Oshkosh 2010 Photos

The photo galleries for Oshkosh 2010 can be found on EAAs web site here...

www.eaa.org/apps/galleries/



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D.C. For The Day

Some adventures take weeks or months of planning.  Some are just thought up over dinner with friends.  My buddy Jay and I had been talking about a day trip somewhere to see an aviation museum or event.  So after he made a flight to D.C. for work he asked me about the Dulles NASM and was it worth the trip to see it.  A resounding yes from me put the trip planning in motion.  He had only toured downtown D.C. and wanted to go back to see the museum.  About two weeks ago our schedules looked like they would allow a day trip to Dulles on July 2nd.  I took a day off work and he sorted out the passes on the airline.  My excitement to be his tour guide in "Americas Hangar" and his flight privileges would make the trip come together.

My wife helped me pack up my gear for the day and sent me out the door when Jay pulled up at 5:15am.  Do all adventures have to start so early in the morning?!  We launched out of DFW on a 6:55am flight to IAD.  It even worked out to takes some open seat in first class!  That helped make up for the early morning departure!  The flight landed at Dulles at about 10:45am.  With only our back packs to carry we walked right out of the terminal to catch the bus around to the museum.  It was nice to have a bus that makes the round trip from the terminal to the museum about every 45 minutes to an hour.  An easy way to make the trip to the museum!

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is aptly named Americas Hangar.  This museum has some of the most historic aircraft in aviation history and they are all housed in one BIG hangar!  My wife and I had just made the trip to see this museum last September but I couldnt wait to bust through the door and start blasting Jay with historic facts about the aircraft inside.  Just as I watched my wifes face when we walked in... I watched Jays face as we entered the main hall looking for the "OH WOW" face!  Aviations history as far as the eye can see.  Talk about aviation sensory overload!

Jay and I had from about 11:30am until 5:30pm to give the place a good looking over.  This was my third visit.  The first being the grand opening in December of 2003, the second as I mentioned was last September.  This visit they had added to the displays a few jets and a couple gliders.  If you love aviation this is THE museum to visit.  Pieces from every aviation era are there in one hangar.  This is about the time I run out of words to describe the facility.  Monocoupe, Mustang, Thunderbolt, Super Fortress, Concorde, Blackbird... so much history!

Take a look at the pictures here.  They best tell the story of what we saw!

We took pictures, gawked at airplanes, took more pictures, more gawking, ate lunch, more walking and more pictures.  Visited the gift shop.  A few more pictures.  Rested our feet and looked at our new aviation book purchases.  At about 5:30 we wandered outside to catch the bus.  A quick bus ride back to the terminal at IAD and the day started to catch up to me.  My eyes were burning from waking up early.  A quick dinner and we boarded the flight back to DFW.  It was a lot to fit into one day but we both commented on the flight home how we thought it was worth the trip.  A fast trip... but worth it.  Modern air travel took us there and back.  Excitement fueled us for the day.  The search for more historic aircraft will have us planning more trips just like this one!

Chino Wrap Up

To wrap up the posts on Chino here are the links to the pictures from that long weekend.  As noted were spent some time at the Yanks Air Museum shooting pictures of their outstanding Curtiss Robin.  Detailed Robin pictures are here.  This is one of three Curtiss Robins they have.  This one being powered by a Challenger radial.

The welcome shade from the California sun was provided by my friend Les Whittlesey at his hangar.  The hangar that he calls the Cal-Aero Aviation Country Club.  If you want to develop a serious case of hangar envy take a look at these pictures!  Thanks again Les for the place to hang out! (The picture above is my wife and I standing with Les's award winning Lockheed 12.)

The complete gallery of edited airshow pictures is here.  A great Warbird Airshow and an amazing long weekend with my lovely bride.

Fine Day for Photos

Here in Texas we talk about the weather and how fast it can change.  Snowing one day and a few days later sunny and warm.  A little over a week ago we were blessed with one of those sunny days on a Saturday.  Light winds and clear skies are what most pilots hope for.  When shooting pictures, especially air to air pictures, you REALLY hope for those conditions.  A quick email and a phone call and my friend Rex and I were set up to do a photo mission.  I enlisted my friend Lynn to ride and fly right seat for me while Rex had his son, Russell, ride along to handle the cameras.  We briefed our flight, formation and locations before taking off.  Off into the blue skies we went  Rex was first in his Cherokee.  Then we switched lead and is was 170s turn.  As can be seen in the above shot, Russell did a fantastic job shooting the 170.  An added bonus was a few short video clips.  Looking forward to making a short film of the 170 soon.  Thanks again to Rex and Lynn for flying and Russell (of Seed Studios) for taking the fine shots.  Check out more of the 170 pics here.

