so - the "serious" wreck chasing community is pretty small. They recently helped me pinpoint the location of an SR-71 crash site. Unfortunately some wise guy got the idea to pull every scrap out of the site several years ago and started selling the pieces online. I found three pieces no bigger then a quarter, and had to call it good.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 1, 2013 - 09:47am PT
Did you ever try to check out the Aurora crash site south of Groom Lake?
IIRC it went down in '93 or '94. I bet the AF used industrial vacuums on
that site. It even got a no-fly zone over it for over a month! The funny
part is the AF claimed it was a chopper crash. Now, who ever heard of a
chopper crash site being cordoned off for over a month and having a prohibited
airspace of 5 miles around it? Musta been some kind of chopper, nyuk nyuk.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
Jun 1, 2013 - 07:36pm PT
sweet vid Hank
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Jun 1, 2013 - 08:46pm PT
Nice video hank.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2013 - 08:48pm PT
Little short there Hank! Nice jump though.

Just a reminder - a while back you said you were going to send me the vid of the Wifey's jump in Greece when she ended up in the wall....?

Reilly, I don't recall that one. I know they lost an F-117 up by Hawthorne a long while back, and it was the same story right down to the chopper.
Tomorrow we are heading to Panamint Valley to check out an F-105 site. A Park employee has convinced the powers-that-be that the wreck is "impacting the wilderness experience" and they are going to eradicate the site. They just eradicated an A-7 site a few weeks ago that was a great site.

This 105 is about 40 miles from any habitation, in the middle of nowhere. I have to wonder what scrap yard is going to allow them to dump several pounds of depleted uranium...45 year old site going away forever. Pretty bummed about it so I want to see it before its gone.
philo

Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
Jun 6, 2013 - 12:02pm PT
Nice vid Hank. Remember you once told me it's easier to dry than it is to heal.


I thought this was coolio.

Woman, 102, base jumps off bridge

Dorothy Custer has celebrated her 102nd birthday by base jumping off the Perrine Bridge in Idaho, America.

It was not the first extreme sport she attempted- for her 101st birthday, she decided to zip line for the first time.

The tandem jump was a birthday present from her family.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22774496
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Jun 6, 2013 - 12:23pm PT
Oh man. Hank's video rules. Taking the water option was the right choice. If he had opened a quarter second higher, he would have made the landing area. The water beats landing in cobbles every time.

A broken ankle not only sucks, it probably costs 50 grand to fix these days. I remember getting a broken tibia fixed for about 250 bucks in Bishop once.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 9, 2013 - 11:59pm PT
The tail section from one of the two F-6 Hellcats which crashed at about 9300' on Mt Baldy on 21 March 1949. They were on an instrument flying
training flight and got into a snow storm about 900' too low.
More to follow...

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jun 10, 2013 - 03:04am PT
I know... same old boring antenna. Did a first time 3-way with some Aussies in tracking suits. Our timing was a bit off and wasn't as tight as we planned. But, loads of fun mates!


Edit: OOhh damn IT Hank, I hate when that happens.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2013 - 03:44am PT
Nice Hellcat shot Riley! I've seen pics of that before on the wreck chasing site.

50k now for a broken ankle...I'm not surprised by da,m that's a lotta dough.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Jun 11, 2013 - 03:41pm PT
Speed Riding Mt Blanc

http://player.vimeo.com/video/36398302
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 13, 2013 - 08:31pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jun 16, 2013 - 09:53pm PT
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jun 18, 2013 - 01:29pm PT
3-Way a couple of days ago:



My dad, front and center - 1980:


He was the jump master at 180 jumps... oh, how times have changed.
Mike Lydon

Trad climber
CO
Jun 19, 2013 - 02:51pm PT
[photoid=307565][photoid=307577]



Mike Lydon

Trad climber
CO
Jun 19, 2013 - 03:00pm PT


deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Jun 20, 2013 - 03:43am PT
maybe this has been posted before;

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/base-jump-stunt-in-norway-goes-horribly-wrong/story-e6frfq80-1226493825938

But it looks like the guy survived. I'd say the jump went horribly right in that case.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 23, 2013 - 04:28am PT
kjerag is is full force



perswig

climber
Jun 23, 2013 - 10:50am PT
COOL additions lately.


"'Feet dry'........um..........God DAMN it!" Nice, Hank!

Nice shots of the Herc.

And as I watched TGT's clip of the '38 and Corsair I wondered how much harder it must be to maintain formation with such disparate airframes.

TFPU.
Dale
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jun 23, 2013 - 11:02am PT
The Corsair was a real beast to take off, but was a fine flier.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 23, 2013 - 11:13am PT
Even more of a beast to land on a carrier.

The long nose makes it a completely blind short final.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Several stumbling blocks developed when carrier trials were held aboard the USS Sangamon and other carriers in late 1941. The biggest problem was the long nose. It stuck out 14 feet (4.27 m) in front of the pilot, and when the Corsair was sitting in take-off position, the nose pointed up at an angle sufficient to block forward vision to about 12º above the horizon. In carrier landings it was practically impossible to see the Landing Signals Officer, once the Corsair was lined up with the carrier deck on final approach. Adding to this problem were oil and hydraulic leaks from the engine compartment which seeped past the cowl flaps and smeared the windshield, further restricting visibility.

Landing on a carrier deck required the pilot to have the plane at stall speed just as the tail-hook snagged the deck wire, but this was made very difficult by the wicked stall characteristics of the F4U. Just as stall speed was reached, the left wing tended to drop like a rock. In a deck landing this could cause the landing gear to collapse resulting in injuries to the pilot and severe damage to the aircraft. Assuming luck was with the pilot and he landed intact, the Corsair normally "bottomed out" the shock absorbers as it slammed down on the deck. The resulting recoil caused the plane to bounce high in the air. The tailhook itself sometimes failed to "trap" the plane by engaging an arrestor wire. If this happened on a straight deck carrier it usually meant the aircraft plowed into the planes parked forward. (Angle decks did not start appearing on US carriers until 1952.) It was said on a straight deck carrier there were only two kinds of landings; a "trap" and a catastrophe!

http://www.aviation-history.com/vought/f4u.html

snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 25, 2013 - 01:27pm PT
just another sunny day in norway


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 25, 2013 - 08:54pm PT
More C-130 from the inside.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jun 26, 2013 - 10:24pm PT
Flew today for the first time in what seems forever! I did my Biennial Flight Review with a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), and passed with "flying" colors. It was conducted as an abbreviated check ride, and involved 4 TO's and 4 Landings, steep bank turns, slow flight, stall demonstrations, etc.

Woo Hoo! Fully airworthy again!
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jun 27, 2013 - 12:49am PT
Cool video BrokeDown.
the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jun 27, 2013 - 12:57am PT
A Kaman, K-1200 hauling fire fighting gear in the Rocky Mountains a couple weeks ago,


These curious little machines can lift as much of their weight (and more). I've heard they were designed for logging and they are rated for 6,000 pound lifts. Here's an interesting link on their designer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kaman

pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Jul 1, 2013 - 01:20am PT
my first pulling of the cord from 13,000ft. 3rd dive.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 1, 2013 - 09:44am PT
Ron-

I was flying my trusty Piper PA 28-236 Dakota!


I completed the Biennial Flight Review, and now need to renew my Medical Certificate this month.

Flying plans this year: Completion of my Commercial Certification and Instrument Rating, in addition to Multiengine certification.

Trips Planned: Casper to Mariposa for Facelift (only the last 3-4 days); City of Rocks; and Joshua Tree sometime around Turkey Day.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jul 4, 2013 - 09:26pm PT
This guy is pretty inspiring:



[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 5, 2013 - 04:15pm PT
http://abcnews.go.com/US/families-teens-parasailing-accident-progress/storynew?id=19581376#.UdcokZx1HKd
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jul 8, 2013 - 08:53pm PT
Did anybody check out the Truckee Air show last Saturday? Kait and I were there for the first couple of hours.

This was a 4-way today:


TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jul 11, 2013 - 12:46am PT
More on the Proton failure:

"By July 4, engineers in Baikonur deciphered available telemetry from the failed rocket. Early in the process, one source reported an emergency cutoff in one of six engines on Proton's first stage in the first few seconds of the failed launch. Other unofficial sources then elaborated that a failed steering mechanism, known by Russian abbreviation as RM, placed the engine into an extreme position making it too difficult for the flight control system to correct a wrong direction of thrust with remaining five engines.

By the end of July 2, it became known that the liftoff of the ill-fated rocket had taken place 0.4 seconds ahead of schedule, potentially forcing the vehicle to start its flight with its engines at less than full thrust. According to the flight program, the rocket had to lift off at exactly 06:38:22.000 Moscow Time, with an acceptable deviation of 0.05 seconds earlier or later. However, the flight control system got an apparently faulty signal that the actual liftoff had taken place at 06:38:21.585, or 0.415 seconds too soon.

As a result, the rocket's flight control system could activate an emergency flight sequence designed to take the vehicle away from the launch complex. The telemetry also showed the temperature near the engine at 1,200 degrees, or three times higher than normal, likely an evidence of the fire in the area. Finally, the emergency engine cutoff signal for at least one engine was issued just four seconds into the flight, not at T+17 seconds as was previously reported.

On July 4, a source at GKNPTs Khrunichev reported on the online forum of the Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine that an interface plate connecting a series of cables from ground equipment to the aft end of the launch vehicle, had separated earlier than planned. The plate, designed to shift by around 5 millimeters, normally trails the rocket for few millimeters and separates as the vehicle rises above the pad. However in this case, it apparently moved by as much as 11 millimeters before the rocket had a chance to leave the pad. As a result, all electrical connections between the pad and the rocket were severed, while the vehicle's engines were yet to develop their full thrust. At that point, the engines could still propel the rocket into the air, but could not keep it in stable flight. (According to the telemetry, the pressure inside the combustion chambers of the engines was 90 kilograms per square centimeter, instead of required 150 kilograms per square centimeter.) The flight control system could interpret such a situation as an emergency, (even if the rocket was still standing on the launch pad), and sharply throttle all engines to a maximum thrust in order to prevent the vehicle from falling onto the launch pad. In turn, the sharp increase in thrust could cause a fire detected by temperature sensors.

If confirmed, such a scenario would make the cable interface plate of the launch pad a culprit in the abnormal liftoff and the subsequent crash. The exact reason for the plate to go down was not immediately clear, but it could be due to its wrong installation or a mechanical failure. The erratic behavior of the rocket during its short flight also remained to be explained under such a scenario. According to one theory surfaced on July 6, the flight control system was receiving reversed readings of angular velocity from onboard sensors due to their wrong wiring, however the condition of the debris after the crash would not allow to confirm such a possibility."
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 11, 2013 - 10:25pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Jul 18, 2013 - 01:09pm PT
This is a great read if you haven't heard the story about the first attempt to fly from Ca to Hawaii in 1925. I first became aware of it years ago from a plaque at the Honolulu Airport:

http://hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation/hawaii-aviation-pioneers/john-rodgers/first-attempt-to-fly-to-hawaii
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 18, 2013 - 07:51pm PT
It hasn't been posted on Youtube, but here is a great video of the DC-10 VLAT dropping on the Carpenter One fire on Mt. Charleston. Guy with the video camera gets painted pretty good...our whole crew got painted by a PB4Y back on 01 near Reno...that stuff sucks to get off your skin and it hurts. lol.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201264243355357
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 18, 2013 - 08:23pm PT
Those DC-10 fire retardant bombers are now based at my home field, KCPR (Casper, WY). No other reason than the long (10,100 feet) main runway, 3-21. During W.W. II it was a training base for B17 and B24 aircrews. It also was a base where Chuck Yeager received his advanced training in the P51 Mustang.

Last evening I spent an hour of training on chandelles, lazy eights, and steep spiral descents in anticipation of an upcoming Commercial Pilot checkride. Nothing quite like steep bank turns, too. A 55 degree angle of bank is the current standard, and pulling close to 2 g's in the turns.
Chugach

Trad climber
Vermont
Jul 18, 2013 - 10:33pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 21, 2013 - 11:20pm PT
The way you are supposed to land at SFO

http://www.wimp.com/approachlanding/

(complete with Wagner)
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Jul 21, 2013 - 11:29pm PT
Kulula Airline of South Africa has a unique approach to marketing. Fly the friendly skies of Kulula.....
rmuir

Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
Jul 22, 2013 - 09:11pm PT

The youngest Muir (to date)... One more jump and the child is certified.
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Jul 23, 2013 - 11:18am PT
nice picture rob! one day i'll be certified..
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 24, 2013 - 08:38pm PT
How We Know America Has Another Secret Drone


https://medium.com/war-is-boring/75f697142bfc
perswig

climber
Jul 26, 2013 - 08:47pm PT








Dale
stephenbmx1@yahoo.com montoya

Sport climber
texas
Jul 27, 2013 - 12:08am PT
^^^ ew....
perswig

climber
Jul 27, 2013 - 09:38am PT
Well, damn, Hank ... that beats the hell out of MY post.

Keep up the good work!
Dale
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jul 28, 2013 - 10:56pm PT
You can't go wrong with the FemaleHuckingMoabMonkey's. Fun and talented group of females. Ha haa!

Makes my day look boring...

ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Jul 29, 2013 - 11:37pm PT
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Jul 30, 2013 - 01:35am PT
Great shot!
squishy

Mountain climber
Jul 30, 2013 - 02:00am PT
Now that's my kind of porn!
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 1, 2013 - 06:57pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 1, 2013 - 08:30pm PT

From Wiki:

A historical marker has been erected near the now abandoned farmhouse in Arcadia, Michigan where Quimby was born. After her family moved to San Francisco, California in the early 1900s, she became a journalist. She moved to New York City in 1903 to work as a theater critic for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly and more than 250 of her articles were published over a nine-year period.

She became interested in aviation in 1910, when she attended the Belmont Park International Aviation Tournament on Long Island, New York and met John Moisant, a well-known American aviator and operator of a flight school, and his sister Matilde Moisant.

On August 1, 1911, Quimby took her pilot's test and became the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator's certificate. Matilde Moisant soon followed and became the nation's second certified female pilot.[1]

Hollywood[edit]

In 1911 Quimby authored seven screenplays or scenarios that were made into silent film shorts by Biograph Studios. All seven were directed by director D. W. Griffith. Stars in her films included Florence La Badie, Wilfred Lucas, and Blanche Sweet. Quimby had a small acting role in one movie.[2]

Vin Fiz[edit]

The Vin Fiz Company, a division of Armour Meat Packing Plant of Chicago, recruited Harriet as the spokesperson for the new grape soda, Vin Fiz, after the death of Calbraith Perry Rodgers in April 1912. Her distinctive purple aviatrix uniform and image graced many of the advertising pieces of the day.[3]

English Channel[edit]

On April 16, 1912, Quimby took off from Dover, England, en route to Calais, France and made the flight in 59 minutes, landing about 25 miles (40 km) from Calais on a beach in Hardelot-Plage, Pas-de-Calais. She had become the first woman to pilot an aircraft across the English Channel.[4]

Her accomplishment received little media attention, however, as the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15 (the day before) consumed the interest of the public and filled newspapers.[5]

Death[edit]

On July 1, 1912 Quimby flew in the Third Annual Boston Aviation Meet at Squantum, Massachusetts. Ironically, although she had obtained her ACA certificate to be allowed to participate in ACA events, the Boston meet was an unsanctioned contest. Quimby flew out to Boston Light in Boston Harbor at about 3000 feet, and then returned and circled the airfield.[6] William Willard, the organizer of the event and father of the aviator Charles Willard, was a passenger in her brand-new two-seat Bleriot monoplane. At an altitude of 1,500 feet (460 m)[7] the aircraft unexpectedly pitched forward for reasons still unknown. Both Willard and Quimby were ejected from their seats and fell to their deaths, while the plane "glided down and lodged itself in the mud".[8]

Harriet Quimby was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. The following year her remains were moved to the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's restored and flyable Anzani-powered Blériot XI, which bears the Blériot factory's serial number 56, and the still-current registration number N60094, could be the aircraft that Quimby was flying in 1912 during the Boston Aviation Meet.[citation needed]

The previously wrecked aircraft that now is flown at Old Rhinebeck was found stored in a barn in Laconia, New Hampshire in the 1960s and fully restored to flying condition, most likely by Cole Palen, ORA's founder.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Aug 1, 2013 - 11:43pm PT
Don Paul

Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
Aug 15, 2013 - 07:49am PT



Police examine stuntman death video


perswig

climber
Aug 15, 2013 - 08:09am PT
Reilly, your photo brought to mind Beryl Markham as well. Just found and gave as a gift 'West with the Night' and now have to dig up my old copy and re-read it.

Dale
squishy

Mountain climber
Aug 17, 2013 - 03:19pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 17, 2013 - 06:10pm PT
Pers, West With The Night is so much more than a book about flying. It is a literary work.
Markham writes brilliantly, touchingly, and poetically. She was also probably twice the pilot that Earhart was, at the least.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 17, 2013 - 10:59pm PT
a WWII B-29 has just been found melting out of a glacier
perswig

climber
Aug 18, 2013 - 07:28am PT
Agree, Reilly, hence my need to find my old copy (I think it's out of print, so always happy to find one to pass on).

The book resonates in ways much like Karen Blixen's little tale of growing coffee. "I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills...".
Very powerful women, both. I read, and am in awe.

Dale
squishy

Mountain climber
Aug 19, 2013 - 04:44pm PT
BAM! this one is better.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Gunkie

Trad climber
East Coast US
Aug 19, 2013 - 05:31pm PT
RE: Sutton (Olympic James Bond)

One experienced instructor, who did not wish to be named, said the "responsible and very calculated" jumper [Sutton] appeared to have miscalculated the gradient of the ground he was flying over, meaning he hit the ridge as the land flattened out.

I've not BASE jumped or used a wingsuit or even had much freefall experience. But a question for all of you who do this wingsuit flying:


In your opinion, did Sutton just see the ground oozing up at him while he skimmed @ 125 MPH and then realized that his angle of attack was greater than the downslope of the mountain he was flying over and then he just tried to ride it out to steeper terrain?

Or is this something that he could have averted with an early parachute deployment, if the ground closure rate is even noticeable at a safe altitude?


This whole thing just sends shivers up my spine.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Aug 19, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
Have been watching this video and thinking about Mario. A lot of this is from Arco, where he was flying:

http://vimeo.com/69609334

Sure shows the attraction (and danger) of doing this.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Aug 20, 2013 - 03:45am PT
Very sorry to hear about Mario...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mostly @ Travis:

Here is a video someone posted on face book.
I watched it and I saw an incident/close call.
It so closely resembled the particulars of a story I heard that I asked the OP if it was the person I had heard the story from. It turned out that yes indeed it was.
Story being, that my friend Simon had done a jump (don't know proper term?) where the skydivers were making formations together. They separated in preparation for their opening. Simon said he got away from this one guy but he pulled way to early and he did not have time to fully clear away. The other guy's chute opened right below him and he sailed right through the guys line set. Simon told me that he was very lucky and almost took his ear off. His ear was extremely sore but it didn't get cut off, however at that speed it was a matter of millimeters that he didn't get his ear taken off. If it had been centimeters then there was a good likely hood of something much more serious than simply an ear amputation.
The incident happens @ about 4.15/4.20 into it.
Reaper Cam

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

squishy

Mountain climber
Aug 23, 2013 - 04:13pm PT
^ that is insane, WOW!

I saw this today, Brazil is using the Sarah Palin method of catching criminals now:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6f9_1377279333
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 23, 2013 - 08:44pm PT
http://vimeo.com/31549908#
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Aug 25, 2013 - 03:17am PT


snakefoot

climber
cali
Aug 27, 2013 - 11:14am PT
just a day among friends


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 1, 2013 - 01:54pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Klimmer

Mountain climber
Sep 1, 2013 - 02:26pm PT

Birdmen: The Original Dream of Flight
http://www.birdmenthemovie.com/home/


You can watch it on NetFlix. Really good. Goes into pretty good detail on the history of BASE, especially wingsuit flying. Enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/movie/birdmen-the-original-dream-of-flight
pyro

Big Wall climber
Calabasas
Sep 1, 2013 - 05:17pm PT
klimmer good call birdman is a great flick!
i love how they cruise!
i'll stick to skydive until i have the money to buy one of those suits.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Sep 1, 2013 - 06:26pm PT

Mario and I flying around in the Fisher's:

http://vimeo.com/24942389
perswig

climber
Sep 2, 2013 - 09:03pm PT
Fog off the ocean was starting to lift and only a tiny breeze rustled the sock at Owls Head Saturday AM. Was doing a quick poke around, checking out the bikes at the transportation museum (http://ohtm.org/*VinMoto.html); when I noticed the crew priming their Taube.

Couldn't be fixin' to fly, could they?







Total flight time, maybe 10-12 minutes? Max airspeed, maybe 45. Stall speed, maybe 40?
Pretty damn cool.
Dale
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
Sep 2, 2013 - 10:56pm PT
I sometimes wonder if Vegasclimber/Travis lumped too much together in the OP, ha ha. Aviation, skydiving AND... BASE jumping? That's a lot of air!

Then I think of Mario and it all makes sense. "Anything flying, bro", he once told me with a sh#t eating grin. "That's what makes ME happy", he said.


He sure did LOVE to fly!



TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 10, 2013 - 08:53pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Sep 14, 2013 - 01:50pm PT
sitting on a hill behind the stead airport watching the Reno Air Races you can watch them streaming live it's awesome hope you enjoy it

http://www.airrace.org/race_experience/sights_sounds.php
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 15, 2013 - 12:34am PT
That's a cool post, Ammon. I agree with Mario :)

This thread has been amazing, with so many sharing some awesome pictures and tales. I'm glad that I was able to start a thread that has gone so well.

We have a looooong flight coming up this Friday....Vegas to Tanzania. One leg on the return flight is 18 hours as we stop in Rome. If I had planned better, we could have had a day or two to at least see some of the major sites. Probably going to be a long time before Italy makes it to the top of the travel list.

Hoping to see some cool planes when we get to Africa, if we do I will share them here outside of the TR.

Keep up the great posts! That Taube was amazing. If I recall correctly, it turns with wing warping instead of ailerons.
perswig

climber
Sep 15, 2013 - 06:21am PT
Yep, she's got running rigging to deform her wingtips.


Built to reproduce this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFj7knkUZZ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8rLVdswcqM

Wild.
Love this thread.

Dale
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Sep 15, 2013 - 03:04pm PT
Cool photo. Does it say "abandon chute" on the bottom to remind pilots to clear away from their parachutes in water? When I was a kid living on a base in England an A-10 crashed into the north sea, the pilot ejected and the SAR guy got all tangled up in the pilot's parachute lines in the water-- the helicopter had to cut them loose before it got dragged in and they both died.

During smokejumper training we had to jump off a diving board with all of our gear and an open parachute and then swim clear. I was more scared of that than anything else during training! In the end, it was pretty easy because the jump suits float. Still pretty scary feeling being all tangled up in a bunch of lines in the water.

Cargo!


Look close and you can see the spotter's helmet in the door of the plane- he's making sure it's all clear and will then pull in the static lines. Totally fun doing cargo runs- "turning final....on final.....short final....kick!
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 29, 2013 - 11:10am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]


https://engineering.purdue.edu/aaesac/files/U-2SR-71-PURDUE.pdf
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 20, 2013 - 06:14pm PT
Unexpected and amusing ending.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Oct 20, 2013 - 06:20pm PT
^^^
Air Force weenies are such pussies, but they do have gorgeous airplanes, though...

Yesterday was Bridge Day in Fayetteville, WV

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 21, 2013 - 11:38pm PT
How do you know someone's a fighter pilot?





Wait 15 seconds and they'll tell you.







Don't forget the washer!

http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ChinaAirlines120/ChinaAirlines120_Downstop_pop_up.htm
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 21, 2013 - 11:52pm PT
Perswig, nice shots!

SLR, hahaha! My AFA brother-in-law is nigh insufferable at times.
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Nov 3, 2013 - 10:53am PT
Crazy accident. Two skydiving aircraft collide. One loses both wings. All survive including pilot. Amazing

Wonder how long it's been since a pilot successfully managed to escape a crashing aircraft. Sounds like something out of WWII. I'd guess he must have had to put the chute on while the frame was falling to earth .. then get out the door which fortunately was beside him in a Cesna.

wreckage


http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/282465/

go-B

climber
Hebrews 1:3
Nov 4, 2013 - 12:25pm PT
Spotlight: Skydive Into A Moving Car With Katie Hansen!!
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Way to BASE off El Cap and get away?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 5, 2013 - 10:39pm PT
I've seen that before. How did they avoid jumping into their buddies' chutes?
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2013 - 10:43pm PT
Heyas Climbski, thanks for the pizza the other day!

