Lockdown Distractions

[Guest1]

NASA Virtual Aviation Showcase to Highlight Transformative Innovation | NASA

Members of the media and public are invited to participate in NASA’s imaginAviation, a free, virtual event focusing on how the agency transforms research innovations into new possibilities for aviation for the benefit of humanity. Sessions run from Tuesday, Feb. 28, to Thursday, March 2.

A full agenda for the workshop is online.

Registered members will have access to view presentations about NASA’s efforts to transform aviation in ways that increase sustainability and air transportation options, as well as gain insight into technologies in development by NASA and its partners.

Speakers include:

• NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana
• Robert Pearce, associate administrator, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD)
• Barbara Esker, assistant deputy association administrator for Missions, ARMD
• Robbie Cabral, inventor
• Trisha Pesiri, former Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controller and wildland fire survivor

 

Sessions will cover some of NASA’s high-priority missions and projects, including sustainable aviation and the Quesst mission, which seeks to enable quiet supersonic flight over land using its experimental X-59 aircraft for testing. NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility efforts to develop new air transportation systems for people and cargo in underserved areas are another topic on the agenda.

NASA’s imaginAviation is presented by the agency’s Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program. For more information on the event or to register, visit:

https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/imaginAviation/

[deicer]

https://worldwarwings.com/catalina-pby-5a-miss-pickup-rc/

Stunning Maiden Flight

Check out the maiden flight of this model Catalina PBY 5A Miss PickUp. Constructor and pilot Reiner A. Jörg has spent 2,000 hours in total in building this masterpiece. It did a smooth take-off, fly-over, and landing. The wingspan of the model is 3,98 m (13 feet), and its fuselage is a carbon combs composite (vacuum processed).

This model was based on the actual PBY-5A Canso Catalina ‘Miss Pick Up’ which was first manufactured in 1943 by the Canadian Vickers at Cartierville, Quebec for order of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Canso A amphibian. This was the Canadian equivalent to the US Navy PBY-5A.

[deicer]

Just a fun SR-71 story...

https://sierrahotel.net/blogs/news/how-slow-is-the-worlds-fastest-aircraft

[st27]

FYI …. Believe it or not, there is still a Canso sitting in a hangar at the Gananoque airport…owned by an AME that is doing continual maintenance on it.

[J.O.]

There’s also this one that was beautifully restored by a group in AB. 
 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-vintage-plane-fairview-canso-second-world-war-veteran-1.4166853

[deicer]

Now that is being considerate!

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/northern-lights-flight-loops/index.html

Why these flights made unscheduled loops in the sky

A most welcome flight diversion. That’s a rarity for commercial airline passengers, but it’s what travelers on at least two flights got this week when their planes looped around to give everyone a good view of the northern lights.

Also known as the aurora borealis, the natural phenomenon is something travelers often make pricey trips to high latitudes just to witness.

Those on easyJet flight 1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester and Finnair flight 488 from Kuusamo to Helsinki all got a light show for the price of their airfare. Flight tracking sites show both planes made small loops mid-flight.

“Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic,” Kirsi Komi tweeted Sunday.

Finnair said such loops are usually performed to avoid bad weather. “Loops such as this are quite rare in our flight operations,” the airline said in a statement.

“The captain takes the decision to make an additional diversion. When diversions take place, the first priority is always flight safety,” Finnair said.

On Monday, the pilot on easyJet flight 1806 also made a loop to showcase the colorful lights.

[Falken]

The other side of the coin - I did a flight from Geneva to Lugano on a clear blue day and as I approached the Matterhorn I thought I would give the paxs a nice view so I did a 360 around it and you could see the skiers waving, however, upon deplaning in Lugano one passenger informed me that he paid to get to Lugano - no to go sightseeing!  

[Moon The Loon]

10 hours ago, J.O. said:

There’s also this one that was beautifully restored by a group in AB. 
 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-vintage-plane-fairview-canso-second-world-war-veteran-1.4166853

Few things beat the Canso Ben Rivard planted in northern Labrador back in the 1960's. It was Chinooked, in pieces, to Goose Bay in the 1990's, then to Halifax where it's been re-assembled and on display at the museum next to the airport - CYHZ.

[deicer]

On this day in 1949...

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/26-february-2-march-1946/

26 February–2 March 1949: B-50 Lucky Lady II

http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2014/03/Boeing-B-50A-Superfortress-46-010-Lucky-Lady-II.jpg Boeing B-50A-5-BO Superfortress 46-010, Lucky Lady II, lands at Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth Texas, at 10:31 a.m., 2 March 1949. (LIFE Magazine)

26 February–2 March 1949: A Boeing B-50A Superfortress, Air Force serial number 46-010, named Lucky Lady II, flew from Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas, and with inflight refueling, circumnavigated the Earth non-stop, landing back at Carswell after 94 hours, 1 minute. The bomber had traveled 23,452 miles (37,742 kilometers).

Lucky Lady II was the backup aircraft for this flight, but became primary when the first B-50, Global Queen, had to abort with engine problems. It was a standard production B-50A-5-BO (originally designated B-29D) with the exception of an additional fuel tank mounted in its bomb bay.

