Space & SciFi
Space & SciFi
700hp Eagle Squadron Tribute
This one-of-a-kind Mustang GT has been created to honor the U.S. pilots who fought in WWII as part of the Eagle Squadron of the Royal Air Force prior to the U.S. joining the war effort. It wears a livery similar to what the Spitfire fighter planes wore in WWII.
It will race at the The Goodwood Festival of Speed, an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England on July 12. Then the Mustang will arrive at The Gathering in Oshkosh WI on July 26, where it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The proceeds will go to the Experimental Aircraft Association's youth education programs, and it's expected to fetch a six-figure sum
The C-47 That Led the Invasion
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the first C-47 Skytrain crossed the coast of Normandy, France to drop the paratroopers that began the invasion. There was a message to Adolf Hitler painted across the fuselage: "That’s All, Brother". Seventy years later, that airplane was discovered in a Wisconsin yard, awaiting conversion to a BT-67 turboprop.
The Commemorative Air Force mobilized a fund-raising campaign to buy the airplane and to restore it. The plane is already airworthy and their goal is to make it the most "authentic D-Day C-47 on the planet" with "scruffy D-Day stripes" and all.
Then, in 2019, the CAF plans to fly That’s All, Brother to Europe to participate in the 75th anniversary of D-Day
A-10C Warthog in Special Livery
The paint job was to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Red Devils of the 107th Fighter Squadron, inspired by the P-51's of 107th TRS, that flew the Mustang over Normandy during WWII.
More information at The Aviationist.
A Whale of a Plane
This is the first of five new BelugaXL's to roll off the Airbus assembly lines. These are heavily modified A330-200's that Airbus will use to transport subassemblies of Airbus aircraft to their final assembly locations in Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany, joining their existing fleet of Airbus Belugas.
RCAF 2018 Demo: 60 Years of NORAD
UK Plans 6th gen Tempest
The UK Ministry of Defense showed the mock-up above of the Tempest (I guess it should really be the Tempest II), a 6th generation fighter that they hope to have operational by 2035 to replace the Typhoon. Tempest will feature all the coolest buzzwords currently being bandied about: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Drone Swarming, Directed Energy Weapons, etc. In addition, it will be "optionally manned", i.e. able to execute missions with or without a pilot onboard.
China Has A PLAN...
... a PLAN, as in Peoples' Liberation Army Navy, and it's showing it off in this video, starring its sole operational aircraft carrier, .Liaoning (CV-16). It's a highly choreographed and impressive show with high production values. It was filmed during naval exercises earlier this year off Hainan island in the South China Sea.
DPRK Model Show Held
IPMS Auckland - With the thawing of tensions on the Korean peninsular. Kim Jong Un has turned his attention toward more peaceable pursuits. This picture comes from the inaugural meeting of the IPMS DPRK chapter held in Pyongyang recently. Always nice to see a good turnout of military models.
The Glorious Leader is very disappointed when General Wong Col Urh points out that his OD Green paint on his truck is correct and that Kim's Olive Drab is way off.
In a related story, General Wong failed to appear at the ribbon awards ceremony later that afternoon.
A Special TMF Event...
An Evening with a Fighter Pilot
We had enough folks that wanted to come to hear Col. Kris Mineau (Ret.) share some of his stories that we ended up securing a room at the Hardesty Library, so we have plenty of seats for anyone who would like to come, whether you've RSVP'd or not!
Details:
Tues, Aug 28 @ 6:45 PM
Hardesty Library (93rd & Memorial), Frossard Auditorium
Col. Mineau will share stories of night interdiction missions in an F-4 with the 555th in Viet Nam; experiencing a supersonic ejection from a stricken F-4 in England (from which he barely survived); recovery & rehab from severe injuries to go on and fly the F-15; flying the F-4E and G (Wild Weasel); and experiences in the first Gulf War.
There will be pictures!
Feel free to bring a friend.
RAF 100th Anniversary Flypast
The Royal Air Force marks its centennial with up to 100 jets, helicopters and aeroplanes from across a range of different eras of RAF history roaring over Buckingham Palace as the Queen watched from the royal balcony. It included some of the most iconic aircrafts of the Second World War, including the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster and Dakota. The RAF's new F-35's made their first public appearance, as well as helicopters including the Puma, Chinook, Juno and Jupiter, while the Red Arrows completed the fly-past followed by a stream of red, white and blue (bottom left and right).
Just as fascinating is the 11 months of planning that went into this amazing display. Aircraft from multiple air bases across the UK, flying at different speeds, had to arrive precisely over the flypast route and then clear the airspace so that Heathrow, which was shut down for 20 minutes, could reopen. The Video below reconstructs the flight-paths of the flypast participants. You can also see a more extensive explanation at The Aviationist.
The Model Shop
Calling this one done! The insignia were masked not decals. The whole assembly process was fraught with fit issues. And don't get me started about the color scheme, but hey that is what the instructions called for.
I may weather it a bit later. Have to see.
... and finally, your moment of cute.
BREAKING NEWS.... BREAKING NEWS.... BREAKIng
Atlantis Toys and Hobbies of New York has purchased the remaining Revell-Monogram tooling that wasn't taken by Revell of Germany. Which tools the new owners have is unknown but they are planning to start repopping kits in Q1 2019. Here is a news article from Scale Model News.
Why Hobbies?
A couple of articles in the New York Times recently eloquently express the need for and the benefits of a hobby, while emphasizing that it need not be driven by a search for excellence, but just to relax. Follow these links to In Praise of Mediocrity and The Case for Having a Hobby. Maybe they will help you to convince some else to take up our pastime!
One way to get into the hobby is through paper models. Here is an announcement from a paper models retailer.
