Social media Triple Tail Thursday aviation tweets

| January 14, 2024

Aviation has been a hobby of mine for a long time, even though I no longer fly airplanes or spend time homebuilding an airplane or being active in my local EAA Chapter (Hm, I’m missing our chapter meeting today). I do still enjoy the social connection with aviation friends on Twitter/X.com … one that posts […]

Would you feel comfortable flying on this plane?

| August 2, 2023

Not my photo, but I’m not sure how comfortable the average passenger flying this “budget” airline (???) are when seeing the tape on the wing? Also while sitting on the back porch a little Praying Mantis came to visit (video below).

Embarrassing Ohio “First in Flight” License plate blunder

| October 24, 2021

When your state takes pride in home of the Wright Brother’s and their “First in Flight” Wright B Flyer, you’ve got to at least get the flying direction correct.  (Thanks for the link, Drew!)  Ohio had to change the design of its new license plate because of an error discovered after it had already had […]

Music Monday: The Coasters, “Yakety Yak” and an aviation tweet

| August 16, 2021

This content is restricted.

WW2 Aviation History: Why are F4U-1 Corsairs so taped up?

| June 12, 2021

Well talking to Taylor at his birthday dinner, I mentioned someone posted a photo of a WW2 Vought F4U Corsair and asked about the “stripes” … or duct tape … on the cowl in front of the pilot. The answer from a HistoryNet.com researcher below is a great aviation tidbit for those with a curious […]

Archive: Found a short Sonex airplane project video for #TBT

| December 26, 2019

While sifting through a few old .MP4 files, I found one of my first iPhone 5 test video clips from 2012 and it had a bit of footage of my Sonex airplane project (posted a few photos back then) that I was working on a year before selling it. It was shortly before I sold […]

Sooner or later a close call with a drone will be too close

| January 25, 2019

As more and more federal employees decide they aren’t going to continue to work without a paycheck, the focus has shifted to the unpaid in the Coast Guard, TSA and Air Traffic Control. Air travel has now moved front and center as the “shutdown-standoff” continues (the Senate is at least negotiating). Flyers are feeling it […]

Stratolaunch emerges from the hanger

| June 3, 2017

Stratolaunch, cited as the "world’s largest plane," has been under construction for four years, but is finally ready to come out of the hanger. The plane has a wingspan larger than a football field and according to the design firm Stratolaunch Systems, is designed to carry rockets into the stratosphere before firing the payload into […]

From my personal perspective, the TSA did their job well

| November 21, 2015

What a duffus! I don’t want to admit, but I made a MAJOR airport security mistake on Friday morning … and am thankfully a free man to tell the tale. KUDOS to the much maligned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for doing their job and doing it well. Neglectful Rich left an extended round full 9mm […]

This Delta plane gets struck by lightning

| August 26, 2015

A passenger who was waiting for a storm to pass to board his flight caught the exact moment when a lightning bolt struck a Delta airliner. Source: Watch this Delta airliner get struck by a lightning bolt!

Why is there a tiny hole in airplane windows?

| June 13, 2015

If you have already traveled by airplane, chances are you’ve noticed a tiny hole on the lower portion of all airplane windows The hole is designed to balance out the pressure between the last two layers of a typical pressurized-cabin window. For more images and a more detailed explaination see the article at Interesting Engineering.

New theme and pages for my EAA Chapter 284’s website

| March 19, 2015

I received a few long overdue updates items from our EAA chapter’s president for the interior pages of the EAA284 chapter website on Wednesday and so before forgetting I jumped right on it. We are continuing to keep the EAA284.org domain, but opt to use WordPress.com to host because it is free. Still there are […]

Always looking for the next cool thing in automotive aviation

| January 14, 2015

Imagine the Elio if it also came with wings? It might look something like the Aeromobil 3.0 prototype. I have to admit that I’m one of those dreamers who envisioned a flying car in my lifetime. Perhaps it is just a pipe dream, but I do envy those fortunate enough to be working on projects […]

Acro Sport II airplane crashes in Liberty Twp neighborhood

| September 20, 2014

   A aerobatic bi plane, an Acro Sport II, crashed in a friend’s neighborhood a few mile to my north towards Monroe, OH but still in Liberty Township (thanks Tim). There were two people on board and there was an immediate fire on impact.  Damage can be seen to a house and yard (click for […]

Sunseeker Duo: a solar airplane for the summer skys

| June 2, 2014

The solar powered Sunseeker Duo airplane made it’s first two passenger test flight last month as Eric and Irena Raymond prepare for longer flights this summer. Gizmag.com posted a few more photos in their article … what an interesting aviation project. Solar Flight says that the Raymonds took off together in the company’s third powered […]

Need a good reason to design, build and test aircraft parts?

| February 18, 2014

A 180+ton Boeing 767-200 needs well engineered landing gear, not to mention every other part that needs to hold up to the flexing and torsion mechanics on display. Watch a recent landing at England’s Birmingham Airport (BHX) where the windy and gusty crosswind conditions made for a challenging and probably questionable decision to land on […]

Terrafugia Flying Car development continues to move ahead

| January 23, 2013

Getting the testing done and appropriate governmental safety and FAA approvals takes time, but the Terrafugia experimental airplane/car is continuing to make progress. The company has over 100 orders and has had few setbacks considering their undertaking in their goal of producing the first commercially viable flying car. The video PR makes it all look […]

Selling my airplane project leaves me melancholy

| January 20, 2013

Selling a long term project like building an airplane leaves me with mixed feelings. In part, I’m glad to be lessening my hobby load of “things to do,” but sad to part with a project that has consumed so much of my time and been a focus this past decade. As family we took trips […]

Smartphone photography with the new Apple iPhone 5

| September 22, 2012

The Apple iPhone 5 camera makes for a substantial improvement over my previous smartphone’s camera and so I was anxious to experiment with image quality and play with a few of the hyped features. Since I’m upgrading from the nearly “extinct” Palm Pre, running a rooted webOS install, any modern smartphone camera would have been an […]

Archive: History of aviation video

| February 28, 2012

My EAA friend Steve posted this aviation history video to his site and I wanted to share and archive it on my site too. Probably should make a copy in case it disappears from YouTube …hmm?