The aircraft commander was Captain James G. Gallagher, with 1st Lieutenant  Arthur M. Neal as second pilot. Captain James H. Morris was the copilot. In addition to the three pilots, the flight was double-crewed, with each man being relieved at 4-to-6 hour intervals. The navigators were  Captain Glenn E. Hacker and 1st Lieutenant Earl L. Rigor, and the radar operators were 1st Lieutenant Ronald B. Bonner and 1st Lieutenant William F. Caffrey. Captain David B. Parmalee was project officer for this flight and flew as chief flight engineer, with flight engineers Technical Sergeant Virgil L. Young and Staff Sergeant Robert G. Davis. Technical Sergeant Burgess C. Cantrell and Staff Sergeant Robert R. McLeroy were the radio operators. Gunners were Technical Sergeant Melvin G. Davis and Staff Sergeant Donald G. Traugh Jr.

Four inflight refuelings were required using the looped hose method. Two KB-29M tankers of the 43d Air Refueling Squadron were placed at air bases along the Lucky Lady II‘s route, at the Azores, Saudi Arabia, the Philippine Islands and Hawaiian Islands. The KB-29 flew above the B-50 and lowered a cable and drogue. This was captured by equipment on the bomber and then reeled in, bringing along with it a refueling hose. The hose was attached to the B-50’s refueling manifold and then fuel was transferred from the tanker to the bomber’s tanks by gravity flow.

Each refueling occurred during daylight, but weather made several transfers difficult. One of the two tankers from Clark Field in The Philippines, 45-21705, crashed in bad weather when returning to base, killing the entire 9-man crew.

http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2014/03/Boeing-B-50A-Superfortress-46-010-Lucky-Lady-II-refuels-from-a-Boeing-KB-29M-tanker-near-teh-Azores-26-February-1949.jpg A Boeing KB-29M tanker, possibly 45-21702, refuels B-50A Superfortress Lucky Lady II during its around-the-world-flight, February–March 1949. (U.S. Air Force)

On their arrival at Carswell, the crew of Lucky Lady II was met by Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington, Jr., General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Roger M. Ramey, commanding 8th Air Force, and Lieutenant General Curtis E. LeMay, Strategic Air Command. Each member of the crew was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. They also were awarded the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.

http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2016/03/luckylady2life.jpg The arrival of Lucky Lady II and its crew at Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, Texas, was observed by the senior civilian and military members of the United States Air Force.. (LIFE Magazine) http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2014/03/Boeing-B-50A-5-BO-Superfortress-46-010-KENSMEN.jpg Boeing B-50A-5-BO Superfortress 46-010, circa 1950. (U.S. Air Force)

At 11:25 a.m., 13 August 1950, B-50A 46-010, under the command of  Captain Warren E. Griffin, was on a maintenance test flight and returning to its base, Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona  when all four engines failed. Unable to reach the runways, Captain Griffin landed in the desert approximately two miles southeast. Though the landing gear were down, the bomber was severely damaged with all four propellers bent, the belly dented and its tail breaking off. The 11-man crew were uninjured except for the bombardier, 1st Lieutenant Theodore Hastings, who was scratched by cactus which entered the cockpit through the broken Plexiglas nose.

The Superfortress was damaged beyond economical repair and was stricken from the Air Force inventory (“written off”). The unrestored fuselage of Lucky Lady II is at the Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, California.

http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2014/03/Boeing-B-50A-5-BO-Superfortress-Lucky-Lady-II-fuselage.jpg The unrestored fuselage of Boeing B-50A-5-BO Superfortress 46-010 at Planes of Fame, Chino, California, 2002. (Stefan Semerdjiev)

[Kip Powick]

LOOPS ???????

In aviation an aircraft is, at some point, inverted,  in a completed "loop" ...........even if  one does an outside loop ,which is really gut wrenching.

Not in my book....those "viewing aircraft flew  CIRCLES

 

[Seeker]

Cool EAA video about high altitude glider research:

 

[deicer]

Cool link!  Thanks!

 

[deicer]

 

[deicer]

Post relationship home, or cottage???

https://www.businessinsider.com/airplane-house-photos-retired-planes-renovation-2023-3

This man built a dream home out of two passenger airplanes that only costs $200 a month — see inside

Kiera Fields 

Mar 8, 2023, 8:36 AM

 

 

 

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 fuselages that make up Joe Axline's house.  Joe Axline

• Joe Axline bought land in a private airport in Texas and two retired jets to create his dream home.
• He renovated the 60-foot body of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jet into a three-bed home.
• The second plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, has a refurbished 1970s cockpit.

 

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Joe Axline said he got the idea to turn an airplane into a house when, as a kid in the '70s, he watched a TV show  called "The Magician." The show's main character was played by Bill Bixby and traveled from city to city in a plane solving crimes.

"I thought that was pretty awesome," Axline told Insider.

Axline trained as a recreational pilot throughout his teens, achieving his instrument rating, an advanced aviation certificate, at 26. Shortly after that, Axline said he gave up flying to focus on his career in IT, marriage, and family life.

