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Mountain Flying to Restock Fish

Two of my favorite things in the world are fishing and flying.  As luck would have it, there are some great videos on YouTube by Ted Hallows, about dropping fish out of planes into Utah mountain lakes.

The challenge with these high mountain lakes is that there is no way to get a truck full of fish up there to restock the lake.   So the answer is to fly a plane up there and have it make low passes over the lake and dump the fish out.  It looks like a lot of fun to me, but you be the judge:

If you want to see some more feel free to check out Ted’s YouTube channel.

July 9, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Boeing Phantom Eye Promoted to Experimental Status by US Air Force

The Phantom Eye could change the future of ISR forever.

The Phantom Eye could change the future of ISR forever.

I’m sure I sound like a broken record with how much I talk about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) being one of the most exciting and interesting topics of discussion in aviation, but they are.  Right now the focus is really on their value as an ISR asset, and I think that is largely where the focus will stay for quite a while.  One of the most intriguing stories is the development of the Boeing Phantom Eye.

I have written about the Phantom Eye in the past and all of the incredible goals they have set.  It is a high altitude long endurance (HALE) airframe that is designed to cruise at 60,000 feet for anywhere from 7 to 10 days at a time.  Yes you read that right, over a week which is made possible by the liquid-hydrogen powered engines.

The platform has only performed six flight tests, but was just promoted from unproven to experimental status by the US Air Force 412th Operations Group.  That upgrade was based on the recommendation of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center.

This promotion allows the Phantom Eye development team to expand testing by flying to a nearby test range instead of strictly flying in the protected airspace over Edwards Air Force Base.  The team will now be able to really push the altitude and endurance limits that they are shooting for.

Military use is often the first thing people think of when they talk about UAVs, but there are so many other uses for a platform like this.  What other uses can you think of for the Phantom Eye, or other similar platforms?  Please share in the comments below.

February 12, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Angel Flight Video by Radney Foster Featuring the C-130

Like most avgeeks I am a sucker for a good airplane video.  While one of these videos is just a compilation of pictures, those pictures, along with the words to the song brought tears to my eyes.  Maybe it is my current position, but it just really hit home for me.  It truly is the most sacred work that we do on the C-130.

It is only four minutes long so please take a minute and watch it.  I actually found a couple of different versions people have made.  There are even more on YouTube.

You are gone, but never forgotten.


Angel Flight Video by Radney Foster Featuring the C-130

Huge props to Radney Foster for writing such a moving song.

January 2, 2014 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Video of my Very First Actual Personnel Drop From the C-130

This was just before the first group jumped.

This was just before the first group jumped.

Every aviator has special moments in their career that they will always remember.  The first time they took the stick in their hands, the first time they soloed an aircraft, or the first time they took a loved one for a ride.  One of those events for me was my very first actual personnel drop from a C-130.

I will spare you the details and just let you check out the video.  My apologies that the video is not as clear as the picture.  My camera does not focus as well on video as it does on images.

 


 

 

August 5, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

A Video History of the X-47B UCAS-D Naval Unmanned Aircraft System

One of my biggest obsessions recently has been UAV’s, and the X-47B in particular.  As incredible as I find UAVs it is even more incredible to me that the Navy has pursued an aircraft like this.  Naval aviation just carries so many unique attributes that I never thought they would even be interested in this technology.

After two and a half years of development the Navy recently achieved arguably the biggest milestone in making the UCAS-D a reality.  On July 10 they successfully performed an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier with the X-47B on board the USS George H.W. Bush.  When I saw the video, which can be found below, the only thought I had was, WOW!

Maybe it is just the nature of aviation, but it seems like they continue to make advances where other industries crawl along at a snail’s pace.  This is the type of technology that really sparks innovation in the world.  Like many technologies we may not fully appreciate its impact until far into the future, but there is no doubt it will have a tremendous impact.

The Navy has a great timeline of events on their website describing the development process, and Northrop Grumman, the lead developer, gave a nice description of the first arrested landing in their press release.  More information about previous milestones can be found here, here, and here.

But, if all you want is some high quality video footage, that can be found below.

July 24, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

C-130 Lands Unarrested on an Aircraft Carrier

As awesome as it is to watch beautifully produced videos of aircraft in HD, sometimes it is nice to watch some of the old grainy videos from a long time ago.

I got this video from my dad when I found out I was being assigned to the C-130.  It is a pretty incredible video of a USMC KC-130F landing on the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier, and took place in November and October of 1963.

They performed 29 touch-and-gos, 21 unarrested full-stop landings, and 21 unassisted takeoffs.  Weighing 85,000 pounds it performed a full-stop landing in only 267 feet.  With a maximum load on take-off it used only 745 feet.

These tests proved that the KC-130F could take off with 25,000 pounds of cargo, transport it 2,500 miles and land safely on the carrier.  Our modern jets can do some amazing things, but this stuff is just crazy.  I could keep going, but I’d rather you just enjoy the video below.

All information quoted above comes from the video itself.

June 6, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Remembering True Heroes of Aviation

As a member of the Air Force I regularly think about those that went before and left an amazing legacy for me and my contemporaries to follow.  They went up against incredible odds flying aircraft that went from inception to production in months, not the decades we see now.  On top of that they were actively engaged in conflicts where they were just as likely to die as to come back home.

One of my favorite activities is to listen to the stories of these great aviators who paved the way for the rest of us.  They have stories of courage and strength that my generation can’t begin to comprehend.

For a long time I have thought about how I could possibly honor them, or at the very least ensure that their memory is not lost.  There are thousands of these great men and women out there, and every day we lose more of them, and unfortunately many of their stories are lost with them.

I haven’t yet determined exactly how I will do it, but my goal is to archive as much of this history as possible in one place online so that others may be inspired by their story.  I want to collect stories, pictures, videos, anything that adds to the legacy of these amazing aviators.

I really want to collect the history of aviators from all of the major conflicts, as well as the minor ones.  I realize many of these great men and women have already died, but I am hoping their family or friends will be able to share their stories as well.  I want to collect as much information as possible including campaigns, battles, awards earned, and the other people that were there.

If you have something to contribute, I would love to hear about it in the comments with some way to contact you to collect more information.  The level of content I want to collect will take a lot more than a short comment, but it is at least a start.  I would also love to hear ideas of how I can make this venture successful so that we save as much of this history as possible.

Every single one of these people deserve to have their stories preserved.  It is not just the famous people who made a difference, but all of them.  Please help me to ensure their memory is never forgotten.

May 28, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Disney Releases New Trailer for Planes Movie

As a parent of three kids I am very familiar with kids movies, and I honestly don’t mind going to them as long as they are entertaining, which many of them are.  But, there is a movie coming out that I would gladly see all by myself, as will most avgeeks out there.

Disney’s Planes!

Many people are familiar with Disney’s Cars featuring Lightning McQueen and the ever lovable Tow Mater.  Planes is a similar idea, only it features airplanes instead of just cars.  At one point there was word that it would only be released to DVD, but thankfully Disney saw how important it would be to view it on the big screen and is going for the full theatrical release.  They will also be releasing it in 3D, but I think that is a waste of money so I will stick with the normal version.

Disney recently released a new trailer which can be found below, and it looks awesome.  I can’t tell you how excited I am.  I could keep going on, but I will let you enjoy the brilliance below instead.  The film is set to be released on August 9.

Disney’s Planes Takes Flight on Disney Video

May 20, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Every AvGeek’s Dream: My Adventures in Everett: Part 4 Dreamlifter

We avgeeks are a funny group of people.  We take great pleasure in seeing, or even talking about planes.  They don’t have to be rare planes, though that is fun.  They just have to have wings, an engine, and a cockpit.  Come to think about it, they don’t have to have any of that, they just have to fly in some way shape or form, or at least used to fly, or were intended to fly.  According to my wife, it is crazy to sit around for five hours in cold, drizzly, Seattle weather, just to see a plane take off, but that is just the price of admission for an avgeek.

When I was planning my trip to Paine Field I had only two aircraft that I was really dying to see fly, the 787, and the Dreamlifter.  Trouble was, when I left home the 787 was grounded, which meant the factory had slowed a little and the Dreamlifters didn’t need to be quite as busy.  But even if I didn’t see those, I would be happy just relaxing and checking out some planes.

When I got to the field on my first day I saw a Dreamlifter for the very first time in person, parked on the ramp in all of its hugeness.  For those unfamiliar with the Dreamlifter, it is a retrofitted 747 that was designed to carry parts for the 787.  It kind of looks like a 747 marshmallow that got put in a microwave and blown up throughout the fuselage.  It looks weird and awesome all at the same time.

I kept watching Flight Aware throughout the week hoping to see one actually land or take off, but to no avail.  On my last day there I looked at the schedule before leaving home and there was one on the schedule for that afternoon.  I didn’t really get my hopes up as there had been many on the schedule, none of which I had actually seen fly.  I went anyways, as it was my last day and I just wanted to see planes.

As it turned out there wasn’t much of anything flying that day other than a few little GA aircraft, but it was still nice to be at the airport and just read my book.  Right as I was about to leave my new friend from earlier in the week showed up so I decided to stay for a little while and chat with him.  While chatting we were joined by another avgeek who can also be found on Twitter: @pilot_ngb.  Once again it was awesome to meet someone who loved planes as much as me.

Just as I was about to leave, again, the lights on the Dreamlifter came on.  Was I actually going to see it fly right before I was going to leave.  Sure enough the tug pushed the plane back and it started to taxi out.  Our new friend pulled out his radio and we heard that they would be taxiing down to the other end to take off.  Once we saw the plane make the turn South on the taxiway we jumped in our cars and sped off to the windsock to get a better view.

We made it just in time to watch the Dreamlifter taxi by, and then line up on the runway.  Then I finally got to see this:

Dreamlifter take off

I got to fly on a 747 once about 12 years ago, and it was incredible.  However, standing next to the runway about 200 feet away from it taking off was even more incredible.  I honestly don’t think I can put into words how much I loved it.  It was the perfect ending to my week, and well worth the five-hour wait.

There are a few big things that I took away from my week at Paine Field.

  1. I need to get a better camera so I can take better pictures.
  2. It doesn’t matter if planes are old or young, I love them all.
  3. As awesome as the planes are, and as much as I love the airport, the people are what truly make aviation special.  It is a unique bond that you can’t find in many places.

I am so grateful for the people who I met on my trip, and I look forward to having even more such experiences in the years ahead.  If we ever happen to be in the same neighborhood, hit me up and I would love to talk planes while watching them, or waiting for them to show up.

May 5, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

F-15E Lands With Only One Wing

After what has been a long week, I decided that an amazing video would be the best way to celebrate Friday.

I know this video is not exactly new, and many people may have already seen it, but no matter how many times I watch it, it just leaves me in awe.  I won’t spoil it anymore than the title already did, but I will share my two conclusions.

1.  That pilot is a freaking stud to do what he did.

2.  American manufacturers sure knew how to make some amazing stuff back in the day.  With all of the issues with the F-35 I often wonder why we have tried to stray so far away from what works so well.

Enjoy the video.

 

March 15, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.