What did you fly today?

[F106DeltaDart]

Outstanding, F106Delta Dart!! Your plane would be hard to distinguish from the real thing in your photos! I was wondering, do those side pieces that are placed perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizers, can you tell if they affect the performance over the airplane at all? I'm not totally sure why they were installed on the real plane, except I would guess they improved stability when hauling the space shuttle on top. Maybe you have a definitive knowledge in your research of why they added these parts.

PS: I remember being in the lineup a few times for takeoff at JFK, and seeing one of these AA airplanes in line ahead of us before they were removed from American's fleet and sold to NASA. That was around 1979-80, as I remember.

Keep up the great work! The 747 is one of my favorite airplanes, especially since I spent a majority of my airline career flying them!

Thanks Dave, and very cool!! The extra vertical fins were added to compensate for the large portion of the vertical tail that was blocked by the space shuttle when attached. In flight, there isn't much of a noticeable difference with or without them. It may have a bit less roll oscillation in turns with them installed, but its hard to say since I haven't done a back-to-back comparison.

[davegee]

Thanks Dave, and very cool!! The extra vertical fins were added to compensate for the large portion of the vertical tail that was blocked by the space shuttle when attached. In flight, there isn't much of a noticeable difference with or without them. It may have a bit less roll oscillation in turns with them installed, but its hard to say since I haven't done a back-to-back comparison.

Great! Thanks for the explanation. I figured it was definitely a mod linked to performance of the combined space shuttle/747 in flight. Maybe they found this out in wind tunnel tests of a model prior to making a decision to add them for the operational unit.

I was wondering about the main gear on your 747 RC model. I couldn't really tell from the pictures, but do the main gear "tilt" when in flight? I recall the outboard wing gear tilted up about 56 degrees, and the inboard body gear were about 12 degrees, if memory serves. This was important for a couple of reasons: first, it allowed the main gear to fit into the wheel wells in a much more compact manner, and secondly, it was a "cushion" for the initial impact of the main gear touching down on the runway, before the weight of the airplane pushed the gear to a normal all-wheels on the ground. Worked like a champ! It's not important if your model gear don't tilt, it's a marvelous flying model just as it is. I was just curious, that's all.

Please keep us apprised of any new flying you do with your 747!

Cheers

Dave

[boomer108]

I retired almost 10 years ago from Delta.

I worked for Northwest retired in 2009.

[davegee]

I worked for Northwest retired in 2009.

Wow! Where did you work? What did you do?
Small world!

d

[Hugh Wiedman]

Got out today after last weeks hurricane winds finally subsided. Got a bunch if flights in on my Eurofighter, F18 Canadian, 90mm Avanti with TV and my Modified SU-27. All have the Spektrum "Plus" upgrades and flew/landed incredibly well. That upgrade has made the biggest difference in my entire fleet. None more than on the F18. Believe it or not, it is now the best flying military jet in my fleet and the easiest to land. It's tied for that honor with the Mig with TV and and the A10, even ahead of the F4 (which benefited greatly with plus) and the 90mm F16, no . I'll give more details in the F18 thread for anyone interested.

[f4u ausie]

Hugh hows the 90 avanti.. ...? i dont have a sports jet.. have been thinking 80mm fw till this release it looks the part..?.sounds good on the vids

[boomer108]

Wow! Where did you work? What did you do?
Small world!

d

I worked at O'Hare ground crew, fueler and instructor.

[davegee]

I worked at O'Hare ground crew, fueler and instructor.

Cool. I flew with NWA starting in 1981 until merger with DAL, retired from DAL 1/1/15

My good friend the late Lt. Col.Gary Turnipseed flew for UAL for about 10 years after retiring from the USAF before a freak accident eventually made him medically retire in 2016.

[boomer108]

Cool. I flew with NWA starting in 1981 until merger with DAL, retired from DAL 1/1/15

My good friend the late Lt. Col.Gary Turnipseed flew for UAL for about 10 years after retiring from the USAF before a freak accident eventually made him medically retire in 2016.

