Official Aviation Thread...

[MX339]

for me, this airplane is the shit!

I'm pretty sure there is a Tigercat that usually attends Reno. Got any pictures Blackbird?

[BlackbirdM3]

I'm pretty sure there is a Tigercat that usually attends Reno. Got any pictures Blackbird?

Hahhahah, yes Rod Lewis has brought his Tigercat(s) to Reno for the past several years, although not in 2013, but there was a different one. A few years ago at Reno every flying Tigercat was there, all 4 of them (I think).
Here are my shots of Tigercats from the past couple years at Reno.




From Reno 2012 One of Rod Lewis's Tigercats:







2010, both of Rod Lewis's Tigercats were in attendence.








As a side note, Rod Lewis also owns the P-38 "Glacier Girl". This is the P-38 that was dug out of the ice sheet in Greenland and restored.








Rod Lewis also owns the racing F8f2 Bearcat "Rare Bear" (fastest piston engined aircraft in the world) a Hawker Sea Fury "232" aka "September Fury" as well as quite a few other rare birds.

Will

[MX339]

Hahhahah, yes Rod Lewis has brought his Tigercat(s) to Reno for the past several years, although not in 2013, but there was a different one. A few years ago at Reno every flying Tigercat was there, all 4 of them (I think).
Here are my shots of Tigercats from the past couple years at Reno.






As a side note, Rod Lewis also owns the P-38 "Glacier Girl". This is the P-38 that was dug out of the ice sheet in Greenland and restored.

Will

Thanks for the pictures Will. I really need to get out and go to the air races one day. It's quite sad that I'm now working on warbird airframes, but I've yet to see any notable warbirds fly. :(

On the topic of Glacier Girl, that story has always been extremely interesting to me. This picture never ceases to intrigue me when I see it.


Although though there is one aspect of the recovery that bothers me. The crew were very aware of the locations of the other P38's and could have fairly easily just made more tunnels straight to them, proceeding to lift them up through the existing hole. Now I don't know how much truth this statement holds, but I've been told that the majority of the reason they didn't pull any more out, is because much of the prestige would have been lost had it not just been the single star of the show: Glacier Girl.

Like I said, I don't know how much truth there is to that statement, since there could be many other factors in deciding against the recovery of the rest. What I do know for sure is that it's a shame they weren't recovered, because now they're almost definitely in the shape the B17's were in. I've never actually been able to find pictures of the B17's though.

Speaking of the B17's, my boss actually has the yoke of one of those (I believe they were E-model) B17's. I'll have to snap a picture of it next time I'm over there. We've also got the remnants of Liberty Belle laying around.

[BlackbirdM3]

If you can get to the Air Races, do so, I have a feeling their days are numbered. Its a spectacle like no other. Things are being shaken up with RARA (Reno Air Racing Association) their media director was let go last month, and earlier this week the head guy was let go. Who knows if there will even be one this year.

There were a few reasons Glacier Girl was the only one brought up. If you read the book "The Lost Squadron" it goes into detail on the salvage of the parts they brought up. From what I remember, the others had far more damage than Glacier Girl did, still the parts could have been used to rebuild another plane.

Speaking of Liberty Bell, wasn't that assembled for various parts of other B17s? I seem to remember reading something about it being a conglomeration of several planes.

Will

[FLYNAVY]

Have always wanted to go, but it either interfered with college when I was in school, or it is like the weekend before or after tailhook nowadays, if I'm around to attend even that

[mrsleeve]

I HAVE SPENT NEALY 5 HOURS ON FUCKING HOLD WITH DELTA AIRLINES FROM 130AM TO 6AM MOUNTAIN TIME........ With no sign of them answering the god dammed phone.

Had a connection get canceled, and since they are the origin airline I have to deal with them to work shit out. I was not about to get on a plane and start a trip that was going to strand me in Nebraska. What a wonderful customer service experience FFS

[Ray Smoodiver]

Got a sneak peek today:

[george graves]

Via Reddit engineering_porn - Corsair Restoration

and.....

28 cylinders and 3000 horsepower start up.

[Eric]

As I was digging the kids stroller out of the shed on Friday I heard the grumble of a round engine. I dashed out quick enough to see a war bird fly over. It was painted silver with twin engines and twin tail. I looked up pictures of surviving Mitchell's painted silver, but came up empty. Anybody know the plane that matches my vague description?

Is there an airshow in colorado this weekend?

[BlackbirdM3]

Speaking of Corsairs and R4360s, I thought this would cover things nicely. F2G Super Corsair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2CUwVXc68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm1ImoWNUCo

And everything goes wrong with a F4U Super Corsair at the '94 Phoenix Air Races for pilot Kevin Eldridge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VINgXlF2R0Y

Super Corsairs are awesome. There are only 4 of them left however, and only one with any racing history. Race 57 and 74 were both restored by Bob Odegard, however Bob was killed in Race 74 shortly after it was restored. Somewhere there is a video of both planes flying together down in Arizona just after 74 was finished. I think there are only 3 other F2Gs left, all in museums.

