Other People's Airplanes

It’s a taildragger, it features tandem seating, and on a good day, it’ll do 100 knots: it’s the American Champion Citabria Explorer! I’m David Allen, and I’m about to take you into the cockpit … of Other People’s Airplanes! This is part two of the flight with Jared in the Citabria. You can check out part one here. For this episode, we returned to Melbourne International Airport for a touch-and-go followed by a full-stop landing before putting the plane away in the hangar. On the first approach, we were a little high. So once we were established on final approach, we used a technique known as “slipping” to lose altitude quickly. Typically, when you put an airplane into a decent, you gain airspeed. However, since we are trying to land, we do not want to gain speed. Slipping basically causes the airplane to fly through the air at an angle, as opposed to straight. This slight angle causes a bunch of drag (from the oncoming wind) on the airframe, which then allows you to decent rapidly without gaining airspeed. It only took a couple of seconds of slip to drop quickly. Once we were at the proper altitude to intercept the approach glideslope, we straightened the airplane out and prepared to set it down on the runway. There’s a lot going on, so I was pretty busy. One thing that really caught me off guard at touchdown was that, on a wheel landing (e.g. touching down on only the front “main” wheels and leaving the tailwheel in the air) you push the stick fully forward after you touch down to help keep the tail off the ground longer. To me, this was very counter-intuitive. I was worried about forcing the propeller into the runway, but evidently there’s little possibility of that. Once the tailwheel settles gently onto the runway, then the stick comes all the way back into your lap to help keep the tail down. We took off and flew the whole pattern before settling in for the full-stop landing and putting the airplane away in the hangar. This episode is sponsored by Piper’s Ready, Set, Fly program. Buy a shiny new Piper Archer LX, and train for your private pilot license in your own brand new airplane!

It’s day six here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, and today we bring you warbirds! David and Damon headed towards the North 40 today to check out the warbird flight line. While there, David talked with Mike Schiffer about his Vought F4U-5 Corsair. The Corsair has always been a favorite classic warbird of David’s. Mike tells us about what it’s like to fly this iconic aircraft. Then Damon talks with Larry Clark about the Bell UH-1 Huey that started its career with the Army before being transferred to the Navy Seawolves. This wraps up our main coverage of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011. Damon and I did shoot a few more interviews on Saturday (it was a super-busy day), and we will be releasing those as short “bonus” episodes. Stay tuned for those in the next couple of weeks. I (David) want to publicly thank Damon for all of his hard work. Be sure to check out his podcast at The Pursuit of Wings. Also, thanks so much to the team over at myTransponder for arranging all of the equipment and new media support.

It’s day five here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, and today we bring you back to Conoco Phillips Plaza! Boeing made a big entrance this morning with the arrival of the 787 Dreamliner. We got to take a short tour of the new widebody jetliner, and talked with Lori Gunter, Senior Manager of Communications for the 787 Program about some of the sweet innovations Boeing is designing into the jet. Then we made our way to the cockpit for a very short chat with Michael Sinnett, Chief Engineer for the 787 Program. Michael told us a little bit about what it is like to fly the Dreamliner. Continuing in Conoco Phillips Plaza (formerly Aeroshell Square), Damon Favor of The Pursuit of Wings podcast talked with Major Dan Butler, USMC. Major Butler is a pilot and flight instructor in Pensacola, FL. He gives us some insight into the T-6B Texan II. We wrap up this episode with a short chat with Rob Riggen of Flying High Coffee. Rob knows that pilots are going to drink coffee, so why shouldn’t they drink great coffee. And the best part is Flying High Coffee channels some of the profits back into aviation youth and outreach programs.

It’s day four here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, and today we bring you to the ultralight aircraft area! In the ultralight aircraft area, we found Dale Kramer and his electric-powered Lazair, an amphibious ultralight originally powered with piston engines. Back in Conoco Phillips Plaza (formerly Aeroshell Square), Damon Favor of The Pursuit of Wings podcast talked Andrew King, one of the pilots of the replica Curtis Pusher. The Curtis Pusher is significant because it was the first airplane to ever land and take off from a ship, opening the door to naval aviation as we know it today. Finally, we talked with Dan Kiser and Steve Wathen of the Youth Aviation Adventure, an non-profit organization that introduces kids to aviation in half-day camps all over the country.