Maiden Flight for SubSonex from EAA News

| August 11, 2011

Great news for aviation experimenters — the personal jet experimental protype known as the SubSonex made its first flight. Way to go! August 11, 2011 – A little yellow jet was spotted over Oshkosh Wednesday morning (August 10) and soon it was confirmed that John Monnett’s SubSonex had made its first flight. Jet sailplane pilot […]

And you think commercial airlines have tight seating …

| July 6, 2011

Calling this airplane an ‘ultralight‘ might be an understatement. At 200 pounds Hugues Duval’s airplane, with twin props and two electric motors, is small – but it is also record breaking fast (for 100% electric). At the Paris Airshow, Duval’s airplane has broken the record for an all electric aircraft by 15 miles per hour […]

Fatigue cracking on Southwest planes is a problem

| April 3, 2011

Citizen journalism was alive and well (‘alive’ being the appropriate word) this weekend as an emergency landing was made by a Southwest jet in Yuma Arizona. Shawna MalviniRedden, a blogger at The Bluest Muse, ‘tweeted’ comments and photos. Shortly after take off the Boeing 737 had a hole 5 foot long and 1 foot wide […]

This glider would make Wilma Flintstone proud

| January 21, 2011

This is a strange way to fly …

“Burst of air” replacing control surfaces on UAVs

| October 23, 2010

DiscoveryNews had an article in MSNBC highlighting an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) call the DEMON which has fewer moving parts and uses “bursts of air” rather than traditional hinged control surfaces in order to control the aircraft. According to engineers and those working on the project, fewer moving parts will make it easier to maintain […]

PRA Chapter 34 rotorcraft fly to EAA Chapter 284 for a visit

| July 11, 2010

EAA Chapter 284 hosted Popular Rotorcraft Association Chapter 34 at Red Stewart Airfield (40I) in Waynesville Ohio on Sunday. I was a beautiful and warm day for grilling burgers and hotdogs at our EAA chapter hanger. The turnout was excellent and everyone enjoyed the comradely focused on promoting and enjoying recreational aviation. Besides a close […]

EAA284 meeting: Brian Cooper talking aerobatic aircraft design

| January 11, 2010

Who doesn’t enjoy a Palm Pre cellphone sunset photo? I’ll start with something simple that sooths my aching head … a beautiful winter sunset in Cincinnati Ohio (photo above) … and conclude with a very short comment regarding our Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter (EAA284) meeting on Sunday – one that had a subject over my […]

Aviation History: The Origin of Squawk

| September 13, 2009

I learned a new historical aviation tidbit on the origination of the word “squawk” this weekend in a recent EAA magazine article. During World War II, we, the allies, used an electronic device called IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) which would transmit a secret code if hit by a radar signal. This code would tell […]

Hybrid at Sun ‘n Fun: It’s a plane, it’s a car, it’s a Transition

| April 25, 2009

I’ve posted a couple times (1 & 2) before on Terrafugia’s Transition experimental airplane/car and wanted to include a little video from the Tampa Fox affiliate taken at the Sun ‘n Fun airshow in Landland Florida. A group of students from  M.I.T. developed a two-seat aircraft that can take off and land at small airports […]

Terrafugia Transition runway test flight video

| March 21, 2009

As mentioned before, the Terrafugia Transition car-based airplane is being developed on the east coast this year and the above is a bit of video from the first runway based test flight on March 5th. Retired USAF test pilot Col. Phil Meteer comments that the test was “remarkable for being unremarkable.” Performance Cruise: 100 kts […]

Airplane crash kills 4, including my friend John

| January 13, 2008

It has a been a challenging weekend as I’ve just heard that a good friend John McCarter, his wife, and two friends lost their lives in an airplane accident probably on their way to lunch near Lake Erie. (something he would regularly do) In talking with John over the past few weeks, he was excited […]

Sonex airplane project update for 2007

| December 14, 2007

I’ve spend the last several years on and ‘more’ off building parts for my ‘scratch’ built Sonex experimental airplane. (note masthead) Recently a retired friend is lending a hand and is encouraging me to move a bit more aggressively on my project. (thanks John) His experience has been really appreciated, as has the influx of […]

Diesel power for Aviation – and my Sonex experimental airplane project

| May 20, 2005

I’ve been thinking about getting back to work on my Sonex project and have been ‘re-intrigued’ with the thought of diesel power. I came across a company, Advanced Propulsion Technologies, that is building extremely lightweight, high powered diesels, especially the 325HP engine. This one clutched to a second is being proposed and tested on light […]

AMV-211 VTOL Aircraft

| May 10, 2005

Next month I’ll have a chance to personally check out the AMV Aircraft. (well not ‘be’ checked out. 🙂 ) Actually it has been seen as the personal aircraft of the future by some and just another prototype design by others. No matter … I like it. What is unique is that this small two […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog