Ze Plane! Ze Plane!

[SR71]

Yesterday we had a limited altitude soaring contest at our club field. It was a time or altitude limited launch. There's an electronical gizmo that auto cuts your motor run after 200m altitude or a 30 second motor run, whichever comes first. This evens up the start point so that a variety of soaring planes can compete. People came from four states to play. A few pics - I'm not in any of them. There was plenty of good air, lots of max time flights.











I didn't even know it was a contest on so I brought the wrong kind of planes . I helped keep score and timer and entertained a few sweet adorable lil chilluns. No pics of the kids, I understand that is bordering on a no no these days.

[curses]

Ooh, is that an Me-262 in the last pic? Nice pics, btw.

[SR71]

Thanks friend Curses! Indeed it is an ME-262 Schwalbe, and one of my favorites. The ducted fans are meticulously balanced so it flies with a pleasingly jet like whoosh rather than a hairdryer racket. It's not hard to fly, I had feared that it might be. It's ridiculously overpowered at something like 300 W per pound, so it has a heavy wing loading. That made landing the only difficult part. I programmed the ailerons to also act as droop flaps for landing, and it practically lands itself now. I decided to go for the impending doom Mad Max no paint left appearance typical at the end of the war.

[godfry n. glad]

From the blueberry pancake fly-in:









It's a Boeing Steadman PT-17 from circa 1937, it was the 'visiting celebrity' that day.

I found what I think should be SR71's next step:



Just a little bigger and you're there...

[Zehava]

What airport is the Godfry? It looks familiar.

[godfry n. glad]

It's Mulino Airport, south of Oregon City and just north of Mollala.

[Zehava]

Not the airport I was thinking of, but I know the Mulino airport.

[godfry n. glad]

I've been mildly fascinated with what I understand to be the 'Fifth Generation' of jet fighter craft. Of course, here in the US, that means the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightening II.



My fractured understanding (I'm a prophead, not a jetster) is that the strategy was to make the Raptor the air dominance craft with lots of really expensive high-end technology which will limit the number produced, while the F-35 is a relatively lightweight and simple approach that will be produced in greater numbers....a heirarchy of fighters, as it were.

It was my understanding that the development (and production) of these fighters would place the US armed forces indisputably in the dominant position in terms of global air superiority. I wondered about that claim...particularly when I started seeing the info coming out on the Sukhoi T-50 (PAK-FA) which the Russians are developing in combination with the Indians.



Just out of curiosity, I ran the two through the 'Compare Aircraft' app at Military Factory. It looks to me as if the two, Su-T-50 & F-22, are very comparable craft, but the Sukhoi is a mite larger, a mite faster, has distinct advantage in range and maximum ceiling. Now, I don't tend to give these kinds of apps a whole lot of credence, but it does rather make the US claims about the Raptor seem to be somewhat dated. I rather doubt that a differential in pilot skills will be much of a factor, either. I mean, the Russians have been leaders in the 'supermaneuverability' tactic aspects of lightweight fighters. So, does technical proficiency in 'stealth' technology, if that, in fact, exists, make the difference in 'superiority'?

Am I wrong?

Then, there are the Chinese.

[curses]

I've read in the past that when aircraft are closely technically matched then the superiority comes down to the training of the pilots. I wish I could remember what site so I could link it...

[godfry n. glad]

Yeah, I understand that John Boyd, when he ran his figures for his Energy-Maneuverability, or E-M, theory of aerial combat, found that the MiG-17 was technically superior to the F-86 Sabre used by US pilots, but US pilots had a 10 to 1 kill rate in their favor against the MiG in Korea. Pilot training?

I posted the same question over in ARCair and was roundly criticized for even raising the topic as though it could be addressed. Good points were made about the multitudinous exogenous factors which go into such a comparison and that the figures available to the general public are NOT likely to be accurate, any way. Not just pilot skill, but technical support and command support as well. There is no real way to make valid comparisons until such time as a client war brings them into contention.

Plus, keep in mind that the F-22 has only recently gone operational (and has been grounded twice so far over pilot hypoxia issues), while the PAK-FA is only in the 'demonstration units' phase...the PAK-FA craft we are seeing are prototypes, not production (there are only three of them). It has a long period of development and refinement ahead. The expected operational date is tenatively 2022. By that time, the F-22 will be well into its operational life, and the PAK-FA will have been able to incorporate more advances...after learning from our pratfalls with the F-22/F-35 combo...maybe.