It’s day two here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, and today we bring you to the homebuilt aircraft area! In the homebuilt aircraft area, we found Mark Holliday and his 60-year old Knight Twister. The Twister is a homebuilt biplane which was originally designed in 1928. It’s a single-seat, open-cockpit taildragger, and looks a bit like a miniature Pitts. It also looks like it would be a blast to fly. Back in Conoco Phillips Plaza (formerly Aeroshell Square), Damon Favor of The Pursuit of Wings podcast talked with U.S. Air Force pilot Paul Borgatti. Even though he was an Air Force pilot, he flew several Navy airplanes, including the T-34C featured in the video. Paul is spending the week volunteering at KidVenture to bring the gift of aviation to the next generation. Finally, we talked with Lynda Meeks of Girls With Wings, a non-profit organization encouraging more girls to have an interest in aviation, and to show them that as long as they are willing to work at it, they can reach their full potential. I also talk briefly about my media ride in the DakotaCub Super 18. Stay tuned to the feed for that episode to post in the future.

It’s opening day here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011, and we decided to start out in the vintage aircraft area. While in the vintage aircraft area, we were able to talk to Skip Reed about his gorgeous green Beechcraft Staggerwing. Then we made our way over to Conoco Phillips Plaza (formerly Aeroshell Square) where Damon Favor of The Pursuit of Wings podcast talked with LTJG Kobbs about a Navy variant of the H-60. For our Youth Organization Spotlight, we talked with Lyn Freeman of BuildAPlane. Later on in the evening, we had Bill Williams of the Pilotcast and Rich Thurmanm, his copilot, talk about a funnel cloud they spotted on the FISKE arrival. For that photo, Rich was the winner of the myTransponder Photo of the Day. Besides the bragging rights, Bill and Rich also won a Crazed Pilot (affiliate link) headset-friendly baseball cap. Finally, we wrap up with Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron of the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast on our Other People’s Podcasts segment. Stay tuned for Day 2 of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Thanks for watching!

“Nice landing, Cherokee. Welcome to Oshkosh.” Oh yeah, sweet music to my ears. There simply is no other place I would rather be this week than on the grounds at Whittman Regional Airport for the 2011 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin. This place has been refered to as Mecca for pilots. I just call it magic. This week we will be teaming up with Damon Favor of The Pursuit of Wings podcast to bring you daily video updates from the grounds here at #OSH11. As always, I want to bring you along for the ride when I do awesome aviation-y stuff. So be sure to check back every day this week for the latest yummy goodness! This episode was recorded on Sunday, July 24th, before the actual opening of the show. Lets just call it Day Zero. Damon and I walked the grounds to get as much footage as we could in spite of all the heavy-lifting and work that was going on in the background. We also made it over to Ardy & Ed’s, a 50′s-style drive-in restaraunt for a small gathering of flying cars. There were two Aerocars and a handful of Maverick Flying Cars. We were able to talk with Jeremy Pyhala about the Maverick. For the rest of the week, be sure to check out our segments for 100 Years of Naval Aviation, Youth Aviation Spotlight, the myTransponder Photo of the Day, and a Viewer’s Choice. In fact, if there is something that you would like to see highlighted on the show, hop on over to our Facebook page and leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you. See you tomorrow!

