Sep 09
JobelleAir Force, Blog Articles, Navy, Trivia Air Force Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, Blue Angels Team, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16C/D, F/A-18 Hornet Blue Angels, Marine Corps, Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds and Blue Angels model, Thunderbirds F-16, Thunderbirds Squadron, U.S. Navy Blue Angels, USAF Thunderbirds
One of the many ways to promote the U.S. military is by flight demonstration squadrons, namely the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds. They help the military recruit more people and give the public more understanding and education about what the military does for them.
Some of you might be interested on joining these elite teams. Well, here’s how you can be an eligible candidate .
Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds are also known as America’s Ambassadors in Blue. The Thunderbirds Squadron use 12 F-16, while nine are from the C-modification (6 participated in the air and rest are reserve) and three two-seated from the D-modification.
- must have at least 1000 flying hours on a jet fighter
- must be pilots of F-16 at the present
- must have at least 3 years (but no more than 12 years) of military service
Blue Angels
The Blue Angels represent the finest from the Navy and Marine Corps. Every year, this select group begins a two or three-year rotation traveling across the country and around the world to perform for millions of spectators.
- Navy and Marine Corps jet pilots with an aircraft carrier qualification and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight-hours are eligible for positions flying jets Number 2 through 7.
- Commanding Officer must have at least 3,000 tactical jet flight-hours and have commanded a tactical jet squadron.
In a nutshell the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels’ mission is primarily to support recruiting, retention programs and public relations. They are a PR machine-and not a bad machine at that! So, do you have what it takes?
Aug 11
JobelleBlog Articles, Custom Model Airplanes, Trivia bomber airplanes, collecting model planes, desktop model, helicopter model, historical aircraft, Jet Model Planes, model aircraft, model airplane, plane model toy, Propeller Airplanes, Scale model aircraft, scale model airplanes, scale model helicopter, scale replica, war planes, warplanes
Hobbyists and aviation enthusiasts are in for a new craze!
Aside from flying and collecting photos, aviation fans are now collecting scale model airplanes and helicopters of the world’s most historical aircraft.
Scale model aircraft are scale replicas which do not fly but are famous for their exquisite artwork. They are generally displayed in museums, art galleries, travel shops and airports.
The designs of these scale model aircraft range from war planes, bomber airplanes, propeller airplanes, jet model planes and helicopter models. Commonly referred as ‘desktop models’, these model aircraft are usually made of wood, plastic, metal and/or fibreglass.
When it comes to hobbies in the world of aviation, there are often quite a large number of hobbyists who feel interested in collecting model planes. It is also possible for the hobbyists to find various available kinds of the models that come with various available kinds of technologies.
It’s no surprise that they went straight to Warplanes for a wide selection of scale model aircraft. Warplanes also throws in surprising deals every now and then. With their varying design and style of their scale models, Warplanes is no doubt an aviation junkie haven.
Jul 04
TynibelleBlog Articles, News, Testimonials, Trivia aircraft, aircraft model, airplane model, custom model, custom model plane, custom model ship, custom ship model, display, display model, F-22, f-22 raptor, model aircraft, model airplane, model display, model plane, model ship, model vessel, plane model, ship model, transformers 3, Transformers 3 aircraft, transformers movie, warplanes, wood, wood model plane, wood plane model, wooden airplane model, wooden model airplanes
After opening last June 29, the movie franchise Transformers has again successfully brought many people to stand in long lines, reserve movie seats, and get their mind blown once again with Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon.
The huge number of people that flocked movie theaters since the opening until this weekend may have caused many to move their viewing schedule to later dates so no spoilers for those wanting to personally discover the movie plot themselves. Here is just a little sneak peek about the aircraft involved in the movie.
As we all know, Starscream, the F-22 Raptor Decepticon, has been in the movie franchise since the first movie. He has always been loyal to the Decepticon leader Megatron. He continues to serve the notorious enemy leader in the third movie.
Soundwave first appeared in the second Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen, as a satellite hovering Earth to gather information about the location of Megatron‘s corpse and the location of the All spark shard. He did do much battle in the second film but he hustles in the final war between the Autobots and Decepticons in the third film.
