Official Aviation Thread...

[LateFan]

When we talked to the guy flying high-paying guests around the valley in a P-51 here this summer, he said they overheat at low altitudes and you need to get them up high where it's cooler. You can't use full boost or full power on take-off. The exhaust flap on the underbelly cooler was wide open.

How are the cooling systems in these race planes different?

[ThatM20Guy]

Will,

What 500mm lens do you use? Looking at getting a higher zoom lens. I have a 300mm but that doesn't really cut it for a lot of stuff.


On a side note, finished my private a little while ago and I am currently working on my instrument rating. Hoping to have that done within a month or two

[BlackbirdM3]

When we talked to the guy flying high-paying guests around the valley in a P-51 here this summer, he said they overheat at low altitudes and you need to get them up high where it's cooler. You can't use full boost or full power on take-off. The exhaust flap on the underbelly cooler was wide open.

How are the cooling systems in these race planes different?

They run a spray bar across the radiator. The full blown Super Stangs like Voodoo, Strega, Dago Red, ect have really interesting setups. They split the oil cooler and radiators into different areas and run a mixture of ADI and water for the spray bars.

This is the very simple spray bar setup that is run on the A model mustang. The radiator setup on this is more like a full race Mustang rather than a stocker.


Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Will,

What 500mm lens do you use? Looking at getting a higher zoom lens. I have a 300mm but that doesn't really cut it for a lot of stuff.


On a side note, finished my private a little while ago and I am currently working on my instrument rating. Hoping to have that done within a month or two

I'm shooting the Nikon 200-500 F5.6 VR. https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-pr....6e-ed-vr.html

Yes, its expensive, but its worth every penny. I have totally given up using my 70-300 lens. The 200-500 is a big lens, and yes, it requires some creativity when trying to shoot things up close. The pic of the spray bar above was taken with it. The detail it captures is unreal.
This is another example of portrait use with it.

And another.



People told me I was nuts for wanting a 200-500. They said what on earth would I use it for? Well, its my go to lens. All of these shots were taken with it.

Congratulations on getting your license. I'd really love to get mine, but I don't have the $ to make it happen. (Who wants to buy some pics to fund it?)

Will

[ThatM20Guy]

Thanks for the info Will! I’d gladly buy prints of your photos...so many are totally stunning!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BlackbirdM3]

Enjoy,
Will

[flyboyx]

damn. i love the L39. there was a time after the fall of the soviet union that you could buy one for about 200 grand. i wonder what the overhaul time is for that single turbofan?

[varg]

Here are a few of the keepers from my recent aviation themed weekend. I did Flite Fest - a huge RC airplane gathering on Saturday and the Stuart Airshow on Sunday. Unfortunately the lighting was pretty dull and we got rained on for about a half hour, some moisture found its way into one of my lenses and killed the AF.



It was Gene McNeely's last show with the Aeroshell team. I've been watching him fly airshows for nearly 2 decades now.

I'm shooting the Nikon 200-500 F5.6 VR. https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-pr....6e-ed-vr.html

I've been wanting this lens for a long time. Way out of my budget but some day... Nobody has anything bad to say about it for birding or aircraft photography.

damn. i love the L39. there was a time after the fall of the soviet union that you could buy one for about 200 grand. i wonder what the overhaul time is for that single turbofan?

Supposedly 1,000hrs TBO. The real question is how much does that overhaul cost?

[BlackbirdM3]

Nice shots. I'd love to see the Aeroshell T6s show some day. I hear they put on a good show.

The 200-500 is such a good lens I highly doubt they will lose any value over time on the used market. Yes, it was expensive, but it was well worth the $. I think it will take a significant upgrade lens to make this one obsolete allowing the prices for them to come down.

Will

[LateFan]

Last domestic big bird flies home to the nest in Everett for a final visit.

[M-technik-3]

shame

[flyboyx]

United flew the last one about a month ago. I didn’t know delta was parking them too. It is indeed a shame. The only opportunity left to fly them in the USA will be cargo. Kalitta, atlas, ups, and the like.

[M-technik-3]

You could hop on one for a trip to UK or Germany. My most memorable flight on one was way back when Flying Tigers flew them as contract missions to and from the Pacific Rim. I had a seat in the nose from SFO to Osan AB RoK with stops on the way in Anchorage where the jet broke down for 4 days and Yokota AB Japan.

Smooth flight much like flying on Fred aka C5.

[BlackbirdM3]

Here are a few pics from the Napa Valley firestorm that I shot back in October. These were all taken up near Rutherford which is about 5 miles south of St Helena.












Last drop of the day. (It was so dark I'm surprised I got anything since I was at least 3 miles away)




10 min after that last drop... (same hillside)



Here is the link to my whole album. It starts with the Atlas peak fire as it burned down to my home (didn't burn the place down however) Then shifts out to my work where I was shooting both the Partrick Rd fires and the Atlas Peak fires. I was out there all week, until I was able to venture up valley to shoot the stuff posted above.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/473099...57691096946966

Will

[mrsleeve]

^

Fun fact, while flying home from PA a couple weeks ago, I sat next to a Sky Crane pilot that fly's fire duty for the forest service, (for a different outfit than you have here Will) based out of San Diego, but lives up here. Was a really cool dude to talk to, and learn a little bit about the ins and outs of how they do what they do. Congrats on the boys achievements