NASA has long been of a mind to share information with the public. By and large, however, the mass new media is only interested in headlines and breaking news. They are not interested in the day-to-day happenings. As any space enthusiast knows, nothing that happens in space is routine. Nothing. Think about it, NASA has been supporting a 5-bedroom mobile home (slightly bigger than a double-wide) in the vacuum of space for several years. That’s incredible, not routine. Every single day, there are amazing new things happening, and the folks at NASA are more than excited to share it with us. Since the mass media is not interested in the day-to-day, NASA has found a way to reach out to the public directly. Twitter. During the early days of the Mars Phoenix mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a Twitter account for the rover. This gave enthusiasts, folks like you and I, the ability to follow along with the mission. The issues, the triumphs, the failures and successes of the little robot. It brought the mission to life, and even though it was a gazillion miles away, we felt close to it. Then NASA found a way to bring the public even closer. Tweetups. They started small at first, and were a huge hit right off the bat. Now the enthusiasts and fans were able to share in the experience together, to meet other Space Tweeps face-to-face, and to build lasting relationships with other space enthusiasts. I was an attendee at the first NASA Tweetup to take place during a space shuttle launch. You can read about my experience here. The tradition has continued, and now NASA is having Tweetups on a regular basis. You can see what Tweetups NASA is hosting and get registered for them here. STS-134 was the final mission for Space Shuttle Endeavour. There is only one more shuttle launch scheduled, that of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-135. After that, the entire Space Shuttle fleet will be retired. This short video was filmed on-location at the NASA Press Site in the hours after the launch of Endeavour. Thirteen of the attendees of the NASA Tweetup were gracious enough to tell me about their experience at the event. They all share a common experience, and now I wish to share that experience with you. I wish to sincerely thank those of you who took the time to tell me about your experience at the NASA Tweetup. Lisa Bain Leigh Checkman Heather Good Rebekah Labar Susan Mazza Natala Menezes Rob Pegoraro Geoff Ryken Claudia Saleh Beth Schaefer Kiran Srivastava Sarah Williver J.B Zimmerman Special thanks also goes out to Bodgan for letting me use some of his music in the video. You can find more of his great work at facebook.com/bogdanmusic / Bogdan.

It’s a taildragger, it features tandem seating, and on a good day, it’ll do 100 knots: it’s the American Champion Citabria Explorer! I’m David Allen, and I’m about to take you into the cockpit … of Other People’s Airplanes! The American Champion Citabria Explorer features a Lycoming 0-320 engine that provides 160HP. The tandem seating and upper window allow for excellent visibility out of the sides and top of the aircraft, and the view over the nose (at least from the front seat) is pretty spectacular. The front view is so good, in fact, that I kept feeling like I was descending even though I was in level flight. This caused me to keep pulling on the stick, and I blew my target altitude by about 450 feet! The pilot for this episode was my friend Jared Maynard. Jared is a CFI and MEI with over 2,000 hours total time in everything from a Cessna 152 to a Boeing 757. I have flown with Jared on a number of occasions in the past. Previous flights were in a Cessna 150 and a Piper Navajo Chieftain. This was the first time I was able to fly the Citabria with Jared. You may have noticed in the beginning of the episode that the Citabria was on a lift. That is because two airplanes call this particular tee hangar home, the other a Cirrus SR20. I guess you can say the Citabria just likes being airborne. All the time. Jared played musical airplanes, rolling the Cirrus out, lowering the Citabria and rolling it out of the hangar, then pushing the Cirrus back inside while we flew. Of course, we had to reverse all of that at the end of the flight. We planned to fly from Melbourne International Airport (KMLB) down to Valkaria Airport (X59). At Valkaria, we planned to get fuel, not because we would have used it all, but because Valkaria has some ridiculously good fuel prices for the area. After getting fuel, we would return to KMLB. Unfortunately, we ran out of light, so we skipped X59 altogether. We certainly could have flown at night and been legal, but it would not have made for a great video podcast. As it was, some if the lighting was not as good as I would have liked. As an aside, night flying is some of my favorite. If I can figure out a way to get good video in low-light situations, I’ll bring that to you as well. Melbourne is a Class D airport with plenty of traffic. A few scheduled airlines, a large flight school, and plenty of business and personal aircraft mean there is a good chance you won’t be the only airplane in the pattern. Today was no exception. We were cleared to take off on runway 9L. Since there was traffic departing on the parallel runway, we were instructed to depart straight ahead, or maintain runway heading, until instructed to turn south towards Valkaria. We started the the takeoff roll at Melbourne, and I learned quite unexpectedly about a little phenomenon called P-factor. Almost as soon as the tail came up, we took a left turn on the runway. A surprisingly abrupt left turn. Jared, of course, was anticipating this, and we were off the runway before we reached the grass. But wow. Note to self, those pedals on the floor are useful for more than just the brakes. I cannot think of a better way to describe the takeoff other than to say the Citabria “leaped” off the runway. It was like someone pushed the button for the penthouse on the elevator, and whoosh! We were going! In no time at all, we had passed the other traffic to the right, and we were instructed by the tower controller to make the turn to the south. For the next several minutes I struggled with altitude. The plan was to level off at 1500 feet. I slowed the ascent so that I could watching 1500 pass slowly by. Then I played with the trim and the attitude to get us back down to 1500 feet. At 1800 feet, I realized I was not being aggressive enough. As we approached 2000 feet, I realize this plane just wants to climb climb climb! I finally got the altitude under control and we headed down the river towards Valkaria, t[...]

Two seats, side-by-side; a cruise speed of 107 knots; and a mainstay of student pilots and CFIs everywhere: it’s the Cessna 152! I’m David Allen, and I’m about to take you into the cockpit … of Other People’s Airplanes! As many of you know, this episode (the “pilot” episode, in fact) has been in the pipeline for a while. This has been a learning experience of epic proportions. I had to figure out how to mount cameras, what settings to use on those cameras, what shots to get, and how to get those shots. Because this is only my first attempt, I have already found some mistakes and corrected those. I have also made other mistakes since the filming of this episode. So while the quality of this episode, and probably the first several, is not the greatest, I hope you will stick around as I bring you this in-cockpit aviation experience. Perhaps the biggest mistake I made in this episode was forgetting to set the over-the-nose camera focus out to infinity. As a result, the Canon camera auto-focused on other things, like the cowl and the windscreen, leaving the sky and the ground blurry much of the time. The rest of the cameras were GoPro HD Hero cameras. These cameras are, unfortunately, susceptible to an effect called “rolling shutter” or “jelly effect”. It is more visible during certain times in the episode, and far less in others. I have also learned that a small piece of masking tape is all that is needed to hide a lapel mic inside my shirt. In future episodes, it should not be so “out there”, screaming “LOOK AT ME! I’M A LAPEL MIC!” The airplane featured in this episode is a 1983 Cessna 152 II. The Cessna 152 just happens to be the first general aviation airplane in which I ever flew. At the age of 8, my father took me to what was then the Melbourne Regional Airport (now the Melbourne International Airport, KMLB) and strapped me into the right seat. That day, my father showed me why he loves flying. Now I’m sharing my love of flying with you. So why Cessna 152s and their little brothers, Cessna 150s, are a dime-a-dozen, it has some sentimental value to me. So I feel it fitting that it be the first airplane featured on the show. And since it is my show, I can do stuff like that. Love! Casey Allen, a CFI and CFII, preflighted the airplane while I set up cameras and got some of the ground shots … shot. Afterwards, we loaded up in the plane and started the engine. Since Casey is a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor), he stuck me in the left seat. I happily obliged. Casey taxied the plane to the end of runway 10 and performed the run-up and worked through the final before-takeoff checks. Then he asked me if I knew” how to do this”, this being the takeoff. Now I am the first to say that I am not a pilot. I have never flown an airplane by myself, or been the unlikely passenger on a jetliner after the pilot and first officer “had the fish”. With that in mind, you should know that I have an extensive amount of flying experience. So when he asked me if I new how to do the takeoff, I answered, “Yep.” Of course Casey was there watching my every move, and he was ready to instruct me or assume control of the aircraft if it came to that. Again, I am not a pilot, and I would probably bend the airplane if I had to do this on my own. If you want to learn to fly, please find an awesome flight instructor that you trust to teach you. We took off from Valkaria, X59, on runway 10 with a straight-out departure. After climbing to 1,500 feet, we crossed over the barrier island and pushed about a half-mile offshore before turning northbound along the coast. After a few minutes, I turned west back toward the mainland, and then south along the mainland coast. After a short hike south, a 180 turn to the north, and back to the airport. The gusty 45-degree crosswind made the landing, uhm, interesting. I ballooned a little (ground effect ma[...]