I started with Northwest in 1969 shortly after went in the Air Force came back to Northwest and stayed in the Air.Guard at O'Hare until 1999 and retired when the base closed. I stayed with Northwest until 2009 and retired when Delta took over.

[davegee]

I started with Northwest in 1969 shortly after went in the Air Force came back to Northwest and stayed in the Air.Guard at O'Hare until 1999 and retired when the base closed. I stayed with Northwest until 2009 and retired when Delta took over.

Cool. Was your Air Guard unit at O'Hare the one that had the KC-135s that you were a boomer on? I think I had some pilot friends at NWA who flew with the Air Guard there, but can't remember which ones they were at the moment. But I would bet there were several that were friends of mine and also coworkers at NWA back then.

Cheers

Davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

Great! Thanks for the explanation. I figured it was definitely a mod linked to performance of the combined space shuttle/747 in flight. Maybe they found this out in wind tunnel tests of a model prior to making a decision to add them for the operational unit.

I was wondering about the main gear on your 747 RC model. I couldn't really tell from the pictures, but do the main gear "tilt" when in flight? I recall the outboard wing gear tilted up about 56 degrees, and the inboard body gear were about 12 degrees, if memory serves. This was important for a couple of reasons: first, it allowed the main gear to fit into the wheel wells in a much more compact manner, and secondly, it was a "cushion" for the initial impact of the main gear touching down on the runway, before the weight of the airplane pushed the gear to a normal all-wheels on the ground. Worked like a champ! It's not important if your model gear don't tilt, it's a marvelous flying model just as it is. I was just curious, that's all.

Please keep us apprised of any new flying you do with your 747!

Will do! My model does not have the scale tilt on the gear when extended. All of the trucks are sprung to sit 90 deg to the strut until touchdown. Interesting background though, might be a cool mod to consider.

Very cool that a few of you guys flew for Northwest! Used to love seeing the NW 747s out at MSP as a kid. My secondary plan for the HSD bird (if I didn't think it had enough power to carry a Shuttle) was to paint it in the Northwest scheme.

[davegee]

Will do! My model does not have the scale tilt on the gear when extended. All of the trucks are sprung to sit 90 deg to the strut until touchdown. Interesting background though, might be a cool mod to consider.

Very cool that a few of you guys flew for Northwest! Used to love seeing the NW 747s out at MSP as a kid. My secondary plan for the HSD bird (if I didn't think it had enough power to carry a Shuttle) was to paint it in the Northwest scheme.

That's very cool, F106DeltaDart! I liked most of the NWA paint schemes prior to the merger and repaint with Delta Air Lines. There was one paint scheme that they kept under wraps in the mid-90s and they flew the airplane in for a surprise showing at the MSP 747 hangars for all the employees. We brimmed with anticipation as to what the new paint scheme would look like. When it came into view on a short final for touchdown, we all got to see the new paint scheme for a short while as it flew past. I remember a collective "groan" from the crowd as it probably didn't sit very well with all of us at the time. We later started calling it "the bowling shoe" paint scheme, in an ode to the tacky colored and striped bowling shoes that you rent when you go bowling. We got used to it, I guess.

Regarding the gear tilt, The Freewing B-2 that I have has a gear tilt system on the main gear set up with springs so that in the air it is in a tilt like the 747 has, and then when it lands it overcomes spring resistance to flatten out so all four wheels on each bogie are on the runway. (Actually, on the B-2 they have it backwards. On the real plane, the gear tilt down rather than up, but I've seen modelers do some mods to make it look accurate to the real thing.)

In any event, you have a beautiful model 747 and it brings back good memories from all those years I used to fly them. I'm sure it "wows" the crowds at shows where you fly it, too!

Best,

Davegee

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh hows the 90 avanti.. ...? i dont have a sports jet.. have been thinking 80mm fw till this release it looks the part..?.sounds good on the vids

Outstanding, especially with the TV nozzles. I'v had the FW 80mm Avanti since the beginning, a lot of fun, an excellent first jet, but was getting a little bored except in practicing slow high alpha.