After all that, I'm beginning to wonder if the 'game' (air superiority fighter) isn't rigged between the contenders to keep the research and construction going and the factories busy "pumping the star-maker machinery" of air 'defense' spending. Each one has to work at outdoing the other and keeping the "fighter gap" in front of revenue allocators.

[godfry n. glad]

I don't tend to like crowds, so I rarely go to 'gatherings', but I'd heard about the fabulous prices on plastic kits at the IPMS conventions, that when one (the Oregon chapter) sponsored a show locally, I made a point of going. Early.

Here's the SR71 display at the location, for SR.



It's the whole craft, with one engine popped out as though it is being serviced. On the other side is a drone craft which looks like it was made of one of the SR71 engines and a wing.

The gathering was held in the Space building at the Evergreen Air & Space Museum, a worthy place for aircraft dweebs to spend a day. I found the displayed assembled kits to be mildly interesting....

North American Mitchell B-25 and Airspeed Envoy in 1:72 scale.


Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in 1:72 scale.

I was interested in these because they're in my scale class. Having done 1:48 in my past, I'm still getting used to the small size.

Anyway...The show was mildly interesting, the vendors more so...$5 kits for items that are running up to $35.00 plus shipping at online retailers. A lot of stuff that is presenting 'out of production'. I picked up a few. Then, it was on to the museum pieces.

You have to enter between the Sukhoi Su-22:






and the McConnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle:





With other stuff hanging overhead.

Then there are the Titan boosters:



Sitting next to the F-104 Starfighter in NASA livery...



Beyond which was the rotorhead corner...



They, of course had the obligatory F-4 Phantom II and a MiG-15...





There were lots more 'spacey' type exhibits with lunar modules, capsule mock-ups and stuff, but I plunged out of the Space building and headed for the Props...where the Spruce Goose was ensconced, past the outdoor MiG-15 UTI (I think)...



There is a field of tanks (yes, multiples...I could see about six or seven from my location) up and beyond the MiG trainer, but I didn't go there. I was drawn past the C-47...



To where the prop planes were held captive.

Mr. Smith has a really bad model collection habit. He collects full-size.

[curses]

I wish I had the funds for that kind of habit. Nice pics.

[godfry n. glad]

Originally Posted by curses

I wish I had the funds for that kind of habit. Nice pics.

Thanks. For some reason, the pix from the prop aircraft building didn't load. I'll retry in the next couple of days to see if I can get them loaded.

...more to come.

[godfry n. glad]

While there at Evergreen, I noticed that they were terraforming over beyond the 'water park', next to the armor display. I don't know what is going in there, but if the 'water park' is any indication, it'll probably be a mite extravagant 'flight of fancy'.

Oh...the 'water park':



incorporates a Boeing 747 water slide. You don't see those at just every waterpark. I didn't go, so I can't tell you what it's like inside. I don't see the attraction or why, in particular, it is associated with an air & space museum, but I guess tourism really doesn't have to make sense.

[godfry n. glad]

Once inside, the Spruce Goose dominates everything in the building. It looms.

I didn't get a single pic of the Goose, as I didn't have a panoramic camera. Portions of it will show up in the various pix from this building, like in this picture of the beautifully buffed DC-3 in late 30s TWA livery that greets the visitor after they've paid their admission.



That's a wing butt of the Goose overhead behind the DC-3.

The side away from the DC-3:



'ats a big honker, eh?

Under the wing of the DC-3 is this Curtiss 75 Hawk (I think).



And then a view past the tail of the Goose to the corner where the B-17 is located.



Across the aisle from the Hawk is a Ford Tri-Motor.



With a cute little Republic Seabee nestled under the wing.





I love these little rigs. Their styling, for some reason, evoke visions of flying, floating Airstream travel trailers. Anyway, in the process, I noticed that the passenger door on the Ford Tri-Motor was open.





Nice, huh?

So...in some places, they have aircraft stacked three deep. And, they sling aircraft from the ceiling, too.

[godfry n. glad]

Like the Yakovlev Yak-50 they've strung up above the....



wait, that's a jet. An Me-262.



There are a few early jets in the building. This one happens to be sitting next to the Fw-190.



There's a P-51 Mustang back behind them in the process of repair. Next in line was the A-26 Invader.



These were all clustered around the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.



I went all the way around, skirting the chance to pay an extra fee to board the craft. Instead, I got good pix of the interiors of the wheel bay doors....



