w3stie

It's Musk's personal Tesla Roadster apparently. So it appears the Lotus Elise is officially the fastest car in the universe! ;)

I disconnected from all news media some time ago and I am a lot calmer. Mark Twain said if you read the paper you are misinformed, if you don’t read you are uninformed, you have to make a choice. If an issue is important I take steps to inform myself and do not rely on the media.

Ha ha, I get the impression that Aunty ABC is a bit of a special child. I did quite a bit of work with them at one stage and whilst there seemed to still be an emphasis on quality, there was also a breathtaking assurance that their world view was the only one worth having and definitely not to be challenged. I did work with the Catholic Church at about the same time and there were distinct parallels in attitude; a somewhat cloistered environment.

Very nice. Good choice of soundtrack

I've just started reading Propellerhead by Antony Woodward, after hearing about it on this forum. It's a good read so far, and I'd never heard the title or author before. It got me wondering, what other good aviation books are out there?

I was buying a boomerang a the Australian Geographic shop at Indooroopilly, and I asked the clerk did they have a no returns policy on it. He went away and fetched the manager, and she started politely on the spiel about their returns policy. I explained it was a dad joke, and they looked quite cross. Ah well.

[ATTACH=full]53588[/ATTACH]Crash landing of F6F on flight deck of USS ENTERPRISE while enroute to attack Makin Island. Lt. Walter Chewning, catapult officer, clambering up the side of the plane to assist pilot, Ens. Byron Johnson, from the flaming cockpit. November 1943. (Navy) Exa

Not exactly a "Funny Pic" but ... Buy that Catapult Officer a Beer!

Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Walter Lewis Chewning of Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, (February 19, 1914 - February 4, 1990) steps on the burning fuel tank of an F6F-3 Hellcat flown by Ensign (later Lieutenant) Byron Milton Johnson of Potter, Nebraska (May 19, 1920 - February 20, 2005) to effect a successful rescue of the pilot on November 10, 1943. Johnson, attached to Fighter Squadron VF-2 (The "Rippers") had flown out to USS Enterprise (CV-6) from Barbers Point, Hawaii with thirty-seven other Hellcats of VF-2. Enterprise, part of Task Group 50.2, Carrier Division 11 (with USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), USS Monterey (CVL-25), USS Indiana (BB-58) and USS North Carolina (BB-55) and three destroyers) under Rear Admiral Arthur W. Radford, was enroute to Makin Atoll in the Gilberts to support the United States Army invasion, which occurred on November 20, 1943.

The afternoon of November 10, Johnson took off in F6F Hellcat Number 30 for a routine training exercise. He immediately developed engine trouble and requested an emergency landing. He was waved off three times as he struggled to maintain control, but his tail hook caught the third arresting gear wire, and Johnson's Hellcat was slammed into the deck, coming to rest in the port catwalk near 20mm (.78 caliber) Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. The plane came to rest on its external belly fuel tank, which started to leak. As the engine vibrated horribly as the propeller bent itself on the deck, sparks ignited the fuel. The hard landing had jammed Johnson's canopy closed, shearing the retaining pin; he could not exit the plane. Chewning, who had joined the ship October 2, 1943 as Enterprise new catapult officer, scrambled out of the catwalk and came through the smoke. Stepping on the burning belly tank, he forced open the canopy and pulled Johnson to safety.

While Johnson escaped unscathed, Ensign S. S. Osbourne had to ditch while waiting for Hellcat Number 30 to clear the flight deck. USS Brown (DD-546) picked Osbourne up. Both Hellcats (Bureau Numbers 25974 and 25985) were a total loss. Chewning was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions. The commander of VF-2's Air Group, famed fighter pilot Edward "Butch" O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) recommended that night that all pilots drop their external tank before landing to prevent such an accident repeating.

Johnson, a graduate of Wesleyan (Class of 1937), joined the Navy three months after Pearl Harbor. After flight training in Kansas City, Kansas and Corpus Christi, Texas, Johnson received his Pilot's Wings in April 1943 in Pensacola, Florida. Remaining with VF-2, Johnson shot down eight Japanese planes over Iwo Jima in 1945. Johnson won the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, eight air medals and numerous other awards. His cousin, Robert Arthur Johnson, died in the German Ardennes Offensive in 1944. After the war, Johnson became a lawyer, serving as County Attorney and Public Defender of Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska.

Chewning played soccer and Lacrosse at Cornell while studying Mechanical Engineering, breaking his rib and left ankle in one game. He graduated in 1936 and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the Navy in January 1941. He was the assistant to the Chief Engineer at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before joining USS Enterprise. He served as Enterprise's catapult officer until December 1944, when he transferred to Dutch Harbor Naval Air Station in Alaska as ordinance officer. Chewning served in the Navy until December 1949; he also was awarded the Bronze Star. After the war he assisted research and development for various aeronautical companies, the United States Air Force, and the fledgling National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Motion picture film of the crash, taken from Enterprise's bridge, was shown as part of the television program "Victory at Sea" on January 25, 1953. Chewning and Johnson gave interviews to several newspapers about the accident after the program aired.

I did too. If it ain't it probably doesn't belong here. More in a 'Believe it or Not' thread. ;-)

Training kicks in ...

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Very interesting. The US website quotes the airframe kit and finishing kit at about $13,495 USD which is ~ $17,250 AUD, but the Aussie agent says kit is $15,999 . Better grab a kit before they realise maybe

I think we’ll see hybrid aircraft before full electric. There are some interesting developments Hybrid Engines in Aviation

Remind me never to tell porky pies to a Coroner :)

Back to the slide in, slide out battery exchange, a la the gas bottle exchange at Bunnings..

That idea has great potential. It's in line with current thinking, and I'd say resistance is useless....

Trying to embed the clip.

Great passenger viewpoint of a ride in an F-16

It's wild. 16 minutes.Stay for the two minute loop!

 

Can't figure out how to copy a link on here. You'll have to type in: "Drifter Flying Part 2"

 

If you like it, please pass it around. If you don't please leave a nasty comment at bottom. I like those too.

 

If somebody can tell me how to paste a link, I would really appreciate it!

"Oh yes M61.....why I'm rich too! I have a 22 year old Trike and an '87 Drifter. Total worth about $15k. Maybe."

I truly don't think the $ value matters. We are a privileged generation to be able to fly at any price, and to have the freedom to do so without too much interference from the authorities. To me, you are a rich man Callahan :)

So until he gets that engine running again he won't be allowed to take off. And that's official!

Glad to hear the pilot and plane are ok. It's a nice looking little a/c.

Looks like a drifter. Anyone know the pilot?

Plane Finder 3D for $7.99 in the app store? When you said it wasn't cheap I thought you meant $hundreds!

Can you give us details of the apps and hardware you are using for this?

That's why I came to France in my retirement. Possibly the best country in the world in which to fly - laid back in regulatory terms and great terrain and scenery. Not flown since April because of health reasons but can't wait to get back behind the controls, hopefully in the Spring.

Camel you have used up all your exclamation marks. Please use the numeral 1 in future posts. Yours sincerely, the grammar police.