Aeroplanes

[kevok2]

I am a bit of an aerospace nut. I am in the AE program at San Jose State, and last year I met a guy in the program who is now a very good friend of mine. His family owns and operates a business outside of Sacramento, and part of the business involves restoring aircraft (particularly WWII era birds--they specialize in Sea Furies). I have been slowly documenting their aircraft in short videos because I (along with his family) think they are treasures to be shared. These are pretty basic montages without music so you can hear the engines and enjoy the airplanes as they are. They are not flown too regularly because of the high fuel cost and wear of the relic engines. I figure maybe a few of you will enjoy these--I will add to this thread when more are produced. Feel free to add airplane stoke to the thread if you like.

Full disclosure: Yes, the videos are monetized using google adsense. I have 18k views on the Messerschmitt video and have netted $25. I would like to donate any ad revenue to the business to help keep these aircraft flying.

Messerschmitt Me-262 [This is a replica that was rebuilt for the Collings Foundation because it was not airworthy upon its original completion around 10 years ago. One of these replicas is owned by the Messerschmitt foundation in Germany.]






N.A.F. N3N Canary [Open cockpit biplane trainer used into WWII. I especially appreciate this one because it is similar to the Boeing-Stearman Model 75, which was the first aircraft my granddad flew in the USMC. The N3N is far more rare, however.]




Hawker Sea Fury [Argonaut races at Reno and occasionally performs in air shows.]






Siai Marchetti SF.260 [GoPro video of a quick aerobatics run. This is a fighter-trainer that is now commonly used for aerobatics as well as pilot training. This particular aircraft is painted with Irish Air Corps livery.]

[belgian]

Cool stuff. The heritage flight museum up here in Bellingham, WA has a similarly awesome collection of oldies. They take them out and fly them in formation almost daily, however. My fiancee is currently a volunteer and the other day the owner of the P-51 took out another volunteer to ride along during a short airshow over Friday Harbor and got her to pass out a few times. We walked into the hangar and all he asked her was "do you puke easy?" She said no and he tossed her a flight suit. To say I was jealous is the understatement of the century.

[Alaskan Rover]

Wow !!! Great vids! I clicked on this because of the spelling....the spelling of aeroplane fits the planes in the vids quite well.

Excellent video picture quality as well. Were you using GoPro for the flying scenes?

My grandfather was a pilot and a navigator for the Royal Canadian Air Force....I can't remember what model of planes he flew. I am actually the first male in three generations NOT to have a pilots license. My brother has his twin and night-time IFR rating and my dad had his single non-IFR.

I love old vintage planes the most!

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[kevok2]

Cool stuff. The heritage flight museum up here in Bellingham, WA has a similarly awesome collection of oldies. They take them out and fly them in formation almost daily, however. My fiancee is currently a volunteer and the other day the owner of the P-51 took out another volunteer to ride along during a short airshow over Friday Harbor and got her to pass out a few times. We walked into the hangar and all he asked her was "do you puke easy?" She said no and he tossed her a flight suit. To say I was jealous is the understatement of the century.

Uh yeah, that makes me jelly as well. P-51s are beautiful, especially polished. I haven't been that far north of Seattle, but I did visit the Boeing Factory in Everett. If you haven't been down there, it is quite a place to see. Of note, the Me-262 was produced with a few brothers right there at Paine field (all of which were shoddily thrown together, hence the necessity to rebuild an almost-new aircraft).

The most we pulled in the Marchetti was about 4g, which I could handle without much difficulty (but it makes it difficult to talk). At about 4:16 into the Argonaut 2 video, the pilot made a quick upward pitch which got him up to 7g.

Wow !!! Great vids! I clicked on this because of the spelling....the spelling of aeroplane fits the planes in the vids quite well.

Excellent video picture quality as well. Were you using GoPro for the flying scenes?

My grandfather was a pilot and a navigator for the Royal Canadian Air Force....I can't remember what model of planes he flew. I am actually the first male in three generations NOT to have a pilots license. My brother has his twin and night-time IFR rating and my dad had his single non-IFR.

I love old vintage planes the most!

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Thanks! I used an HDHero2 in-cockpit and HDHero on the tail for the Marchetti video. We are working on methods to reduce vibration, because it kind of ruins it... Everything else was shot with a Panasonic HDC TM-700K. The stabilizer is kind of irritating but for a sub-1000$ camera it ain't bad. I wish the mic didn't max out but I had on earplugs and it was still loud for a few of those shots, so I'm not surprised.

You may have noticed that Argonaut has Royal Canadian Navy livery on it--it is actually built from several Sea Furies that were obtained from Iraq, Canada, and the UK I think. Many of the Warbirds in flight today are built from several different aircraft since a lot of them were chopped up after the war. I know of a Corsair fuselage (or part of one) that was bought by a farmer after the war and used (with the engine) to stir the air in his orchards! That one may be restored within the next 10 years.

