Official Aviation Thread...

[ThatM20Guy]

Probably something around this size

http://www.jetcatusa.com/rc-turbines/turbine-details/p200-sx/

[BlackbirdM3]

I didn't know anyone raced one, cool

I love that plane. My top three are probably P51, Spitfire, and P38 Lightning.

P38 is the one that flew hundreds of miles across open ocean just above sea level to intercept Yamamoto and shoot him down.

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Indeed it was. The pilots name was Richard I Bong. He was the highest scoring pilot in the Pacific with 40 kills. From the Wiki site it sounds like he was quite the rebel.

"On June 12, 1942, Bong flew very low ("buzzed") over a house in nearby San Anselmo, the home of a pilot who had just been married. He was cited and temporarily grounded for breaking flying rules, along with three other P-38 pilots who had looped around the Golden Gate Bridge on the same day.[1] For looping the Golden Gate Bridge, flying at a low level down Market Street in San Francisco, and for blowing the clothes off of an Oakland woman's clothesline, Bong was reprimanded by General George C. Kenney, commanding officer of the Fourth Air Force, who told him, "If you didn't want to fly down Market Street, I wouldn't have you in my Air Force, but you are not to do it any more and I mean what I say." Kenney later wrote: "We needed kids like this lad."[2] In all subsequent accounts, Bong denied flying under the Golden Gate Bridge.[3] Nevertheless, Bong was still grounded when the rest of his group was sent without him to England in July 1942. Bong then transferred to another Hamilton Field unit, 84th Fighter Squadron of the 78th Fighter Group. From there Bong was sent to the Southwest Pacific Area"

There have been a few P38s that have raced at Reno over the years. White Lightning was the most well known and frequently raced. Lefty was known for flying very very low, and there have been reports of him pulling sagebrush and juniper limbs out of the plane following the race.

Here is some video footage from the '80s with some of the greatest planes to ever race at reno.


Will

[LateFan]

So what kind of radius are they flying around the corners? Full speed on a huge radius, instead of a tight turn?

When they're in a clump, are they supposed to stay at different altitudes, or is it a free for all like pod racing? Run people into mountains for spite....



It sort of reminds me of going to the hydroplane races in Seattle when they still ran Allisons. LOUD, crazy, chaos, huge rooster tails so they couldn't see, skidding into other people's lanes on corners until there weren't lanes....

M20Guy - So can 52 pounds of thrust x 2 pull a plane that fast? That's crazy talk. They're tiny - imagine the precision building those for 150,000+ rpm.

[ThatM20Guy]

Well they do make a Jetcat P400 that produces around 90lbs of thrust. Not sure exactly what is on that Cri-Cri but it should be around that.

[BlackbirdM3]

http://jalopnik.com/chill-as-fuck-pi...ium=socialflow

Scary!

Here is the in cockpit video from Endevor (The other plane in the incident.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVnRkSSN-T8&feature=share

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

You guys will like this thread. The photographer has shot a ton of epic stuff over the years. http://www.curtisnoblephotography.co...s-in-september

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Will

[ThatM20Guy]

That black & white of September Fury is gorgeous

[BlackbirdM3]

That black & white of September Fury is gorgeous

Thanks. It might have more to give if I play with it more. That said, its going to have to be a back burner project as I still have 1500+ pics that I haven't even looked at.

Will

[FLYNAVY]

Here is the in cockpit video from Endevor (The other plane in the incident.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVnRkSSN-T8&feature=share

Will

Maybe I need to watch the video again, but there appears at rough glance to be no attempt to abort, or otherwise avoid impact. Kinda strange given the slow speed they are at……..maybe a (lack of) visibility over the nose sort of deal I guess.

[BlackbirdM3]

Maybe I need to watch the video again, but there appears at rough glance to be no attempt to abort, or otherwise avoid impact. Kinda strange given the slow speed they are at……..maybe a (lack of) visibility over the nose sort of deal I guess.

The pilot didn't even see Thom till he hit him. The nose hadn't come up yet. The fault lies with the starter. Thom did the right thing, the spotter saw him and motioned to the starter to hold the start. That was missed and the race began.

Onto more positive things...





















Enjoy,
Will

[FLYNAVY]

The pilot didn't even see Thom till he hit him. The nose hadn't come up yet. The fault lies with the starter. Thom did the right thing, the spotter saw him and motioned to the starter to hold the start. That was missed and the race began.

Oh absolutely, wasn't trying to say it was his fault. That being said, I have dodged numerous things (such as turtles, coyotes, etc) on takeoff roll just by looking in front of me. But I am guessing in this case, it would have been difficult to impossible to see until at the very last second given the forward blind zone you have in a tail dragger. In other words, I think I answered my own question :) Great pics!

[BlackbirdM3]

All I had that night was a pair of 7s...


I needed a straight flush... (I don't know where the extra card came from, honest! )


Will

[flyboyx]

The pilot didn't even see Thom till he hit him. The nose hadn't come up yet. The fault lies with the starter. Thom did the right thing, the spotter saw him and motioned to the starter to hold the start. That was missed and the race began.

Onto more positive things...





















Enjoy,
Will

You have some good ones there will. From a technical aspect, my favorite is the razorback mustang in the 6th pic. I believe the composition is about perfect.

[BlackbirdM3]

You have some good ones there will. From a technical aspect, my favorite is the razorback mustang in the 6th pic. I believe the composition is about perfect.

The coming or going shot? That is a P51A with an Allison engine in it. Its owned by the Planes of Fame museum at Chino.

Shooting from the pylons is had because you have restrictions as a photographer on where you can or cannot stand. Most people were going for the pylon shot, I figured I'd try and shoot something different. I was trying to get pilot shots. Some worked, some, not so much.





Will