The FMS 90mm is a bit heavier and larger, but a typical 90mm size. If you get one, you must get the TV kit, otherwise it's just another Avanti. 6S seems better than 8S as being lighter, it's easier to do wild maneuvers. I set my 10 channel AS3X as per Jon's (2 BrosRC) recommendations. Surface gains and 4X separate gains on the TV nozzles.

Easily performs extremely tight Flat spins (including inverted), Cobras, Knife Edge straight and turning, blenders and a bunch of stuff I have no idea what it's even called. Easily performs harriers and if you throw the elevator stick a either full up or down at altitude when going verticle, she flips head over heal insanely fast until you start tearing the ground. Start throwing the sticks around and watch what happens.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Got lucky again with outstanding weather. 2 full flying days in the last 3, How Sweet It Is! And it was an F'ing type of day, flying my 8S F4, 8S F16 (now with tailerons-a must) and my F18. Hey, how did that sneaky Russian get there?

[boomer108]

Cool. Was your Air Guard unit at O'Hare the one that had the KC-135s that you were a boomer on? I think I had some pilot friends at NWA who flew with the Air Guard there, but can't remember which ones they were at the moment. But I would bet there were several that were friends of mine and also coworkers at NWA back then.

Cheers

Davegee

Yes that was my unit and I flew with two pilots that flew the 747 for Northwest, Ed Patrella and Jerry Bocknik.

[davegee]

Yes that was my unit and I flew with two pilots that flew the 747 for Northwest, Ed Patrella and Jerry Bocknik.

I'm familiar with both names, not sure if I actually flew with either of them. Would have to check my logbook. It was strange, sometimes you might fly one leg with someone, and never see them again. Other times, we'd have a pilot who was scheduled to fly with us, usually a senior captain, has been around 30 years on paper, but none of us had ever even heard of him before! Pays to keep a low profile, I guess.

Our 747 fleets (freighter, "generic' and 747-400) had a relatively small amount of people staffing them. It always amused me when someone outside the airline would ask me if I knew so-and-so and I rarely knew the person they cited, due to the fact that we grew to over 12000 pilots after the Delta merger. It was pretty tribal, and you hung out with the guys you knew on your fleet since you worked with them all the time.

Did have a lot of friends who flew out of NAS Glenview before it eventually shut down. Good group of guys.

Cheers

Davegee

[boomer108]

I'm familiar with both names, not sure if I actually flew with either of them. Would have to check my logbook. It was strange, sometimes you might fly one leg with someone, and never see them again. Other times, we'd have a pilot who was scheduled to fly with us, usually a senior captain, has been around 30 years on paper, but none of us had ever even heard of him before! Pays to keep a low profile, I guess.

Our 747 fleets (freighter, "generic' and 747-400) had a relatively small amount of people staffing them. It always amused me when someone outside the airline would ask me if I knew so-and-so and I rarely knew the person they cited, due to the fact that we grew to over 12000 pilots after the Delta merger. It was pretty tribal, and you hung out with the guys you knew on your fleet since you worked with them all the time.

Did have a lot of friends who flew out of NAS Glenview before it eventually shut down. Good group of guys.

Cheers

Davegee

It's definitely a small world. The pilot's and navs that I flew with were a good bunch. I miss being a Boom and working at Northwest.

[davegee]

It's definitely a small world. The pilot's and navs that I flew with were a good bunch. I miss being a Boom and working at Northwest.

Totally agree! It was a thrill for me as an aspiring airline pilot to be picked up by Northwest in early 1981. I was flying DC-8 freighters for Emery Air Freight (now long-since defunct) but was a huge step up. I enjoyed for the most part all my 36 years as an airline pilot. I agree, good bunch of people.

Cheers

Davegee

[Grossman56]

Finally got a day off that wasn't blowing wind!! First flights with the new eyes and it was terrific!! Actually wore my old Raybans which is a first for me as I always flew without sun glasses. Today, with that combination, a new world was opened up. Good bye cataracts, hello new eyes!!

Grossman56

[DCORSAIR]

Flew the 700 Cobra and 80mm F-14 this morning, nice cool breeze early this morning was nice.