At every DZ I have worked at, and I believe by FAA regulations, the pilot of a jump aircraft is required to wear a parachute during jump operations.

The chute that pilots use is a round canopy, that is packed in a very thin backpack container. Even so, the pilot was very lucky to be able to get out. He probably exited via the jump door, the standard door is very difficult to open in flight, and the G forces created by a tumbling aircraft would make it even harder.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Nov 6, 2013 - 09:53am PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 12, 2013 - 09:00pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
perswig

climber
Nov 12, 2013 - 09:04pm PT
Snakefoot, looks like he/she's heating up on re-entry!
Cool links TGT and Hank.

Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 27, 2013 - 10:25pm PT
BUFF's fly SAR

http://theaviationist.com/2013/11/27/b-52-to-the-rescue/
snakefoot

climber
cali
Nov 28, 2013 - 11:09am PT
perswig,

yes, she's coming in hot...
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 2, 2013 - 09:58pm PT
World's shortest regularly scheduled commercial flight.

1 min 13 sec.

http://vimeo.com/72343999
LimestoneCowboy

Trad climber
Houston, Texas
Dec 3, 2013 - 02:35am PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 3, 2013 - 08:49pm PT
http://tailspinstales.blogspot.com/2013/11/where-theres-will-theres-way.html
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 3, 2013 - 08:58pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 3, 2013 - 09:01pm PT
Limestone, congrats and let me be the first to enjoin you to

KEEP THE SHINY SIDE UP! ;-)
LimestoneCowboy

Trad climber
Houston, Texas
Dec 4, 2013 - 12:59am PT
Haha, cheers!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 4, 2013 - 02:00am PT
WTG Limestone! This thread isn't all about the "extreme" per se, but about our love for flight in all it's forms.

And at the time, your solo sure as hell feels extreme, at least it did for me.

I won't ever forget mine, we were doing touch and goes one day and my boss/instructor tells me to taxi off and as we pull up on the ramp, he grabs his coffee and huffs "You know what, I'm tired of sitting here with you today!" gets out, and slams the door.

I just sat there for about 3 minutes going wtf, until he opened the door again and told me to go fly haha.
snakefoot

climber
cali
Dec 4, 2013 - 07:29pm PT
OUCH!!! the land of chaos strikes again.

michaeld

Sport climber
Sacramento
Dec 4, 2013 - 08:14pm PT
damn.
Evel

Trad climber
Nedsterdam CO
Dec 4, 2013 - 08:27pm PT
Dammit Man! Heinous.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 23, 2013 - 01:01pm PT
Man, I hate it when this happens...


British Air pilots looking for jobs - as cabbies
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 23, 2013 - 08:21pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 1, 2014 - 01:51pm PT
A cross-post from the Building thread for Squshy and RC fans...

My old homie, Alan Cocconi, kind of started the whole drone thang way back
when.  He would go park right at the Edwards AFB fence and drive the MP's
wild flying his drones around the base.  He never got caught. Then he and
David Sivertsen created the guts of the Tesla.  Now Alan is pushing the
boundaries of flight with his near supersonic RC sailplanes. I'll post a
vid in a bit. BTW, these 'little' sailplanes cost 5 figures!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 4, 2014 - 09:49pm PT
Today, people on two continents mourn the death of 92-year-old William Overstreet Jr. He was a resident of Roanoke, Virginia, a retired accountant, and like many men from his generation, a veteran of World War II. And in the spring of 1944, Overstreet did something people in France and the U.S. still talk about.









http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbird-articles/wwii-veteran-aviator-bill-overstreet-p-51-mustang-berlin-express.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 4, 2014 - 11:40pm PT
^^^^^^^. What a stud he was. And more than a little lucky! RIP!
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jan 5, 2014 - 12:23pm PT
hank, looks like the bike hit the canopy or tangled with some lines...
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 5, 2014 - 12:44pm PT
http://www.warbirdsnews.com/airshow-news/worlds-privately-owned-harrier-rock-2014-airhshow-season.html
perswig

climber
Jan 5, 2014 - 01:08pm PT
TGT, I just came across an article about Nalls and his Harrier restoration in an old ('10?) edition of Sport Aviation (EAA pub). He had volunteers from a nearby USMC base to help with his modifications and rebuild, I think.

A proud aircraft, in my eyes as pretty as a Warthog (which may not be saying much).
Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 8, 2014 - 09:23pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
squishy

Mountain climber
Jan 8, 2014 - 09:40pm PT
I like flying..
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 13, 2014 - 10:20pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 20, 2014 - 11:45pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

The shop is right about where he finishes his turn onto final.

Glad I was out of the office that day!

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 21, 2014 - 12:10am PT
Wow, great shootin', Wendell! Those hosers are some good sticks, eh?

Those guys guys flew right over my house at about 300'.

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 21, 2014 - 10:09am PT
Can't claim credit for shooting it, just found it.

I was at a job site in Big Bear all day.

When ever there's a fire and they use Santa Fe dam for reloading their patter puts them right over the top of the office. It's exciting the first time, but gets real annoying fast.

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 21, 2014 - 10:49am PT
Geez, Chief, no wonder he got a wave-off!
And do I see the LSO giving him the finger? ;-)
the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 25, 2014 - 04:23pm PT
Wingsuit fatality in the Grand Canyon

10:30 a.m update: Coconino County Sheriff's Office officials confirm that a Search and Rescue team has reached the body and confirmed the BASE jumper is dead. A crew is transporting the body from the Confluence of the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers to the rim, where the body will be picked up by medical examiners. Authorities are now working to notify the BASE jumper's next of kin.

9:30 a.m update:

Search and Rescue teams are trying to locate a missing BASE jumper in the Little Colorado River Gorge near Grand Canyon National Park. A friend of the missing jumper said the man leapt from a cliff on the north side of the canyon yesterday afternoon wearing a red wingsuit, according to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office.

After the friend didn't hear from the BASE jumper, he looked into the canyon and saw a red spot that he believed to be his friend's body.

The National Park Service called Coconino County Search and Rescue at about 6 p.m. Friday. A Department of Public Safety helicopter was involved in another operation at the time and unavailable to assist in the search.

However, a Guardian Air helicopter flew into the canyon at about 8 p.m. Friday, but was unable to locate the red spot.

Search and Rescue crews are currently prepping a short haul team to fly into the canyon and determine if there is a body.

A 37-year-old Norwegian wingsuit BASE jumper was killed at the Little Colorado River Gorge in 2012 when a gust of wind blew him into a cliff.

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/update-searchers-confirm-base-jumper-killed-near-grand-canyon/article_3a8f2c32-85e0-11e3-895c-001a4bcf887a.html

R.I.P.
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jan 26, 2014 - 03:27am PT

If only I had a little over $ 2Mil...
I get me a P51-D Mustang
o-man

Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
Jan 26, 2014 - 05:01pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 28, 2014 - 03:33pm PT
Drone rockfall survey.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
the albatross

Gym climber
Flagstaff
Jan 30, 2014 - 11:28pm PT
More details in regards to the young doctor who leapt to his death near the Confluence. What a sad incident:


http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-doctor-killed-in-grand-canyon-base-jumping-fall-1.1658027

A respirologist from Calgary has died after a fall during a wing suit jump from the edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona on Friday.

According to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, David Stather and a group of friends were attempting a base jump at a location near the confluence of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River in Arizona. Stather was equipped with a wing suit and a parachute.

Stather’s friends reported the disappearance of the 41-year-old after he failed to arrive at the canyon floor. Stather’s parachute was spotted by members of the group as they hiked out of the canyon at a spot nearly 2,000 feet from the jump site.

Stather's family says he loved the outdoors.

Helicopters were unable to retrieve Stather on Friday evening, due to darkness, but an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter returned to the area on Saturday morning.

Search and Rescue members and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office located Stather’s body and confirmed his death. Stather’s death is believed to have been the result of fall trauma but the Coconino Country Medical Examiner has launched an investigation.

Stather, an Alberta Health Services employee, is survived by his parents in Guelph, Ontario.
His family released a statement on Monday saying:

We are so very proud of our son in all of his professional accomplishments, especially for all of the lives he's saved and touched in his life. He loved most outdoor sports and getting the most out of life.
We, as well as his younger brother and two sisters will miss him dearly.


R.I.P. David Stather

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 31, 2014 - 08:15pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 31, 2014 - 08:33pm PT
Wow, TGT, that was pretty cool. And he landed on his feet!
His sigh at the end said it all, eh?
o-man

Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
Jan 31, 2014 - 10:12pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jan 31, 2014 - 10:33pm PT
On a more light-hearted note...

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Feb 1, 2014 - 01:43am PT
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-9415/year-all/#gallery/13541

Motorised glider takes 3D camera for first flight around Everest
perswig

climber
Feb 1, 2014 - 05:47am PT
Anyone care to explain how o-man's pilot did that?
I'm assuming no chute, so no punch-out option, but was that a singular display of controlled compensatory maneuvers or an outstandingly lucky auger?

Inquiring minds (or at least one) would love to know.
Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 5, 2014 - 07:34pm PT
Nothing new under the sun

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Drone test 1944

Airframe by Schwinn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_TDR
John M

climber
Feb 6, 2014 - 03:38pm PT
http://www.wimp.com/aircrafttest/

pretty crazy, but pretty bold too.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 6, 2014 - 06:10pm PT
Wow, John, that pretty well sums up Africa - a whole lotta heart and soul
but a little short on the details. Gotta love the guy for trying. I really
love the extra wing and the 'canard'. Hey, it works for Burt Rutan and most
French fighters sport 'em so it's gotta be good! The main wing looks like
it would be enough lift to me, all that other shite is just drag. Maybe he
needs to find some weight savings here and there?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 6, 2014 - 07:40pm PT
Maybe he needs to find a scrap aluminum rather than a scrap iron pile.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 12, 2014 - 10:33pm PT
The Driver & Rio got their wings pulled for this stunt.


Both the Driver & Rio had pending disciplinary issues due to other recent major deviations from flight safety SOP's and it was their last act of defiance.

Nope, didn't happen

http://theaviationist.com/2014/02/12/f-14-buzzes-uss-america/
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Feb 13, 2014 - 10:48am PT
Woo Hoo! The F 14 was an AIRPLANE!!!!

I've seen plenty of f 15 Eagles and F 18 Hornets up close, but never a Tomcat.


I didn't have my camera at the airfield that day--the bird had some sort of in-flight problems and put down at KCPR for repairs. The RCAF flew in a ground crew to deal with the issues. Nice departure after fixing the problems; a fuel pump went out causing a loss of power.

P.S. The ground crew handed out the pamphlets at the FBO where they were cooling their heels after the F 18's departure.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2014 - 03:26pm PT
I was fortunate enough to see the Tomkitty several times at airshows.

There are two in particular that stand out for me - the first one being at Miramar NAS when I was working the show there. They played "Proud to be an American" after it was full dark and had a Tomcat come in on the deck, light off the burners and do a full rate climb...Mach diamond city, so awesome.

The last time I saw one in a demo was during the last year for the Tomcat, VF-124 flying a brand new F14D at Stead. Pilot got a little ahead of himself, and broke the sound barrier on the deck right in front of me. Crowd loved it, but I think the pilot got in quite a bit of trouble.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Feb 13, 2014 - 04:04pm PT
This "no supersonic flight" rule sticks in my craw! If they'd get rid of it I'd trade my Piper Dakota for MiG 21U ! Then use the cash differential to buy some fuel for it (700 gallons of Jet A @ $5.00 a gallon) and have a few "fast turns around the block!" A MiG 21U can go straight up on afterburner, accelerating all the while. Under a minute to 20,000 feet.

For those not in on the prices, an airworthy MiG 21 can be purchased for less than almost any decent Dakota.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 17, 2014 - 12:11pm PT
Funny and sad...

Ethiopian plane hijacked to Geneva by co-pilot

If you read the article the litany of Ethiopian hijackings is quite impressive.
But I really liked this one:

"In 2001, five military pilot trainees who flunked flight school reportedly wrested control of a plane
during a flight from Bahr Dar, in northwestern Ethiopia, to the capital Addis Ababa
and demanded to be flown to Saudi Arabia."

Maybe it is just me but I can think of quite a few preferable destinations,
especially to do hard time in.
perswig

climber
Feb 17, 2014 - 12:58pm PT
Thank you, JR! I'm always willing to give the benefit of the doubt and be pleasantly surprised, but that looked, well, improbable.

Color me gullible.
Dale
snakefoot

climber
cali
Feb 20, 2014 - 10:32am PT


TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 3, 2014 - 10:24pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Now if I can just figure out how to hitch one to the back of my harness.

Overhangs may be a problem.
rnevius

Trad climber
The Range of Light
Mar 4, 2014 - 12:27am PT
Morro Rock. If only climbing was allowed there...There has to be something good mixed in there with the gull poo.

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 6, 2014 - 11:21pm PT
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-not-a-frame-from-a-science-fiction-movie-1537271129?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Mar 7, 2014 - 01:03pm PT
http://petapixel.com/2014/03/07/judge-strikes-6-year-old-faa-drone-ban-makes-commercial-drones-legal/
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 7, 2014 - 01:20pm PT
Let the fun begin!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
rnevius

Trad climber
The Range of Light
Mar 8, 2014 - 02:43am PT
…because thinking is just too difficult sometimes, and because I'm abroad and can't climb...this thread inspired me to make an app (I know, shameless plug). Flight rules at a glance, for any METAR station in the world. I hope it proves useful (or at least interesting) for the few of you who fly when you're not busy climbing or bickering on the taco.
http://flightvisibility.com
sangoma

Trad climber
south africa
Mar 8, 2014 - 05:23pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 8, 2014 - 08:06pm PT
Interesting use for bouldering pads

[Click to View YouTube Video]

snakefoot

climber
cali
Mar 10, 2014 - 02:56pm PT
nice hank, but a bad landing.... and the many other fine posts..

while ricky bobbi was turnin the last lap, we was racin on our own


John M

climber
Mar 10, 2014 - 03:03pm PT
Errr… that doesn't look good. Do skydivers and planes generally land in the same place at other airports.


http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/skydiver-calls-unimaginable-plane-hit-him-hell-jump-132556651--abc-news-topstories.html?vp=1
snakefoot

climber
cali
Mar 10, 2014 - 03:05pm PT
^^^^not really, areas are supposed to be separate and i would have to say, the jumper blew it here. not hard to see a plane on the runway if you have eyes
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 10, 2014 - 04:11pm PT
One wouldn't think it a long term survival strategy to regularly land on an active runway.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 11, 2014 - 09:59pm PT
Nice posts all!

Snake, if I had known you were at Mesquite I would have ran up there, I haven't seen Brad and Co in a while.

Here's some more cave jumping, Cave of Swallows in Mexico.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
cali
Mar 12, 2014 - 01:30pm PT
vegas climber,
no worries. i make guest appearances more often than not. will update if i get back there.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 16, 2014 - 05:33pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Mar 18, 2014 - 12:12pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Mar 20, 2014 - 11:19am PT
This afternoon, I'm going to jump with the Canadian military demo team, the "Skyhawks". They needed some volunteer meat sacks to train tandems. Sometimes the perks of my job are kinda cool.

Make sure you pack that thing right, eh budday?

And you firearms enthusiasts? Please don't shoot at us, that's their canopy not Pass the Penis Pete's ledge up there:


snakefoot

climber
cali
Mar 21, 2014 - 01:17am PT
birds of a feather, over norcal....

Roxy

Trad climber
CA Central Coast
Mar 24, 2014 - 05:12pm PT

so like this clip caught my eye...


"Roberta Mancino is an Italian renaissance woman: she skydives, she BASE jumps, she wingsuits, she swims with sharks and other large sea creatures, and when he has a free moment she does a bit of modeling, too."


cf. http://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/this-beautiful-wingsuit-pilot-likes-to-take-her-clothes-off-|-robertalicious-ep-4/274997



TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 4, 2014 - 03:38pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10742854/Meteorite-narrowly-misses-Norwegian-skydiver.html
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 12, 2014 - 04:08pm PT
More federal stupidity!


http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/aerial-robots/search-and-rescue-drones-grounded#.U0hYu-xBkHk.reddit

snakefoot

climber
cali
Apr 15, 2014 - 01:11am PT
just another day not at the office

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 15, 2014 - 01:49am PT
Are you like Devo of the air?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 22, 2014 - 03:07pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Apr 25, 2014 - 01:04am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
perswig

climber
Apr 26, 2014 - 05:07pm PT
From the Augusta, Maine, airport (AUG).






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Van_Meter

Dale

snakefoot

climber
cali
May 14, 2014 - 01:59pm PT
a day among friends



Roxy

Trad climber
CA Central Coast
Jun 10, 2014 - 09:45am PT

so yesterday after work I go to see a guy (Dale) about an unfinished wooden kayak that he keeps in his hangar (my potential summer project) and he ends up taking me flying!!

For you pilots out there you might enjoy this epic tale of how Dale got his nickname "pinetree". It's a great read!

cf. http://www.lownslowpilot.com/2014/04/27/call-me-pinetree/




Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2014 - 03:19pm PT
Nice share, love seeing the old private birds still flying.
squishy

Mountain climber
Jun 16, 2014 - 09:24am PT
Fun with dones...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 26, 2014 - 01:48pm PT
another mix of exits on nice colorado days



Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 26, 2014 - 02:26pm PT
Been checking out the A380-800 I'm about to go on and at its Max Landing Wt
of 869,000 pounds it turns out that each of its 22 wheels bears 20 tons!
And that is the static load! I'm thinking they don't get the tires from Pep Boys.
Did I mention it can carry 250 TONS of fuel?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 27, 2014 - 03:36pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Jun 29, 2014 - 12:27pm PT

My son upside down in a vintage Russian Yak airplane!!!
snakefoot

climber
cali
Jun 30, 2014 - 09:26am PT
yes Heisenberg. and not charlie, the other.
squishy

Mountain climber
Jul 7, 2014 - 10:04am PT
dramatic helicopter rescue footage, pretty interesting..

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cc6_1404626090
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2014 - 10:40am PT
WOW all, 900 posts. Thanks to each and every one of you for making this an amazing thread!
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 30, 2014 - 05:11pm PT
Unfortunately no pictures from my latest episode in flying!

I was on a training flight from Casper (KCPR) to Buffalo (KBYG) Sunday evening as a navigational exercise, and for some beautiful scenery along the Bighorns. On my return leg, around Kaycee, the oil pressure warning indicator began flashing, and the oil pressure had dropped into the yellow. I was approximately 35 minutes out from KCPR so I had to "baby" the airplane along to get as much altitude as possible without overheating the engine. As I proceeded by following I-25 so I would have an emergency landing available--on a frontage road, ranch turnoff, or as a final option either the /southbound lane (not much traffic) or the median. Thankfully didn't need it once the field was in sight and I was finally within gliding distance of the airport, still at 8,300' msl. We radioed the tower with an advisory of possible engine failure being imminent, but didn't declare an emergency. I made a 3,000' descent in less than 5 miles and landed on the downwind runway (had a 7-10 knot tailwind), but managed a decent landing. The fire rescue truck was standing by "just in case."

My engine suffered a ruptured oil cooler, and dumped approximately 8 quarts of oil in around 25 minutes. I still had the requisite 2 3/4 quarts remaining in the engine and it never overheated, so the engine is "OK." Another 5 or 10 minutes and I would have been doing an emergency off field landing for real, or buying a remanufactured Lycoming O-540 for $35,000.

All's well that ends well. Gulp!

P.S.: The entire cowling and belly of the airplane was bathed in Aeroshell 15W-50 semisynthetic oil.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 30, 2014 - 05:29pm PT
Whoa! That could have been expensive! Glad you didn't have to 'land out'
as we say in the sailplane world. I thought that was a new engine?
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 30, 2014 - 06:44pm PT
Nope. It's the original engine with 1922 hours on it. The compressions and oil analyses are still great. I was flying with my instructor while working on my commercial certificate. I've completed all the cross country and PIC requirements, and we were simply working on various methods of navigation. Not. Fun! The A & Ps all think I've still got maybe 200-300 hours still usable time. The Lycoming O-540 is renowned for it's longevity beyond TBO.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 31, 2014 - 05:43pm PT
http://xbradtc.com/2014/07/30/a-10-hawgs-new-role-as-a-storm-chasing-aircraft/
snakefoot

climber
cali
Aug 1, 2014 - 07:52am PT
slick tracking with friends
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
Aug 24, 2014 - 02:28pm PT
P.S.: The entire cowling and belly of the airplane was bathed in Aeroshell 15W-50 semisynthetic oil.

hahaha, that was a normal flight in my fathers Stearman, that old radial would dump a quart an hour, most of it on the belly.

Glad you didn't ruin an engine

On a lighter note, here is a note a child handed to the crew on a Quantas flight

TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 25, 2014 - 07:53pm PT
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/5c95d45f86a5

F’d: How the U.S. and Its Allies Got Stuck with the World’s Worst New Warplane

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was meant to improve the U.S. air arsenal but has made it more vulnerable instead

From all the recent sounds of celebrating coming out of Washington, D.C., you might think the Pentagon’s biggest, priciest and most controversial warplane development had accelerated right past all its problems.

The price tag —currently an estimated $1 trillion to design, build and operate 2,400 copies—is steadily going down. Production of dozens of the planes a year for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps is getting easier. Daily flight tests increasingly are hitting all the right marks.

Or so proponents would have you believe.

“The program appears to have stabilized,” Michael Sullivan from the Government Accountability Office told Congress. “I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen,” chimed in Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the program on the government side. When War is Boring asked Lockheed spokesman Laura Siebert about the F-35, she said she expected a “much more positive” article than usual owing to what she described as the program’s “significant progress.”

But the chorus of praise is wrong.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — a do-it-all strike jet being designed by Lockheed Martin to evade enemy radars, bomb ground targets and shoot down rival fighters — is as troubled as ever. Any recent tidbits of apparent good news can’t alter a fundamental flaw in the plane’s design with roots going back decades.

Owing to heavy design compromises foisted on the plane mostly by the Marine Corps, the F-35 is an inferior combatant, seriously outclassed by even older Russian and Chinese jets that can fly faster and farther and maneuver better. In a fast-moving aerial battle, the JSF “is a dog … overweight and underpowered,” according to Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Project on Government Oversight in Washington, D.C.

And future enemy planes, designed strictly with air combat in mind, could prove even deadlier to the compromised JSF.

It doesn’t really matter how smoothly Lockheed and the government’s work on the new warplane proceeds. Even the best-manufactured JSF is a second-rate fighter where it actually matters — in the air, in life-or-death combat against a determined foe. And that could mean a death sentence for American pilots required to fly the vulnerable F-35.

The U.S. Air Force’s F-35 fighter jet launched its first in-flight missile

The F-35's inferiority became glaringly obvious five years ago in a computer simulation run by John Stillion and Harold Scott Perdue, two analysts at RAND, a think tank in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1948, RAND maintains close ties to the Air Force. The air arm provides classified data, and in return RAND games out possible war scenarios for government planners.

In Stillion and Perdue’s August 2008 war simulation, a massive Chinese air and naval force bore down on Beijing’s longtime rival Taiwan amid rising tensions in the western Pacific. A sudden Chinese missile barrage wiped out the tiny, outdated Taiwanese air force, leaving American jet fighters based in Japan and Guam to do battle with Beijing’s own planes and, hopefully, forestall a bloody invasion.

In the scenario, 72 Chinese jets patrolled the Taiwan Strait. Just 26 American warplanes — the survivors of a second missile barrage targeting their airfields — were able to intercept them, including 10 twin-engine F-22 stealth fighters that quickly fired off all their missiles.

That left 16 of the smaller, single-engine F-35s to do battle with the Chinese. As they began exchanging fire with the enemy jets within the mathematical models of the mock conflict, the results were shocking.

America’s newest stealth warplane and the planned mainstay of the future Air Force and the air arms of the Navy and Marine Corps, was no match for Chinese warplanes. Despite their vaunted ability to evade detection by radar, the JSFs were blown out of the sky. “The F-35 is double-inferior,” Stillion and Perdue moaned in their written summary of the war game, later leaked to the press.

