Tag Archives: piston

Consequences of a Doolittle Style Takeoff

Grumpy got airborne using the Doolittle technique I posted about here. During the takeoff, there were some puffs of smoke from one of the engines. Initially I thought this might just be some oil blowing through but, as they climbed out, the output from the engine was clearly not as it should be and the one engine was clearly not healthy. They cut short the flight (although not as short as it could have been) and brought the plane back down. I saw Grumpy fly a few weeks later so I guess they dealt with whatever the issue was.

Doolittle Style Takeoff

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Paine Field held an open day which included some flying from the local aircraft. The Heritage Flight Museum had a number of the aircraft taking part including their B-25, Grumpy. On one of the takeoffs, they used a technique that was reminiscent of the Doolittle Raid. They applied power and full back controls to lift the nosewheel from the ground and roll down the runway in a wheelie. It was quite an interesting thing to see.

The Rarity That is an Aerostar

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I keep spoiling Pete with some of his favorites. I hope he appreciates this one. You don’t see a lot of Piper Aerostars about. It is a quite unusual aircraft, apparently designed originally for possible conversion to a jet in future versions. However, the piston version is the only one that was produced. The empennage is quite unlike most similar aircraft. The one I saw was looking like it was very well taken care of. The paint was certainly in great condition. It landed at Paine Field and taxied off to park. I understand it is something of a regular so I will hopefully see it again.

So Close to a Gear Up Landing

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A gear up landing is never something you want to have. What is worse is doing it in front of a lot of people. However, the crowd can sometimes be a benefit. The open house at Paine Field included some flybys by various types and one Navion was the last in his group to recover. Coming down the approach with flap deployed but no gear he looked very odd. I imagine the horn should have been blaring but, whatever the reason, he continued. Much frantic waving by the crowd and a call from the air boss had the desired effect, fortunately. A go around ensued followed by a normal approach a landing. I understand many beers were bought that night.

Ruslan Chases the Small Guys at Paine Field

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Antonov 124s make a regular appearance at Paine Field. Boeing obviously receives a lot of shipments which I am guessing may be engine deliveries. Plenty of the flights come from Columbus OH which is near a GE plant and the GE90-115 fan is too big for most freighters when installed. However, it could be for something else. Anyway, I got one coming in to Everett recently. Paine Field is a popular field for light aircraft so you get a lot of them flying patterns on the main runway. One called up on final when the Ruslan was turning on to final. They made it in without any trouble but it was quite amusing to see the little plane on final with the unmistakable silhouette of the Antonov not far behind.

Preserved KC-97

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A strange airfield means time for a trip around the perimeter to see what is around. Medford didn’t disappoint. A small museum included a nicely preserved Boeing KC-97 tanker aircraft. Sadly, everything was closed up so I couldn’t take a closer look. Meanwhile, the fencing around it was pretty close in so it was a bit of struggle to get a clean shot but there will still some options. The boom was no longer fitted but, otherwise, it looked just like you would hope.

Boomerang

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This plane is a great example of what an imaginative mind can achieve when combined with an understanding of aerodynamics. It is one of the products of the talent that is Burt Rutan. When Burt ran Scaled Composites, he specialized in creating aircraft that were out of the ordinary and yet capable performers. The Boomerang is an asymmetric airframe that provides twin engine performance with more benign handling in an engine out configuration. I came upon it during a visit to Oshkosh for Airventure.

The owner at the time was very happy to share his aircraft with anyone who was interested and, given the unusual nature of the plane and the fascination people have with Rutan’s creations, he was never short of visitors. I didn’t spend much time with him but, while I was there, I was struggling to find angles to shoot the plane from to emphasize what makes it special. Getting it in flight would have helped but it was fun checking it out while it was on the ground.

A Different Trimotor

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EAA undertake nationwide tours where they take a Ford Trimotor to local airfields and give people the chance to experience a ride in a plane from another era. One of their regular stops is San Carlos CA. When I saw them operating there on a previous occasion (and posted about it here), they brought an airframe that I had seen a number of times before at Oshkosh and around Illinois. This time they brought a different airframe which is slightly larger and accommodates one extra passenger.

It would have been rude not to pop along at least once to see it in action. It did appear to be slightly larger to my eye but that was not a scientific assessment. The different paint finish was the real giveaway that they had brought something different. The conditions were nice to get some shots. I was planning on catching it again when it came to another local field but the weather ended up being pretty awful so this was my only encounter.

Scott’s Clipper

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The trip to photograph Eric’s Clipper that I described here included a bonus (as if the flight wasn’t bonus enough). Eric had talked to another Clipper owner, Scott, and he had brought his plane across to Sonoma. Scott is not a formation pilot but Eric landed after the shoot with his plane and jumped in to Scott’s plane with Scott in the second seat. We orbited overhead until they joined up and then we got a bunch of additional shots.

Since it was a bit later in the day, the light had got a bit better. The colors of Scott’s plane were particularly receptive to the evening light and, while it was a totally stock aircraft and therefore not possible to get too vertical with (see the roof mods in Eric’s plane in the other post), we could still get some great shots. Thanks Dave and Eric (and Scott for bringing your plane).

Oh, a Lockheed 12!

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My visit to Port Townsend Aero Museum (which is covered in this post) was followed up by a quick walk around the ramp near the museum. There were plenty of cool types around but I was instantly drawn to a Lockheed 12 that was parked up. From a distance you could confuse this with a Beech 12 if you weren’t paying attention but, as soon as you look closer, the longer lines of the Lockheed show themselves.

Apparently this airframe is for sale. I am not familiar with the pricing of old aircraft but I believe that the Lockheed goes for an awful lot more than the similar Beech. I guess there are a lot more Beeches around. This one was tail on to the sun which was a touch inconvenient but, since they were willing to let me shoot to my heart’s content, I was hardly going to complain. A little HDR helps too.