Modellers....

A look back at the Fortress corner...

[godfry n. glad]

Across from the B-17 was this little number:



Now, until recently, this little lightweight Piper L-4H Grasshopper (aka 'Cub') would not have done much for me, but I'd picked up a 1:72 scale kit of it (TINY!) and got to nosing around. I stumbled across the story of "Bazooka Charlie" and his mount "Rosie the Rocketeer". Short version is that Bazooka Charlie mounted six bazookas (three per side) on the wing struts of his little Piper Grasshopper and proceeded to hunt German tanks. He claimed 14 tanks, but racked up an official tally of 6, including two King Tigers.

Piper Cub, Killer Warbird.

[Ymir's blood]

Originally Posted by curses

I've read in the past that when aircraft are closely technically matched then the superiority comes down to the training of the pilots. I wish I could remember what site so I could link it...

That was in an old GI Joe comic. :halfthebattle:

[godfry n. glad]

Then there were a number of trainers, but mixed in were some 'sport craft' and a couple of classic military jets...



The Fairchild PT-19, the US military's first monoplane trainer.



The earlier, and more well-known, Boeing-Stearman PT-13. The Kaydet.





And, of course, the usually present North American T-6 Texan. The livery makes it looks as though it were attached to Nellis AFB.



And, a Navy issue of the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor.



A Gee Bee Sportster (Model E, I think), related to the more famous Gee Bee Model R Racer.

It was kind of a contemporary of this Beechcraft Model 17 'Staggerwing'.



At the end of that aisle though were the Republic F-84 Thunderjet



Complete with a platform to climb up and look in the cockpit....





Across the way was the de Havilland Vampire, which we could look down on from the platform...



Next to the Thunderjet was a Navy offering, the F-4J Fury:







In the broader scope pix, you'll see that there are a number of smaller sport and experimental aircraft squeezed in at various locations. I didn't take many pix of them.

[godfry n. glad]

Wandering to the far side, we got a number of other classics.



Grumman Avenger.



Lockheed P-38 Lightning, tricked out like the hit that took out Admiral Yamamoto's bomber. The info board stated that it had really spent it's wartime station in the Aleutians.



Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in Chinese livery of the 1st AVG.



Messerschmitt Bf-109





Supermarine Spitfire profiles.





Vought F4U Corsair profiles.

I'm headed to the door out.

[S.Vashti]

Thanks! That was fabulous!

[godfry n. glad]

Moar PiX!

First with the Pacific Coast Air Museum at Charles M. Schultz Airport in Santa Rosa, California. The airport is north of Santa Rosa proper, by about ten miles. The collection is modest, but interesting, and it is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. I, of course, showed up a day early and had to go back the next day.





















The last a new addition to the collection and not yet fully integrated.

Some of the pix will have weird croppings of the images because the day was bright, clear and relatively warm. Under such conditions, digital camera viewer sux big-time.







My pick of the litter:

















That day, visitors were allowed entrance into the Albatross.






behind the pilot seat


behind the copilot seat.


pilot/copilot


view back from the cockpit

















Did I mention it was sunny and hot? I'm a heat wimp and I'm under directive to stay out of the sun.





























And, we're back where we started. Parched and overheated. Dehydration had set in.



Mostly jets...not my usual interest. But hey, there's some interesting stuff there. The pair of S2F, one military, one civilian (post-military) was appreciated.

[godfry n. glad]

Next, the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA, just outside of Merced in the central valley...

After pottering about the Monterey Bay area, we set off for Yosemite. Along the way was Merced, and north of Merced, at Atwater, was the Castle Air Museum. Castle was decommissioned as an Air Force base of heavy bombers (B-52) and refuelling aircraft (KC-135 and the like). It's a nice collection set outdoors in central California. It was clear and hot There were a few trees, but it was mostly open to the sun and each craft was roped off to distinctly delimit 'too close'...but it was a collection of miuch more interest to me, as there were some from before the outbreak of WWII, and many of the larger craft of the late war and postwar periods.

In segments, as I photographed them....

[godfry n. glad]

Part 2 of Castle Air Museum collection....

[godfry n. glad]

Final part, Castle Air Museum...



























































The one I almost missed...



Skulking stealthily on the far side of the parking lot.

That's it for the outdoor static diplay craft at Castle Air Museum....It was a hurried job because of the heat and the closing time. Had I had more time, I would have done more extensive 'walk-aorunds'.