‘Can’t turn, can’t climb, can’t run’

The analysts railed against the new plane, which to be fair played only a small role in the overall simulation. “Inferior acceleration, inferior climb [rate], inferior sustained turn capability,” they wrote. “Also has lower top speed. Can’t turn, can’t climb, can’t run.” Once missiles and guns had been fired and avoiding detection was no longer an option — in all but the first few seconds of combat, in other words — the F-35 was unable to keep pace with rival planes.

And partly as a result, the U.S. lost the simulated war. Hundreds of computer-code American air crew perished. Taiwan fell to the 1s and 0s representing Chinese troops in Stillion and Perdue’s virtual world. Nearly a century of American air superiority ended among the wreckage of simulated warplanes, scattered across the Pacific.

In a September 2008 statement Lockheed shot back against the war game’s results, insisting the F-35 was capable of “effectively meeting” the “aggressive operational challenges” presented in the Taiwan scenario. RAND backed away from the report, claiming it was never about jet-to-jet comparisons, and Stillion and Perdue soon left the think tank. Stillion is now at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank in Washington, D.C. Perdue currently works for Northrop Grumman.

Steve O’Bryan, a Lockheed vice president and former fighter pilot, targeted the war game analysis and its authors. “It was policy people who did that report, [people] with no airplane experience,” O’Bryan said, adding that many critics of the F-35 “are people who are self-proclaimed experts who live in their mom’s basement and wear slippers to work.”

But Stillion and Perdue are both veteran aviators. Stillion flew in RF-4 recon planes and Perdue in F-15s during the Gulf War. “I don’t live in my mom’s basement,” Perdue said.

Even if its results were disputable, the 2008 war game should have been a wake-up call. Since the mid-1990s the Pentagon has utterly depended on the F-35 to replenish its diminishing arsenal of warplanes built mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. If there’s even a small chance the new plane can’t fight, the Pentagon should be very, very worried.

Indeed, the military should have been concerned more than 40 years ago.

“What you have to understand is that problems with the F-35 are the result of pathological decision-making patterns that go back at least to the 1960s,” explained Chuck Spinney, a retired Defense Department analyst and whistleblower whom one senator called the “conscience of the Pentagon.”

Among the pathologies inherent in the F-35's design, by far the most damaging is the result of a peculiar institutional obsession by one of the new plane’s three main customers. Early on, the Marine Corps contrived to equip the JSF as a “jump jet,” able to take off and land vertically like a helicopter — a gimmick that the Marines have long insisted would make its fighters more flexible, but which has rarely worked in combat.

The JSF comes in three variants — one each for the Air Force, Navy and Marines — all sharing a mostly common fuselage, engine, radar and weapons. The wings and vertical-takeoff gear vary between models.
F-16 Fighting Falcon

Altogether the three F-35 variants are meant to replace around a dozen older plane types from half a dozen manufacturers, ranging from the Air Force’s maneuverable, supersonic F-16 to the slow-flying, heavily armored A-10 and, most consequentially, the Marines’ AV-8B Harrier, an early-generation jump jet whose unique flight characteristics do not blend well with those of other plane types.

Engineering compromises forced on the F-35 by this unprecedented need for versatility have taken their toll on the new jet’s performance. Largely because of the wide vertical-takeoff fan the Marines demanded, the JSF is wide, heavy and has high drag, and is neither as quick as an F-16 nor as toughly constructed as an A-10. The jack-of-all-trades JSF has become the master of none.

And since the F-35 was purposely set up as a monopoly, replacing almost every other warplane in the Pentagon’s inventory, there are fewer and fewer true alternatives. In winning the 2001 competition to build the multipurpose JSF, Lockheed set a course to eventually becoming America’s sole active builder of new-generation jet fighters, leaving competitors such as Boeing pushing older warplane designs.

Which means that arguably the worst new jet fighter in the world, which one Australian military analyst-turned-politician claimed would be “clubbed like baby seals” in combat, could soon also be America’s only new jet fighter.

Where once mighty American warplanes soared over all others, giving Washington a distinct strategic advantage against any foe, in coming decades the U.S. air arsenal will likely be totally outclassed on a plane-by-plane basis by any country possessing the latest Russian and Chinese models — one of which, ironically, appears to be an improved copy of the JSF … minus all its worst design elements.

If the unthinkable happens and sometime in the next 40 years a real war — as opposed to a simulation — breaks out over Taiwan or some other hot spot, a lot of U.S. jets could get shot down and a lot of American pilots killed. Battles could be lost. Wars could be forfeit.

A U.S. plane burns following a Japanese attack on Guadalcanal in 1942.

World war origins

The oldest of the roughly 50 F-35 prototypes currently in existence is barely seven years old, having flown for the first time in December 2006. But the new plane’s design origins stretch back much farther, to a time before China was a rising world power — and even before jet engines. In many ways, America’s new, universal jet was born in the confusion, chaos and bloodshed of World War II’s jungle battlefields.

In August 1942 a force of U.S. Marines stormed ashore on Guadalcanal, part of the Solomons island chain in the South Pacific. Less than a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. and its allies were still fighting a defensive action against Japanese forces. The Guadalcanal landing was meant to blunt Tokyo’s advance.

But the lightly-equipped Marines ended up surrounded and all but abandoned after Japanese ships wiped out a portion of the Allied fleet. The Navy withdrew its precious aircraft carriers, and for months the Japanese planes, opposed by only a handful of Marine fighters flying from a crude beachhead airstrip, pounded the hapless Americans.

Robert Leckie, a Marine rifleman on Guadalcanal, described one of his squadmates breaking under the strain. The rattled Marine grabbed a light machine gun — a totally ineffective weapon against airplanes — and charged against a strafing Japanese Zero fighter. “He could not bear huddling in the pit while the Jap [sic] made sport of us,” Leckie wrote in his memoir Helmet for my Pillow.

Luckily, the Marine survived his nearly suicidal confrontation with the Zero. But as an organization, the Marine Corps was forever changed by its exposure on Guadalcanal. “The lesson learned was that the U.S. Marine Corps needed to be able to bring its air power with it over the beach because the large-deck Navy aircraft carriers might not always be there,” said Ben Kristy, an official Marine historian.

In the 1950s and ‘60s the Corps bought hundreds of helicopters, a new invention at the time. But what it really wanted was a fighter plane that could launch from the same amphibious assault ships that hauled Marine ground troops. These big assault ships had flat helicopter flight deck areas, but with neither the catapults nor the runway length to support the big, high-performance planes favored by the Navy.

The Marines wanted a “jump jet” capable of taking off from these helicopter decks with a short rolling takeoff and returning to land vertically, lighter because of all the fuel it had burned.

Besides launching from amphibious ships, the new planes were touted to fly in support of ground troops from so-called “lilypads” —100 foot concrete patches supposedly quickly installed near the front lines.

The concept became known to engineers as Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) or Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL). It was subject to extensive, crash-plagued experimentation throughout the early years of the jet age — every STOVL or V/STOL prototype from 1946 to 1966 crashed. “USMC interest in a working V/STOL attack aircraft outstripped the state of aeronautical technology,” Kristy pointed out.

Then in the late ‘60s a British company invented a new jet with complex, rotating engine nozzles that could point downward to provide vertical lift, allowing it to launch from short airstrips or small ships. The Marines fell blindly in love with this temperamental new plane, nicknamed Harrier after a low-flying hawk, and schemed to acquire it for their own air wings.

The Navy was the biggest obstacle. The sailing branch controls the Marines’ weapons funding and was not keen to invest in a single-use airplane that only the Corps wanted. At the time the Navy was working with the Air Force on the F-111, an early attempt at a one-size-fits-all jet that the Pentagon believed would replace nearly all older planes with a single, multipurpose model.

Thanks to what Kristy described as “very, very shrewd political maneuvering,” a small group of Marine officers alternately convinced and tricked Congress, the Navy and the U.S. aerospace industry into taking a chance on the Harrier. The Corps ended up buying more than 400 of the compact planes through the 1990s.

But the Harrier, so appealing in theory, has been a disaster in practice. Fundamentally, the problem is one of lift. A plane taking off vertically gets no lift from the wings. All the flight forces must come from the downward engine blast. Forcing the motor to do all the work results in three design drawbacks: a big, hot engine with almost no safety margin; an unsafe airframe that must be thinly built with tiny wings in order to keep the plane’s weight less than the down-thrust of the engine; and minimal fuel and weapons load, also to save weight.

As a result, in vertical mode the Harrier carries far fewer bombs than conventional fighters and also lacks their flying range. And the concentrated downward blast of the Harrier’s vertical engine nozzles melts asphalt and kicks up engine-destroying dirt, making it impossible to operate from roads or even manicured lawns.

In the 1991 Gulf War, the front-line concrete lily pads never showed up, so the jump jet had to fly from distant full-size bases or assault ships. With their very limited fuel, they were lucky to be able to put in five or 10 minutes supporting Marines on the ground — and they proved tremendously vulnerable to machine guns and shoulder-fired missiles.

Even when it isn’t launching and landing vertically or being shot at, the Harrier is delicate and hard to fly owing to the complex vertical-flight controls and the minimal lift and maneuverability of the tiny wings. By the early 2000s a full third of all Harriers had been destroyed in crashes, killing 45 Marines.

“The Harrier was based on a complete lie,” said Pierre Sprey, an experienced fighter engineer whose design credits include the nimble F-16 and the tank-killing A-10. “The Marines simply concocted it because they wanted their own unique airplane and wanted to convert amphibious ships into their own private carriers.”

And the Corps stuck with the V/STOL concept for the same pathological reasons. With the crash-prone Harriers dwindling in number and showing their age, in the early ‘80s the Marines started working with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s high-tech dreamers on R&D for a new jump jet. One that had to be supersonic and had to evade radar detection in addition to launching vertically — in essence, tripling down on the Harrier’s false promise by piling on additional requirements that were all “grossly incompatible,” according to Sprey.

After a decade funding Lockheed design and wind tunnel work, mostly through DARPA’s unauditable “black” money, the dreamers concluded that the best way to push a V/STOL jet to supersonic speed was to replace the rotating engine nozzles with a dual system combining a single, rearward-thrusting engine plus a second engine, called a lift fan, installed horizontally in the mid-fuselage.

New but unproven concept in hand, in the early 1990s the Marines emerged into the light to urge Congress to start a mega-procurement program for their supersonic, stealthy jump jet.
Jump jet 2.0

In 1993 and 1994, the Navy and Air Force also wanted new jet fighter designs — ones with the same radar-evading characteristics of the new F-117 stealth fighter and B-2 stealth bomber. As chance would have it, all three jet-operating military branches approached Congress at roughly the same time asking for tens of billions of dollars to develop and buy new planes.

“Congress said we couldn’t afford that,” said Lt. Gen. Harold Blot, a Harrier pilot who headed Marine aviation in the mid-’90s. Lawmakers asked Blot and other aviation chiefs whether the three services could combine their new fighters into one universal model.
A V/STOL F-35B tests its vertical flight capability in 2011. Lockheed Martin photo

Such jets had a spotty past: some worked; most didn’t. The F-111, the universal fighter from the 1960s, had grown too complicated, heavy and expensive as each branch piled on equipment; only the Air Force ended up buying it — and only a few hundred of the 1,500 copies originally planned.

The less complex F-4, however, began as a Navy fighter and was eventually adopted by the Air Force and Marines as well, serving through Vietnam and the Cold War. Congress was hoping to duplicate the F-4's relative success in the 21st century, equipping all the military branches with new, radar-evading jets and saving money in the process.

But the concept for the new universal plane, known early on as the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter, included a fatal flaw. Where the F-4 had been a conventional plane taking off and landing from runways, CALF (soon renamed Joint Advanced Strike Technology) would be a STOVL plane — because the Marines insisted. “We’re on a 40-year path to get an airplane that’s more responsive,” Blot explained. And to the Corps, that meant a jump jet.

Despite the history of failures, Congress bought into the idea of a universal stealth fighter that was also STOVL. But legislators’ embrace of the risky concept did not take place in a vacuum. It was, in part, the outcome of a focused influence campaign by the Lockheed, the company most likely to win the competition to build the new plane.

Lockheed had made its name building specialized interceptors, spy planes and bombers. The F-117, the world’s first operational stealth warplane, was a Lockheed product. An aggressive campaign of corporate acquisitions also brought Sprey’s bestselling F-16 into the Lockheed fold. Those programs positioned Lockheed to make a huge grab for greater market share.

Meanwhile, the company’s secret tests for the fringe-science DARPA, meant to prove that a STOVL jet could also fly faster than the speed of sound, provided the basis for the company’s pitch for the universal jet fighter.

Granted, the tests had produced plenty of theories but no working hardware. “The technologies available were not yet advanced enough,” was the government’s official conclusion. But Lockheed spun the experiments as stepping stones to a supersonic jump jet that could also be adapted to suit the Air Force and Navy’s needs.

With just one swappable component — the downward-blasting second engine — a single airplane design could do the jobs of the Marines’ vertical-launching Harrier and of the faster, farther-flying conventional planes of the Navy and Air Force.

Convinced by Lockheed and DARPA that the universal STOVL jet concept could work, in 1996 Congress directed the Pentagon to organize a contest to build the new plane. General Dynamics, Boeing and Lockheed drew up blueprints but Lockheed, having worked with DARPA since the ‘80s, clearly had the advantage. “It wasn’t truly competitive,” Sprey said of the new fighter contest. “The other companies were way behind the curve.”

General Dynamics, whose main airplane-making division had been bought by Lockheed, dropped out of the competition. Boeing cobbled together an ungainly supersonic prototype called the X-32 whose gaping engine inlet resembled a grouper in mid-swallow. Rushed, amateurish and overweight, the X-32 was an ungainly thing.

But it flew — barely — starting in September 2000. For the critical vertical-takeoff test the following June, Boeing engineers had to strip off non-critical parts to get the weight down — a glaring flaw the company took pains to keep from the press, but couldn’t hide from government referees.

Lockheed’s X-35 was less of a disaster. Sleeker and more efficient than the Boeing plane thanks to Lockheed’s two-decade head start, the faster-than-sound X-35 needed no help taking off vertically for the first time in June 2001. And on the afternoon of Oct. 26, Pete Aldridge, the military’s top weapons buyer, stepped up to a podium in the Pentagon briefing room and announced that Lockheed had won the $19-billion contract to begin developing what was now known as the Joint Strike Fighter.

As Aldridge spoke, 2,600 miles away at a top-secret facility in Palmdale, California, 200 Lockheed engineers whooped and cheered. They had every reason to celebrate. The Pentagon wanted thousands of copies of the JSF to start entering Marine, Navy and Air Force service in 2010, replacing nearly every other jet fighter in the military arsenal — in other words, a monopoly. Once production was factored in, the program was expected to cost at least $200 billion.

Even adjusted for two decades of inflation, that estimate would turn out to be hopelessly, outrageously, low. Among other problems, the fundamental flaws of the STOVL concept inexorably crept into the JSF’s 20-year development, adding delays, complexity and cost.
Fatal flaw

Where the Harrier has its rotating engine nozzles for downward thrust, the F-35 has a new kind of vertical-lift system combining a hinged main engine nozzle at the back of the plane that points directly backward until the pilot shifts into hover mode, at which point the nozzle swivels 90 degrees to point down.
Marine Corps Harriers practice operations from a Navy ship in March. Navy photo

Simultaneously, a complicated system of shafts, gears and doors activates to reveal the horizontal lift fan installed in the center of the aircraft just behind the cockpit. Together the fan and nozzle produce more than 40,000 pounds of thrust, enough to lift the nearly 20-ton aircraft straight up off the ground like a gargantuan dragonfly.

The lift fan, devised by Lockheed and DARPA in the early 1980s, was the only workable solution that anyone had come up with to give a plane vertical capability plus supersonic speed and radar-evading stealth, the last of which demands an airplane with a smooth outline and nothing hanging or protruding from it.

But this mix of characteristics came at a price to all three F-35 models, even the two that don’t need to take off vertically. “The STOVL requirements have dictated most if not all of the cardinal design elements for all three aircraft,” said Peter Goon, an analyst with the Air Power Australia think tank.

The addition of a lift fan to the baseline F-35 design started a cascade of problems that made it heavier, slower, more complex, more expensive and more vulnerable to enemy attack — problems that were evident in the 2008 war game set over Taiwan.

Of course Lockheed exec O’Bryan rejected that assessment, claiming the JSF’s stealth, sensors and aerodynamics make it superior to other planes. “It’s not rocket science,” he insisted.

But in many ways the JSF did become rocket science as it grew more complex. The original X-35 from 2001 had the advantage of being strictly a test plane with no need to carry weapons. But the frontline F-35 needs weapons. And to maintain the smooth shape that’s best for avoiding detection by radar, the weapons need to be carried inside internal bomb bays. Bomb bays would normally go along an airplane’s centerline, but the F-35's center is reserved for the 50-inch-diameter lift fan. Hence Sprey’s claim that STOVL and stealth are incompatible.

To keep down costs all three JSF variants — the Air Force’s basic F-35A, the Marines’ vertical-takeoff F-35B and the Navy F-35C with a bigger wing for at-sea carrier landings — share essentially the same fuselage. And to fit both the F-35B’s lift fan and the bomb bays present in all three models, the “cross-sectional area” of the fuselage has to be “quite a bit bigger than the airplanes we’re replacing,” conceded Lockheed exec Tom Burbage, who retired this year as head of the company’s F-35 efforts.

The extra width violates an important aerospace design principle called the “area rule,” which encourages narrow, cylindrical fuselages for best aerodynamic results. The absence of area rule on the F-35 — again, a knock-on effect of the Marines’ demand for a lift fan — increases drag and consequently decreases acceleration, fuel efficiency and flying range. Thus critics’ assertion that supersonic speed can’t be combined with STOVL and stealth, the latter of which are already incompatible with each other.

“We’re dealing with the laws of physics,” Burbage said in his company’s defense when word got out about the JSF’s performance downgrades.

But the hits kept coming, chipping away at the F-35's ability to fight. The addition of the lift fan forces the new plane to have just one rearward engine instead of two carried by many other fighters. (Two engines is safer.) The bulky lift fan, fitted into the fuselage just behind the pilot, blocks the rear view from the cockpit — a shortcoming that one F-35 test pilot said would get the new plane “gunned every time.” That is, shot down in any aerial dogfight by enemy fighters you can’t see behind you.

O’Bryan said the JSF’s sensors, including fuselage-mounted video cameras that scan 360 degrees around the plane, more than compensate for the limited rearward view. Critics countered that the video resolution is far worse than the naked eye and completely inadequate for picking up the distant, tiny, minimal contrast dots in the sky that represent deadly fighter threats ready to kill you.

But there are plenty of other problems with the F-35 — some related the airplane’s layout, some stemming from inexperienced subcontractors and still others resulting from poor oversight by a succession of short-tenure government managers whose major contributions were to grow the bureaucracy involved in the F-35's development.

Lockheed’s F-117 stealth fighter was developed in a breakneck 30 months by a close-knit team of 50 engineers led by an experienced fighter designer named Alan Brown and overseen by seven government employees. Brown said he exercised strict control over the design effort, nixing any proposed feature of the plane that might add cost or delay or detract from its main mission.

The F-35, by contrast, is being designed by some 6,000 engineers led by a rotating contingent of short-tenure managers, with no fewer than 2,000 government workers providing oversight. The sprawling JSF staff, partially a product of the design’s complexity, has also added to that complexity like a bureaucratic feedback loop, as every engineer or manager scrambles to add his or her specialty widget, subsystem or specification to the plane’s already complicated blueprints … and inexperienced leaders allow it.

“The F-35 — that whole thing has gotten away from us as a country,” lamented Brown, now retired.

Many of the JSF’s problems converged in 2004, when Lockheed was forced to admit that the Marines’ F-35B variant was greatly overweight, owing in part to the addition of the lift fan. Ironically, the fan and other vertical-launch gear threatened to make the new plane too heavy to take off vertically.

“The short takeoff/vertical landing variant would need to lose as much as 3,000 pounds to meet performance requirements,” Lockheed manager Robert Elrod revealed in an annual report. Panicked, Lockheed poured more people, time and money (billed to the government) into a redesign effort that eventually shaved off much of the extra weight — basically by removing safety gear and making fuselage parts thinner and less tough.

O’Bryan said the weight reduction ultimately benefited all three F-35 variants. But the redesigned JSF, while somewhat lighter and more maneuverable, is also less durable and less safe to fly. In particular, the elimination of 11 pounds’ worth of valves and fuses made the JSF 25-percent more likely to destroyed when struck by enemy fire , according to Pentagon analysis.

Problems multiplied. Originally meant to cost around $200 billion to develop and buy nearly 2,900 planes expected to make their combat debut as early as 2010, the F-35's price steadily rose and its entry into service repeatedly slipped to the right. Today the cost to develop and manufacture 2,500 of the new planes — a 400-jet reduction — has ballooned to nearly $400 billion, plus another trillion dollars to maintain over five decades of use.

To help pay for the overruns, between 2007 and 2012 the Pentagon decommissioned nearly 500 existing A-10s, F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s — 15 percent of the jet fighter fleet — before any F-35s were ready to replace them. The first, bare-bones F-35s with half-complete software and only a few compatible weapons aren’t scheduled to make their combat debut until late 2015, the same year that Boeing is slated to stop making the 1990s-vintage F/A-18E/F, the only other in-production jet fighter being acquired by the Pentagon. (F-15s and F-16s are still being manufactured for foreign customers by Boeing and Lockheed, respectively.)

At the moment the first operational F-35 finally flies its first real-world sortie two years from now, it may truly represent an aerospace monopoly — that is, unless additional orders from the U.S. or abroad extend the F-15, F-16 or F/A-18 assembly lines. The JSF could be openly acknowledged as the worst fighter in the world and, in the worst case, still be the only new fighter available for purchase by the U.S. military.

Instead of revitalizing the Pentagon’s air arsenal as intended, the JSF is eating it — and putting future war strategy at risk. In 2012 an embarrassed Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, called the F-35 “acquisitions malpractice.”

But Kendall was referring only to the new plane’s delays and cost increases. He didn’t mention the more deadly flaw that had been revealed in Stillion and Perdue’s 2008 air-war simulation: that regardless of when and at what price the F-35 enters service, owing to its vertical-takeoff equipment the new fighter is the aerodynamic equivalent of a lobbed brick, totally outclassed by the latest Russian- and Chinese-made jets.

To add insult to strategic injury, one of the most modern Chinese prototype warplanes might actually be an illicit near-copy of the F-35 — albeit a more intelligent copy that wisely omits the most compromising aspects of the U.S. plane. It’s possible that in some future war, America’s JSFs could be shot down by faster, deadlier, Chinese-made JSF clones.
The F-35 that could have been

At least twice since 2007 Chinese hackers have stolen data on the F-35 from the developers’ poorly-guarded computer servers, potentially including detailed design specifications. Some of the Internet thieves “appear to be tied to the Chinese government and military,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel claimed.
The Chinese J-31 appears to be based on the F-35. Via Chinese Internet

The September 2012 debut of China’s latest jet fighter prototype, the J-31, seemed to confirm Hagel’s accusation. The new Chinese plane, built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, bears an uncanny external resemblance to the F-35: same twin tail fins, same chiseled nose, same wing shape. “It certainly looks like the Chinese got their hands on some [F-35] airframe data,” said Richard Aboulafia, a vice president at the Teal Group, an arms industry consultancy in Virginia.

But the J-31 lacks many of the features that were included in the F-35 “mainly or entirely because of STOVL,” according to Aviation Week writer and fighter expert Bill Sweetman.

Namely, the J-31 does not have a lift fan or even a space for a lift fan. The omission apparently allowed Chinese engineers to optimize the new plane for speed, acceleration, maneuverability and flying range — and to add good pilot visibility and a second rearward engine — instead of having to build the plane around a pretty much useless vertical-takeoff capability that slows it down, limits it to one motor and blocks the pilot’s view.

It could be that China doesn’t know how to build a working lift fan and that’s why they left it off, Aboulafia said. But for a country that has unveiled two different radar-evading stealth warplane prototypes in just the last two years, that seems unlikely. It’s more plausible that China could build a lift fan-equipped plane and has chosen not to.

The F-35 was compromised by, well, compromise. A warplane can be maneuverable like the F-16, tough like the A-10, stealthy like the F-117 or a STOVL model like the Harrier. A plane might even combine some of these qualities, as in the case of Lockheed’s nimble, radar-evading F-22. But it’s unrealistic to expect a single jet design to do everything with equal aplomb. Most of all, it’s foolish to believe a jet can launch and land vertically — a seriously taxing aerodynamic feat — and also do anything else well.

Jet design like any engineering practice requires disciplined choices. The JSF is the embodiment of ambivalence — a reflection of the government and Lockheed’s inability to say that some things could not or should not be done. “It’s not clear with the F-35 that we had a strong sense of what the top priority was — trying to satisfy the Marines, the Navy or the Air Force,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Ward, an expert in weapons acquisition who has been critical of complex, expensive development efforts.

By contrast, the Chinese J-31 does not appear compromised at all. Surrounded by rivals with powerful air forces — namely India, Russia, Japan and U.S. Pacific Command — and with no grudge-holding Marine Corps to hijack fighter design, it would make sense that China prioritized the air-combat prowess of its new jet over any historical score-settling.

That apparently apolitical approach to (admittedly illicit) warplane design appears to have paid dividends for the Shenyang-made jet. “With no lift fan bay to worry about, the designers have been able to install long weapon bays on the centerline,” Sweetman wrote. The centerline bay helps keep the J-31 skinny and therefore likely fast and maneuverable — in any event, faster and more maneuverable than the F-35, which in a decade’s time could be pretty much the only new U.S. jet the Chinese air force might face in battle.

If Stillion and Perdue’s simulation ever comes true and the U.S. goes to war with China in the air, F-35s dragged down by their lift fans could be knocked out of the sky by Chinese-made F-35 clones that are faster and more maneuverable, because they never had lift fans.

Sprey, the fighter engineer, said he expects the Pentagon to eventually come to terms with the unpleasant truth, that its new universal jet fighter with the foolhardy vertical-takeoff capability could spell the end of an epochal half-century in which America truly dominated the world’s skies. “My prediction is the F-35 will be such an embarrassment it will be cancelled before 500 are built,” he said.

Straus Military Reform Project Director Wheeler advocated replacing the F-35 with upgraded A-10s and F-16s pulled from desert storage plus new Navy F-18s fresh off the Boeing production line. These moves would “reverse the continuing decay in our air forces,” Wheeler claimed.

Ward said any future warplane should have clear and narrow requirements, as opposed to the F-35's broad, incompatible guidelines. Development timelines should be fast, budgets should be inexpensive, the overall concept should be simple and hardware should be as tiny as possible, Ward recommended. “What you don’t do is hold up complexity as a desirable attribute,” he said.

Sprey warned it could take years of expensive experimentation and a steep learning curve for American aerospace engineers to relearn the principles of sound fighter design that have been lost during the F-35's emerging monopoly — and that the only way to get there is to fund a series of inexpensive head-to-head competitions based on head-to-head mock dogfights between rival prototypes.

But that investment of time, talent and cost would be better than continuing with an over-budget, past-due warplane that can’t turn, can’t climb and can’t run because it’s hauling around a lift fan that makes Marines feel better about World War II but isn’t actually practical in the present day.

Replacing America’s useless, universal fighter would be a headache, according to Wheeler, but keeping it would be far worse. The F-35, he wrote, “will needlessly spill the blood of far too many of our pilots.”

Thanks to Angus Batey for assistance with this article.
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 25, 2014 - 08:03pm PT
Russia's new air force is a mystery
Why is Moscow buying three very similar jet fighters?
By Thomas Newdick, War is Boring | 9:34am ET

Russia's fleet is getting some new — and much improved — company. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

The Russian air force has just introduced three new jet fighters. Not the much-publicized Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter — which isn't ready yet — but three slightly different versions of the classic Su-27, all originating from the same Sukhoi design bureau but built by two separate manufacturers.

Yes, that's a bit odd — and potentially wasteful. The U.S. Air Force, for one, is buying just a single new fighter type, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The American air arm wants as many as 1,763 copies of the F-35A to replace most of its existing fighters and, in theory, maximize efficiency.

By contrast, Russia is acquiring just a few dozen each of the Su-30M2, Su-30SM, and Su-35S — each a different upgrade of the 1970s-vintage Sukhoi Su-27, known to NATO as the "Flanker." Moscow hasn't officially explained its jet fighter strategy, but it appears the purchases are meant to keep two factories in business amid a slump in warplane exports.

In any event, Russia is getting an interesting bunch of highly-capable new jet fighters to begin revamping the country's geriatric air force, composed mostly of planes built in the 1980s. As development of the stealthy T-50 dominates headlines, the introduction of these three new fighters has passed relatively unnoticed.

The Su-30M2 was the first to join the front-line ranks of the Russian air force — the first in-service photos appearing in December 2011, indicating deployment with the 6972nd Air Base at Krymsk in the southern region of Krasnodar.

The first three examples of the Su-30SM arrived at the 6982nd Air Base at Domna in November 2013. The Siberian base had as many as 10 Su-30SM fighters by the end of that year. A further 10 aircraft should arrive this year, equipping a full aviation regiment.

Meanwhile, this February the first operational Su-35S fighters entered service with the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment at the 6883rd Air Base at Dzemgi, in the Khabarovsk Territory in Russia's Far East.

Su-30M2

First of the new trio to enter operational service, the Su-30M2 is also the least sophisticated. It's a derivative of the two-seat, multi-role Su-30MKK developed for China by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, or KnAAPO, based in the Russian Far East.

The Su-30MKK is best understood as an upgrade of the existing two-seat Su-30 interceptor, albeit less sophisticated than the rival Su-30MK made by Irkut. It has provision for in-flight refueling and all-Russian avionics that bestow a multi-role capability, but it lacks the canard foreplanes and thrust-vectoring control engines of the Irkut Su-30MK.

After winning more Chinese orders — this time for the improved Su-30MK2 with anti-shipping capability — KnAAPO subsequently sold derivatives of the Su-30MK2 to Vietnam, Indonesia, Venezuela, and Uganda. A key recognition feature of the export Su-30MKK/MK2 and the Su-30M2 for home use are the flat-topped twin tailfins.

The Kremlin placed its initial order for the Su-30M2 in the summer of 2009. These aircraft share much in common with the Su-27SM3, a KnAAPO-built single-seat fighter with improved avionics, but otherwise having more in common with the first-generation Su-27.

The Defense Ministry ordered four Su-30M2s along with 12 Su-27SM3s, and we may presume that the two-seaters are meant to support their single-seat brethren in the combat training and, perhaps, all-weather strike roles.

Orders for the Su-30M2 apparently stand at 20 aircraft, although as of December 2013, only the first four jets have appeared in public.

Su-30SM

Very similar to the Su-30M2 in appearance, the Su-30SM is the product of a different and rival production plant — the Irkut Corporation, based at Irkutsk in Siberia and part of the United Aircraft Corporation that consolidates all of Russia's private and state-owned plane-makers.

The Su-30SM can best be seen as the Russian version of the Su-30MK, Irkut's runaway success on the export market that kicked off with sales to India, followed by orders from Malaysia and Algeria.

Compared to the Su-30MKK from KnAAPO, the Su-30MK was always a more capable proposition, incorporating not only a more advanced aerodynamic layout, but also the option of Western avionics. Export customers could take their pick from Russian, Ukrainian, French, Indian, and Israeli components.

Hallmarks of the Su-30MK that also appear in the Russian air force's Su-30SM include two seats, canard foreplanes and thrust-vectoring engines, both allied with a sophisticated fly-by-wire flight control system. Unlike the KnAAPO jets, the Irkut-built Su-30MK and Su-30SM feature distinctive cropped tail fins.

Russia's Defense Ministry placed a surprise order for the Su-30SM in March 2012. And in December that year the ministry doubled the initial request for 30 aircraft. Reports from the Russian media suggest that all 60 of these jets should be delivered by the end of 2015, although as of December 2013 only 16 aircraft had been handed over.

This February press reports indicted that the Defense Ministry plans to sign additional contracts worth $2 billion for the delivery of 50 more Su-30SMs. Interestingly, some, if not all, of these new fighters could end up in Russian navy service, with the first examples arriving before the end of 2015.

Compared to the export Su-30MKI, the "Russianized" Su-30SM replaces the Indian and Israeli avionics with Russian equivalents. Strangely however, most of the original French avionics — including the head-up display and navigation system — remain.

While the Su-30M2 uses the N001V radar — an evolution of the basic set in the original Su-27 — the Su-30SM has the far superior N011M Bars-R with passive electronically scanned array. One unique change compared to the export-optimized Su-30MK relates to the Su-30SM's ejection seats. These are stronger in order to cope with the heavier weight of Russian pilots.

Although we have yet to see the new-generation Sukhois carrying any truly advanced air-to-air weaponry in air force service, the Su-30SM should be able to launch the new RVV-SD beyond-visual-range missile and the short-range RVV-MD.

Su-35S

The Su-35S differs from the Su-30 family in being a single-seater. While its conceptual lineage traces back to Soviet efforts to improve the Su-27, today's Su-35 began development in the early 2000s.

In a bid to improve performance and combat capability, the KnAAPO-built Su-35 added a new airframe, avionics outfit, and powerplant. The Su-35 includes AL-41F1S engines with thrust vectoring, an advanced fly-by-wire system, and new optronic suite. The canard foreplanes are gone, since other aerodynamic refinements are sufficient to achieve super-maneuverability.

While Russia still hasn't introduced an active electronically scanned array radar — this will likely have to wait until the T-50 is ready — the Su-35S has the next best thing. The centerpiece of the avionics suite is the N135 Irbis, a follow-on to the Bars radar utilizing the same passive electronic technology.

Like the Russian air force's Su-30M2 and Su-30SM, the Su-35S was also originally meant as an export fighter, under the Su-35BM designation. The media has linked the Su-35 with a prospective sale to China, although in reality there is next to no evidence of any actual Chinese interest in such a deal.
Instead, Moscow stepped in and ordered the Su-35S version for its own air force in 2009. The Kremlin has received 22 aircraft as of February, 12 of which are with the first front-line unit at Dzemgi. Delivery of the first batch of 48 Su-35S fighters is likely to end in 2015. Another 48-aircraft order is likely. With its advanced equipment and capabilities, the Su-35S is perhaps the most realistic interim fighter pending the arrival of the stealthy T-50 in significant numbers. Reportedly capable of carrying the new 200-kilometer-range RVV-BD air-to-air missile, the Su-35S could also prove a viable successor to the Russian air force's aging fleet of MiG-31 interceptors.

A Russian enigma

Why does the Russian air force need three different variations on the advanced Flanker theme? It would be more efficient to focus on one version, but the fact that rival production centers are responsible for building the fighters complicates Moscow's calculations. As long as the Su-30 family was enjoying success on the export market, having two competing airframe-builders was not a problem. As the least capable of the three, the Su-30M2 demonstrates the least potential for future growth. Indeed, there have been suggestions that Russia acquired the Su-30M2 only after airframes became surplus following the collapse of a planned sale to China.

The Su-35 boasts more powerful engines, superior radar, and an advanced self-defense suite. On the other hand, the Su-30SM is more readily available, cheaper, and has the advantage of two crew members, rendering it suitable for more complex combat missions as well as advanced training.

And now, foreign sales are threatening to dry up entirely. The most significant export operators of the Su-30 series, India and China, are building up their fleets through licensed — in the case of China, unlicensed — production.

Malaysia has elected not to acquire more Su-30MKMs to meet its multi-role combat aircraft requirement and is now mulling a fighter lease option. Additional Indonesian orders are possible to replace veteran F-5s, but will not involve significant numbers.

Moscow has pushed domestic orders for the three different Sukhoi jets more than likely in order to prop up the business of Irkut and KnAAPO. At the same time, bringing these aircraft into Russian service could make them more attractive to foreign buyers. In particular, export sales of the Su-35 have long proved elusive.

Meanwhile, the Russian air force is badly in need of new fighters. The T-50 remains some years from service — and despite the highly positive media reports, there is little objective information on exactly how testing is going with the five flying prototypes.

Unlike with the American F-35, testing of the T-50 taking place outside of public view. But a recent leaked document discovered by long-term Russian aviation observer Piotr Butowski suggests that significant design revisions might be in the works.

The T-50's schedule has stretched farther and farther to the right. Originally planned for handover to the air force's Akhtubinsk flight test center for evaluation in 2014, recent announcements suggest this might now slip until the second half of 2016. This would derail plans to declare initial operational capability, and the start of full-scale production, at the end of 2016.

The best-case scenario would have seen 60 production T-50s delivered between 2016 and 2020, but this now seems a distant hope. As a result, the air force is badly in need of supplementary equipment.

Of the many hundreds of front-line fighters in Russian air force service, most are now seriously showing their age. The collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent economic crisis reduced production of combat aircraft to a trickle. Only in recent years has Moscow had the resources to buy meaningful numbers of new jets.

But while the three new Flankers represent a considerable advance in capabilities compared to their predecessors, the recent orders are still inadequate to wholly revamp the Russian air force. Even with dozens of new Su-30M2s, Su-30SMs, and Su-35Ss, the Kremlin's fighter fleet is simply too old.

The MiG-29, a lightweight complement to the Su-27, is in service in dwindling numbers, the most advanced examples being a single regiment of hand-me-down MiG-29SMTs rejected by Algeria. Heavyweight MiG-31s still occupy six front-line bases, but only a limited number have been upgraded to MiG-31BM standard — and there is no evidence that these have received their promised advanced new weapons.

With a planned upgrade for the MiG-29s having evaporated, and with a dedicated successor to the MiG-31 looking increasingly unlikely, it seems that the various products of the Sukhoi design bureau will have to defend Russian skies over the long term.

Whether Moscow will keep buying the Su-30M2, Su-30SM, and Su-35 at the same time remains to be seen. Russia's jet fighter future rests heavily on the fortunes of the T-50 project.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:03pm PT
Tom, good articles, the first particularly. There just ain't no damn free lunch, especially
aerodynamically, is there? Harriers sucked, the newer ones only less so. A friend of mine
was surely among those 200 Lockheed engineers who cheered the JSF announcement. I'll
have to ask him if he's read this article. Pretty sure he'll give me his standard answer when I
try to get him to talk shop, "Pour me another drink."

I see some soft spots in that Rand scenario, I hope. The chief being that I do put much stock
in our radar and weapons guidance superiority. I'm not sure how much value that received in
the gamers' eyes. I also don't think the Chinese would be able to get that significant of a drop
on us; I still think our intel is pretty good. It also sounds like they didn't game any use of Wild
Weasels, or AWACS. And when don't we have a carrier group not far from the South
China Sea? Finally, I'll take our guys against any damn rice-burners, no matter what they're
flying. I remember one exercise some years ago when three F-15's took out 15 Indians in
Mig-29's if I recall. Maybe not the same but I think we would still have a 3:1 kill ratio, at least.
Brits and Israelis are the only guys who come close to us. OK, maybe the odd German. ;-)
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:11pm PT
Israelis pilots seem to think they have it up on our guys...certainly lots of real experience


Both the Russians and Chinese seem to have figured out the importance of decapitating our AWACS and E6Bs first
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:26pm PT
Tom, I don't care what they think, the Israelis always do well at Red Flag.
You can't argue with success. :-) Russkies and Chinese just don't know how
to act independently.

As to the bad guys going for the AWACs, a lot of 'em are gonna go down tryin'. :-)
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2014 - 10:57pm PT
Time to take this back to jumpin' haha.

Finally got to jump in Hawaii during our honeymoon....after 7 years out of the sky unfortunately it wasn't on my own but man I missed being out of the door and on the hill...a little too much to be honest. But the wife draws the line at me going back to jumping and I don't blame her. The TM was nice enough to let me do my own turns at least.

Mine is right at pull time, hers of course is miles more photogenic. I got paired up with some cranky kid that didn't know he was hot turning the load. So she got the good shots. But the jump was great, the views were way better then the desert that I'm used to seeing in free fall, and I wonder how I can sneak out to the DZ next weekend....



TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 3, 2014 - 12:30pm PT







http://www.slashgear.com/this-robot-bird-of-prey-is-designed-to-scare-real-birds-03344318/
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Sep 3, 2014 - 03:07pm PT
Reilly,

I think the RAF usually does very well during Red Flag. In fact I think it's not unusual for the hosts to get spanked by the visitors.

A quick tour of Youtube would rapidly indicate that the USAF is not the be all and end all of combat flying...

Tally Ho!

Steve
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 3, 2014 - 05:39pm PT
Way back in ancient times when I was still in Jr High one of my friends wanted to show me this cool gadget his next door neighbor had given him.

It looked like an ordinary transistor case with glass where the top should be and a couple of extra leads.

He had it breadboarded with a couple of meters hooked up to it. with it at one end of the garage it could predict which of four quadrants one of us was holding a lit match in. Then we figured out that a little closer and all the gadget needed was the heat of your hand.


It was a reject sensor from one of these.

http://xbradtc.com/2014/09/03/fox-2/

Far cry from what the 9X version is capable of

[Click to View YouTube Video]


Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Sep 4, 2014 - 04:13am PT
Tom-

Sounds as you're right on the mark w/r to the F35 program. But, it's unfortunately the way our military geniuses seem to do things; whether it's the equipment loaded onto a grunt carrying a rifle, or a sophisticated multimillion dollar apiece airplane/a.k.a. weapon system, they always overload the requirements and thereby exceed the carrying capacity of the entire system. There just isn't any "one size fits all" airplane, given the diversity of roles. Old saying comes to mind: "Jack of All Trades, Master of None."

My personal "take" is similar to that expressed in the article: the entire program will be cancelled before 400-500 are built. Give them ALL to the Marines, and then let the AF and Navy pick their own "new toys." There would be nothing wrong with an upgraded F18 Hornet, IMHO. Just so Lockheed won't feel left out, upgrades of the purportedly excellent F22 would be a better investment for the AF.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Sep 19, 2014 - 04:18pm PT
Don't know if this has been posted yet..

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2014 - 05:04pm PT
I don't think it was, SLR. Thanks for posting it up, just saw it myself yesterday! Badass.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Sep 19, 2014 - 05:51pm PT
AS IF it wasn't bad enough that dogs can lick their balls and I can't, and now dogs are flying wingsuits.

Depressing.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 1, 2014 - 05:14pm PT
You can't beat the low altitude flying record,

but you can tie it


[Click to View YouTube Video]
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Oct 8, 2014 - 10:02pm PT
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Oct 9, 2014 - 06:58am PT
TGT
There was no excuse for that F-16 pilot.
What a dumb ass.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 10, 2014 - 05:09pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2014 - 05:14pm PT
Holy christ on a crutch....nice share TGT! Talk about pucker factor.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 10, 2014 - 05:56pm PT
The best part is where the replacement plane's nose wheel collapsed and still
most of the pax got on the third plane. Hey, what major leaguer wouldn't
be proud to bat .333?

Back then you actually had pilots who knew something about flying. If you
want to see what kind of clowns are flying you today, even if you don't fly
Asiana, get a hold of the October issue of Vanity Fair. Don't snicker,
their aviation writer might be the best in the business. He comes from
aviation royalty and he knows what he's talking about. Anyway, his analysis
of the Air France 447 crash two years ago off of Brasil is some chilling reading.
Those Air France boys weren't any better than those Asiana clowns. They're
all so reliant on letting the airplane fly itself now they are helpless when
they have to actually fly the airplane.

The Human Factor by William Langewiesche
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 11, 2014 - 10:43am PT
That was a great article

A lot of parallels to this, including the same initiating failure.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 12, 2014 - 06:11pm PT
Non imbed-able base vid

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=052_1413040463
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 14, 2014 - 02:23pm PT
Damn this sucka is BIG!


If you haven't been to the international terminal at LAX consider yerself lucky. It was always an embarrassment and it still is despite the $Billions they're spending on it. Some real geniuses are clearly in charge of the 'upgrade'. When you first walk in you see signs to the A/B/C gates. We looked at the monitor and it showed our flight at Gate B53-64. WTF? I know the A380 is big but 11 gates? Whatevah. So after the most messed up security arrangement we were discharged into the duty-free area, of course. There are no more signs to A/B/C gates any longer, just numbers. We find another monitor and it had just finished cycling through the flights and now it began a LENGTHY EXPOSITION on the whereabouts of all the wonderful duty-free shops. *WTF!!!!**. Then, by pure chance I noticed the main display for the gates in a totally unexpected location - stuck way the phuk up by the skylights behind us! Unbelievable!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 14, 2014 - 03:55pm PT
Yeah, International at LAX is a pain in the wazoo, been through there a few times. Great shot of La Monstra though, still haven't gotten to fly on one.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2014 - 04:28am PT
Some pretty convincing evidence is coming together in TIGHAR's search for Amelia Aerhart's Lockheed Electra. Maybe this next trip will gather something truly conclusive from the ocean floor.

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/Bulletins/73_StepbyStep/73_Step_by_Step.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 30, 2014 - 02:37pm PT
That's pretty interesting, Vegas!

That A380 flight was amazing! We were on the upper deck right above the wing so not much view of the ground - :-( But that sucka was unbelievably quiet!
Majid_S

Mountain climber
Karkoekstan
Oct 30, 2014 - 10:47pm PT
SFO tower Asiana 214 conversation


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5oCnZbNPtY
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 4, 2014 - 01:36pm PT
This occurred yesterday near Pittsburg. This is NOT 5 miles AND 1000' of separation.
I am about to take this up with the FAA.

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Nov 4, 2014 - 02:16pm PT
Big? Lolz, that ain't big.

We have C5s regularly come through, and had an An-225 here last summer (a russian cargo job, largest plane in existence). Our locally stationed planes (large cargo craft in their own right), look like toys next to a C5.

Had a Super Guppy deliver some oversized Boeing parts about a year ago. Now that's a crazy looking airplane.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 4, 2014 - 05:57pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 4, 2014 - 06:12pm PT
Elcap, actually, the A380 dwarfs the C-5 and is only 100,000 pounds lighter
than the Mriya. In addition, neither of those cargo planes has a nice bar.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 4, 2014 - 06:44pm PT
No bar, but a C-5 once did fly a few thousand cases of Coors to Florida in support of the SR-71 project


(don't ask me how I know that.)
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 17, 2014 - 04:36pm PT
Lead solo Gopro selfie

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2014 - 01:57am PT
Someone posted this in the plane crash thread, but I thought it would be great here. N500HP Howard 500 low pass. This aircraft sat at the shop I worked at on Reno-Stead airfield for many years without paint, everything else had been restored. The guy that bought it did an amazing job of finishing out a very beautiful, but unforgiving aircraft.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1807088025238&set=vb.152969558064942&type=2&theater
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 27, 2014 - 09:54pm PT
Dude did a low pass right over my house last year and I was able to get to
my camera in time! I just happened to be in the back yard when I heard him
coming. One glance and I knew what it was so I tore into the house. My
camera was sitting right by the front door so I grabbed it and ran out the
front door and fired a couple of shots.

Man, that thing sounded like The Business!




LICKY!!!!!!!!!
Licky

Mountain climber
California
Nov 27, 2014 - 10:00pm PT
Yeah, Howard 500. The guy that owns that plane has three more. One flys and he is refurbishing the other two and will have them flying as well. Each engine is 2800 HP...only 19 planes ever made
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2014 - 10:19pm PT
It is indeed the business. I got the task of doing one of the bi-annual run ups on that bird, which consists of a lot of work when a radial hasn't run in a while. They are hard enough to start when they run often haha.

Still, one of the prettiest planes built, planes had lines back then. Sometime soon I will be heading down to Arizona to photograph General MacArthur's personal transport aircraft, the Bataan which is a Super Connie - another one of my favorites. Will post pics up when I get done with the project.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Nov 28, 2014 - 12:38am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2014 - 02:08am PT
Thanks for sharing Hank! That's super badass.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Nov 29, 2014 - 03:42am PT
Good choice of tunes, too
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Nov 29, 2014 - 06:43am PT
Woupee that is cool stuff the stuff that is off the grid and over the line!!
Hankster always the prankster a holy designation in my book I am calling a high like!!!





climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Nov 29, 2014 - 06:45am PT
WHOAH! pretty damn creative .. they adding another letter to BASE? What does that count as? Rigging that must be something .. wonder what the loads are at the ends?
perswig

climber
Nov 29, 2014 - 03:58pm PT
Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly...ers.

Dale
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Dec 1, 2014 - 10:21pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Dec 6, 2014 - 06:08pm PT
Some good news for the F-35B Strike Fighter. Excellent video. Notice the position of the stabilator just as the bird lifts off. Nearly full down as the engine nozzle rotates downward. In a conventional bird that would be stick forward.

This video link is fresh (for the public). It was made just six weeks ago in the Atlantic, just off Newport, Virginia. These are the latest sea trials of the F-35B on the USS Wasp. They were very successful, with 74 VLs and STOs in a 3-week period. The aircraft is also stealthy, and supersonic. The media and the program critics had predicted that we would burn holes in the deck and wash sailors overboard. Neither of which happened. You will notice a sailor standing on the bow of the ship as the jet rotates. That was an intentional part of the sea trials. No catapult...no hook.... It's a new world out there! The shape and scope of warfare worldwide just changed.

Makes me wonder about endurance and operating radius compared to other planes...sounds like a good research topic.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ki86x1WKPmE
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Dec 6, 2014 - 06:47pm PT

^^
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 16, 2014 - 05:03pm PT
http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/66-years-ago-beavers-bombarded-Idahos-backcountry-285819221.html
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Dec 19, 2014 - 04:40pm PT
the latest in direct aid:


http://www.hjkc.de/_blog/2013/12/05/luftfahrt---e-volos-multi-copter-studie-und-experiment/
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 20, 2014 - 03:27am PT
Nice share TGT! Thanks for posting that up.

Tom, thanks but no thanks on that bird, looks even scarier then most of those flyin rocks y'all call whirlybirds. I kinda dig that whole being able to glide thing without having to have trust in autorotation. For that matter I wonder what you would do in that thing if it did lose power?
vôo

climber
Denver, CO
Dec 20, 2014 - 09:02am PT
Dawn Flight

[Click to View YouTube Video]

The metaphor for this clip could work for any sport
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 24, 2014 - 03:38pm PT

http://xbradtc.com/2014/12/24/preflight/

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 2, 2015 - 04:48pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Everybody lived.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 2, 2015 - 04:53pm PT
Boy, that was pretty stupid on the pilots' parts - no communication it
would seem. Amazing that they got out of the plane that lost the wing.
Also amazing that the guy out on the strut didn't get his leg mushed.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 12, 2015 - 02:25pm PT
From the Huffington Post:

Can the F-35 Be Stopped?

William Hartung
Director, Arms and Security Project, Center for International Policy

At a price tag of $1.5 trillion to build and operate over its lifetime, the F-35 combat aircraft is the most expensive weapons program ever undertaken by the Pentagon. It is overpriced, underperforming and unnecessary. It is being asked to do too many things, from serving as a fighter and a bomber, to landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, to doing vertical takeoff and landing. With all of these conflicting demands, the F-35 is likely to do none of its assignments well.

Furthermore, as James Fallows noted in a recent cover story in The Atlantic, the $80 billion in projected cost overruns and waste associated with the F-35 is over 100 times the amount of taxpayer losses associated with the Solyndra solar energy project, Republican lawmakers' example of choice when they decry the inefficiencies of "big government."

Despite all of the above, in the Pentagon spending bill that passed last month Congress approved nearly a half a billion dollars more for the F-35 than the Pentagon even asked for.

What is going on here?

The usual explanation for the apparent invulnerability of the F-35 is simple: pork barrel politics.

The plane's developer, Lockheed Martin, claims that the program supports over 125,000 jobs in 46 states, many of them in the states or districts of key members of the armed services and defense appropriations committees. As I have noted elsewhere, these figures are vastly exaggerated. The program creates perhaps half as many jobs as Lockheed Martin claims, and many states have virtually no involvement in the project. But even so, the economic argument is the firm's weapon of last resort in fending off criticisms of the F-35.

Jobs aren't the only tool of influence that can be brought to bear on behalf of the F-35. Lockheed Martin maintains a stable of 95 lobbyists, and its board includes such luminaries as Joseph Ralston, the former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lockheed Martin routinely ranks at or near the top of the list of political contributors in the defense industry, and its donations are strategically placed to boost the campaigns of members of Congress with the most important roles in funding its programs. Nearly one in ten members of the House of Representatives belong to the F-35 caucus.

Add to Lockheed Martin's efforts similar activities on the part of other key F-35 contractors like Northrop Grumman, BAE, and the Pratt and Whitney division of United Technologies, and the concentrated power available to supporters of the F-35 looks impressive indeed.

But the clout of the F-35 lobby doesn't mean the program can't be stopped, or at least dramatically scaled back. A similar, job-based campaign on behalf of the company's F-22 fighter jet failed miserably when the Obama administration decided to end the program in 2010. When General Electric lobbied vigorously to be included in the F-35 program as a second engine supplier, a left-right coalition that included 47 Republican deficit hawks defeated the initiative. And on the larger issue of how much to spend on the Pentagon, the Aerospace Industries Association has been lobbying aggressively for several years without being able to fundamentally alter the caps on Pentagon spending created by the Budget Control Act of 2010.

In other words, contrary to popular belief, the military-industrial complex doesn't automatically win every battle over government spending.

This is not to suggest that rolling back the F-35 will be easy, just that it is possible. There's no question that the Air Force brass are committed to the F-35 as the plane of the future, but that is not the case for the Navy -- in the short-term the service could do as well or better with upgraded F-18s while a workable alternative to the F-35 is developed. The A-10 attack plane is far better at close air support of troops than the F-35 will ever be, and there is a strong Congressional constituency in favor of keeping the A-10 over the objections of the Air Force. And as the price of the F-35 rises, there has been grumbling among allied nations involved in the program, with a number of them postponing or cutting their buys of the plane.

As Ashton Carter noted in hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2010, when he was head of procurement at the Pentagon, the key to the future of the F-35 program is affordability. By that standard, it should be canceled immediately. As Carter noted at the same hearing, there was an "erosion of discipline" in the program during the decade of endless growth in Pentagon spending in the early 2000s. He said the following with specific reference to the F-35 program:


"It's been easy to solve problems with money. You see that in programs where they slip a little bit, throw a little bit more money, a technological problem, throw a little bit more money in. We need to be much more vigilant about how we use money to solve our problems."



Over the years, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the incoming chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been a vocal critic of the F-35, at one point describing Lockheed Martin's management of the program as "abysmal." The Pentagon claims that progress has been made in getting the program's cost under control, but it appears that the claimed reductions have more to do with fiddling with assumptions than actual progress in reducing concrete costs of the project. Sen. McCain would do a great public service if he made the performance, cost, and future of the F-35 a major line of questioning in Ashton Carter's confirmation hearings.

William D. Hartung is the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. Follow him @WilliamHartung

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I wonder how many Democrats have voted for this POS boondoggle?
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jan 24, 2015 - 07:08am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jan 24, 2015 - 08:08am PT
Reminds me of flying with a good friend in AK. He is a master of intentional balks and testing the surface. Part of his standard procedure before an actual landing in his taylorcraft or piper. Smart talented pilot. Got a medal from the FAA as a copilot for saving a very bad situation in his dayjob.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2015 - 09:57am PT
man, you could land on pudding with those tires! ;-)

All flying, and climbing, is more about good decision making than skill level.
OK, maybe skill is more important in climbing. RMMV

Two of the more egregious examples of poor decision making being those of
the Air France crash in the Atlantic off Brasil and the Air Asia flight
captained by a Frenchman. There seems to be a something wrong with the
flight training, or lack thereof, in France. I'm putting good money on
this latest being a result of an accelerated stall as the pilot tried to
zoom up over the top of the thunderstorm which he should never have gotten
so close to.
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jan 24, 2015 - 12:02pm PT
Yeah as soon as I saw the size of the pieces it seemed likely they pancaked in during a stall or tried to ditch carefully. With the info regarding a steep climb at the edge of their performance envelope that has emerged I'm going with the stall.

Saw a very good program regarding the french disaster... my god what a completely asinine accident.

It really seems bizarre that some very basic flight fundamentals just are not getting through and drilled into pilots somehow. 39000 feet to recognize and correct a stall should be a pretty damn simple task. I have no idea how many times I have stalled a cesna just for the fun of it and I am not even a pilot. These guys must not spend anytime just out IFR flying for the fun of it.

How bout making it a requirement that any airline pilot has at least 200 hours solo flight time in small aircraft and proficiency in basic recovery maneuvers? Skills they may rarely need driving the big busses..but?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2015 - 12:12pm PT
climbski, read the link a page or so back to the Vanity Fair article by
William Langewische, or however he spells his name. His analysis of the
Air France crash is in depth and he lays out the cluster that is at the
heart of French aviation training. Air France sounds like it is an old
boys' club of arrogant incompetents. Their continuing proficiency training
is also clearly a joke. US airline pilots train constantly for all sorts
of unlikely scenarios. My bro-in-law told me about his inverted flat spin
sim session, in the dark and IFR!
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jan 24, 2015 - 12:33pm PT
My bro-in-law told me about his inverted flat spin
sim session, in the dark and IFR!

LOL wow sounds like fun to try on a sim.. if you can get out of that one I'd guess you probably have tried a ton of more realistic scenarios out. Nice to know US pilots are out there goofing off and trying ridiculous things. I really mean that. It means you love to fly and want to know everything regardless how unlikely.

Odd question.. I've always wondered about. The classic question.. could a good small private aircraft pilot land a big one in an emergency?

Someone should spring for sim time to find out. I'd love to try it. Drop me in a big buss flying straight at 36k and see if I could get her down. Wonder if I could even figure out the radio to ask for a bit of help..lol. Like how to deploy flaps and landing gear and fly manual..what my stall speeds are, what is the course to a good runway. I'm pretty sure I could do it if I could do/find out those things. Which would probably rely on figuring out the radio
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2015 - 12:42pm PT
This wasn't by choice or for fun. His airline expects him to be able to
deal with things as unlikely as that. That's why I only fly on US, British,
or German airlines, when I have a choice. Not only do they train to a
higher standard they preach AND practice cockpit resource management which,
above all, means everyone in there works together and nobody is afraid
to offer their opinion because they're afraid of making the captain 'lose face'
re: the SFO landing phukfest.

BTW, if you want some gud entertainment check out "Airplane Repo" on The
Discovery Channel on Thursdays. It is TOO FREAKING GOOD! I know some of
it is 'enhanced' but a lot of it is isn't. Doods are good sticks and crazy!
The other night the dood took off from some high altitude airport in CO in
a repo Cessna 414. The airport manager turned off the runway lights on him
so he had to take off in this hotrod from a 50' wide rwy in the dark! Did
I mention he had no nav or com radios? He used his TomTom to find Durango
and had to call the tower on his cell phone to get them to turn on their
rwy lights! LOL! The dood in the tower asked him why he wanted the lights
turned on! "Because I'm in an airplane and it's dark, you moron!"
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2015 - 01:07pm PT
could a good small private aircraft pilot land a big one in an emergency?

You mean the Willy Loman Fantasy? Actually, a lot should be able to do it
in daylight with 10K of rwy in a 737. Something bigger wouldn't necessarily
be that much tougher except in terms of judging when to flare. It wouldn't
be pretty but everyone would survive. The radios and flaps are pretty
intuitive and if you bring her in at 150 knots you'd be close enough. Five
axis simulators are pretty pricy but there are some older ones open to the
public out there that are relatively affordable. Used to be a 727 model
at SNA but it has been some years now.
climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jan 24, 2015 - 01:23pm PT
Long time ago a friend of mine ran the F-15c simulator at Elmendorf. I got to go in late at night and use it a few times. What was most remarkable to me was how easy it was to fly and how intuitive the systems and panels were.. even the weapons and radar system which were by far the most complicated systems..

Makes sense when you think about it, you don't want this stuff to be difficult when lives depend on it. I finally had to stop when I started figuring out some stuff regarding the weapons system that was classified. Seriously the system was much easier than an android phone.

Yeah sure an American interceptor cannot lock onto multiple targets simultaneously. But hey.. that's classified. Hmm this button looks like it pulls up the functions I need.. Huh what do you mean we are done?
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 26, 2015 - 06:55pm PT
When I was a kid the term "Brodie" was commonly used for a spectacular skidding stop performed on a bike or skateboard. Always wondered about the origin of the term

[Click to View YouTube Video]

The Brodie system was originally conceived as a way to get light observation aircraft on convoys to hunt subs. But, it was only used operationally once and then for artillery spotter planes during the invasion of Okinawa.

An L-5 launched from an LST spotted caves with railroad tracks leading to the beach on a small islet and reported back. While no one had a clue as to what they were, they obviously could have some military significance and a couple of destroyers were sent to bombard the islet.

Later it was discovered that there were hundreds of small suicide speedboats hidden in the caves.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 2, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
There's an ap for that.

Same terrain avoidance software as an F-16 coming to an Android cell phone near you.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

(Dome Rock in the opening shots for climbing content)
Rob Roy Ramey

Trad climber
Colorado
Feb 2, 2015 - 10:43pm PT
Licky will like this one. The photos are the remains of a South African Air Force Lockheed Ventura bomber that crashed on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia in 1942. (Note that Ventura bomber design evolved into the civilian Howard 500 of Yosemite fame.) The crew survived this crash and swam ashore, but they had to run 35km along the coast, with no water, to catch up with a convoy of vehicles that was driving out of the desert.

It is an amazing story of shipwrecked survivors stranded on the remote northern coast of the Namib Desert. The Ventura bomber was sent to provide aid but became stuck in the sand upon landing. The Ventura crew was stranded with the shipwrecked passengers and crew of the Dunedin Star until a rescue convoy of vehicles crossed the desert weeks later. With the plane towed to firm ground, the Ventura crew took off, but only managed a short flight until forced to crash-land in an even more remote location, and necessitating the 35km run for their lives. They intercepted the last truck in the rescue convoy at Sarusus Spring.

Our Land Cruiser is in the background. (Doing research and roaming Africa out of an old Land Cruiser has the same feeling of adventure that big-wall climbing in Yosemite had back in the day.)


More on the shipwreck and Ventura bomber story here:
http://www.melbournestar.co.uk/Dunedin_Star.html
And the book is a great read: http://rapidttp.co.za/skeleton/
[photo[photoid=396738]id=396737]
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Feb 6, 2015 - 06:30am PT

edit: should have labeled ... stinson reliant. those wings, on the "gullwing" series ... unique!

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 7, 2015 - 12:57am PT
Hey, nice Beaver! :D

The classic question.. could a good small private aircraft pilot land a big one in an emergency?

If everything is turning and burning properly and you have time to get used to the plane, yes. I'm a pretty low time pilot and I've managed to land the 737 and the F16 in the sim without any real issues.

I don't remember where the crash happened, but a while back there was a 737 decompression event that killed both the pilots. Plane flew on autopilot for hours, and then one of the flight attendants - a high time multiengine rated pilot - finally went into the cockpit and stuffed it into a mountain when the fuel ran out. Never will understand how that happened.

So I guess it's equal parts luck and skill.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Feb 7, 2015 - 06:14pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 7, 2015 - 06:32pm PT
The sad part of that Greek tragedy is that the crew allowed themselves to
get to the point that they couldn't recognize what was happening and put on
their oxygen masks. That assumes they had functioning oxygen sets.

The recent Taiwan ATR crash is another example of crews who cannot handle
anything out of the ordinary. My money is on misidentifying the bad engine
and shutting down the good one - a classic gumby goof. That ATR should have
no probs flying on one, provided that everything is done properly.
Willoughby

Social climber
Truckee, CA
Feb 12, 2015 - 09:20am PT
This is nuts.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 14, 2015 - 05:46pm PT
A Korean Air jet crashed into another plane at an airport but took off anyway

A Korean Air Airbus A330, similar to the one involved in the incident, taking off from Vienna On Friday, a  Korean Airlines jet collided with another aircraft on the ground at Yangon International Airport.

But instead of stopping to assess the damage, the airliner — with 134 passengers and 11 crew onboard — continued with its take-off procedure, the AP reported.

The jet, a widebody Airbus A330, clipped the tail of a neighboring Bangkok Airways plane with the tip of its wing.Â

According to the AP, the pilots of the Korean Airbus didn't notice the collision, and none of the aircraft's collision warnings sounded to alert the crew.

It was, however, reported that ground staff at the airport witnessed the incident and immediately notified the the control tower of the damage.

The jet, Flight 472, returned to the Myanmar capital s hortly after taking off for the five hour flight to Seoul, after the officials determined a collision had occurred.

No injuries were reported and the delayed passengers boarded another flight for the South Korean capital later in the day.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/korean-air-jet-crashed-another-171001807.html




Straight outta Compton!
"We no stop fol that sh!t!"
perswig

climber
Feb 28, 2015 - 01:40pm PT



Dale
zBrown

Ice climber
Brujò de la Playa
Feb 28, 2015 - 06:47pm PT
Russian Valery Rozov makes the highest-ever BASE jump after leaping from 23,687 feet. (North Face of Mt. Everest 5-28-13)

Joby Ogwyn, wing-suit flier and BASE jumper, was planning for a wing suit flight off Everest's 29,000-foot summit on May 11. Canceled after the avalanche, but he says he's back on track for 2016. I read that he has already wingsuited from above the summit (out of a helicopter).

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Mar 3, 2015 - 02:05pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Mar 10, 2015 - 05:12pm PT
March 9

http://news.yahoo.com/first-round-world-solar-flight-takes-off-uae-084044749--sector.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 12, 2015 - 01:29pm PT
Man, this dude just won't quit!

A Legendary Airplane Designer Hints at His Next Creation

Even in retirement, Burt Rutan keeps working, and the legendary aeronautics designer is up to something cool.

When Rutan retired to Idaho in 2011 after a lifetime designing revolutionary airplanes, he dreamed of flying around the world with his wife, Tonya—but soon realized that if he wanted an airplane capable of making the trip the way he imagined it, he’d have to design it himself. He’s spent the past few years in his garage, creating an airplane capable of landing on rough seas, calm lakes, snow, or grass. It also runs on gasoline instead of aviation fuel.

“Imagine an aircraft able to land in large swells near any ocean shoreline and ride the waves to the beach, from where you could hike in for lunch and gas,” Rutan said in a statement AnntennaFilms released Thursday. “Since it uses car/boat gas … it will rarely go to an airport. Imagine also going to snow fields anywhere there is around 400 feet of relatively smooth snow, or to a dirt patch right at Puma Punku, or any part of the Amazon, including the tiny rivers that feed it. Imagine doing an eight-month exploration trip around the world without EVER going to an airport. I know it sounds like Walter Mitty, but if it flies well, Tonya and I will explore the world with it, visiting the places you cannot easily get to any other way.”

Rutan always has been secretive about his designs until they are ready to fly, and he won’t release any details about this aircraft until after its first flight, which might be by this summer. But to support AntennaFilms, which is making a crowdfunded documentary film about his life and work, Rutan agreed to release the few teasing details about the amphibious plane, which he calls the SkiGull.

The SkiGull, with its skis extended, will be able to land in rough seas or on calm lakes and rivers. The skis also incorporate small wheels that will enable it to land on runways and fields. With the skis retracted, the airplane can perform belly landings on smooth water, like other seaplanes. Although seating will be limited to Rutan and his wife, the plane will have cavernous fuel capacity — Rutan wants to be able to fly from California to Hawaii without carrying supplemental ferry tanks. He’s aiming for a cruise speed of 170 knots (195 mph).

This isn’t he first time Rutan, age 71, has shaken things up. The brilliant aerospace designer is famous for unusual ideas and innovative designs. He popularized the use of composites and canards in home-built aircraft; he designed Voyager, the first airplane to fly around the world nonstop; and he built the spaceship that won the $10 million Ansari X Prize and became the basis for Virgin Galactic’s commercial spacecraft. But his greatest legacy may well be Scaled Composites, the Mojave, California company he founded in 1982. It has trained and influenced two generations of designers, engineers, and aviators.

The SkiGull may be Rutan’s last airplane, capping an amazing career while letting him explore the world, without limits, to write the final chapter of his life.

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/burt-rutan-skigull/
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Mar 19, 2015 - 11:01am PT
New Movie coming out in May called Sunshine Superman about Carl Boenish - The Father of BASE Jumping

Trailer here (it only worked for me when viewed in Safari) - http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/sunshinesuperman/

Movie Site Here with Showtimes -
http://www.magpictures.com/sunshinesuperman/

and more ways to connect

http://www.facebook.com/Sunshinesuperman

http://twitter.com/Sunshinesuper7

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 20, 2015 - 05:04pm PT
Thanks for the bump and the information Chris!

Love that shot, I remember jumping suits and helmets like that BITD lol.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Mar 29, 2015 - 11:10pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 6, 2015 - 10:18am PT
One lucky sailplane pilot in Nevada right now -

He was flying out of Minden, made it to Reno and then the wings came off - guessing either severe wind shear or someone forgot to put a pin in.

He bailed out and landed on the parking garage of St. Mary's hospital. Reno being the stellar EMS system it is then transported him to Renown, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/RPD-Glider-Crashes-Downtown-Reno-No-Injureded-298720351.html
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Apr 9, 2015 - 10:44am PT
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 9, 2015 - 11:38am PT
Awesome to see you back in the air my friend! Thanks for sharing.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 20, 2015 - 07:11pm PT
Get those planes out of the way so I can see the routes!

MisterE

Gym climber
Being In Sierra Happy Of Place
Apr 20, 2015 - 07:18pm PT
^^Really cool shot, TGT!

Picked up friends at the Bishop airport last weekend for a couple of days of fun!

"We just flew in from Flagstaff, and our arms are tired!":


squishy

Mountain climber
Apr 20, 2015 - 08:47pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Apr 21, 2015 - 07:35am PT
I have been lurking on this thread for a few years.. But now that I have just passed my AFF and I am cleared to jump solo I feel just worthy enough To contribute. I am so stoked to be jumping!! It has been a long time desire and I finally told myself if I don't do it now I may never. Now I am never going to stop.

I took my daughter for a tandem jump when I was in my AFF. So fun riding up and sitting across from her in that twin engine otter.
Any skydivers in the San Diego or L A area that want to mentor or just go jump please let me know. A license is my next goal

Anyone want to buy a Metolius double wide with a bomb shelter fly or a 07' Honda CRF450R?
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 21, 2015 - 08:26am PT
Congrats T2! Way to go and welcome to the thread.

Thanks for all the contributions everyone, keep up the great work! It's awesome to see this thread keep rolling on.
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Apr 22, 2015 - 08:09am PT
glad you're back in the sky ammon. Nice T2, welcome to the sky. Bad ass picture TGT.

some fun my way
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 22, 2015 - 08:50am PT
Yes, TGT, nice shot of two good aircraft and two POS's.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Apr 22, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
Congrats T2! Can't wait to jump with you.

dave729

Trad climber
Western America
Apr 22, 2015 - 04:13pm PT
Name that mountain the jets are flying past. or the Col they are about to
skim over! I've almost got it
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Apr 23, 2015 - 07:43am PT
Thanks Vegas and Snakefoot. Ammon that traking shot above is sick! I have tried to get ahold of you buddy, the number I have must be old. I would love to get in touch and catch up. Drop me a note at T2contracting@cox.net I want to seek advice on some gear purchase from either you or Snakefoot (drop me a note if you want Snakefoot) but don't want to drift this awesome thread. The aviation stuff in this thread is very cool as well!!!

Cheers All
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 26, 2015 - 03:03pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Apr 27, 2015 - 05:18pm PT
100th anniversary of the Swiss AF

https://vimeo.com/120094000
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 27, 2015 - 08:14pm PT
Wow...TGT, thanks for the awesome Lancaster vid. Those were amazing planes, and that's a great story that I really wish we could see more often with our WW2 bombers. Good stuff!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 27, 2015 - 08:50pm PT
I'm already regretting not visiting the London, Ontario museum with a flyable Lanc. The
pain is bearable knowing I'll be at Duxford next year. Hard to imagine hearing the sweetness
of FOUR Merlins!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 28, 2015 - 09:00am PT
The F-35 might be the Pentagon’s premiere cutting-edge fighter jet, but its engines are so unreliable the whole project may prove to be unaffordable unless performance improves, recent government audits have concluded.

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Inspector-General blasted the program for 61 “nonconformities” documented during their inspection, saying that “additional program management oversight is required.”

