A home-made plane
An evening pause: Another example of someone who decides he wants to do something, and then goes out and does it. This STOL (short take-off and landing) home-built plane, dubbed Draco, was apparently a big hit in the small plane community. Sadly, in September the plane was totaled (no injuries) during a take-off with strong cross winds (video here).
Hat tip Cotour.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An evening pause: Another example of someone who decides he wants to do something, and then goes out and does it. This STOL (short take-off and landing) home-built plane, dubbed Draco, was apparently a big hit in the small plane community. Sadly, in September the plane was totaled (no injuries) during a take-off with strong cross winds (video here).
Hat tip Cotour.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Good Grief.
Apparently we are unaware that there is an entire INDUSTRY dedicated to manufacturing KITS to build REAL AIRPLANES. Here is the magazine for that industry,
https://www.kitplanes.com/
My faves, partly because they can be made CHEAPLY are these.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=airdrome+aeroplanes+
The STOL bush pilot competition videos out of Alaska are a real treat. Look them up.
My son in Fairbanks, a detail construction carpenter, worked for a family who had their back country home and outbuildings built by him and the team.
During winter months, they would truck then “snow mobile” huge multiple sleds of building supplies off and onto the building site, across hard frozen tundra, marsh, and lakes. Then during spring and summer they would get flown in to the site, lake landing or short gravel sand bar landings, to complete the construction.
He would always take his job site dog along, a beautiful husky mix. But had to put him in a large burlap bag while flying in. Husky loved the sled rides, but got pretty tight when he saw the airplane.
Also look up EAA.org, the organisation that started for homebuilt airplanes.
You can build not only WW1 “replicas” But actual useful traveling airplanes like the Van’s Aircraft series and the Bede BD-4 amongst many others. You’ll find aircraft in wood, aluminum or composites including pressurized turboprops capable of 300+ knots in the flight levels.
My wife and I have owned a BD-4 for 20+ years and flown it all over Australia.
When you’ve looked at Draco and how it is built realize that Mike Patey is one half of a set of twins and his brother has just as much energy and enthusiasm for airplanes as he does.
Draco may be down but might not be out. Mike is currently working on Scrappy, a highly-customized Carbon Cub with a race plane engine(!), but in one of his recent videos, he indicated that he will rebuild Draco afterward, with even more extreme modifications. Can’t wait!
THE PHEONIX RISES, at least a little one does:
https://youtu.be/AvHNJNCgpfA
You gotta love it.