Although Laserbreak is a condor-like Decepticon, I think he is still somehow an aircraft since he is a machine and all. He carry out many tasks for Megatron in Dark of the Moon.
Other than Transformers transforming into aircraft, both real and fictional aircraft were featured in the third film.
The Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was brought in the movie to add more military action in the film. Amazing V-22 Ospreys were also used in the film. The space shuttle Discovery also starred in the film but I won’t tell you why. Just go and watch the movie!
When it comes to the fictional part, Decepticon fighter aircraft were also in the film aiding the Decepticons and unleashing havoc upon Earth.
-comicbookmovie.com
-wikipedia.com
Feb 17
JobelleBlog Articles, Navy, News, Trivia Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Chosin Reservoir, Corsair aircraft, F4U Corsair, Jesse Brown, Korean War, Navy pilots, Pearl Harbor, Thomas Hudner, Tom Hudner, Tom Hudner F4U Corsair
Tom Hudner was sitting in the commons area after lunch at Phillips Academy in Andover when word spread that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. As with most young people of the era, he had no idea where Pearl Harbor was but he knew it meant the U.S. was at war.
Four years after Annapolis, however, Tom would find himself in another war, the Korean War. Here he would lead a heroic effort to save a downed pilot when his flight was on patrol over the Chosin Reservoir. For this extraordinary rescue attempt, President Harry Truman would present the first Congressional Medal of Honor of the Korean War to Tom Hudner.
Flying one thousand feet above the icy Korean mountains, the Corsair’s engine cut out. At such a low altitude, the pilot, US Navy Ensign Jesse Brown, couldn’t bail out or clear the mountain. He spotted an opening that looked more or less flat, and in any case, it was his only choice. A wheel up, dead stick landing. The Navy’s first African American aviator probably thought that he had been through worse than this, being hazed and harassed throughout his pioneering Naval career.
Suddenly, Jesse radioed that he was losing oil pressure and power. He would have to land. Another pilot noticed a small clearing only about a quarter mile in size on the side of one of the slopes and radioed the location to Jesse. Tom also radioed to him, “Jesse, make sure your shoulder harness is locked and the canopy is open!” Then Jesse, wheels up with no power, brought his Corsair in for a hard, crash landing. The impact buckled the fuselage at the cockpit.
The F4U went down heavily and smashed into the rough terrain, folding up at the cockpit. Sliding through the deep snow, the big fighter started smoking immediately.
Lt. (Jg) Thomas Hudner and the other VF-32 pilots studied the situation on the ground as they circled overhead. This close to the Chosin Reservoir, Chinese Communist soldiers would be along soon. The crashed and burning aircraft was a hopeless wreck.
Jesie brown - Navy's first African-American aviator
At first the Navy fliers thought that Ensign Brown was dead. Then his wingman and roommate, Lt. William H. Koenig, noticed Brown waving to them through the open canopy of his Corsair (Bureau # 97231). A rugged, prop-driven, big-nosed WWII design, the Chance Vought F4U normally could take a lot of damage. On this day, 4 December 1950, Brown had been tragically unlucky; some North Korean flak gunner had hit the plane in a vulnerable spot.
Smoke began to come from the engine cowling and Hudner realized that Brown must be trapped or he would exit the aircraft and the danger of explosion or spreading flames. Try as he might, he could not extricate Jesse so he called for the Helo to bring an axe.
Realizing Jesse could not help himself and the helo was still too far away to make it in time, Hudner decided to forceland his Corsair nearby Brown risking the same fate. He put his aircraft down on the snow covered slopes and could hear thumps of larger rocks hidden by the snow as the aircraft slowed to a stop. He unstrapped and trudged through the snow to his wingman and began using snow to pack into the engine compartment to put out the flames. He found Jesse’s legs were pinned by the instrument panel that had compressed rearward after the Corsair had impacted a large rock hidden by the snow.
As the time passed, Jesse lapsed in and out of consciousness due to unknown injury. Tragically, he died in Hudner’s arms while still trapped in the cockpit. Hudner was rescued by the Marine Helicopter and returned to VF-32 eventually with threat of a court-martial looming over his head for his intentional forcelanding of his F4U Corsair. Fortunately, his chain of command thought otherwise and he was awarded the Medal of Honor that he would have traded to have Jesse rescued.