Will

[MX339]

If you can get to the Air Races, do so, I have a feeling their days are numbered. Its a spectacle like no other. Things are being shaken up with RARA (Reno Air Racing Association) their media director was let go last month, and earlier this week the head guy was let go. Who knows if there will even be one this year.

There were a few reasons Glacier Girl was the only one brought up. If you read the book "The Lost Squadron" it goes into detail on the salvage of the parts they brought up. From what I remember, the others had far more damage than Glacier Girl did, still the parts could have been used to rebuild another plane.

Speaking of Liberty Bell, wasn't that assembled for various parts of other B17s? I seem to remember reading something about it being a conglomeration of several planes.

Will

Speaking of Corsairs and R4360s, I thought this would cover things nicely. F2G Super Corsair.

Will

Honestly, it may not have been worth it in the least bit to bring up another entire P38. I can only imagine the Allisons must have been junk, and tooling for just about everything else other than props (which were also probably junk) could be made from patterns of the original parts. So, the more I think about it the more it makes sense that they only brought up one.

I'm not entirely sure about Liberty being a jumble of B17's, but I do know the majority of her was from a single B17. There were some pictures of her (in the early 90's I believe it was) at my boss's shop. I know there are some pictures around the net somewhere.
Ah, I found her. She was hit with the rest of NEAM's aircraft by a tornado in 1979. So its very possible she was made up of a few other B17's, but the majority was from N5111N

I'm trying to find the pictures of Liberty and the Labrador B17 sitting next to each other in their hanger in GA, but I can't seem to find them. I'm pretty sure the number of B17 restorations in Georgia is 4 or 5.

Ah, and the F2G's, I meant to bring them up when we started talking about the air races. Its a shame there aren't more, they're absolutely gorgeous. At least we've got one that flies, and the other died doing what it should.

[MX339]

As I was digging the kids stroller out of the shed on Friday I heard the grumble of a round engine. I dashed out quick enough to see a war bird fly over. It was painted silver with twin engines and twin tail. I looked up pictures of surviving Mitchell's painted silver, but came up empty. Anybody know the plane that matches my vague description?

Is there an airshow in colorado this weekend?

Did you see 50's poking out of it? If so, the only thing I can think of it B-25. Which would make the most sense, since, relatively speaking, there are quite a few still flying around.

[BlackbirdM3]

Honestly, it may not have been worth it in the least bit to bring up another entire P38. I can only imagine the Allisons must have been junk, and tooling for just about everything else other than props (which were also probably junk) could be made from patterns of the original parts. So, the more I think about it the more it makes sense that they only brought up one.

I'm not entirely sure about Liberty being a jumble of B17's, but I do know the majority of her was from a single B17. There were some pictures of her (in the early 90's I believe it was) at my boss's shop. I know there are some pictures around the net somewhere.
Ah, I found her. She was hit with the rest of NEAM's aircraft by a tornado in 1979. So its very possible she was made up of a few other B17's, but the majority was from N5111N

I'm trying to find the pictures of Liberty and the Labrador B17 sitting next to each other in their hanger in GA, but I can't seem to find them. I'm pretty sure the number of B17 restorations in Georgia is 4 or 5.

Ah, and the F2G's, I meant to bring them up when we started talking about the air races. Its a shame there aren't more, they're absolutely gorgeous. At least we've got one that flies, and the other died doing what it should.

I really wanted to see Race 74 in person, such a great looking plane with really good history. I've seen the F2G at the MoF at Boeing Field. I can't for the life of me remember where the other two (in museums) are. Race 57 is in Arizona last I heard. It doesn't get flown very often.

A cutaway R4360.



Boeing field MoF F2G





Are they looking to rebuild Liberty Bell (again)? I've heard rumors of yes and no.

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Since we are talking R4360s, I've got another one.
Hawker Sea Fury Dreadnought. Built in the '80s, its been one of the most economical (if there is such a thing) air racers in history. Its not fast enough to win at Reno these days, but its fast enough to keep the front runners honest.








There is one other Sea Fury that is powered by an R4360. Its called Furias. Sadly after a very extensive rebuild and race preparation it had landing gear issues last year when the pilot went out to qualify. At first they wouldn't retract, then they finally did, he went out and got is qualifying run in (I think it was about 470+ or so) and then discovered that the landing gear wouldn't fully extend and lock on one side. He touched down, and one side collapsed causing the plane to skid off the runway and into the dirt and sagebrush where the other gear collapsed. To make things worse, when they went to lift it and extend the gear, they ended up dropping it from the crane doing even more damage to it. It was the most anticipated racer in a long time as it had all the aero mods, a race built motor, and should have been capable of winning yet no luck. I hear the remains are now back in Wisconson somewhere. Its fate is unknown, hopefully someday it will return to the air races.

Will

[Eric]

Stunning.

Did you see 50's poking out of it? If so, the only thing I can think of it B-25. Which would make the most sense, since, relatively speaking, there are quite a few still flying around.

I only saw it for a split second before it turned to line up with the Colorado Springs airport. It did have the USAAF insignia under the wing & I think on the side of the fuselage as well