well what do you know? They based at RDU?

10/24/2010 2:21:37 PM

No, Philly mostly. I actually haven't talked to any of them in probably a year.

I'm not sure what you want to know, and I don't know how much I can tell you, other than I'm pretty sure the RDU domicile is pretty small.

10/25/2010 8:47:21 PM

Who you flying for?

10/26/2010 10:46:55 AM

Found this out recently, AFSOC is currently operating turbo-prop converted DC-3s:



Said it before, I'll say it again, in the grand scheme of things the DC-3 is the single greatest airplane of all time.

10/26/2010 8:11:13 PM

I was out in Missoula for a spell and there was a local outfit there that operated about 5 DC-3 turbo-prop conversions. Pretty crazy that the original airframe dates back to 1936.

The AFSOC planes are Basler Turbo-67s, which are also currently used in Columbia as a new version of the AC-47.

10/26/2010 9:55:24 PM

Report out on the C-17 crash in Alaska:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/10/report-faults-pilot-deadly-alaska-c-crash/?intcmp=obinsite
bad stall recovery?

12/13/2010 8:29:48 PM

^
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e20_1292320342

Holy shit I didn't know how powerful those things are. It's the same stupid hotdogging that caused the B-52 crash in 1994. I've never understood why they hold air shows, seems to just be encouraging this behavior.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 12:59 AM. Reason : .]

12/15/2010 12:55:33 AM

Yeah as I watched that I thought about the B-52 at Fairchild. Hate air shows because of that crash.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 1:39 AM. Reason : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21byPXR1ek]

12/15/2010 1:38:57 AM

I was talking to a buddy who flies C-17s over the weekend and this crash came up. He said a lot of people were unfairly comparing it to the B-52 crash as the guy who crashed the B-52 was a reckless pilot who was known for poor judgement (which is why 3 colonels were on board with him), whereas the crew of the C-17 was fairly well respected and had very clean records.

I'm on the fence about it.

12/20/2010 3:43:17 PM

Buddy of mine turned me on to this yesterday, good way to keep up with ATC communication proficency outside of the cockpit. http://www.liveatc.net/

12/23/2010 10:16:36 AM

Quote :

"China's J-20 stealth fighter on film Secret footage of what is claimed to be china's new fighter jet has been posted on the internet. The amateur footage posted by a YouTube user called segregator236 shows the aircraft taxiing along the runway. The amateur footage posted by a YouTube user called segregator236 shows the aircraft, variously known as the J20 and JXX, taxiing along a runway. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, recently said China would be able to produce a combat jet by 2020, but if the video is genuine, it would suggest that it may be able to do so a decade or more sooner. The photographs come amid growing fears over China's rapidly-expanding military capabilities. Naval experts have expressed concern over the Dong Feng-21D ballistic missile, which is designed to target aircraft carriers in mid-sea – thus denying the United States its traditional military dominance of the Pacific."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8243687/Chinas-J-20-stealth-fighter-on-film.html

There's also speculation that such images were allowed to leak out so that the Chinese could flex nuts.

1/6/2011 10:58:57 AM

A number of serious defense commentators have made the point between the rather large gap between looking stealthy to the naked eye and looking stealthy to radar. Also, from all the initial reports, the Chinese have yet to master the vectored thrust that gives the 22 such maneuverability. That beig said, the Chinese clearly intend this to be a political statement. The US didn't publicly acknowledge the existence of the 117 for almost a decade.

Speaking of decades, the USN just painted an EA-6 in a retro 1942 paint scheme to mark the 100th anniversary of Naval Avaition:

1/26/2011 9:24:04 AM

Did some googling and they've put retro paint on 20 different aircraft. This one is pretty cool too:

1/26/2011 4:42:15 PM

Well the canvas in the second is obviously far superior

1/27/2011 2:23:10 PM

well, I flew for the first time today in a small aircraft.
It is a single engine 4 seat cessna that I took the controls of.

I had the controls for about 30 minutes. It was a lot more difficult than I had imagined, though I would not say it was hard. There were a lot of updrafts from the ground heating up, and the plane wanted to move all over the place.

The most notable thing that I learned: small movements.

1/27/2011 6:00:32 PM

Slow and smooth.

1/27/2011 6:48:36 PM

Did China Try To Pass Off Top Gun As Air Force Footage?
http://gizmodo.com/5745307/did-china-try-to-pass-off-top-gun-as-air-force-footage

1/28/2011 6:07:05 PM

Anyone know of any charter airlines that could fly ~8 people from asheboro to the outer banks?

Well I found a few, but could use a recommendation if anyone has dealt with anyone

[Edited on January 30, 2011 at 11:14 AM. Reason : .]

1/30/2011 10:58:28 AM

Quote :

"the USN just painted an EA-6 in a retro 1942 paint scheme to mark the 100th anniversary of Naval Avaition:"

yeah, i have a good picture of that at work. they painted a Hornet the same way, too.

1/30/2011 11:46:14 AM

Quote :

"Holy Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii: 600MPH Ejection Seat Test The new ejection system includes a seat with a rocket pack underneath, plus an "emergency transparency removal and structural severance system," which is a small explosive designed to blow apart the aircraft's canopy to clear a path for the pilot. A mere three seconds after the ejection handle is pulled, the pilot finds him or herself safely away from the plane and descending to Earth by parachute."

4/8/2011 4:29:37 PM

Any comments on the Stealth Blackhawk that we have seen pictures of from the bin Laden raid? Sucks that we had to lose one and show our hand on our capability to get him, but I think it was worth it. Somebody should have scrambled a bomber to drop a Mk.84 on that thing and vaporize the remains, even though the SEALs did a good job of trying to leave no remains.

Also totally different track, but after reading posts earlier on the page, has anybody watched the Ice Pilots NWT on NatGeo on Friday evenings? I saw a preview for it about a month ago and just finished watching season 2. Its a History Television show from Canada, but I think it came stateside because of Flying Wild Alaska. Basically they operate the only scheduled passenger service in the world that still uses DC-3s and they are still rocking the radial engines. They also fly numerous Electras, DC-4s and C-46s. Just impressive seeing these old planes still used on a daily basis as passenger planes, cargo haulers and water bombers.

[Edited on May 5, 2011 at 8:07 AM. Reason : ]

5/5/2011 8:03:49 AM

Dammit. I came here to post about that.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/04/could-the-bin-laden-raid-have-revealed-a-secret-new-helicopter/

5/5/2011 8:19:16 PM

My first impression is, highly modified HH-60 my ass.


However, some parts of the rotor assembly in this picture:




Are similar to the blade cuffs and pitch control rods on a regular H-60:




All that really tells us is that it is likely that this is a Sikorsky product. Possibly based of the Blackhawk airframe but just as likely to be a completely different product. Of course Sikorsky (along with Boeing) was one of the builders of the Comanche project and this appears to borrow heavily from that realm. So who knows.



[Edited on May 6, 2011 at 6:24 PM. Reason : Also, this sort of thing makes me suspect that it wasn't 160th flying this mission . . . ]

5/6/2011 6:10:52 PM

Rob,

Keep in mind what I do...We'll have to talk in person or on SIPR about this one. I don't know about that helo, but I know a lot about...uhh...these sorts of missions. I have flown in support of a whole bunch of HVI raids, in support of some forces that we won't talk about on here. I was involved in and aware of some planning with them, too, and spent a number of spare hours in the control room of the compound of those forces, watching some of the missions via FMV feeds.

5/6/2011 6:53:13 PM

Yeah, the more I look at it, that is not a H-60. Tail pylon is too heavily modified to be a 60 (unless it is completely replaces the tail pylon assembly from the hinge pins behind the tail wheel). The tail rotor and stabilator are too aerodynamically important on an H-60 for me to believe that they would just swap that part out and leave the rest of the aircraft alone.

While the input mods in the wreckage as well as the pitch change assembly look like a 60, there is no reason Sikorsky wouldn't use a well proven power-train in a new airframe . . . so I'll go back to my original statement that we're not looking at a modified H-60. I doubt it is even based on an S-70 airframe at all, but this is coming from a guy with a BA so take it for what it is worth . . .

5/6/2011 9:11:11 PM

Quote :

"the USN just painted an EA-6 in a retro 1942 paint scheme to mark the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation""

yea man, we had a P-3 all done up like that AND at Corpus (I'm back as as instructor) they retro-ed all the aircraft so a T-34C and Both the king-airs (TC-12B and T-44A/C) They look GROSS. The ole P-3 looked good though.

5/9/2011 6:50:22 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/09/new.york.planes.crash/index.html?hpt=T2

2 planes got together over NY state

I'm going to go ahead and say pilot error here.

5/9/2011 8:51:17 PM

"Well that was a thrill"

Not the comment you want to hear from a 50 something former Huey pilot after conducting his first dust landing in a Blackhawk under NVGs . . .

5/11/2011 4:34:33 PM

Would you consider this a low pass?

http://youtu.be/eebBjs507Yc

6/6/2011 7:19:17 AM

came to post ^that

this is good too
http://youtu.be/w_Cp2anHN3U

Iranian Il-76 crash videotaped from re-fueler

6/6/2011 12:58:21 PM

^that guy looks OCF? I'm not familiar with that airplane... what sort of size are we talking there? AND, are there Ejection seats?

6/6/2011 7:01:36 PM

if i remember correctly 7 people were on board and all perished

6/7/2011 8:10:17 AM

cool:

6/10/2011 6:19:45 PM

B17 destroyed in a crash.