Because of his heroism, this Corsair pilot was awarded with the first Congressional Medal of Honor of the Korean War.
-valleypatriot
- airwarriors.com
- acepilots.com
Feb 16
JobelleBlog Articles, News, Trivia aircraft restoration, de Havilland Mosquito, fighter plane, fighter plane of the WWII, Hawker Hurrricane, Hurricane Hawker, Mosquito plane, restored aircraft, warplanes, WWII plane
Calgary city council says it will spend $800,000 to match any money raised to restore two vintage warplanes.
The city owns a de Havilland Mosquito, a twin-engine fighter-bomber, and a Hawker Hurricane, a single-engine fighter plane that have sat in pieces in storage for several decades.
The De Havilland Mosquito was so successful in many different combat roles that it was nicknamed “the wooden wonder”. It was so fast and agile that it did not need gunners and gun turrets like all other bombers because it was faster than the enemy’s fighters. Its loss rate was much lower than that of any other bomber, while it could perform long range precision bombing like no other bomber. It was also the best night fighter and photo reconnaissance aircraft, and an excellent fighter-bomber and long range bomber interceptor.
The Hawker Hurricane was the first fighter monoplane to join the Royal Air Force and the first combat aircraft adopted by that arm capable of exceeding 300 mph in level flight. The Hurricane shouldered the lion’s share of Britain’s defense during the ” Battle of Britain”.
Both aircraft date back from the Second World War.
On Monday, council approved taking requests from groups that want to restore the aircraft and put them on static display in Calgary.The Calgary Mosquito Society wants to do the work on both planes. Society president Richard de Boer said this means they’ve cleared a major hurdle.
“We didn’t have permission to go ahead with the airplanes, and without having stewardship on the airplanes it’s awfully hard to go out to the City of Calgary, to the businesses and interested parties and say, ‘please give us the money for something that might happen,’” de Boer said.
“Well, now we know it’s not a might, it’s a definite. So I’m sure we’ll see some significant money come forward in a hurry on this.”
The city will receive proposals and make a decision later this year about who gets to do the work.
- CBC News
-2worldwar2
-aviation-history
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Feb 14
JobelleCustom Model Airplanes, News, Trivia Bill Dunn Spitfire, Spitfire, Spitfire Mk.IIa, Spitfire model airplane, Spitfire static display
A company in North Cornwall is building a scale replica model of a famous Spitfire from the Second World War.The model has been commissioned by the United States Navy as a memorial to Bill Dunn, a fighter pilot.It will mark the date during the war when he shot down two German aircraft in one day.
Spitfire VC(trop), fitted with Vokes filters and "disc" wheels, of 417 Squadron RCAF in Tunisia in 1943.
The aircraft, when completed, will look exactly the same as it did on the day it was flown by Bill Dunn on the 27 August 1941. This year will mark the 70th anniversary of the event and will be on display at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
The model of the Spitfire 2 is being made by Gateguards UK which is based in Delabole and specialises in full-size static models of aircraft.
Staff has already finished work on the wings and fuselage of the Spitfire model and will soon be rubbing it down in order to paint it.
The Spitfire aircraft is made of fibreglass with a steel frame inside and is being copied to the exact details of the original, even down to the rivets. David Hobson who owns the company says “you’re looking at the ghost of an aircraft which was built, which gives you a lot of satisfaction.
It will commemorate the American William “Bill” Dunn who was the first pilot with 71 Eagle Squadron to shoot down two German aircraft in one day. He is sometimes known as the “First American Ace of World War II”.
The team behind the build has a tight deadline and need to be finished by the end of the month. They will then dismantle the model and put it in containers to be shipped over to the United States.
They will then fly out to meet the aircraft so they can put it in place at the Air Force Base in North Carolina to mark an historic moment in history.