Twenty-three years later, in April 2011, Axline and his wife divorced. Axline told Insider he had about $250,000 in savings he was willing to spend on what he dubbed "Project Freedom."

Axline bought a plot of land from a privately owned airport called Sport Flyers in Brookshire, Texas, near where he was living.

Joe Axline

He said most properties had homeowners associations that would have blocked his plane plans. But Axline told Insider he'd found a loophole with the private-airport property restrictions: "I can't put a train or put an RV. I can't put a mobile home," he said. "But there's nothing about my airplane."

Axline began investigating how to buy a plane to renovate.

 

 

ADVERTISING

Axline bought a plane that was on display in a disused Florida mall.

Joe Axline

Axline contacted Tom Bennington, an airplane-renovation contractor. He told Bennington his plan, and the two began to look for a plane.

Bennington found a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Spirit Airlines fuselage — a plane body without wings — for auction. It was an attraction in Sawgrass Mills' indoor amusement park for kids, called Wannado City, which went out of business in 2011.

 

The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 had a fully restored cockpit to reflect the plane's original 1970s interior.

Joe Axline

The cockpit was complete with fiber optics, original chairs, phones, oxygen masks, and life vests.

He bought the DC-9 in the spring, but it took nearly a year to get it removed from the mall. "In the meantime," he said, "I bought another airplane."

 

He purchased a 60-foot front fuselage of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 from Arkansas in November 2011.

An American Airlines MD-80.  Eliyahu Yosef Parypa/Shutterstock

Axline told Insider both plane structures were 60 feet or under because that was the maximum size to transport by truck, the cheapest way to transport retired planes. Keeping the planes under that length decreased transport costs to $5,750 from $10,000, according to Axline.

 

Axline said he had to build steel foundations for his planes.

Joe Axline

The support for the MD-80 structure required 25 cubic yards of cement. He described the project as "two steps forward, one step back," adding that there was "nothing that is small or easy."

 

Once the foundations were built, the planes could arrive.

Joe Axline

 

The front fuselage of the MD-80 was delivered to the site in December 2011.

Joe Axline

Axline said that while hiring cranes and trucks to transport airplane fuselages had cost thousands of dollars, it was worth it to "get to live the dream."

 

The MD-80, which was full of parts that needed to be removed, is the main structure Axline lives in.

Joe Axline

 

The interior of Axline's McDonnell Douglas MD-80 needed extensive work.

Joe Axline

 

Axline said he learned to do these renovations "on the fly" using YouTube videos and help from his brother, an electrical engineer.

Joe Axline

Axline removed the ceilings and overhead bins so his height wouldn't be restricted. He added two walls: one between the master bedroom and the shower, and one between the first bedroom and the living room. He said was easy for him to do.

 

In January 2012, the DC-9 arrived and was installed next to the first plane.

Joe Axline

With all his attention focused on making the MD-80 livable, Axline didn't have time to start renovations on the DC-9.

It remains gutted and empty apart from the cockpit, though it's been used as storage for parts from the other plane. Axline said he plans to turn it into a cinema and entertainment center.

 

Axline had to install sewage and water systems, electrical wiring, LED lighting, and insulation in the MD-80.

Joe Axline

He told Insider it took over a year to make the plane habitable. He was staying in an apartment nearby and moved into the newly renovated plane in August 2012.

 

Axline stripped the carpeting and replaced it with vinyl flooring. He added insulation to keep the plane cool in the hot Texas summers.

Joe Axline

 

He added a wall in the back of the plane and built a deck and a life-sized chess set outside it.

Joe Axline

Axline said he enjoyed having the original door at the front of the plane and the doors at the back, as he can "get a breeze through" on hot days.

 

Axline has a bedroom plus two other beds for his children when they come to stay.

Joe Axline

 

He maintained a few original features of the plane's interior — like the shutters, windows, and some overhead bins.

Joe Axline

 

Axline also kept the plane's original sink and bathroom features.

Joe Axline

 

The bathroom has the original warning lights, though they're no longer operational.

Joe Axline

 

Axline said he loves living in the plane because his living room, dining table, kitchen, and office space are all within a few feet of each other.

Joe Axline

 

He said that after moving into the plane, he discovered he didn't need a lot of space.

Joe Axline

"I've lived in a 5,000-square-foot house, and the airplane is head and shoulders above that," he said. "It's 600 square feet of fantastical."

 

Axline told Insider he's paid off all the costs of purchasing the planes and renovating them into his dream home.

Joe Axline

He told Insider the monthly operating costs are around $200 for electricity, water, and land taxes.

He doesn't see the plane properties as an investment.

"I don't care if it goes up in value or goes down — doesn't matter to me," he said. "I will live here until the day I die."

[deicer]

 

[deicer]

Being built here:

 

https://www.avromuseum.com/

Edited March 9, 2023 by deicer

[Kip Powick]

Photo taken with an unusual perspective

[deicer]

Cool pic Kip!

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https://frontlinevideos.com/pilot-ejects-from-tomcat-keeps-flying-off-carrier/

 

 

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https://www.facebook.com/reel/1146240229695014

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