How to Research Vintage Aircraft Part II

A few days have gone by since my posting "How to Research Vintage Aircraft" and a lot of other resources have crossed my mind.  Here are a few I have time to cover...

Photos... I mentioned Google Images but there are countless sites with aircraft pictures posted.  Airliners.net covers mostly... you guessed it... airliners but if you get to digging you can find photos of vintage aircraft.  Airplane-Pictures.net is another devoted to mostly commercial aircraft but again... vintage aircraft shots do exist.  One of my favorites is 1000aircraftphotos.com.  It hosts a large collection of black and white shots that are listed by manufacturer.  The highlight for me on this page is the Waco pictures.  For one more... see Warbirdz.net for a wide variety of vintage and Warbird aircraft from Australia and New Zealand.  There are many, many more... so recommend your favorites to us and we can post them.  I still use Google Images the most.

As mentioned by one of the readers of this blog in the comments section....  Type Clubs.  Know a type that you are passionate about?  A type club will help you with thorough research on a specific type.  Check out the type club listing through EAA's Vintage Aircraft Assoc.  The Type Club Listing is here.  These type club web sites usually have a photo page so be sure to watch for those.

Forums are all over the internet.  Like minded people share their love for their callings, interests and passions.  They are organized by topic and within those topics are posts.  Each post can be commented on by the registered readers.  Some posts are rich in history and photos.  Other posts are just a waste of someones typing on the keyboard!  The Warbird Information Exchange has a good Vintage Aviation forum.   I frequent the Plane Talk forum as well.  Check out the photos on Plane Talk showing aircraft from shows over in the U.K.

That covers a few more topics... I am off to the garage to sort some magazines... printed materials will be a future topic!

If you are new to reading a blog or article like the one above.... note that any of the underlined text will lead you to the web site that I have referenced by clicking on the text.

How to Research Vintage Aircraft

Using today's modern technology to research vintage aircraft has brought a lot of material to your fingertips.  In the past we have spent most of our time flipping through pages in books, magazines, manuals and photographs.  But unless you have access to a large collection of books and magazines you may never run across the details you were after.

Searching for specific aircraft types
May I suggest the simple Google search.  Open up your handy internet browser (we recommend Mozilla's Firefox) and type in www.google.com and a simple window will display on your screen.  In the box in the middle of the screen type in "Spartan Executive."  A list of web sites will show up on your screen.  Click on as many that look related to the rare aircraft you are searching.  (yes... my web site may come up on the Spartan Executive... enjoy!) Try typing in some other rare types and see what comes up.  You will be surprised how much material is on the internet.
While you are on the Google search page be sure to select "Images" in the upper left portion of your screen.  A page (or many pages) full of images will appear on what you entered in the search.

Looking for a specific aircraft
Visit the "Aircraft Information Center" at www.aircraftone.com and you will have the ability to search for the owner or N number of a specific aircraft.

Researching details of a rare vintage type
An outstanding resource for specification on rare aircraft types is available on www.aeroflies.com. Click on the image on the main page to enter.  I would start on "Aircraft A-Z" on the left hand menu.  BINGO!  Click on a manufacturers name and look up the type you are after.  Some rare types are listed here along with great pictures.  I use this site as a source of specs and pictures for my blog.

On the prowl for rare books
The internet is THE place to hunt for rare aviation books.  I would start at www.bookfinder.com.  The first screen comes up with a search box ready for you.  Author and title awaiting you entry.  I cant tell you how many times friends have mentioned books to me they say are VERY rare and that you will never find a copy.  Well... I find them and more of the time they can be found on Book Finder!

These few pointers I have recommended are just the begining!  I will post soon on where to search for vintage aircraft photos!  Forums, museums and a host of other resources are available... so, where do you do your research?  What web sites do you use?