Still 15 days from its second birthday, Boeing 787 airframe ZA001 will fly today to Palmdale California ending a short life as a test aircraft.  The next time she flies (which could take quite a long time) will probably be back to Seattle to a permanent home at the Seattle Museum of Flight.

I took this picture at Oshkosh 2011 when 001 made a one day visit to see tens of thousands of adoring fans.  One of the huge highlights of my first trip to AirVenture.

More information from FlightBlogger.

A new fixture on the central North America airshow circuit is the T-33 “Mako Shark” from the Jet Air Museum headquartered in London Ontario.  I was so happy to see one of these 60 year old trainers done up in such a striking fashion that I joined the museum to show my support.  Last night I finally made the 2 hour drive down to London to attend a meeting.

With 2 T-33’s flying, one DH-115 Vampire very close to being airborne and more aircraft in reserve, the Jet Air Museum is very worthy of your support.  Drop by their website for information on their aircraft and be sure to check out how to become a member and/or get one of their 2012 calendars that gives you a chance to win a flight in the T-33 or Vampire or cash prizes.

All year long I’ve been running into Dan Dempsey, pilot of the Discovery Air Hawk One Sabre from Vintage Wings of Canada.  Last month up in Gatineau we talked for a few minutes and I asked if he had any Hawk One badges.  “Not with me”, he said but he promised to see what he could find.  I gave him my address but didn’t think anything of it.

Today in the mail came a plaque for the Canadian Air & Space Museum (click the link to visit their website and see how YOU can help them survive) which I’ll hang on to until things settle down and a few other goodies. On the left is the current patch and on the right is the 2009 patch celebrating the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada.  2 very rare and very cool additions to my collection.

Thanks Colonel Dempsey (that’s him above and below waving from one of the most beautiful offices in the world.)  It was a pleasure working with you at Wings & Wheels where we were all so amazed at your stamina and how much fun you were having with the kids.  And thanks for making Hawk One dance.

]]> http://www.eyeno.net/2011/10/05/nice-surprise-in-the-mail-today/feed/ 2 http://www.eyeno.net/2011/10/03/f-35b-makes-carrier-landing/ http://www.eyeno.net/2011/10/03/f-35b-makes-carrier-landing/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:22:52 +0000 Ken http://www.eyeno.net/?p=3155 Big milestone for the much maligned F-35B as it makes its first shipboard vertical landing on the USS Wasp.]]>

Big milestone for the much maligned F-35B as it makes its first shipboard vertical landing on the USS Wasp.

The Canadian Air & Space Museum is in trouble.  They’ve been served with an eviction notice and need everyone’s help to persuade the Federal government to step in and overturn this demand from one of their own Crown agencies.

Click this link to see what you can do to help preserve this important guardian of Canadian aviation history.

As I write this ANA (All Nippon Airways) is taking delivery of the very first production 787 “Dreamliner” at a ceremony outside of Seattle Washington.

A day long awaited and a day that will change air travel, again.

(photo above of first 787 aircraft taken by the author at AirVenture 2011 in Oskosh, WI in July 2011)

My last airshow of 2011 provides a memory to get me through the cold months to come.  Courtesy of Vintage Wings of Canada and Canadian Warplane Heritage a sight that may never come again.

The CWH Lancaster flanked by Vintage Wings’ Spitfire, Hurricane, Kittyhawk and Mustang thundering across a perfect sky in Gatineau Quebec.  The sound of all those Merlin engines is unbelievable and you can easily be transported back in time to when these aircraft ruled the sky and helped turn the tide in World War II.

Another 1000 pictures to go through this winter as I make the plans for 2012.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton is holding their 2 day Air Show.  I spent the day there yesterday and it was a pleasure to be able to enjoy the sight of all those wonderful classic aircraft.  It’s always great to get a chance to see their Avro Lancaster MK.X flying (one of only 2 flying airframes in the world).  Vintage Wings of Canada was well represented as well.

CWHM hasn’t had a full air show in 10 years and it was easy to see that they had a few problems, mainly with crowd handling, but all-in-all they put on a wonderful show.

More photos are available here.

One of my goals in Dayton was to see the iconic Blackbird.

The Lockheed SR-71A holds all the records for high and fast flight.  85,068.997 feet and 2,193.167 MPH.  It flew for 24 years providing unparalleled reconnaissance capabilities.  From 80,000 feet, the Blackbird could survey 100,000 miles of the Earth’s surface per hour.

The USAF Museum’s SR-71 was the first to fly an operational sortie and was retired in March 1990.

  Each Pratt & Whitney J58 engine produced 32,500 lbs thrust on afterburner.

It’s doubtful that a manned reconnaissance aircraft like the Blackbird will ever be built again.  Satellites and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have taken the SR-71’s place.

Spent an absolutely fantastic weekend playing aviation geek down in Dayton Ohio at the USAF museum. 

I’m just starting to go through the hundreds and hundreds of pictures I took over the course of a day and a half.  Lots of them are going to show up here and on Flickr over the next few months.  Might even get me through to Oshkosh in July.

Let’s start with the strangest of the bunch.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the XF-85 Goblin.

“The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was designed to meet a USAAF requirement for a single-seat "parasite" escort fighter that could be carried by a large bomber. Development of two prototypes was ordered in March 1947. The resulting design was entirely the product of design constraints, which required it to fit into the bomb bay of a B-36 (although it was first tested under a B-29). The B-36 was the intended mother ship that would carry as many as three Goblins.

A tiny, short fuselage was fitted with low/mid-set foldable swept wings, of 21 ft 1.5 in (6.44 m) span. It was powered by a 3,000 lb (1,400 kgf) Westinghouse J34-WE-7 turbojet. There was no landing gear except for emergency skids. The fighter was intended to return to the parent aircraft and dock with a trapeze, by means of a retracting hook.” (From Wikipedia)

Looking like somebody’s idea of a joke, the Goblin actually flew quite well when away from the turbulence of the mother ship.

Only 2 were built and 46-6523 was transferred to the museum soon after the program’s cancellation in 1950.