Edit: Spelling, addendums

[Alaskan Rover]

Thanks for the wikipedia link on that Messerschmitt....I didn't even realize there were ANY operational non-research mode jets in use during WWII. I'd always thought the first war-time use of jet aircraft was the Korean War. Now I know better. Thanks for putting me straight!

That messerschmidtt looks undeniably like a shark in form....a facr not lost on the person in charge of painting THIS example of one:



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[stuckathuntermtn]

That is fucking awesome. I LOOOOOOVE airplane stoke.
Which p51 model is that?

And when you say replica Me262, does that mean tonally built from scratch? There must be original engines and other parts, no?

And yes, akr, you're still retarded. Me 262 was about the first operational jet fighter. It could dive through formations of Allied bombers so fast the gunners couldn't get the guns on it. So Hitler thought it would make a good fighter bomber. 0.o

[kevok2]

That is fucking awesome. I LOOOOOOVE airplane stoke.
Which p51 model is that?

And when you say replica Me262, does that mean tonally built from scratch? There must be original engines and other parts, no?

And yes, akr, you're still retarded. Me 262 was about the first operational jet fighter. It could dive through formations of Allied bombers so fast the gunners couldn't get the guns on it. So Hitler thought it would make a good fighter bomber. 0.o

It is a P-51C, which is a razorback. I believe the only difference between the B and C was the manufacturing location. Here is more info on Betty Jane, that specific aircraft. IMO, polished birds are FUCKING BEAUTIFUL! (They're also a PITA, but it's worth it.)

Edit: I hadn't seen this before, but here is a video of Mr. Collings discussing Betty Jane with Jay Leno.

The Me-262 pictured was built from scratch using partial blueprints from the Messerschmitt foundation and fuck knows what else. (Disclaimer for the following--this is my personal professional opinion and not associated with any professional professionals cough cough): The aircraft from this series were built by a bunch of people who collectively did not understand how to properly and safely build an aircraft, and on the initial flight, it should have killed the test pilot. It was therefore presented to my friend's family's business to essentially make airworthy through a nightmarish process. It has made a number of flights as of now and will soon be flown at airshows by the Collings Foundation.

I have heard/seen comments that the Me-262 would "eat P-51s" and similar bullshit. You are correct on the tactics. The best way to take out 262's was to let them start up and melt their engines on the tarmac, as the early jets had horrawful maintenance issues. I believe several originals were captured and brought to the United States for reverse engineering. I have been told by his son (unconfirmed) that Major General Marion Carl was the first to test fly one in the United States, which is neat because he was my granddad's best friend.

Edit: Forgot to finish the post...

[kevok2]

Here is a photo I took of that P-51C. I didn't take any others that were very good that day, unfortunately.



And here's an ultra-douche myspace mirror shot...except reflected off of the skin of the same aircraft. It's so shiny. Do want.

[Shredhead]

Me262's had a 100mph advantage over P51s. But they were vastly outnumbered and they burned an increadable amount of fuel. They were very vulnerable during takeoffs and landings.
So 5th air force had squadrons of P51's hovering over the German aerodromes, just waiting for them.

I named my son after a distant relative and the greatest fighter pilot of all time.
http://untoldvalor.blogspot.com/2007...ter-pilot.html

[stuckathuntermtn]

Did the C have a Merlin enging and 6 .50 cals?

I like the 2 seat conversion. Gotta show it off.

How did that family wind up specializing in such a specific and English plane?

[leroy jenkins]

Mr Ray Middleton out of Ft collins, co is a family friend of mine. He has a business much like your freind's family, but specializing in the British birds. He's restored multiple spitfires, including a factory 2 seater, hurricanes, a fairy firefly, a mosquito, I think p51s, and others. Got about 30 old junky british sports cars sitting around the outside of his hanger that can all 'almost run'.

Those 262s are pretty cool but theres not much on this earth that sounds sweeter than a big ol merlin v12 to my ears.

I love the smell of old warbirds too. Not sure what it is, oil, and other things, but nothing smells quite the same.

Guess I'll post some stoke

[stuckathuntermtn]

"almost run" is a new British sports car.

ZING!

Anyone see that Mad Men where Lane tried to kill himself with his new Jaguar and it wouldn't start? lawl.

Sweet Spitfire(?). I like the very British "Not to be walked on". Much more polite than "No Step"

[kevok2]

Me262's had a 100mph advantage over P51s. But they were vastly outnumbered and they burned an increadable amount of fuel. They were very vulnerable during takeoffs and landings.
So 5th air force had squadrons of P51's hovering over the German aerodromes, just waiting for them.

I named my son after a distant relative and the greatest fighter pilot of all time.
http://untoldvalor.blogspot.com/2007...ter-pilot.html

Yeah, a lot of the 262s that were destroyed never left the ground. That is really neat that you named your son after Erich--I have read about him before. Soviet pilots were of course not the world's best, but his accomplishments are still stunning. Interesting that he is buried in Stuttgart...I am currently wearing the team shirt of Stuttgart's Formula Student team (I am also heavily involved with racecars).

