P-47 Snafu - First Flight

Running a few weeks late to post the pictures but as you can see the P-47 Thunderbolt named "Snafu" belonging to The Fighter Collection has flown!  It flew April 21 and is now flying its test time off so that it can fly the summer airshow season.  Very exciting to see a "razorback" P-47 in the air.  Friends of The Fighter Collection Blog has a short video clip from the first flight.  Click on the link below.

As more pictures become available I will post links or watch the Plane Talk forum.  Thanks to Brian Marshall for allowing us to post his photos.

Links - The Fighter Collection Blog - The Fighter Collection web site - Plane Talk Forum - Brian Marshall Photography

Hangar Time

It is May in Texas so I have switched from afternoons and evenings at the hangar for the cool mornings.  I spent two Saturday mornings chasing the smell of mouse in my airplane... again.  Not fun.  All cleaned out and some air freshener sprayed.  I am in the process of finding another way to keep the mice from crawling up the tailwheel.  A metal wall should be hard to scale!  When completed I will post more pictures.

Several vintage airplanes graced the blue skies while I was working on the 170 this morning.  A beautiful Cessna 195 and a really nice Waco UPF.  Ah... I love the sound of radials in the morning!  I was able to snap a couple of nice shots on their departure.

Let the summer flying season begin!

Images of Light and Lift - Air to Air Photography

On numerous occasions Scott Germain has graciously allowed us to repost his awesome photography on this blog.  His Warbird photography has captured attention worldwide but one of my personal favorites is the Staggerwing photo above.

Do you want to know the story behind the photos and the man behind the camera?  Follow the link below to read an in depth interview and sample a selection of Scott's powerful photography.

MegaDeluxe Sports article - Scott Germain, Images of Light and Lift

Keep shooting Scotty!  You produce some great shots!

Links - Images of Light and Lift

The Vintage Aviator - The Aircraft Collection

While looking over a few posts of one of my favorite internet forums I spotted a post by Dave Homewood featuring pictures from his visit to The Vintage Aviator.  The Vintage Aviator is a company in New Zealand that specializes in World War One aircraft.  Take a few minutes to look through this collection of pictures!

Forum Post Link - http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Airshows&thread=15918&page=1

After looking through the photo tour of the collection be sure to follow the link below to The Vintage Aviator web site.  This is one VERY nice web site.  Still can't get enough picture of World War One aircraft?  I highly recommend the book Ghosts - The Great War by Philip Makanna.

Links - The Vintage Aviator - Ghosts - The Great War (book)

Spartan Executive Restoration - NC4444

Being that I am addicted to vintage airplane pictures my buddy Keith helped feed my addiction by sending me pictures this weekend from the heavily vintage airplane populated airport in Creve Coeur Airport near St. Louis.  As soon as he sent the first picture my mind turned toward the Spartan that is under restoration on the field.  Keith did not disappoint!  A few minutes later my iPhone had multiple Spartan pictures to scroll through.  Serial number 18, Spartan 7W, NC4444 is being restored by John Cournoyer.  It has been on a slow but steady pace the last few years and it looking very nice!  As I say quite often in this blog... I can't wait to see this one in the air!  Thanks to Keith Moody for the pictures and thank you John Cournoyer for saving and restoring this rare Spartan Executive.

Links - Creve Coeur Airport - Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum - Spartan Executive Survivors

Vintage Aviation Advertisements - Taylorcraft

This evening I was thumbing through several 1940s magazines and came across a few Taylorcraft advertisements.  I have a soft spot for the venerable Taylorcraft since that was the first airplane I owned.  When I first started looking for a Taylorcraft BC-12D back in 1991 I snapped up copies of FLYING magazine from the 1940s to look for anything and everything that had pictures of Taylorcrafts!  Almost every 1940s era issue had Taylorcraft ads!  The ads included great tag lines like... "Let's BUY a Taylorcraft too... and get more fun out of life" and "Time off for real fun" and my favorite ad was "Best buy in the sky"!

