Mister Dickenson

Received an email from Addison Pemberton with news of the first flight of Mister Dickenson. Looks to be a mean machine!

Here's a little information on Bruce Dickenson's hybrid "Mister Dickenson". First off this is not a modified Howard DGA, Bruce Dickenson, who's grandfather was one of the original founders of the Santa Paula Airport in the 1920's designed and build "MR. D " from scratch. He emphasizes that he borrowed a bunch from Benny Howard's, DGA and Howard's famous racer Mr. Mulligan designs and why not. He was pretty familiar with the Howard line of airplanes. The Dickenson family has been flying the same Howard DGA for almost half a century.

Bruce wanted and airplane with a little more performance than the DGA. He decided what he needed was a cross between the comfort and nice flying characteristics of the DGA and the speed and performance to Howard's racer "Mr. Mulligan". The result after eights years of pains taking labor is the beautifully crafted "Mister Dickenson". Bruce built the airplane pretty much by himself. Of course there are a lot of talented people around the Santa Paula Airport that lent a hand when it was needed. And naturally getting advise on how to do anything around and airport is never a problem.

"Mister Dickenson" is powered By a 600 HP Pratt & Whitney 1340 engine. It was designed to have a cruise airspeed of 210 MPH. The first reports look like the airplane is going to meet that target. Check with Bruce

When your in Southern California drop in to Santa Paula some weekend and take a look at "Mister Dickenson" and the other wonderful antique and Classic airplanes that live at the airport. Try and coordinate your visit to Santa Paula Airport on one of the days that the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula is open. They have a new museum facility and a "Chain of Hangar" which is a great walking tour of some great aircraft and aviation displays.

MustangsMustangs.com Coverage of Reno

Curtis Fowles of MustangsMustangs.com has posted his photos and stories from the 2008 Reno Air Races. His photos are a MUST SEE! Check it out here.

195 Next Door

Most of us know how small the world is. Those of us in aviation circles know how small the aviation world is. We see a fellow pilot or airplane in some far away airport or they drop into our own airport. This is one of many stories that could be told about a particular airplane. This story is about the classic Cessna 195 in the hangar next door.

Just after I purchased my Cessna 170, a number of years ago, I needed to find a hangar for it and my Taylorcraft. A friend offered his large hangar for rent so I could house them both. The hangar next door was home to a Beech 18 and a Cessna 195. I caught the two classics outside one day and shot a picture. A few years later the owner decided to sell the 195. I happened to be at the airport when the new owner was preparing the airplane to fly off to its new home. At the time I figured I would never see the airplane again.

Fast forward to today I had heard that 195 passed through several owners and had been wrecked.

The hangar next door was sold and I met the new owner recently. He introduced himself one day while I was about to commit aviation in the 170. He mentioned that he wanted to find a 195. Well... you might guess which 195 he found being restored in a well know shop. The same 195 that use to live in the very hangar he just moved into. Just a few weeks ago I caught the newly restored 195 glowing in the lights of the hangar. What a difference a few years make. The shiney classic is not what it once was!

It is a small world. That same 195 now lives in the same hangar once again!

On a Personal Note

This has been a busy summer... a great distraction was planning a wedding. Married now and back from an amazing trip to the mountains in Canada! Upon returning I checked the 170 over and it fired right up... flew perfectly.

Already sorting my pictures from the summer and planning to update the Spartan web page. Also hard at work researching more Curtiss Robin and Ryan survivors. Stay tuned for more updates!

Blue Skies,
Dan

Breckenridge, Texas Tour

Great post on WIX! A photo tour of the very busy Ezell Aviation out in Breckenridge, Texas. F3F, Spitfire, Sea Fury, Corsairs, Bearcat, Wildcat, P-63... and more!

The post is here.

Gun Camera Footage

The newly restored P-51D "Happy Jacks Go Buggy" has an OPERATIONAL gun camera in it! Check out the recently shot footage from the camera here! Congrats to the team at Midwest Aero and the aircrafts owner for winning the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trophy at Reno! Click here to see the write up.

Strega Wins Reno Gold!

Great to hear Strega win again after a couple tough years! Listened to the race live, via the web broadcast. Lap speeds were up in the 480s! Scott Germain photo of Strega from earlier in the week.

Reno Saturday

Sounded like a great day of racing on Saturday. I took the time to listen to the Unlimited Gold Race late in the afternoon. There is a streaming audio of the race via the announcers calling the race. Scott Germain posted some nice shots on his message boards. Really cool to see Race 57 racing from the part into the future! Dago Red won the Gold race for the day. Above are some highlights.

Pardue's Bearcat

Great shot from Scott Germain from Reno yesterday of Howard Pardue's Bearcat. Pardue ran 410 mph to win a Silver Heat race! Thats moving for a stock Bearcat!

Youngest Reno Air Racer

Over on the web site Airshow Buzz, Steven Hinton Jr. has been posting on the forum a blog of his experience at the Reno Air Races. The posts are a great way to read what it is like flying and crewing at the air races. Years ago at the Texas Air Races I was waiting for some friends at the hotel bar and a little kid walked up to me and smiled. Just a couple seconds later his dad, Steve Hinton came over and grabbed his hand and walked away. Now that young man is racing Mustangs at Reno! Read his latest post here from yesterdays race around the pylons! A few pictures here.

Reno Air Races

The Reno Air Races start today! Follow the news on these web sites in the forums and message boards. Warbird Aeropress, AAFO, and WIX. Qualifying ended yesterday about noon and Rare Bear flew its qualifying lap with just minutes to spare! After being down for about a year Rare Bear's crew got it flying just in time and then it posted a speed of 468 mph! Amazing for a "test flight." Also, check out the picture of the three Tigercat's in attendance! Bet they sounded good flying in! Thanks to Scott Germain of Warbird Aeropress for the pictures above.