Red Bull Air Race on TV

I keep meaning to post the Red Bull Air Race broadcast schedule. Better yet, let Red Bull do it. The races are broadcast exclusively on Fox SportsNet in my neighborhood. I believe they’re available on other channels elsewhere. I understand they also transmit the races in real time in other parts of the world. If you haven’t seen one of these broadcasts, you’re missing out on some exciting stuff. I have to hand it to RB, they really know how to put on a slick show. They’ve outfitted all the aircraft with multiple cameras on the wings, tail, belly, and of course in the cockpit. The aircraft are instrumented to provide real-time telemetry so viewers can see acceleration, airspeed, altitude, and more. They stage helicopters around the...

Getting Back Into Flying

I received an inspirational email from a reader the other day. I hope he won’t mind if I quote a bit of it here, because it brings up a topic which has been on my mind lately. Even though I got a six-year head start on your ticket, and have even gotten a bit of action in the box (Citabria or Stearman driving), my 300 hours is nothing compared to your 3000! The demands of home ownership and $155/hr rates on 172s put a lot of dust on my logbook, and I let my currency lapse–a dangerous thing, I know, since many pilots never pick it up again once they hangar their medical for the first time. But thanks to your witty and inspiring blog, I renewed my 3rd Class last week and just today finished my BFR! Yee haw…back in the saddle. I’m glad I was...

Turbine Toucan

I first saw this on the wall in a restroom at Cable Airport. No joke. For reasons I can’t begin to fathom, someone had taped a photo of this aircraft to the wall: It’s called Turbine Toucan, and it’s just another ho-hum aerobatic biplane, just like my Pitts. Except that it boasts something most modern jet fighters can’t even claim (no, I’m not referring to the paint scheme): a positive thrust-to-weight ratio. This thing weighs 2000 lbs and the turbine engine puts out 3300 lbs of thrust. That’s an amazing 1.65:1 ratio, enough to accelerate in a vertical climb. Indefinitely. Even fighter jets with positive thrust-to-weight ratios — of which there are few — can’t match Turbine Toucan’s performance in...

Air on a Six-String

RV Aerobatics

User fees.  TFRs.  High fuel prices.  Increasing regulation.  A tight insurance market.  It seems everywhere we turn these days, there’s a new challenge for general aviation.  And that goes double for the aerobatic community, which by its very nature has additional noise and public relations issues with which to contend.  IAC membership is down.  Here in Southern California, we’re being relegated to ever smaller and more distant chunks of airspace in which to legally do our “thing”. How depressing!  There are days when I question whether this avocation of ours will survive.  So it was with great pleasure that I accepted an invitation last month to present a seminar on aerobatics at the Socal RV Rendezvous, a regional gathering of...

Bill Kershner Goes West

Aviation legend Bill Kershner, renown throughout the GA community as an instructor and author, has died. Dog-eared copies of Kershner’s Advanced Pilot’s Flight Manual are on the bookshelves of countless pilots.  He’d been flying since 1945, and by my count, he must have been in his late 70s. Kersher was cool.  He lectured at the UT Space Institute.  Kershner was old, but not crotchety.  He was modest, yet confident.  AOPA has a page of video clips and article reprints on the man. We’re in an era when aviation is more synonymous with “money” than ever before.  The flying world tends to pay you little notice unless you’re in a half-million dollar composite SR-22 or Columbia.  Or the aerobatic equivalent,...

Yet Another Aerobatic Video

OK, the 80′s style Jazzercise headbands don’t exactly fit the Top Gun image of a hot shot aerobatic pilot.  This video is impressive nonetheless. Maybe there’s something to be said for having the prop turning the wrong way.

Forced Landing

Conventional wisdom – and statistics — tell us that a mechanical engine failure in a properly maintained aircraft is quite rare. Engine stoppage is usually caused by the dummy in the pilot seat.  Fuel exhaustion is by far the leading cause.  Engine and fuel system mismanagement are also possibilities.  There’s no shortage of creativity in this department.  Until recently, I didn’t know very many people who’d ever experienced a mechanical failure of a certified aircraft powerplant.  But at the last aerobatic contest I encountered no less than three people who’ve recently had one (there were also two prop strikes, but that’s a story for another time).  The reasons were varied:  cylinder failure, fuel...

Sport Aerobatics Article

Sport Aerobatics is the monthly magazine for the International Aerobatic Club. It’s a pretty good read.  Of all the magazines I get — and there are quite a few of them – I like this one the most.  It’s the smallest, but the content is right up my alley.  “Let’s talk about aerobatics!”.  The magazine is also one of the things IAC is trying to improve upon because it serves IAC’s two constituencies: competition pilots and those who fly aerobatics recreationally. The magazine has a pretty, glossy cover.  But don’t be fooled, the total membership in IAC is only 4,500 people.  I’d be surprised if they print more than 6,000 copies of each issue.  It’s a small club, unfortunately.  I say...

Another Day at the Blockhouse

Fellow IAC36 competitor James Pratt borrowed a digital video camera and made this video of his practice session in the Super Decathlon today. This is the aircraft I flew last season before moving into the S-2B. Speaking of which, the video is interesting because there’s a lot of talk about video systems right now. A two camera system is being installed in the Extra 300, and we’re interested in putting a two or three camera system into the Pitts. Combined with the smoke system, it will make a great addition to the demo flights we do in that aircraft. Anyway, back to James’ video. He should be flying in a higher category and move up from the Super D, but the cost gets prohibitive. Quickly. You’ll see him run through the sequence twice. The...