-BBC News
Dec 07
TynibelleNews, Trivia electric aircraft, first flight, Sonex, Sonex Waiex, Waiex
On Dec. 3, the Sonex Aircraft, LLC E-Flight Initiative proof-of-concept electric-powered Waiex aircraft achieved its first flight at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Piloted by Sonex Founder and E-Flight team leader John Monnett, N270DC made a short hop on runway 27, intended to be a conservative non-pattern flight to break ground-effect and analyze in-flight system performance as the next step in testing. This short flight punctuates four years of development by the E-Flight design team in engineering, building and testing one of the most advanced electric flight packages ever conceived.
Sonex Aircraft, LLC is a leader in the experimental kit aircraft industry, providing a series of Sport Pilot eligible kit aircraft and producing the AeroConversions line of products which include the AeroVee engine, AeroInjector and ancillary aviation products.
Jeremy Monnett, CEO and General Manager of Sonex Aircraft, said “We are very proud of this achievement. The core design team of Pete Buck, Andrew Pearce, John Monnett, and myself would like to thank our staff, families, business partners, and friends in all of their help and understanding through this incredibly challenging project.” He also said, “We have a flight envelope expansion plan and will be working on this in the coming weeks and months. We have also already started our motor v4.0 design and motor controller v12.0 to be integrated on N270DC. Many more great things to come on this project!”
The CEO also said that he “experienced just a glimpse of what the Wright Brothers must have felt like flying an unproven system for the first time. The flight was uneventful, as expected, but it represents a huge emotional victory for our team to check this item off the list.”
Data from the flight will be carefully analyzed by the design team and compared to high power ground run data to determine any necessary firmware adjustments before proceeding to full traffic pattern and extended-duration test flights. N270DC is a standard Waiex kit aircraft modified with the installation of proprietary E-Flight electric power components: The E-Flight 54kw brushless DC electric motor, E-Flight electronic motor controller, a 14.5kw-hr lithium polymer battery system, the E-Flight battery management system, and E-Flight cockpit instrumentation and controls.
The E-Flight Initiative electric flight project was first announced to the public at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, and many major milestones have been reported in the years to follow as the E-Flight design team worked on this exceedingly challenging project, designing and testing electric power components at the leading-edge of technology. There are many technical obstacles that the team has had to overcome along the way, learning valuable lessons about the technology at each step.
-planenews.com
Nov 03
JobelleNews, Trivia Airacobra, Bell P-39 Airacobra, p-39
P-39 emerges from Lake Mart-Yavr, Russia, along the Arctic Circle.
A Bell P-39Q Airacobra that was built in a western New York state factory in 1943 has returned home after resting at the bottom of a Russian lake since 1944. This particular aircraft was part of 4,719 P-39s sent to the Soviet Union under the United States’ Lend-Lease program, which propped up Allied forces with war materiel before and after the U.S. entered World War II.
MissLend-Lease, named by the Ira G. Ross/Niagara Aerospace Museum (NAM) undertaking the restoration, served in a frontline Soviet Air Force squadron along the border with Finland. The discovery in 2004 is rare since remains of the pilot along with key artifacts, found with the aircraft, have provided insights into the mystery of why the aircraft suddenly broke formation as the squadron repositioned to an airfield closer to the front 66 years ago.
Coming ashore, clearly visible is the 42911 serial as well as a replacement/repair to the port wingtop. This was nearly paint free and natural aluminium.
In summer 2004, the warbird recovery group UK Warbird Finders was diving in lake Mart-Yavr, Russia, looking for another WWII aircraft wreck, when a local fisherman asked “Are you going to get the other airplane out of here?” said Paul Faltyn, vice president of the Niagara Aerospace Museum.
The fisherman had noticed the faint outline of the aircraft in the silt in 16 feet of water. It was buried up to the propeller, but was noticeable in the crystal clear water of the lake located along the Arctic Circle.
As the aircraft was raised out of the water a stunning discovery was made: The pilot Lt. Ivan Ivanovich Baranovsky, 22 at the time of the crash, was still in the aircraft.
It is assumed that Lt. Ivan Ivanovich Baranovsky was knocked unconscious and later drowned after ditching White 23 on Lake Mart-Yavr in Russia in 1944.
One amazing discovery that always delights restorers and historians was found in the starboard door. In a leather binder was the aircraft’s maintenance log, which included the entire flight and service history of the aircraft, save for a few water-damaged pages. The wing guns had been removed and the researchers found cans of stew and extra ammunition belts in the ammunition trays.
