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| Public-Use
Airports: A Closer Look |
| Airports
come in all shapes and sizes and can provide pilots with
opportunities for both education and enjoyment at any level.
The November/December 2011 issue of FAA Safety Briefing
takes an in-depth look at the nation's wide array of
public-use airports, highlighting the benefits of exploring
new places to land as well as helping raise awareness of
runway safety and wildlife hazards. Read
the issue |
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| Maintenance
and Restoration News
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| Swift
Fuel Runs an R-2800 Radial |
| More
than 100 gallons of Swift Enterprises' 100SF powered an
unmodified Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine
during three days of testing conducted in Grangeville,
Idaho. Test results showed that 100SF produced a higher
detonation onset threshold than 100LL. The engine was
operated at 115-145 octane takeoff power settings, and there |
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were no indications of engine knock. EAA Warbirds of America
encourages the fuel industry to continue its research and
development efforts to find suitable replacements for 100LL.
Read
more |
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| Halifax
57 Rescue Report No. 39: Gifts From Malta |
| Rare
recovered Hastings and Halifax parts which were discovered
in a disused scrapyard in Malta after sitting there for over
35 years have arrived at Halifax 57 Rescue's headquarters in
Ottawa, Ontario. With the help of the Malta Historic Vehicle
Trust and the Malta |
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| Aviation
Museum, 57 Rescue recovered center-section cores of two
Halifax bomber projects, two Bristol Hercules radial
engines, and all four main landing gears for a Handley Page
Hastings whose wings are modified from Halifax wings. Read
the update |
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| Updates
on Warbird and Squadron News |
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| Did
Bruce Car Steal an Fw 190? |
| Last
month we brought you a story published in Air Force
Magazine in 1995 about P-51 pilot Bruce Carr who was
allegedly shot down in October 1944 and evaded capture for
several days before he stole an Fw 190 and belly-landed back
at his air base. AirVenture Today writer Mark Phelps
wrote to point out that there is controversy over this
story. Video evidence shows Carr, wearing a clean shave and
parachute, likely ferried the aircraft back after the war
was over and |
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| might not have understood how to operate the
landing gear. View
the video | Read
the original article |
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Elkhart
Warbird Weekend
Observations
of a rookie |
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Bill Foraker and
Matt Throckmorton flew to the Elkhart Warbird Event weekend in
Elkhart, Indiana, last month in their recently acquired AT-6D.
It was a full weekend of formation flying, local excursions to
a football game flyover, and the ever popular flour drop. For
these two "newbie" AT-6D owners, it was a memorable
time. Read
more
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| Al
Capone and Butch O'Hare |
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What do Al
Capone and the O'Hare Airport have in common? No, it's not the
usual story about Chicago and its history of organized crime.
Instead it's an unlikely tale of crime and patriotism. Read
more
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| Flying
Tigers Heritage Park |
| A
group is raising funds to build a museum in Guilin, China,
that honors the memory of the Flying Tigers, the nickname
given to the 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air
Force from 1941 to 1942. The Flying Tiger Historical |
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|
Organization Inc. will build the facility on one of the
Flying Tigers' actual airstrips used during World War II to
help resupply Chinese forces fighting Japan. Read
more |
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| Warbirds
Commemorative Brick Makes a Great Holiday Gift |
| Looking
for that special, lasting gift this holiday season? EAA
Warbirds of America (WOA) recommends purchasing a
commemorative brick in the Eagle Plaza on the EAA AirVenture
grounds. WOA members and volunteers, veterans, and the
public can purchase an inscribed |
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| brick
and have it installed at this special monument, which
features a beautiful cast bronze eagle perched atop a
six-sided base paying tribute to the five branches of U.S.
military. Read
more |
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Featured Stories |
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| My
World War II POW Experience - Part 5 |
| In
Part 5 of Walter J. Nachtwey's story of when he was a
prisoner of war in Germany during World War II, life at the
camp was somewhat normal but melancholy. The prisoners put
on plays and sang, but holiday songs caused their thoughts
to weigh heavily on their |
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| families
as they were still far away. Then in January of 1945 as the
Russian Army closed in, the camp was evacuated, and they
were sent on a days-long march where survival was now the
only goal. Read
Part 5 |
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| A
Nose for Art |
| Ever
wonder how nose art gets created? Here's the story of Don
Allen, a ground crewman with the 4th Fighter Group's 334th
Squadron. Don did his share of nose art in World War II.
After watching the first video, click the second link to see
how it's done today! Includes a B-25 owned by |
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| EAA Warbirds
member Rod Lewis. Nose
art | How
it's done today |
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| How
the O-2s Really Got There |
| It
was 1967 or maybe early 1968, and the Air Force had bought a
mess of Cessna Super Skymasters and called them O-2s. The
Cessna factory at Wichita, Kansas, was pumping them out at a
pretty good clip, and your problem was to figure out how to
get them to Vietnam. |
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| Richard Wood, who served in the Air
Force during that time in Hawaii, witnessed the usual
journey these aircraft took to Southeast Asia. Read
more |
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| Elkhart
Warbird Fly-In |
| The
Elkhart Warbird fly-in must have been quite the event. Here
at Briefing we're always looking for local reporting. This
aviation happening generated two unsolicited articles! Rumor
has it that our Warbirds of America President Rick Siegfried
was in attendance and may have been spotted dropping flour
bombs (all with appropriate waivers of course)! Chuck "Marshmellow"
Marshall wrote up all the action-and did his best to protect
the innocent. (Ahem!) Read
more |
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| Arsenal
of Democracy: Willow Run |
| Henry
Ford determined that he could mass-produce bombers just as
he had done with cars. He built the Willow Run assembly
plant and proved it. Located between Detroit and Ann Arbor,
Michigan, it was the world's largest building under one
roof; even then, "Ford had a better idea." The
film that follows shows |
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| the magnitude of American industrial
power-one B-24 every 55 minutes. Watch
the video |
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| Owning
and Flying a T-34 - Part 2 |
| We
continue this month with the second part of Todd McCutchan's
story about his T-34. The preflight and start-up of the T-34
is very straightforward and immediately familiar to any
GA-experienced pilot, with no special equipment required
save for a Dzus tool or flat-head screwdriver to open the |
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engine cowl doors. The differences between the T-34 and its
Bonanza cousins don't really start to stand out until you
climb up on the wing and roll the canopy back. Read
more |