Pratt & Whitney, the engine manufacturer, “had an outdated software development plan, requirements traceability issues, and a software quality assurance organization that did not perform required functions,” the Inspector-General wrote.


I'm reading Boyd which could be sub-titled Why the Air Force Is So Disfunctional.
This is a continuation of the same old sh!t they went through with the F-111, the F-15,
the F-16, the A-10, and the F-22. Bureaucracies will be the end of us.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Apr 28, 2015 - 10:30am PT
Flyover May 08 Washington DC

Would love to see this!

http://www.worldwarbirdnews.com/2015/02/24/70-aircraft-for-the-world-war-ii-victory-capitol-flyover-in-washington-dc/

70+ aircraft for the World War II Victory Capitol Flyover in Washington, DC
News by World Warbird News

Source: ww2flyover.org
In honor of the 70th Anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe), the Arsenal of Democracy is hosting a tribute to the men and women at home and abroad that made victory possible. A giant flyover of at least 70 aircraft is to take place over Washington DC on Friday, May 8, 2015.
Such a massive gathering and display of warbirds is a rare sight, even in the largest airshows around the world.
A victory gala will be held at the National Air & Space Museum on May 7, and a selection of the flyover aircraft will be at the Smithsonian’s Udvar Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport for a one-day exhibition.
More information can be found on the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover’s website.
A list of participating aircraft is already available from the website, but is subject to changes depending on funding, technical or weather constraints:
Trainer Formation
Boeing PT-17 Kaydet
North American AT-6 Texan
Beech AT-11 Kansan
Assembled trainers and liaison aircraft: accompanying the flight of training aircraft will be the liaison aircraft, a range of small aircraft used by the military for forward observation.
Pearl Harbor
3x Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
Doolittle Raid
5x North American B-25 Mitchell
Guadalcanal Campaign
P-39 Airacobra
P-63 Kingcobra
Battle of Midway
3x Grumman F4F Wildcat
Douglas SBD Dauntless
Consolidated PBY Catalina
Yamamoto Shootdown
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Ploesti Raid
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
3x North American P-51 Mustang
Escorting the bombers
3x North American P-51 Mustang
Big Week
3x Boeing B-17 Fortress
D-Day
Douglas C-53 Skytrooper
3x Douglas C-47 Skytrain
2x Douglas A-26 Invader
Mariannas Turkey Shoot
Grumman F6F Hellcat
3x Grumman TBF Avenger
Grumman F8F Bearcat
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
Battle of the Bulge
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
Iwo Jima
4x Vought F4U Corsair
Final Air Offensive
1x Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Missing Man Formation
Grumman TBF Avenger
Vought F4U Corsair
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
North American P-51 Mustang
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 28, 2015 - 10:54am PT
Yikers!!!! I would think the EPA would nix that exhaustive review.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 28, 2015 - 09:38pm PT
Holy cow, now that's one I want to see some vids on. Can't remember the last time I heard of 3 Forts or 5!! Mitchells being in the same place at the same time - please keep an eye out for videos and share them here, folks!
MarkGrubb

climber
Apr 28, 2015 - 10:07pm PT
Glider pilot Bob Spielman who bailed out over Reno was engulfed in cloud while on a cross county flight in wave lift near 18K feet. He did not have an artificial horizon and was therefore instantly out of control. Wing broke off well above red-line (160+ kts) and he bailed out. Getting his chute stuck on a light pole prevented him from being dragged off a 40+ ft parkng structure. Damage to collar bone, rib and collapsed lung.

Same day, Dennis Tito flew around 2000 km zig-zag up and down the Sierra and his hired gun, Jim Payne, flew just short of 3000 km zig-zag, including a 1000 km out and return speed record of more than 150 mph.

All in gliders.

And Ron: They call themselves the "Commemorative Air Force now as a nod to political correctness...........
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 28, 2015 - 10:20pm PT
I don't understand how you could be good enough to fly the wave but too cheap to have an
AH installed. It isn't like it is rare for the wave to cause condensation, is it? He was really
lucky he was able to get out in that situation. With one wing gone he could easily have been
pinned in the cockpit by centripetal forces or gotten bonked in the head upon exit.
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Apr 29, 2015 - 11:22am PT
this might be a game changer, the shape shifting wing

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/28/nasas-shape-shifting-plane-wings-pass-initial-flight-tests/?ncid=rss_truncated
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 29, 2015 - 11:51am PT
Snakefoot, the Wright brothers invented that 112 years ago! ;-)
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Apr 29, 2015 - 12:14pm PT
damn inventors, not saying this was an original idea. thanks for the update though as this thread has an incredible amount of history.
squishy

Mountain climber
Apr 29, 2015 - 12:35pm PT
and the wright brothers actually flew with it, looks like nasa is just playing with it in a tunnel, lol..

TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 2, 2015 - 07:11pm PT
280deg per sec roll rate

[Click to View YouTube Video]
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
May 17, 2015 - 08:32am PT
Thought I would contribute a little to the aviation part of this thread. Anyone ever flown one of these Sky Streak's manufactured by Guillow's? They kick Ass!!!



On the Skydiving part of this thread it is beautiful blue sky's in San Diego today. I am going to get a coaching and my hop and pop jump in today with the hopes of testing for my A license next week. I am flying a 230 now and look forward to doing some canopy coaching soon. I am going into debt because I am so consumed with this jumping but don't give a sh#t because it is so fun.


hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
May 19, 2015 - 10:56am PT
check rides and certain maneuvers that pilots need to be drilled on without passengers and away
from the hectic environment of the grand canyon airport are performed at "my" backyard airport. flightseeing duty is pretty docile stuff, so it's good that they get some sporty action in somewhere
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 23, 2015 - 11:15am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 23, 2015 - 11:30am PT
Good one, TGT! The first thing that occurred to me when the vid started was
"this dude is flying that thing in shorts and short sleeves? Really?"
Plus I didn't see him hit the fuel cutoff as soon as he touched down.
It appeared the engine was still running as he was exiting. Hard to believe.


I don't know if this was the whole Capitol WWII shebang but it is still cool...
(but the big Chino show is better)
(I just saw that there is a 17 minute version on YouTube which I haven't
perused yet)

[Click to View YouTube Video]


And JUST as I was starting to type the last sentence I heard these guys
coming over for my personal air show. THANKS, GUYS!



This was the grand finale for the Planes of Fame show a couple of years ago.
I tallied roughly 64,000 HP up there!

If you like warbirds and missed this the first time:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1500733/Why-Tojo-and-Adolph-never-had-a-chance-OT
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
May 27, 2015 - 07:47am PT
out on the town....

climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
May 27, 2015 - 08:39pm PT
If you want to smoke you can go outside the aircraft.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - May 28, 2015 - 12:02am PT
Nice posts, all.

T2, I haven't seen a SkyStreak in years, thanks for sharing. Spent hours with those as a kid.

As far as the going into debt goes - your first jump costs about $200, the rest cost about half your life's income. Welcome to skydiving. Good luck on your exam!
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
May 28, 2015 - 05:56pm PT
http://www.hotrod.com/features/1505-how-a-pontiac-pushrod-saved-a-b-29-bomber-with-video/
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Jun 6, 2015 - 08:49am PT
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Jun 16, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
I am now a licensed skydiver. I am so stoked! I just set myself up with a Javelin container/harness with a Raven II 218 reserve, a PD Saber II 210 main and a cypress AAD. I look forward to jumping my own gear soon.

Snakefoot: I also look forward to playing out on the town in pristine locations like that when I am qualified. Thanks again for the time and advise you gave me a while back.

ElCapPirate beware when I get done with this job I am going to Reno to visit family then will drive across NV to spend a couple days in the sky with you brother


That canopy formation photo above is insane.

Yeeha!!!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 16, 2015 - 11:04pm PT
Way to go T2! Proud of ya.

The DZ I started at was a bunch of CrW (Canopy Relative Work) guys. I worked rigging and ground support for the Diamond Quest records in the early 90s - back then big-way canopy formations weren't understood as well as they are now, which made for some pretty exciting sh#t-shows.
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Jun 17, 2015 - 07:36am PT
Thank you Vegasclimber. Are you still actively jumping?
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jun 17, 2015 - 08:24am PT
Its all down hill from here T2, nothing but fun and killer fights in your future. i look forward to flying together when you get the skills, young jedi.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 17, 2015 - 12:18pm PT
Not anymore, T2. 15 years of off-and-on working as a packer/manifest/mechanic/you name it, kind of killed the sport for me. I did my first jump in 7 years last August, a tandem (ugh) on Oahu's North Shore. As much as I enjoyed it, I don't think my wife would appreciate me getting back into another expensive hobby.
rockermike

Trad climber
Berkeley
Jun 20, 2015 - 08:36am PT
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/20/red-devil-saves-team-mate-parachute-fails-to-open-airshow-whitehaven-cumbria
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Jun 20, 2015 - 11:33pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 22, 2015 - 04:43pm PT
The importance of preflight inspection!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Jun 22, 2015 - 09:35pm PT
Whoa dude ...[Click to View YouTube Video]
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
Jun 26, 2015 - 06:14pm PT
Travis happier than a pig in sh!t at the Hill Aerospace Museum.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jun 28, 2015 - 07:12pm PT
This weekend was special in Casper, Wyoming with the visit by a 1929 Ford Trimotor, serial number 146 of 199 such aircraft built by Ford Motor Company in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Originally powered by 3 Curtiss-Wright 300 horsepower radials, this particular plane was upgraded by their replacement with 3 Pratt-Whitney engines of 450 horsepower. Rides were available for $75 in the passenger compartment, and $125 for the copilot position. I opted for the right seat and was thus rewarded by a logbook entry as a flight crewman (copilot) for 0.4 hours. A real blast, and Karen also rode as a passenger.

The barnstorming tour was conducted by the Experimental Aircraft Association to drum up interest in General Aviation.


View in the cockpit.


Admiring the beautiful engines and nacelles.


climbski2

Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
Jun 28, 2015 - 09:56pm PT
This thing almost lands like a bird... me want

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jun 30, 2015 - 05:31pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]

Somebody forgot to take the keys with them.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 1, 2015 - 10:20am PT
Brokedown, you are shameless and unfeeling, but I'm happy for you, anyway! ;-)

I think that's the same one that was based here at SMO for years. I used to see it puttering
around all the time. Of course, I procrastinated going for a ride. Did you bring your logbook
with?
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Jul 1, 2015 - 11:13am PT
That exit and flight from Mt. Morrison is SICK!
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jul 1, 2015 - 07:52pm PT
there's a workhorse of a tri-motor here @ 40G, recently restored to perfection. they offer a type rating in it, and though i haven't taken a ride, over the years i've watched it plug along in 6,000ft thin molasses. really something surreal when they get on to stall training
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 1, 2015 - 09:24pm PT
Reilly-

I never go to the airport without my logbook; it was duly entered by the PIC of the aircraft! Hee, hee! :)
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 1, 2015 - 09:40pm PT
Remember that TransAsia ATR that went into the river in Taiwan a few months ago?
As soon as I saw the video I said they shut down the wrong engine:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/02/us-taiwan-airplane-idUSKCN0PC05L20150702

Where do they hire these clowns? They never heard of 'dead foot - dead engine'?
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jul 2, 2015 - 08:13am PT
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 2, 2015 - 08:23am PT
Reilly-

These clowns never watched the Sporty's Pilot Shop video "So You Want to Fly Twins."

My inviolate rule: If they're speaking anything other than English or German on the Flight Deck; get off the airplane! I'll include Iceland Air on my short list of "acceptable" airlines. My 2 faves for international travel: Lufthansa and Delta; other acceptable airlines: U.S. Air, with American and United bringing up the rear of the pack. Too bad Continental was absorbed by United; I knew several Continental Captains--pilots of consummate skill.

Another truism: "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going." I despise Airbuses. Current favorite airliner: Boeing 767, followed by Boeing 757; I haven't had the opportunity to fly on a newer Boeing.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 2, 2015 - 09:24am PT
Broke, we are in complete agreement. British Air, Lufthansa, Virgin, Swiss, Kiwi, Qantas,
El Al, or Singapore are the only ints I will get on IF I have a choice. I will get on any US carrier
but I prefer Alaska and American.

My bro-in-law just turned down a better job because he didn't want to drive an A320 POS.

BTW, you need to pick up a copy of Boyd-The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art Of War.
It is Pulitzer calibre.
knucko

climber
Aug 20, 2015 - 01:36pm PT
Airshow coming to the Minden, NV airport this weekend. Going to be a huge event. The Thunderbirds will be there.

They are practicing right now, flying right out my backyard. literally....




snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Aug 20, 2015 - 02:16pm PT
Badass, lets hear it for the fighting falcons
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Aug 21, 2015 - 09:26am PT
A good two-way sequence from the bridge a few days ago...

Photos: Luanne Plott Horting







The Chief

climber
Lurkerville east of Goldenville
Aug 21, 2015 - 09:43am PT
^^^^^Hey ECPirate, meet a really fast moving heavily armed "Pirate" that terminated many a bad guy in it's hey day.





And while yur BSing, here are some modern day "Jolly Rogers" getting Gang Manned and shot off the IKE Boat...

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Edit: Being out at sea for 180 days plus doing this day in and day out for 18-20 hours per day, ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep sane. Trust me.
squishy

Mountain climber
Aug 21, 2015 - 10:51am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Aug 21, 2015 - 05:09pm PT
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/08/a-plane-crashs-happy-ending/401675/?utm_source=SFTwitter
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Aug 23, 2015 - 08:59am PT
a little blast from the past, 2012 fun in norway and switz

https://vimeo.com/137059842


this one is for the boys

https://vimeo.com/137066070


i apologize for the links, but vimeo is better than utard!
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Aug 25, 2015 - 12:50pm PT

This an aircraft I have never flown in before. Jumping from balloons is a 10+ on the fun meter for sure.


And if you think the rope swing out of the alcove on El Cap is fun. You should try one that requires a parachute.
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Sep 6, 2015 - 11:20pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]


Just did jump 88 today I want to get into a tracking suit soon. Any advice Snakefoot or ElCapPirate?
The guy above

climber
Across the pond
Sep 7, 2015 - 04:23am PT
I'm neither of those summoned, but... this is still the best suit out there for newbs and experienced jumpers alike http://phoenix-fly.com/portfolio/tracking-suit/

Learn to fly the sh#t out of that. I regularly see people in their classic PF leave others with bigger suits in the dust. The potential of these suits is huge, and if you ever want to 'upsize' you'll be a much better tracker than those going straight for the balloons.
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Sep 7, 2015 - 11:54am PT
Thank you The guy above! I have been looking at that very suit
Heisenberg

Trad climber
RV, middle of Nowehere
Sep 7, 2015 - 02:03pm PT
Look at

Pressurized.. Tube 4 is 2 suits in one
Squirrel Sumo. Solid build and easy to fly
Reputable pilot is also building the Raven One. He was the test pilot for many suits (TS) and started his own company.

There are others out there but those above are some of the best built.
Gene

climber
Sep 8, 2015 - 05:31pm PT
Tommy!!!! So cool.

Gene
The guy above

climber
Across the pond
Sep 9, 2015 - 04:50am PT

Not wanting to make it sound argumentative, Heisenberg, but the reason i sugested the PF classic and not one of those


Pressurized.. Tube 4 is 2 suits in one

Yes, in theory. But in practice the tube4 with the reduced volume legs don't fly well. The balance is just off. The low volume is useful for doing multiole rotations in aerials, but just don't work well for tracking or learning. The t4's pants with the volume closed paired with a t3 jacket does work great though.

That said the T4 is amazing, but not a beginners suit. And i have nothing against Pressurized suits. I've flown the tube3 for about 200 jumps, currently flying the tube4 for close to a hundred, and i even got to put 50 jumps on a tube5 prototype.


Squirrel Sumo. Solid build and easy to fly

Yes, it is easy to fly, but very few people are able to get anything like half decent performance out of it. Again, it's a suit that you need to be good before you start flying it, but it's quite hard to get good by flying it.

Reputable pilot is also building the Raven One. He was the test pilot for many suits (TS) and started his own company.


I heard they fall apart mid-air...

P.s. An example of what can be done with the PF suit when flown properly [Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Sep 10, 2015 - 06:35am PT
T2, i fly a power track suit, phoenix fly. there are many others , but i like them and if you can, try a few out first.
The Chief

climber
Lurkerville east of Goldenville
Sep 10, 2015 - 10:27am PT
Still waiting for one of them Flysuiters to ever out do any of these....

[Click to View YouTube Video]

[Click to View YouTube Video]
The guy above

climber
Across the pond
Sep 10, 2015 - 10:53am PT
You mean like [Click to View YouTube Video]

Or maybe a not so close one but cool nonetheless (keep an eye just above Mount Maudit)
https://www.facebook.com/narbinche/videos/10153566499078618/
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Sep 10, 2015 - 10:57am PT
A few years back I was driving out across Deep Springs Valley, over Westguard Pass from Big Pine. I had one arm in a cast and I was idling in 2nd gear in my GTI with the sunroof open doing about 5mph. Sightseeing you know. The F-18 came from behind so I never heard it, and he blasted over the top of my car low just like in your videos. I almost crapped myself when the roar hit and I saw two orange circles moving away really fast. If one of those bad boys really wanted to have your ass it would be over before you knew it was happening.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 10, 2015 - 11:06am PT
The film the fighter mafia doesn't want you to see.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
nature

climber
Boulder, CO
Sep 10, 2015 - 11:22am PT
I don't skydive but I am doing my PPL at the moment. I have 20 hours as of this morning and the first solo planning is in the works.

Boulder Traffic, 22delta is 2 miles SE of IBM, will be entering the downwind on the 45 for 8. Boulder Traffic.

I guess that's aviation and not OT, yeah?
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Sep 10, 2015 - 01:43pm PT
chief, you can wait all you want. we don't really fn care
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Sep 23, 2015 - 10:13am PT


nature

climber
Boulder, CO
Sep 23, 2015 - 11:45am PT
GLee

Social climber
Montucky
Sep 27, 2015 - 12:03pm PT
Enjoy the stop-to-stop yoke & rudder action!!!

http://player.vimeo.com/video/48642618

Emailed to me by a friend in KMSO, MT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 28, 2015 - 08:55am PT
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-time-a-tanker-saved-a-fighter-that-was-falling-apar-1733187406
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Sep 28, 2015 - 09:44am PT
It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her.

— Ernest Hemingway


from

http://www.skygod.com
squishy

Mountain climber
Sep 28, 2015 - 12:49pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Sep 28, 2015 - 04:44pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 28, 2015 - 08:37pm PT
Thanks for the additions to the thread, all!

I have a TON of shots from a half dozen museums to go through - been slacking. I will try and get them uploaded sometime soon!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Sep 28, 2015 - 09:00pm PT
Here, Vegas, let me jump start you!

All the following from San Diego Museum of Flight...



Bristol Centaurus sleeve valve from late 40's...
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Sep 29, 2015 - 04:42am PT
Another one gone. Erik Roner died yesterday at Squaw in a collision with a tree. RIP man.
Rollover

climber
Gross Vegas
Sep 29, 2015 - 06:58am PT
RIP dude..
Condolences to his wife and kids and all that knew him.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Oct 16, 2015 - 05:50pm PT
http://valleairport.com/Connie_Gets_New_Home.html
yosemite 5.9

climber
santa cruz
Oct 16, 2015 - 06:19pm PT
I jumped out of a plane six times in 1977.

I used an WW2 round army parachute due its reliability.

I landed in landing boots made with extra heel to absorb some of the shock.

I learned the Parachute Landing Fall (PLF) roll and practiced it many times before I jumped.

Those old chutes landed me pretty hard. You had to know how to do a PLF well to avoid injury.



TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 21, 2015 - 05:47pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
squishy

Mountain climber
Oct 27, 2015 - 02:22pm PT
lol

https://i.imgur.com/Z41lVaU.gifv
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 27, 2015 - 03:19pm PT
Speaking of very cool aero engines, here's a water cooled, 24 cylinder radial built by Junkers Jumo.
perswig

climber
Oct 29, 2015 - 02:53pm PT

Dale
Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Oct 29, 2015 - 06:10pm PT
Last flight of the Vulcan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcKqkq27ffk&feature=youtu.be
perswig

climber
Oct 30, 2015 - 12:54am PT
http://weaponsman.com/?p=26713#comments

^^ More on the Vulcan here, scroll up to top.

and here,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11960726/Vulcan-bomber-touches-down-forever-after-final-flight.html

Dale
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Oct 30, 2015 - 08:14am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 5, 2015 - 05:24pm PT
It would really suck to get in the wrong place relative to wake turbulence.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 5, 2015 - 05:35pm PT
It would really suck to get in the wrong place relative to wake turbulence.

Roger that! BiTD, before separation standards were heavily modified as a
result of a number of bad accidents a friend was flying the night checks
(remember those things?). He was cleared into LAX (remember it is the
wee hours and he has probably been flying quite a while) in his Navajo, a
6000 lb twin. I don't know what he was following or how closely but it was
too close. About 100' just short of the runway he hit the wake turb of the
big guy in front of him. It instantly flipped him and he landed on his head.
Miraculously he survived but he lost his medical. I'm happy to say that he
had enough of his wits left to become a teacher.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Nov 5, 2015 - 06:03pm PT
Reilly and Vegasclimber: The mystery airplane is a Mk.V Spitfire, and the clipped wingtips are diagnostic. The fuselage and empennage are pure Supermarine!
MikeMc

Social climber
Nov 8, 2015 - 10:00am PT
Cool beans...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Roxy

Trad climber
CA Central Coast
Nov 9, 2015 - 07:51am PT
for you airheads out there - short video on some local pilots and a game they invented to encourage flying.


[Click to View YouTube Video]
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 10, 2015 - 06:02pm PT


Tasked to be the first responder for the aircraft and personnel stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, and to support Washington State agencies in case of emergencies, medical evacuations and search and rescue activities, NAS Whidbey Island SAR is a one of a kind rescue unit, equipped with the MH-60S “Knighthawk” helicopters.

The team, consisting of three helicopters, 10 pilots, 10 rescue aircrewmen and 3 SAR Medical Technicians (SMT’s) is “the premier in Navy Search and Rescue:” personnel of NASWI are highly trained in day and night both overwater and mountain rescue including helicopter rappel and hoist, and mountain landing.

For SAR missions, the unit typically maintains either a 15-minute or a 30-minute alert posture.





[Click to View YouTube Video]

The Chief may have some insight on this one.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Nov 20, 2015 - 04:52pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 2, 2015 - 10:37am PT
How an ugly, brutally effective warplane won the battle for its future

By David Axe

November 24, 2015

U.S.-backed Syrian rebels launched an attack late last month on Islamic State militants near the town of Hawl in northern Syria. They regained control of roughly 100 square miles of territory, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

“It was a fairly straightforward, conventional offensive operation,” Army Colonel Steve Warren told reporters via video conference from Baghdad, “where we estimated … several hundred enemy [fighters] were located in that vicinity.”

Warren continued his description. “There was a substantial friendly force — well over 1,000 participated in the offensive part of this operation. And they were able to very deliberately execute the plan that they had made themselves.”

Two types of U.S. warplanes, both optimized for precision attacks in close coordination with ground troops, were critical to the Syrian rebels’ success, Warren revealed. “We were able to bring both A-10s and a Spectre gunship to bear,” he said, “… It can only be described as devastating …. it killed nearly 80 enemy fighters and wounded many more.”

Video shot by a correspondent from the Kurdish Hawar News Agency showed A-10s wheeling over the battlefield as rebel fighters advanced.

The lumbering Spectre gunship, basically a cargo plane with side-firing guns, is one of the Air Force’s favorite aircraft. It’s the beneficiary of billions of dollars in new funding to buy new models and upgrade older ones.

But the twin-jet A-10, an ungainly-looking, single-pilot plane with thick, straight wings and a massive, nose-mounted cannon, is out of favor with Air Force leaders — despite being vitally important to the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State. The flying branch’s top generals and civilian officials have fought for years to get rid of all 300 A-10s and divert their operators and budget to other initiatives. Meanwhile, a grass-roots effort led by current and former U.S. ground troops and bolstered by key lawmakers has protected the A-10, also known by its nickname “Warthog.”

Why the Warthog fell out of favor, and how the plane endures despite the Air Force’s eagerness to retire it, reveals deep schisms within the U.S. military as it continues its war against Islamic extremists while also retooling to deter high-tech Russian forces.