This further confirmed this was the aircraft that had broken formation when 773 IAP was repositioning that day. The cans of stew were made in Massachusetts, which suggests that the lend-lease program also included food.
The Airacobra (named by the British) was developed as a high-altitude interceptor, but an inadequate supercharger limited its effectiveness above 12,000 feet. The aircraft was designed around its armament, an Oldsmobile T9 37 mm cannon and twin 12 mm machine guns all located in the nose of the aircraft. With all those guns up front the only place for the engine was behind the pilot. A 10-foot, two-part propeller shaft running through the cockpit provided power to the nose, much like a transmission in a car. The P-39 also came with four wing-mounted 7 mm machine guns, but many air forces would often remove them to improve performance.
Miss Lend-Lease is undergoing restoration at the same facility where it was born in 1943.
- EAA
- lend-lease.airforce.ru
Oct 18
TynibelleBlog Articles, Trivia Burt Rutan, SpaceShipTwo, SS1, SS2, Statement, VSS Enterprise
A statement from Burt on Sunday’s milestone
I offer my congratulations to all those on our commercial manned sub-orbital spaceship program for yesterday’s milestone first flight of SpaceShipTwo.
Configuration/aerodynamic designer, Jim Tighe got it right the first time; our spaceship demonstrated impressive flying qualities right out of the box. Its flight test-measured stability and gliding performance exceeded the pre-flight predictions.
Systems that usually require post-first flight tweaking, like the unique Michael Fuchs-designed landing gear and the SS1-based flight-director/avionics system, developed by the Pete Kalogiannis-led team, performed to perfection. The flight control, electrical, pneumatic, ECS and launch systems were also flawless on the first flight, giving us confidence that we can move forward with the testing without major modifications. Scot Story’s team also deserves kudos for their work to develop a light, robust all-composite airframe structure.
Flown by both pilot Pete Siebold and co-pilot Mike Alsbury on the first flight, the test crew opened up two thirds of SS2’s required subsonic speed envelope, maneuvered it above 2-g, checked its dynamic and sideslip handling, exercised its flight-path control system and made a perfect landing; spot-on the runway target.
I congratulate Project Lead Matt Stinemetze, Mission Control Lead Brian Binnie and their team of talented engineers as well as Crew Chief Steve Losey and his team of fabricators who built and maintain the first commercial manned space system. There is not a better group of research and flight test talent in the world.
We at Scaled look forward to an aggressive flight test schedule. The fun started on 10/10/10 and will continue as we reach our goal of passing onto our customer a spaceship capable to provide the space experience to thousands of adventurers.
Burt Rutan
- planenews.com
Oct 18
JobelleNews, Trivia A320, Airbus, Airbus A320, JetBlue
Hometown airline and fan-favorite JetBlue Airways turned its classic blue livery green on its first specially painted Airbus A320 aircraft in honor of the New York Jets on its turf at Hangar 81 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The newly branded aircraft was revealed by CEO Dave Barger and NY Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson, together with Curtis Martin, Emerson Boozer and other Jets alumni players, the Jets Flight Crew and hundreds of the airline’s crewmembers.
“The synergies between the Jets and JetBlue are core to what it means to be a part of this great city,” said JetBlue CEO Dave Barger.
“When we partnered with JetBlue, we were excited about their commitment and desire to be creative and innovative,” said Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson. “This plane takes our partnership to a new level and new heights, both literally and figuratively. We are looking forward to not only seeing our Jets jet in the skies around the New York region, but across the country and around the globe.”
Designed by T.J. McCormick, JetBlue’s general manager of brand design, the Airbus A320 interchanges blue for green, featuring a green belly, green wing tips and a green tail, with large green JETS lettering across the fuselage and a football helmet towards the rear of the aircraft.
In place of a characteristic ‘blue’ name featured under the cockpit of each aircraft, this plane features the airline’s co-branded trademark with New York State’s iconic tourism campaign and logo, I LOVE NEW YORK, solidifying the carrier’s status as the official hometown airline of New York.
- AvSTOP -
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