Did the C have a Merlin enging and 6 .50 cals?

I like the 2 seat conversion. Gotta show it off.

How did that family wind up specializing in such a specific and English plane?

Yes, that aircraft runs with a Merlin. The P-51 was originally designed to use the V-1710 of course, but the Merlin quickly replaced it because it was a much better high-altitude engine (and the P-51s were employed to protect bombers at high altitude). I do not believe the 6 .50 cals are still in place on this particular airframe. A handful of these were converted to 2-seaters, the most notable of which was "The Stars Look Down," a B-model converted to fly generals over the battlefield, but this one is unique in that it has dual controls. You can pay an obscene amount of money to go fly in the back.

Also, I have no idea how they ended up specializing in Sea Furies. I'll have to get the story.

Mr Ray Middleton out of Ft collins, co is a family friend of mine. He has a business much like your freind's family, but specializing in the British birds. He's restored multiple spitfires, including a factory 2 seater, hurricanes, a fairy firefly, a mosquito, I think p51s, and others. Got about 30 old junky british sports cars sitting around the outside of his hanger that can all 'almost run'.

Those 262s are pretty cool but theres not much on this earth that sounds sweeter than a big ol merlin v12 to my ears.

I love the smell of old warbirds too. Not sure what it is, oil, and other things, but nothing smells quite the same.

Thanks for the stoke leroy, awesome pics! My friends know Mr. Middleton, which is not a big surprise to me because the warbird community is pretty small. My friend's dad is Brian Sanders, I bet he would recognize the name.

I concur on the engine sounds, but those radials sound pretty amazing as well. The smell...I do think they have a distinctive smell...especially the warbirds, which, even after restoration, have that kind of museum musk to them. I regularly wake up and smell racecars in the morning, but aircraft are better.

[Jumper Bones]

You really need to come down to Chino. Warbird central. I talk to warbirds here on frequency all the time, B-25s and FW-190s and several Mustangs...

The Chino airshow is a sight to behold too, saw Argonaut this year. Pretty cool.

[kevok2]

You really need to come down to Chino. Warbird central. I talk to warbirds here on frequency all the time, B-25s and FW-190s and several Mustangs...

The Chino airshow is a sight to behold too, saw Argonaut this year. Pretty cool.

Oh yes I do need to come to Chino. Problem is the big airshow is right when I leave for Michigan every year for the Formula SAE competition there. I'm the brake engineer and business lead for our team, so it's pretty much necessary for me to go. I may fly down with my friend sometime and hang around, though--Sanders Aeronautics used to be based in that area until the mid to late 90s, so they know a lot of folks at Planes of Fame. I do know one or two people at CAF down there as well. I'll have to hit you up if we come down and visit.

[Shredhead]

That is really neat that you named your son after Erich--I have read about him before. Soviet pilots were of course not the world's best, but his accomplishments are still stunning.

I'm sure that did account for some of the quantity, but he also shot down three P-51's in one sortie over Ploesti? The guy was an amazing individual and a bad ass, he was just on the losing side?

[kevok2]

Shit. This happened yesterday. Most unfortunate.

[hawkgt]

ouch....

engine fail? gear?

[Ted Striker]

ouch....

engine fail? gear?

No treadmill.

[GeoMatt]

I named my son after a distant relative and the greatest fighter pilot of all time.
http://untoldvalor.blogspot.com/2007...ter-pilot.html

I have the same not so distant relative. cheers cousin

[hawkgt]

No treadmill.

dam..... missed it! good eye mag

[jamesp]

a family friend used to have a restored Tiger Moth, WW1 era canvas biplane. I'm not sure how old his was, the RAAF (Australia) used as training aircraft for a long time, so his was restored in the bright yellow RAAF training colours.... I was taken for flights a few times when I was younger. Pretty fking cool. My grandfather flew Typhoon fighter/bombers in WWII also.

[Shredhead]

Shit. This happened yesterday. Most unfortunate.

There are pilots that have landed with the gear up and those that will?

I have the same not so distant relative. cheers cousin

Cool, I have a nice limited edition Crandall painting that Erich signed just before he died.

[P_McPoser]

I liked the part where Leroy was all humble and didn't mention whose Spitfire that is.

Kevok, keep posting, the Sanders name is known very well, not just within the close war bird community.

[Big Snowballs]

WW2 Fighter Planes was sometime I was into as a kid to the point I did 2 Science Fair projects on the subject.
The P51 Mustang was always tops on my list.

Actually several times in Whistler there is (I believe I have it correct) a P51 Mustang that cuts between Blackcomb and Whistler. Just too fuck'n cool !
Anyone know what the story is on this plane ?

I pretty much had this reaction first time I say it !