The A-10 is one plane that’s clearly helping Syrian fighters retake their homes from Islamic State. Yet it’s also a uniquely evocative symbol of strife inside the Pentagon.

THE REST OF THE ARTICLE: (and I encourage you to read it as it is
the meat of the article)

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/11/24/how-an-ugly-brutally-effective-warplane-won-the-battle-for-its-future/




All the puerile crankloon Air Force generals want are the high tech toys.
They don't give a damn about our nation's defense or having an effective
fighting force. During the design phase of the F-16 they fought its funding
because they said it was too short-legged (even though it has better range
than the F-15), it didn't carry enough bombs, blah-blah-blah. Air Force
generals are even dumber than admirals, and that's saying something.
squishy

Mountain climber
Dec 11, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Dec 12, 2015 - 08:52am PT


[Click to View YouTube Video]



http://fightersweep.com/2917/a-partial-ejection-and-miracle-at-sea/
perswig

climber
Jan 2, 2016 - 02:36pm PT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_9035/index.html

Interview with Alexei Leonov, first EVA/spacewalk.
Dale
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 2, 2016 - 03:18pm PT
Ever wonder what it says on the bottom of the B-2?


Yup, Yer Gonna Die!


Maybe not...

WM = Wabbit Masher?

hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jan 14, 2016 - 02:45pm PT
big day in smallsville. eight month rehab completed on this lockheed constellation which today became
the last one flying in the united states after serving twenty years as the flagship of our little air museum. the mechanics climbed onboard and departed on a gravel strip for a hop to planes of fame in chino, ca.was macarthur's ride, stayed busy during the berlin airlift, wowed me and the neighbors this morning.
took a lap around the block, but declined my request to make a low pass, wouldn't be prudent ...
they'll stick four new engines to it, and a fancy new interior. the new owner used the paved runway.

edit: i did see one fly outta fairbanks late '99. but i'll take the greasy guy's word for it, he spent
a good part of this year sweet-talking parts out of anybody he could find who'd be holdin'.

reference the link in my oct 16 post on this thread for more backstory
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 14, 2016 - 02:50pm PT
I believe there is another flying in TWA livery IIRC. No matter, the
Connie is a beauty. Rode on one when I was young and I'm told I made more
than a nuisance of myself running up and down the aisle asking,

"When are we going to crash?"
Gary

Social climber
Where in the hell is Major Kong?
Jan 14, 2016 - 03:32pm PT
WM = Wabbit Masher?

That's the external antenna for the CRM 114 Discriminator.
perswig

climber
Jan 14, 2016 - 04:37pm PT
Nice, Hoobie!


More love for the A-10:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEdy84YGf1k

and this

http://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-10s-saved-the-day-in-botched-afghanistan-raid-b78367f4fd0e#.78c2hyipm

Dale
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jan 14, 2016 - 06:51pm PT
thanks dale. uhh, foto balm coming:
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
Jan 14, 2016 - 11:31pm PT
WingBoarding

https://www.facebook.com/cnn/videos/10154368575066509/?theater
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Feb 21, 2016 - 12:15pm PT
interesting video http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-explains-why-he-wont-skydive-as-civilian-brandon-webb-2016-2
Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Feb 21, 2016 - 01:01pm PT

A PBY at the vintage airshow in Napier, NZ circa 2005. After the war my father hitched a ride from the Pacific Islands to NZ in a PBY to marry my mother, so it was mandatory I get a ride in this beauty. It felt so solid I was amazed; it flew low and slow but felt like it could go on forever. Being able to land on water was certainly a bonus. It's pretty amazing to fly in a plane that's about 65 years old!




hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Feb 21, 2016 - 01:30pm PT
nice post! love everything about a flying boat ... folding wingtip floats, oh my
[Click to View YouTube Video]wintered out on the aleutian chain and thought about those flyers daily
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Feb 21, 2016 - 01:31pm PT
TomCochrane, I removed the "S" from https
Tom Cochrane's share( linked);

http://www.facebook.com/cnn/videos/10154368575066509/?theater

Um, I have a young inventor but I also have a sane wife who saw that video share. She has not given me permission to show that to the kids.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Feb 21, 2016 - 02:32pm PT
You are a talented photographer, hooblie
Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Feb 21, 2016 - 02:51pm PT
Wow hobblie, thanks for that video. The same airplane!!! Here are a few more pictures. My recollection of the plane is that, even though it's small by today's standards, the wing seemed enormously thick and massive and the whole plane really seemed impervious to almost anything. The radial engines were loud at first, but soon faded away into the background. I glad groups like these PBY guys preserve this history and make it real. There seem to be quite a few vintage planes in NZ, mostly based in Christchurch I think.

Hope I'm not being a picture hog!





The Warbirds group flew into Yakima last summer with a B-17 and a B-24; a ride was pricely but the wife said yes. Unfortunately they never returned my call and the opportunity was missed. Hopefully they'll be back this year.
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Feb 23, 2016 - 04:34am PT
Eric 'Winkle' Brown has died, the link to his obituary is below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12167611/Captain-Eric-Winkle-Brown-obituary.html

An amazing bloke.

Steve
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 23, 2016 - 07:38am PT
Yes, and several of his records will never be threatened: he flew 487 different types and made
2407 carrier landings! These days you're considered bad assed if you do a couple hundred.
Had his carrier sunk from beneath him and crashed 11 planes, likely none of which were his
fault. An amazing life.

Wino, I went through a PBY that some toff had turned into the ultimate RV. It was so pussed
out it is hard to describe. The blisters had white leather booths. It had a galley. The best
bits were the speakers on the undersides of the wings so you could buzz some idyllic lagoon
and hail the natives:

"I say there, might we let down and have a palaver?"

The trouble is those engines take so much work you would have to travel with a mechanic.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Mar 14, 2016 - 07:26pm PT
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 28, 2016 - 09:32pm PT
My father flew those PBY's and the big Martin jobs for about six months in Pautuxet River NAS and especially didn't like the Martins because they anchored out and you had to wait for a boat to come out and bring you in. He said it took unacceptably long to get to a martini. He and his buddy finally got transferred as test pilots for Project Cadillac at NAS Banana River (Cape Canaveral).
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 28, 2016 - 09:32pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 28, 2016 - 10:45pm PT
I keep saying that one of these days I will get my sh#t together and get the pictures uploaded from the half dozen museums and several wreck sites I have visited the last couple years. Here is a nice Scorpion, photo credit to Big Mike. Note the transport in the background, one of only three existing.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 28, 2016 - 10:48pm PT
I never thought that a thread of mine would ever get to a thousand posts. I'm going to be greedy and claim it for myself ;)

A heartfelt thank you to everyone that has contributed to this thread, and kept it clean of the fighting and drama that tends to rear it's head in long threads. Please keep up the great shares!

My wife took this when we were at the Space Center...was amazing to see a shuttle up close and personal.

T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Mar 29, 2016 - 04:58am PT
Nice thread Vegasclimber! Here is a photo to gain some sky diving back into the thread. But there is a pac750 in there for the aviation part.

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Mar 29, 2016 - 08:56am PT
Travis-

THX for starting this "most civil" of all S-T threads. Many of us here enjoy flying, airplanes, and parachutes.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 29, 2016 - 09:06am PT
That's a rare bird outside of Kiwiland! Sort of a poor man's Cessna Caravan.

And, again, just why do people jump out of functioning aircraft?
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Mar 29, 2016 - 09:29am PT
^^^ could it be maintenance costs?
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Mar 29, 2016 - 10:52am PT
why do we jump out? because we hate landing in them.
ElCapPirate

Big Wall climber
Ogden, Utah
Mar 29, 2016 - 10:58am PT

snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Mar 29, 2016 - 01:20pm PT
way to get er done ammon!
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Apr 12, 2016 - 08:37am PT
yay skunkworkers!hi-rez here:

http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/archive/www.aviationweek.com/Portals/AWeek/TWW/GrahamW/P-791%20resize.jpg

from architectural digest mar 24: "The LMH1 Hybrid Airship can lift up to 47,000 pounds of payload and 19 passengers and, with four diesel engines, has a range of 1,400 miles when cruising at 60 knots (about 70 mph). But now, after more than 20 years of research, Lockheed says it has plans to develop a new, larger airship that can carry 500 tons (one million pounds) of cargo over thousands of miles."


500 tons of skydiver ought to pay the freight, assuming the thing could descend minus such ballast

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/lockheed-martin-airships-1.3524549

airfreight in a 747 = 5 gallons/mile. half the efficiency of piston-engine airfreight. (^^^ those are diesel engines, possible to bio-fuel?)

as we approach the end of the petroleum era, it may turn out that party balloons weren't the best use of a limited resource,
and maybe natural gas wells provide some efficiencies along with energy

http://www.gizmag.com/helium-source-natural-gas-fields/39038/
yo

climber
Mudcat Spire
Apr 12, 2016 - 08:56am PT
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Apr 28, 2016 - 09:41pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 28, 2016 - 09:51pm PT
yo, ya got me stumped! The wing could be a King Air 350 but the nacelle is wrong!
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 29, 2016 - 03:53am PT
He has me stumped as well which is hard to do! I'm going to say twin Piper, Commanche or Aztec perhaps. Can't really make out the fuselage to see if it's a pressurized bird or not.

Beautiful shot though - please keep posting them up folks!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 29, 2016 - 07:50am PT
Doh! I was so focused on the winglets I was thinking it had to be something bigger like a
King Air and it didn't even dawn on me that it isn't even a turboprop! It's gotta be something
the size of a Cessna 421 or a Navajo but none of them have winglets* and that nacelle still
has me stumped.

*I guess you can get winglets on a 421c now - for $60K!
squishy

Mountain climber
Apr 29, 2016 - 10:14am PT
Too easy, Tecnam P2006T

hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
May 10, 2016 - 10:56am PT
what the...?

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 12, 2016 - 06:25pm PT
Hoob, was is that sweet thang, besides a hi-tech SuperCub Tundra Thrasher?
I WANT ONE!

Happy ending in Lodi although I will bet you that if he had not tried to
return he could have picked a better place to put her down. You lose so
many options when you turn around, IF you do manage to turn around.
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
May 12, 2016 - 11:11pm PT
many great examples of what not to do...as in a nylon test pilot

The guy above

climber
Across the pond
May 29, 2016 - 01:48am PT
Sweet snap from Max Haim!



Edge

Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
Jun 17, 2016 - 07:16pm PT
My daughter Meaghan made her first solo jump today; now I wanna.




That last pic tells me this will not end anytime soon.
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jun 18, 2016 - 10:04am PT
great to hear Edge, i've seen your girl up there. let me know when you are ready, i fly there often and we have some excellent instructors.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 20, 2016 - 10:28am PT
Step aside, AN-225, you've been punked! 385' wingspan!!!!! Are you kidding me?

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-paulallen-idUSKCN0Z6090

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YgJFKUiuDBE
perswig

climber
Jul 18, 2016 - 04:02pm PT
Doc!
http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article90144877.html

Dale
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Jul 18, 2016 - 04:38pm PT
DC-10 on the job. Reilly's got the good pics.


Dwight Kroll aka flydude pilots me over The Needles

perswig

climber
Aug 15, 2016 - 04:48pm PT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-EHwYOfY94

Friggin' Hummer-jockeys, always showing off.
Dale
perswig

climber
Oct 1, 2016 - 04:08am PT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7G1rvmwfIk

Audio of a Phantom ejection and overwatch from the '70s. Beacon noise on guard notwithstanding, gripping listening. Dude looks tough, and his flight all did their jobs and got both pilot and RIO home.
Dale
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 29, 2016 - 04:55pm PT
Bob was among the very best. He was surely a better 'stick' than Yaeger for whom he flew the wing on the first official supersonic flight. His Shrike maneuver was aerial ballet, without a tutu.


A few minutes ago...
Karen

Trad climber
Prescott, AZ ~
Nov 25, 2016 - 08:30pm PT
Bob you'll be missed!
Hoffbrow

Trad climber
California
Nov 26, 2016 - 07:20am PT
HG flight at Crestline CA...
Minerals

Social climber
The Deli
Dec 2, 2016 - 08:37pm PT
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/12/02/military-veterans-smash-skydiving-world-records-in-himalayas.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 20, 2016 - 07:35am PT
Black Goat Is Sacrificed On Tarmac Of Pakistani Airport

Sunday was a bad day for a certain goat in Pakistan.

Employees of Pakistan's national airline took a black goat to the tarmac, near an ATR-42 aircraft that was ready to depart on a domestic flight from the Islamabad airport, and sacrificed the animal.

"PIA lampooned for bizarre goat slaughter," read the headline in Pakistan's Express Tribune.

PIA is Pakistan International Airlines, which had grounded its fleet of ATR turboprop passenger planes after a Dec. 7 crash of an ATR killed all 47 people on board. The flight on Sunday was the first by an ATR since then.

It wasn't PIA's idea to bring a goat into the mix. Airline spokesperson Danyal Gillani issued what was no doubt the first airline statement about goat sacrifice in the history of aviation: "It was done by some local employees as a gesture of gratitude over the clearance of the first ATR [for flying]." Animal sacrifice is a part of Islamic tradition and can be found in other religions as well (see Leviticus 23:19).

In defense of the sacrifice, a Twitter user who goes by MisBis wrote: "There's nothing wrong in giving Sadqua [a charitable offering] ... Sadqa bari balao se bachata hai [it hedges against many troubles] ... stop making it a joke."

But the Pakistan International Airlines Pilots Association was not happy. "When you slaughter an animal in the middle of a major airport next to an aircraft, it is bound to attract attention," said a representative.

That it did, thanks to Twitter. And of course many people couldn't resist cracking wise.


http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/12/19/506155932/black-goat-is-sacrificed-on-tarmac-of-pakistani-airport

_ ___

Yeah, that should straighten things out.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Dec 20, 2016 - 08:29am PT
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 21, 2016 - 07:08pm PT
Did y'all hear about the near tragedy Friday? EVA departing LAX almost flew into Mt Wilson. "Who put mountain in our way?"
Those clowns defy belief. If they didn't have such good autopilots they would either get lost or crash every day.
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Jan 4, 2017 - 04:47pm PT
Somehow I missed this.....

My Dad sends me stuff I might like to see....

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-poc38C84]
mooch

Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
Jan 5, 2017 - 09:25am PT
Worked for Lockheed a few years back at Ed-weird AFB on the F-35 Lightning II. These photos were from the initial flight test and telemetry days.

Yours truly (crouched) downloading data from a high power engine run

Fellow avionics techs (Noelle from Lockheed) and Ano Dechbek (Dutch Air Force) observing the high power run.
mooch

Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
Jan 5, 2017 - 09:41am PT
Fun times aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, during a work up before a world cruise aboard the USS Nimitz in 1997. One of our pilots hit the round down while coming in for an arrested landing. Swells were reported to have been 20-plus, making for a really difficult recovery aboard the carrier. I was on the deck (in the 6-pack, for all you sailors out there). Watched the wreckage slide by. Our pilot ejected just prior to the jet plunging overboard. He survived....barely got a few swings in the chute before hitting the deck.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 5, 2017 - 09:50am PT
He didn't even get his feet wet? Ho, man! That probably didn't make him feel much better.
Curious why he wasn't waved off, he musta been on the low side already.

edit: Guess I shoulda watched the vid first. Doh!
He had a real nice approach going, until he didn't. :-(
mooch

Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Kernville Annex)
Jan 5, 2017 - 10:34am PT
I personally was a little mystified why were having CQ's (carrier quals) with huge pitching decks. I recall running to where he landed on the deck and there were already a half dozen folks helping him to his feet. Ended up with a compressed spine, due to the impact and being out of position for the ejection.

Then this happened to us during the 1997-1998 cruise on the Nimitz. Talk about chasing bad luck. All because of a corroded tie-down on the aircraft itself. The tie-down is spring loaded but since it was a corroded, its stayed extended (usually the 'green shirts' hang off of this before the aircraft goes into tension. The tie down caught on hydraulic lines when the pilot was on approach. Depleted all the hydraulics for the landing gear and the inflight refueling probe. With no chance to refuel, he was left with only the option to take the carrier's barricade.

First F-18 barricade (700 nautical miles from land and low fuel state). The same guy posting this to YouTube, was the Marine pilot who took the barricade (Capt Slater).

[Click to View YouTube Video]
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jan 5, 2017 - 11:58am PT
Stew breaks out the phantom, getting to know his suit over portugal.


Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 14, 2017 - 08:41am PT
As I reported a week or so ago now the EVA crankloons are under investigation:

Investigation underway into airplane that narrowly missed Mt. Wilson last month

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-flight-investigation-20170113-story.html

[The controller then turned her attention to getting the EVA pilot to turn south and repeatedly ordered him to do so until he finally complied, according to recorded radio transmissions. At one point, the controller said, “EVA 15 what are you doing? Turn southbound now!”]


It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. I just hate it when mountains jump in front of me.
It's like they don't even care!
perswig

climber
Feb 13, 2017 - 04:02am PT
Aviation-ish drinking info. First link NSFW or delicate ears.
Enjoy!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bqx2wIQtKo

http://www.check-six.com/lib/Drinks/JeremiahWeed.htm

Dale
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 14, 2017 - 04:00pm PT
Dale, thanks for the Weed article - very entertaining.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _

Harrison Ford’s Plane In Near-Miss With 737 At O.C. Airport

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/harrison-ford%E2%80%99s-plane-in-near-miss-with-737-at-oc-airport-%E2%80%93-report/ar-AAmWozw?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp


“Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?”

Man, if you can't tell the taxiway from the runway at John Wayne you got
no business flying. That dude has dementia.

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Feb 15, 2017 - 03:59am PT
So we won't go, until it is to late( again)
I know cause like back then,in 1932 we, as a nation, blew it off too
and they have had decades to fortify against it
But a much more appropriate fit than just Perswig' cool share is the fact that russian troops in
nonspecific uniforms; jeans & hoods, ( No Insignea )are rolling over small countries in Europe.
But the most obvious & real threat:
PLACING NEW MISSEL SYSTEMS IN LANDS THE HAVE OCCOPIED

We are, like I said if & when WE? choose to. (Dos Gringo's 1st YouTube video)
[Click to View YouTube Video]
T2

climber
Cardiff by the sea
Mar 1, 2017 - 06:14pm PT
Learning to fly my new set of wings the swift2. So stoked on the sky right now!!


Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Mar 6, 2017 - 01:40pm PT
Doc lives! (the last restorable B-29)

http://mortefontainevillage.pagesperso-orange.fr/marcbrecy/b29.html
perswig

climber
Mar 6, 2017 - 03:12pm PT
Reilly, that clip shows some nice background footage that my link last page didn't get to. Dig the 'Rosie the riveter' earrings!

Such a cool journey for those folks.
Dale
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Mar 23, 2017 - 09:54am PT
a little fun in the sky

http://vimeo.com/209772295

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2017 - 02:02am PT
Hiyas all!

I haven't been on here in ages, so I thought I would break back in by posting up some pics. The wife and I took a trip to Tuscon a couple months back, and I finally got to visit the air museum there. Being as it's right next door to the boneyard, they have some seriously cool airframes out there. Enjoy!













Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 17, 2017 - 11:57pm PT
More Pima aluminum!









BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Apr 18, 2017 - 06:22am PT
This is my new bad habit:



What museum is that above? I've been to both Smithsonian Air and Space museums. You have the small museum on the mall, and out by the airport you have the incredible huge museum, with the Space Shuttle Discovery, an SR 71, and about 200 other airplanes. Darn near anything you can think of. It is an incredible place. A must see for anyone in the area with a day to kill.

Compare to the Apollo capsules, the Space Shuttle is unbelievably huge. Getting that sucker into orbit took some real power.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Apr 18, 2017 - 07:12am PT
http://www.airplaneboneyards.com/davis-monthan-afb-amarg-airplane-boneyard.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pima_Air_%26_Space_Museum

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 18, 2017 - 07:12am PT
Strong werk, Vegas! Pima is top of the short list, especially after seeing yer pics!
What the hay is the story on the hybrid B-29?
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Apr 18, 2017 - 07:51am PT
I spent my high school years a stones throw from the boneyards and DM AFB. I recommend the Pima Air Museum to anyone interested in airplanes. You can also visit the boneyards through the museum if you sign up in advance.


ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Jun 18, 2017 - 01:34pm PT
base104 -- what is your new "bad habit"? is it skydiving (i.e. jumping out of a plane) or BASE?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jun 18, 2017 - 01:49pm PT
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Jun 18, 2017 - 02:03pm PT
MS-I didn't see your comment.

Paragliding. Jumping off things with a wing ALREADY inflated.

It is taking off. I have several friends who are way into it. I'm leaving for Utah to get my P2 rating next week.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jun 24, 2017 - 07:45am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
GLee

Social climber
Montucky
Jun 28, 2017 - 03:13pm PT
Retired Neptune Aviation P2V Tanker 10 as you enter KMSO


Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Jun 28, 2017 - 05:53pm PT
B-17, B-24, and P-51 in Yakima for their annual visits this week. Able to crawl through the bombers (but not into the cockpit) on your own. Amazing. The soldiers who flew these things were brave men or very youg; probably both. Anyway, I glad there are groups out there preserving this heritage. Didn't get to fly this year, maybe next year ......
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 12, 2017 - 07:47am PT
Now I have to avoid flying Air Canada, too? (not that their prices would
ever entice to do so anyway)
VERY CLOSE to the largest aviation disaster in history!

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sfo-taxiway-near-landing-20170710-story.html


I know it was dark, but that only describes the pilot's mental state.
Maybe he trained with Korean Air/Asiana?
Trust me, runways at major airports are WELL lit up. You've also got
this other gizmo called an ILS/Localizer.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2017 - 04:53pm PT
Strong werk, Vegas! Pima is top of the short list, especially after seeing yer pics!
What the hay is the story on the hybrid B-29?

Thanks Reilly! It's the best I have been to thus far. And that's actually a B-50, an upgraded version of the 29. Not many of them had the jets, so it's a very rare bird.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Aug 23, 2017 - 10:49pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
rwedgee

Ice climber
CA
Aug 24, 2017 - 07:04am PT

(Newser) – A BASE jumper apparently trying to make it to the floor of an Idaho canyon instead ended up stuck on the canyon wall Tuesday night, KMVT reports. Emergency responders were called to the scene in Twin Falls, where one descended the cliff face to perform a rope rescue, CBS News reports. Witnesses said another man made the same jump but did end up safe on the floor of the canyon. The man who was rescued declined medical attention.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Oct 29, 2017 - 09:05am PT
Just a bump for a great thread!
divad

Trad climber
wmass
Oct 29, 2017 - 09:12am PT
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Nov 14, 2017 - 01:19pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 14, 2017 - 01:30pm PT
Nice vid! Sure looked like there were almost some bad tangles! It might have been due to the long lens’ foreshortening. As big as those chutes were they landed harder than my knees and back would like.
perswig

climber
Nov 15, 2017 - 03:10am PT
Nice conditions for a re-qual day (assuming, since a 4th ID guy snuck in among the 82/101).
JM called ground wind pretty accurately. Or he was blowing kisses at the number 4 jumper in his stick.

Dale

rwedgee

Ice climber
CA
Nov 29, 2017 - 12:19pm PT
[url="http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL9sNrOlK-I"]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL9sNrOlK-I[/url]
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Nov 29, 2017 - 02:57pm PT
Fixed it for ya rwedgee! That's a crazy ass video, mad skills!
[Click to View YouTube Video]
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Nov 29, 2017 - 03:40pm PT
that was one crazy jackass stunt

but I couldn't help smiling when both had made it. even pumped my fist (totally involuntary, like the smiling -- like I said, utterly jackass, indefensibly bad-judgment stunt)
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 29, 2017 - 06:48pm PT
Hocking, DON’T GET ME STARTED! A Thud! Boy, howdy, Charlie hated life when those bad boys rolled in to deliver the goods!

And the CH-56! What a monster! Check out the new K model! Three freaking engines!
22,500 SHP! It can deliver 55 Gyrenes at 170 kts! That’ll ruin yer day! Boo-Yah! 😜

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_CH-53K_King_Stallion
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Nov 29, 2017 - 07:52pm PT
I hear ya! I gots lotsa hours in those infernal contraptions!*
Definitely a love-hate relationship! 😐

*Including Ми-8 Hips! Don’t ask. 😈
Squirrel Murphy

Trad climber
Nov 30, 2017 - 05:21am PT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA73YNQTNQU

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 27, 2017 - 09:28am PT
Say buh-bye, A380! Gotta say I enjoy riding in them. When yer in business on the top deck you can barely hear the engines. Even at takeoff power you can whisper to yer mate.