Quote :

"7 aboard WWII-era B-17 bomber escape as plane burns in Illinois cornfield OSWEGO, Ill. — A B-17 bomber dating to World War II apparently made an emergency landing yesterday in a cornfield outside Chicago before it was consumed by fire while the seven people aboard escaped uninjured, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “The plane departed the airport, noted an emergency, and the pilot made what appears to be an emergency landing, after which the plane was consumed by fire,’’ FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said in an e-mail. The aircraft departed the Aurora Municipal Airport and the accident happened immediately after takeoff, with the plane in an Oswego cornfield, Cory said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident. Jim Barry, who lives in a nearby subdivision, told the Chicago Tribune that he heard a low-flying plane and looked to see it. The engine on the bomber’s left wing was on fire, he said. “Not a lot of flames, just more smoke than flames,’’ Barry said. The pilot reported a fire shortly after taking off, Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkle said. “He attempted to make a return to the airport, but couldn’t make it so he put it down in a cornfield,’’ Kunkel told the Chicago Sun-Times. Firefighters from Oswego, Sugar Grove, and Plainfield responded to the scene. Fire officials said they were having difficulty getting to the aircraft because of wet fields. The aircraft was made in 1944 and is known as the “Flying Fortress.’’ Authorities say it is registered to the Liberty Foundation in Miami. An e-mail to the Liberty Foundation seeking confirmation was not immediately returned."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/06/14/7_aboard_wwii_era_b_17_bomber_escape_as_plane_burns_in_illinois_cornfield/

6/14/2011 11:00:00 AM

^just a good quote i read about this crash

"I can not imagine flying at 25,000 ft., wrapped in a thick electrically heated suit, in an open fuselage, in 40 below temps, shooting at German fighters trying to kill you with 20 and 30mm cannons, with flak bursting all around you.....every third day or so, for two years plus, until you hit 25 missions (few did, average was something like 19 before they were shot down), or were shot down and killed...or, if you were "lucky".....parachuted safely and were interned in a German stalag, where you could starve for the duration.
The Greatest Generation doesn't even begin to describe what those guys did...we lost 10,000 dead PER MONTH in WWII...out of a population approx. half of what we have now! Wonder how the media would have reacted then, if they had the power they have now, in the 24 hour news cycle world we now live in? Probably would have wanted us to weenie out and pacify Hitler and Tojo"

6/14/2011 9:26:27 PM

^^ FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

at least they all got out.

6/14/2011 11:15:18 PM

Quote :

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! at least they all got out."

6/15/2011 11:39:08 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/21/concorde.hyper.sonic/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

6/21/2011 10:16:58 PM

A little self-congratulatory post for my first flight as PC:

7/27/2011 1:42:26 PM

Congratulations.

7/27/2011 3:06:34 PM

Have any of you started flying with a Sport Pilot license? I'm looking to start flight training and I figure it is a good way to start building hours. I've got no plans to fly at night or low visibility anyway. Any thoughts/suggestins on starting flight training?

Joshua

8/2/2011 7:42:30 PM

a good thing about the sport pilot license is that if you choose to go for a private/instrument/etc, the hours count.

8/2/2011 7:44:20 PM

I felt it relevant

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/17/new-fighter-jet-to-bolster-russian-air-force/?hpt=hp_c2

8/17/2011 1:01:25 PM

They're about a decade behind. The only thing that contraption has going for it is that it costs $1.95.

8/17/2011 1:14:36 PM

I mean, it is shaped something like an F22, but it still has a lot of small radar-reflecting surfaces.* The F22, F117, B2 etc all went to great lengths to reduce radar signature from doors, pitot tubes, vents and such. Kind of looks like they transformed a Su-27 into a F22 wannabe and pitched it as "stealthy".





*this is not the opinion of a radar technology expert

8/26/2011 1:57:36 PM

Still looks pretty cool!

8/26/2011 2:23:07 PM

Well fuck . . .

Quote :

"'Mass casualties' reported after plane crashes at Nevada air show Reno, Nevada (CNN) -- "Mass casualties" were reported at an air show after a plane slammed into the box seat area in front of a grandstand at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno on Friday, a spokesman for the show told CNN. At least two people died and 54 people were transported from the scene with injuries, according to officials. The pilot, identified as Jimmy Leeward, a real estate developer from Ocala, Florida, was likely killed in the crash, the show said in a statement. He was flying a P-51 Mustang. The event has been canceled and a memorial service will be held for the pilot Saturday afternoon, the show said."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/09/16/nevada.plane.crash/



[Edited on September 17, 2011 at 8:51 AM. Reason : pic]

9/17/2011 8:48:13 AM

yeah watching the videosis sick....looks like a major mechanical function if you can find the pictures showing the tail

9/17/2011 3:08:36 PM

One of the Trojan Horseman went down in W.Va today. Really sucks. I have actually met some of them and have seen them at several airshows. Here is the story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/17/us-crash-airrace-westvirginia-idUSTRE78G2FQ20110917

One of my favorite shots at an airshow was these guys that I posted on the first page of this thread. Here is the shot:

9/17/2011 8:50:47 PM

experimental went down at ktta today
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10180027/

9/25/2011 4:00:10 PM