I have many fond memories of my adventures in mine.  Below is a photo of me and NC96542 just a few minutes before making a sunset flight.  For more pictures of my Taylorcraft follow the link below to dtlinn.com and click on "my albums."

Links - Taylorcraft Foundation - DTLinn.com - Taylorcraft Pilot Report

Monocoupe - Video featuring a CA based Monocoupe

I am a big fan of the Monocoupe line of vintage aircraft and found this video over on the Antique Airfield web site.  Take the eight minutes and watch if you love vintage airplanes and especially the Monocoupe.  The featured Monocoupe is based in Sonoma, CA.

Video Link - http://vimeo.com/carlburchfiel/1937monocoupe

Links - Antique Airfield - Monocoupe Club - Monocoupe Resources

Vintage Aviation Advertisements - Eaglerock

This past week I was sorting some early period, vintage magazines from the 1928 and 1929.  Some of the rare gems I pulled from the advertisement pages were of the Alexander Eaglerock biplanes.  The text from one of the ads caught my attention... "The response to the throttle - the quick takeoff - the life - the movement - the control at all speeds - the spirit - the color - the things you have always wished for in an airplane..."  I love it!  "The Life"!!  Were they talking about the life of a pilot?  The life of an aircraft owner?  The life that comes with the status of an aviator flying the skies in an Eaglerock?  I want to think is all of those!  Enjoy these classy advertisements.

When I did some research to find a photo of a current flying Eaglerock I found Walter Bowe's beautiful example listed for sale on Barnstormers.com.  Thank you to Walter for sending me a nice air-to-air photo of him flying his Eaglerock and allowing me to publish it.  What a time machine!  Interested in owning this rare ship?  Look up Alexander Eaglerock on Barnstormers.com.

Links - www.barnstormers.com

The Fighter Collection P-47 - Engine Run and Details

The Fighter Collection based in Duxford, England has run the engine on their P-47 and the restoration details continue to be evident from the above picture by Brian Marshall.  Thanks to Brian for allowing us to post the picture.  What a stunning example this will be of Republic's Thunderbolt!

Links - The Fighter Collection - Friends of The Fighter Collection Blog - Brian's Warbird Foto Gallery

Vintage Aviation Advertisements - Argo, Buhl Airsedan and Command-Aire

Looking and feeling a little more like winter time here in Texas.  As I type this Sunday evening the snow is falling outside.  Glad we made our trip out to see the movie "Red Tails" earlier in the day!

I just finished sorting my sold items for eBay and listed a few more items.  So much aviation memorabilia and only so much room in the closet and garage.  Well, actually I do have the room BUT I do want to pass on some items to others so I can continue to focus in on the items I want.  Like Aero Digest magazines and unique aviation advertisements.  Below are three more from my collection.

This Argo ad is one of the rare ones.  I like the line... "Fly an Argo, for fun or profit. Soon will the plane be a part of you."

Nice one of the Command-Aire.  "For after all, it takes a flight to convince anyone as to the performance - including stability - of a plane."

One of my favorite line of advertisements is from the Berryloid Aircraft Finishes, Berry Brothers company.  Their ads were full color and all feature these very interesting schemes featuring colors from birds.  This one showing the Ruby-throated Humming Bird color scheme.  Wouldn't that be cool to see today!

I am having fun looking thru all these ads.  Still more to come!

Vintage Aviation Advertisements - Monocoupe and Staggerwing

It is a cool Saturday afternoon.  It feels a little more like winter today with 20 kt North winds and 36 degree temps.  So I am cleaning up the office, sorting magazines and looking thru a pile of vintage aviation advertisements.  These ads really do take me back to simpler times.  This Monocoupe ad is great. Really?  Cheaper to run than a small car?  Small cars were different back then!

The art work on this Beechcraft Staggerwing ad is really cool.  Wouldn't you like a poster of that art work on your office or hangar wall!?  THAT would be an amazing statement!

I will be posting more vintage aviation advertisements so check back soon.