Airbus ready to phase out A380 if fails to win Emirates deal: sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-a380/airbus-ready-to-phase-out-a380-if-fails-to-win-emirates-deal-sources-idUSKBN1EL11L
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Feb 19, 2018 - 03:28pm PT
Last year was another doozy! All video is shot by me and the Wife garners pretty much all my focus and attention.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
TomCochrane

Trad climber
Cascade Mountains and Monterey Bay
Apr 2, 2018 - 08:07pm PT
how to fly fast:

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/11/10/the-connection-between-aurora-and-black-triangles/
Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Apr 3, 2018 - 07:22am PT
^^^^^^^^ Good god...........
Flying saucers function by ionizing the air surrounding their spacecraft produced by radiation exposure to their surface structure. They “thin” the local gravitational field by separating the ions with a strong magnetic field so they are effectively flying through a rarefied atmosphere similar in composition to the ionosphere.

The diminished pressure gradients eases the boundary layer effects between the saucer’s hull and the atmosphere, thereby substantially reducing or completely eliminating the effects of Gravity. The production of a magnetic over-gradient in the atmosphere surrounding the space craft creates a counterbary to the effects of gravity. (Magnetic buoyancy).

Flying saucers have been using microwave and or neutron radiation to reduce plasma-air density in the atmosphere surrounding the saucer’s edge by simply heating or turning the air into an ionizing plasma. It has previously been suggested that the transfer of photon momentum (hv/c) is employed in repel the ionized air molecules. However, only thermal and magnetic effects are considered in this analysis, although photon momentum transfer will enhance the net effect.
Nick Danger

Ice climber
Arvada, CO
Apr 3, 2018 - 07:38am PT
A few years ago I was doing field geology on the Indian Springs playa on Creech AFB when the Thunderbirds sent a couple of hours practicing their routines over my head. One of the best days in the field ever. Another time I was doing field work on another playa farther north on the Nevada Test and Training Range (part of Nellis AFB)when F-16s were doing a close air support live fire exercise on the next playa over. I was extremely happy all of the pilots knew exactly where they were and didn't drop any live ordnance on me. Another completely cool day in the field.

In the spirit of sharing the vintage aircraft joy, my offerings are posted below:

Cheers
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Apr 3, 2018 - 04:15pm PT
https://www.tetongravity.com/video/base-jump/watch-ski-base-jumpers-send-it-to-another-galaxy-off-the-rock-springs-buttr
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 3, 2018 - 09:56pm PT
skywalker1

Trad climber
co
Apr 3, 2018 - 11:13pm PT
Just had my first flight today paragliding!!!!!! about a 10 minute flight. Just a picture of the morning.
.

I'm a noob but holy moly running off that drop for the first time was pretty freaking ....well words won't work.

I practiced and practiced and had perfect conditions and WOW! Descent landing, a little high when I flared but it worked. :-) Lots of help from radio.

Many more to go....

S...
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Apr 7, 2018 - 03:24pm PT
approximately what is the buy-in to get fully kitted for skydiving ... $3K?
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Apr 9, 2018 - 11:12am PT
^^^ 3-5K, then add the jumps/coaching in the first year ~10K total...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Apr 9, 2018 - 03:38pm PT

Where the hell does a seaplane land at Whistler?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 8, 2018 - 06:54pm PT
BITD he wouldn't have relished flying into the sun* but it's all good today.


*Cause that's where Jerry woulda been.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 9, 2018 - 05:00pm PT

No, I would not have liked that job, for a number of reasons in addition to the claustrophobia!

This one is less claustrophobic, but more naked to the world...

Those guys didn’t have a great life expectancy seeing as how that was where Jerry usually came from.
And if their ride went south it wasn’t like they had an ejection seat.

Hotrod:
When Herman Goering walked out of some building in Berlin in early 1944 (IIRC) he looked
up and saw P-51 Mustangs accompanying B-17’s. He is reputed to have said:

“The war is lost.”

So ban me...
snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jun 12, 2018 - 07:13am PT
love the art on all these planes. below is my view of friends playing in the sky
Blakey

Trad climber
Sierra Vista
Jun 12, 2018 - 02:17pm PT
This is good, not sure it's already on here?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyHH9G9et0[/url]


Steve
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Jun 19, 2018 - 02:50pm PT
I enjoyed that Steve. I have a brother and a nephew in the airforce (yank AF that is:) ).

A couple of weeks ago, I fulfilled a childhood ambition of flying in a warbird. The local airport had a visit from a World War II B-25, and I couldn’t resist it.






Thirty Seconds Over Boulder!
domngo

climber
Canada
Jun 19, 2018 - 03:30pm PT
Reilly - they land at Green lake. Just north of the village.


Here's a look at the Bella Coola airport


ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
Jun 29, 2018 - 10:17am PT
I went to D.C. last week for work and squeezed in a visit to the Air & Space Museum Udvar-hazy Center next to Dulles. This location is a companion to the museum on the Mall.









snakefoot

climber
Nor Cal
Jun 29, 2018 - 11:04am PT
that museum rocks, when i was there in 2005, they had a flying club inside and all the members had radio controlled airborne toys of all sorts. did you see this also?
plund

Social climber
OD, MN
Jun 29, 2018 - 12:26pm PT
No photos (technically inept) but saw the thread & had to add...

My buddy just picked up a 1968 Bellanca Super Viking, fresh annual, 300-HP fuel-injected Continental...took me up last Sunday. What a great plane!!! Fast, maneuverable & strong as all hell. You sure can cover some ground cruising at 160 knots!

Saw an anecdote wherein Bellanca submitted one to the FAA for aerobatic certification (ie. structural testing to destruction to determine ultimate failure values). After the (wooden!) wing had deflected up four FEET, the testing apparatus broke! So of course the FAA denied the aerobatic cert, because they couldn't assign a number value to the wing strength! At which point Bellanca just said, fine, never mind, keep your cert.

Hadn't been up in a small plane for too long, almost forgot how much fun it is! Smooth air & smoother landings, all....
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
Jun 29, 2018 - 02:38pm PT
Yes the museum is super cool, though I didn't see the radio control area.




hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jul 31, 2018 - 07:23am PT
dude, mod your wilga!
[Click to View YouTube Video]

google Mike Patey Wilga for north of a dozen high production value videos of the whole build
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 31, 2018 - 07:49am PT
WOW! Mungo want! 160’ rollout and 120’ TO? Yowza! Dude’s a genius!
He could take off from the wing of an A-380! 🤪
Ney Grant

Trad climber
Pollock Pines
Jul 31, 2018 - 02:55pm PT
Domngo,

I just saw that photo of the Bella Coola airport and the nice looking granite behind. Is there a good guidebook or source of info for that area - it looks good. It looks like you can land/camp there and walk to the climbs except then I looked on google earth and the river looks big and wide...


Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jul 31, 2018 - 05:22pm PT
Aeromexico crash today - many pax reported hearing a ‘bang!’ and then down they went.
Classic case of overloaded for the high and hot TO, low climb rate so rotate some more
and BANG! - a compressor stall with no altitude to recover.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Aug 1, 2018 - 12:57am PT
^^ Whoa, my wife and son just flew AeroMexico this Spring.
I hope everybody is ok.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 1, 2018 - 07:44am PT
Read this morning that there was a thunderstorm nearby so a microburst could be involved.
In this country you DO NOT take off or land if there is a thunderstorm nearby. Nearby is a
variable but most US carriers have strict guidelines that came about after a rash of microburst
crashes in the 70’s and early 80’s. I can’t think of one since the Delta DFW crash in early 80’s
although that was also due to the flight crew playing grab ass with a flight attendant so they
didn’t set their flaps correctly.
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2018 - 11:45pm PT
Glad to see that folks are still keeping this thread alive, even though I haven't been around in a long time.

Here's a shot of me in a 737 sim - haven't flown anything in almost 10 years now, and nothing this big. Didn't do too badly, hand flew from Vegas to LA, only utilizing the autothrottle. The sim tech was rather impressed, and I had a blast.


Had some extra time in Portland recently, and ran down to McMinville to check this off my aircraft bucket list. Just as incredible as I thought it would be.

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2018 - 11:54pm PT
Another couple just for fun, these were taken at the Revolution Museum in Havana during our Cuba trip a year or so ago.

An absolutely stunning Sea Fury and a trainer. There are also remnants of a Bay of Pigs bomber, and the engine of the U-2 that was shot down there.


Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Aug 2, 2018 - 07:17am PT
The Spruce Goose is well worth seeing. Amazing work with plywood (not your Home Depot type).

Reilly, here's a video from inside the plane of the takeoff (well, sort of....) of the Mexican plane.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 2, 2018 - 08:06am PT
Vegas, cool stuff! Good to ‘see’ you!

Wino, looks like they ran off the end of the runway! WTF?
GLee

Social climber
Montucky
Aug 2, 2018 - 01:48pm PT
FYI

Miss Montana to Normandy (for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day in June 2019):

https://missmontanatonormandy.com/

or

https://www.facebook.com/missmontanatonormandy/

PS: Looking @ the tolman_paul post on July 26 2011, of the photo taken by his father of the Margret (sp?) Anne on a carrier during WW2: this plane is a Stinson L-5 Sentinel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinson_L-5_Sentinel);
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 4, 2018 - 03:04am PT
Took this last year, was up in Tonopah looking at a B-24 crash site from the war. This is one of three hangars still standing at what was Tonopah Army Air Field - they started with P-39s but had a horrendous crash rate due to the high altitude, and it transferred to a B-24 training base. Chuck Yeager transitioned into fighters here.


And, a photo of me playing around in the tunnel at Perris Valley.

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 4, 2018 - 09:01am PT
They had these along the hiway for miles either side of the Saab aircraft plant!
Way cool but hard to keep yer eyes on the road!
Robb

Social climber
Cat Box
Aug 5, 2018 - 03:50pm PT
Here ya go
[Click to View YouTube Video]
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Aug 5, 2018 - 09:22pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 5, 2018 - 09:47pm PT
Pity about the 20 souls lost with the JU-52 today in Suisse.
GuapoVino

climber
Aug 6, 2018 - 10:17am PT

F117 Stealth Fighter. I can't remember the exact date but it had to be between 1988 and 1994, when I was in the AF.

I was told by the maintenance crews that most of the plane was built out of existing parts already in use on other aircraft. Only the shape, coating and some of the other "stealthy" features were unique. They were always experimenting with the coating (fancy term for paint) on the exterior. Some coatings were more stealthy than others but the more stealthy coatings created more heat from friction during flight and had a shorter lifespan before needing to be re-painted. Another interesting thing I saw was that the access panels on the underside of the plan, that the ground crews had to access, had some kind of caulk or putty that was used to cover the fitting holes so that no divit of screw head was exposed, which increased it's radar signature. The crews would also only touch it with cotton gloves on so that their sweat and body oils didn't reduce the radar absorbing ability of the coating. I had read that they destroyed one or two of them, to test how hard they were to destroy, but the others are semi-mothballed in a protected environment in case they need to the re-commissioned.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 6, 2018 - 12:19pm PT
I was told by the maintenance crews that most of the plane was built out of existing parts already in use on other aircraft.

And you believed that? A good friend was senior engineer on the F-117 and B-2.
There might be some commonality in the screws. 😉

BITD I was in a GE F-16 engine plant for a while. You don’t need to know why. I strolled i to a QC room and started chatting up the two nice ladies in there. There was a wall of shelving with small carbon fiber parts on it. I picked up one about a foot square and asked what it was worth. They both started laughing and one said,

“Nothing now that your skin oil is on it!”

Oops!

“Don’t worry, it happens all the time - we have a good solvent.”

BTW, corrected for inflation that little part was worth about $2500 in today’s dollar!
GuapoVino

climber
Aug 6, 2018 - 02:00pm PT
And you believed that? A good friend was senior engineer on the F-117 and B-2. There might be some commonality in the screws. 😉


I know its true. The avionics, electronics and fly-by-wire systems were borrowed from what was used on the F-16, F-15 and F-18. The engine was a GE F404 which was used in other existing aircraft. The landing gear for the first version came from the A-10. There were so many off the shelf parts and systems used that they were able to keep it secret by hiding a lot of the cost under the category of spare parts. There were generals in the Air Force that were totally unaware of it even after it became operational.
John M

climber
Aug 6, 2018 - 02:05pm PT
He said B-2, not B52.

There were generals in the Air Force that were totally unaware of it even after it became operational.

thats not that rare. Plenty of Generals don't know diddly squat unless it directly involves them. And even then, they don't know until it does directly involve them.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Aug 7, 2018 - 12:11pm PT
the goody is from 8-12 minutes in ...
[Click to View YouTube Video]

tight canyon & coolee flying captured with state of the art gear from the helo
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2018 - 09:21pm PT
Reilly, thanks for sharing the planes on a stick! That would distract the hell outta me as well. I am well known for suddenly pulling off a highway or freeway because I spotted a plane in a park somewhere. Drives the wife nuts.

The 117 was actually up and flying in the Test Range as recently as 2 years ago - they apparently had to keep a couple in "near flyable" condition. The rest were kept in a couple hangars with the wings and tailplanes pulled off.

Sadly they are now off to the shredder - there was a recent photo taken on the highway of one going out on a lowbed. Nothing else has that planform and it was easy to see under the tarp. Wish they could take them to the museums instead.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Aug 7, 2018 - 09:31pm PT
Surely the AF Museum will get one where there is better security than the Smithsonian.
I’m sure the ‘paint’ is still highly classified.

So, Vegas, nice job hand flying that 737! You musta had an in there or did you win the Lottery? 🙂
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2018 - 09:40pm PT
Actually, it's open to the public. Flightdeck in Annaheim CA - they also have some F-16 style sims that you can go head to head in dogfights with. I was pretty happy with myself that I didn't dump the damn thing haha.

I would go for the 737 sim, the 60 minute package was enough time for me to get a full flight in including ground work. The others are tourist style. I DID have an in many years ago and got to spend some time in a real F-16 sim and it was a kick in the ass for sure.
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Aug 7, 2018 - 10:40pm PT

from Seafair in Seattle






And 'cause I snuck a Blue Angels photo in the birds thread once,
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Sep 11, 2018 - 08:41pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Sep 14, 2018 - 12:52pm PT
AN-225 Mriya, operating as flight ADB286F "Super," the world's biggest cargo transporter and only-one-of-its-kind, landed on Rwy 30 at KOAK on Sunday, September 9, 2018, to load relief supplies in support of Typhoon Mangkhut efforts (Guam).

[Click to View YouTube Video]
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Oct 2, 2018 - 07:22pm PT
(RC)[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 2, 2018 - 10:24pm PT
^^^. Geez! That thang is impressive but as big as it is it is pretty damn dangerous flying it so damn close to people! I wonder how much it cost?
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Oct 5, 2018 - 02:42pm PT
Lord, we just got back from our 1st and last trip to Malaysia. I got heavily influenced to go this year and the Wife had a blast!!!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 5, 2018 - 02:45pm PT
^^^ Ya didn’t take yer kids? 😔
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Oct 5, 2018 - 04:34pm PT
Kids? What kids? We have two Pugs two and donkeys and all our stuff going on on.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 5, 2018 - 05:40pm PT
Exactly! 🤡
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Oct 5, 2018 - 11:51pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Oct 6, 2018 - 12:27pm PT
Amazing video, Hank!

Especially the hot landing into the fence?!

As they say, any landing you can walk away from...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 6, 2018 - 06:25pm PT
So what the hell is a ‘Superjet’? That weren’t no A380!
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Oct 7, 2018 - 12:18pm PT
Rick A wrote,

Amazing video, Hank!

Especially the hot landing into the fence?!

As they say, any landing you can walk away from...

I am stunned I didn't blow my femur on that landing. I have a huge hanging blood balloon from my knee to my hip.. I didn't really walk away either.

Now the Embassy Suites? I walked away from that one baby, then collapsed from blood loss 6 blocks later.. again, was that really walking away?

Now my Wife? She's a fantastic jumper that's easily way better than me, and hot, and popular at events. Pretty sure I get invites because the organizers love her.. oh fate, how you mock me.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Oct 9, 2018 - 02:21am PT
hope you heal up well Hankster!
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Oct 10, 2018 - 04:02am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
Oct 10, 2018 - 12:19pm PT
Yikes Hankster! Hope you are ok!

Onetime when I was a smokejumper we were jumping this fire and the jump spot was pretty good except for one major hazard- a huge triple topped snag. In the plane everyone was like whatever you do stay away from that thing. My buddy Jeff goes out the door and it literally looked like his sole goal was to land in the snag. Every turn, every correction just brought him closer. It was like the thing had a tractor beam on him. Sure enough, he goes right into the top of it. The branches shredded through his canopy and hung him up about 150 feet off the ground. Luckily he was firmly hung up (the big risk is hitting a tree, having the canopy deflate and then the branches break causing a free fall to the ground) and he rapped out of the tree with the handy "let down" webbing we jumped with (a terrifying process in which you tie off to a parachute riser, run the webbing through some rings in your jump suit and then unclip from the parachute and lower down).

Usually if someone hangs up you have to climb up the tree and get the parachute out of it once the fire is handled but in this case the tree was too dangerous to climb so maybe his parachute is still out there (Lassen National Park backcountry)!!

Anyway, Mike Honcho's video of sailing over all of that grass into the fence reminded me that jump.

Jeff third from left:


kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Oct 20, 2018 - 04:56pm PT
Wow - skillful landing:

[Click to View YouTube Video]
zBrown

Ice climber
Oct 20, 2018 - 07:22pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Oct 29, 2018 - 10:32am PT
https://airfactsjournal.com/2013/08/why-you-must-fly-a-taildragger/
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 29, 2018 - 11:09am PT
Stick and rudder skills are sooo early 20th century! 😜

Good article though and it’s why when the automated plane today has problems you are deep doodoo. I can go on ad nauseum with examples but I will just say that I will only fly on airlines where English or German is the native language of the flight crew. That isn’t to say those problems don’t exist on those flight decks but I firmly believe they are not as severe and recurrent training is taken much more seriously. In the aftermath if the SFO Asiana clown shown the clown show of Korean airlines’ recurrent training came into the floodlights, and it wasn’t pretty. The pilots had set up a website where they shared info and it also appears the sim trainers were tipping their hands. As if that isn’t bad enough the level of maneuvers and situations they were put into were laughably simplistic. A retired US airline pilot who was a sim trainer there said that the flying skills of pilots there were dismal, at best, and that included Korean Air Force pilots! He quit in disgust. You couldn’t comp me a first class ticket on a Korean airline.

Sadly the percentage of US airlines’ pilots who got their stick and rudder skills courtesy of Uncle Sam is plummeting and their replacements are not even close.
Robb

Social climber
Cat Box
Oct 29, 2018 - 01:06pm PT
11k hours between the 1st and 2cd? Maybe not P E Reilly.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 29, 2018 - 01:32pm PT
The total hours are meaningless if all you’ve been doing is watching the plane fly itself. That’s why a US Navy or Air Force pilot with 1500 hours is immeasurably preferable to somebody with 5000 or 10,000 hours who didn’t get $1 million worth of training in high test aircraft. That military pilot also is highly likely to have an engineering degree. The US military also teaches you how to think ‘critically’. If you’ve read about the 2009 Air France Flt 447 crash then you’ve read about their fatal lack of critical thinking skills. They assumed some things that prevented them from pursuing other recovery options. They kept doing the SAME THING REPEATEDLY! Are you kidding me? One of the first things you’re taught in recovery training is if something doesn’t work you go back to the same config and try something different. It turns out that Air France’s pilot traing program was basically an old boys’ club not significantly different from the Koreans’. Little or no emphasis on unusual attitudes. Very sad.
the Fet

climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
Oct 29, 2018 - 01:57pm PT



I got an aerobatic flight in a N3N earlier this year for Father’s Day. So fun! I want one.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Nov 7, 2018 - 09:15pm PT
this is bare bones story telling but ... dramaticly, it worked for me!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Mike Honcho

Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
Dec 3, 2018 - 06:33pm PT
Merry Christmas y'all!
[Click to View YouTube Video]


edit- I'm truly in awe and admiration for pretty every much everyone who posts here. Fantastic stuff all around!

edit x2- Ontheedgeandscaredtodeath is related to me somehow.. I think.

Amazing video, Hank!

Especially the hot landing into the fence?!

As they say, any landing you can walk away from...

Me in the back and pro-skier Jesse Hall in front, he actually hit the building. Both limped away.

Caylor!
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 3, 2018 - 06:44pm PT
The latest Asian pilots’ clown show regarding Lion Air of Indonesia is icing on the cake about
how incompetent those people are. It sounds like they had a minor maintenance issue with a pitot tube that made the autopilot wonky but because these guys don’t really understand their aircraft they fought the autopilot for control! Are you kidding me? Yer so phukking stoopid you can’t
reach over yer head and pull the breaker on it and hand fly the airplane? Oh, silly me, I forgot
they have no notion of hand flying. That’s what autopilots are for, right? It makes me mad it does.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Dec 4, 2018 - 06:25pm PT
Early 1920s, French.

Mais Qui, but of course!


crberg

Trad climber
Cave Creek, AZ
Dec 4, 2018 - 09:24pm PT
I still can’t get over seeing this in person. Pretty amazing
[Click to View YouTube Video]
perswig

climber
Dec 5, 2018 - 04:51am PT
For some reason, I think I would have been more freaked climbing up by those turbine blades than the low jump...


Reilly, have you seen any reported detail from recorder info as to how long the pilots spent with their repeated attempts to override the AOA emergency mechanism? Somewhere (BBC?) I heard a time of over 20 minutes. Also, that the specific airframe had reported similar handling behavior in previous flights.

Dale
Winemaker

Sport climber
Yakima, WA
Dec 11, 2018 - 07:28am PT
Bird strikes....
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 11, 2018 - 08:04am PT
Ewwww!

My bro-in-law was flying relief supplies in Ethiopia in a Twin Otter. Bluebird day out in the middle of nowhere - a great day to be flying at 15,000’. He sees a speck on his windshield which in a second, literally, morphs into a huge bird! He shoves the column forward but it strikes the upper windshield which disintegrates! Plexiglass and bird parts fill the cockpit. Luckily they both had sunglasses on. The bird was big enough that the edge of the fuselage was bent!

Meanwhile in Venezuela a paraglider had a spot of bother...
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Dec 21, 2018 - 04:48pm PT
what? it's a windsock!
squishy

Mountain climber
Jan 6, 2019 - 12:47pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
squishy

Mountain climber
Jan 6, 2019 - 12:48pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Jan 21, 2019 - 04:50pm PT
has anyone here jumped from above 20,000 feet?
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Jan 21, 2019 - 06:08pm PT
Holy bejesus Hankster! Your scareing the sh#t out of me! doesn't the huge fcking propellers freak you out? do they make any messed up wind/ suction that you have to deal with????
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 12, 2019 - 03:22pm PT
Don't see a lot of these flying over the crib.
Probably one of the reproductions but there are only a few of those.
I guess it's the real deal!

C/N:8 tail number: N9645 (5-AT-B, 1928) "City of Wichita/City of Port Clinton" Currently owned by: Liberty Aviation Museum. It is dressed in Transcontinental Air Transport livery. It is based at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton, Ohio, USA.[40] It was previously owned by Evergreen Vintage Aircraft, Inc., and previously based at the Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon, USA.[41][42]

There are 8 airworthy specimens, 5 on static display, and 5 being restored!
I had no idea there were so many survivors.
Robb

Social climber
Cat Box
Mar 10, 2019 - 08:03am PT
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47514289
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Mar 29, 2019 - 01:10am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Mar 29, 2019 - 07:10am PT
Zbrowns post of the hang glider on the previous page has me perplexed. That dude launched at a jog off of a beach? How does that work? I always assumed you needed a ledge of some sort, or a mountaintop to launch.
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Mar 29, 2019 - 07:24am PT
A glider is a wing, with enough windspeed you can literally step into the air although a good aggressive launch is usually recommended. Beaches often have the perfect even laminar flow that pilots like.

I learned to fly from running down a steep grassy hill, flying no more than 10' over the ground for much of the way....

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