The Scoop
Back to the Future!
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While new stuff is always fun, don't forget about the
Archives. We've kept all
our favorite features, videos, and links down there in the basement for you
to dig through at your leisure. Some of it's a little moldy, but trust
us, it's still good.
Go to the Archives
Articles Coming Soon!
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We will be adding a few PIREPs and other articles soon. Stay tuned!
Welcome to Taildraggers, Inc.
Come one, come all! Step right up and get
your daily dose of Aerotainment!
Here at Taildraggers, Inc. we aim to bring you some of the best aero-content
on the net. We love taildraggers, but we don't stop there. We
want to see and share the coolest airplanes, people, places, and websites
that grassroots aviation has to offer. Taildraggers, biplanes,
vintage, antique, aerobatics, bush flying, homebuilts, LSA's, bitchin'
videos, amazing photos, and best of all, really great people are what we're
all about.
If you have a link or photo to share, we'd love to
hear about it, and hopefully add it to the site. We are also looking
for guest writers and photographers to submit content. If you would
like to write an article or a photo essay, shoot us an email. We
won't pay you (we don't even pay ourselves), but we will give you full credit for any contributions.
Drop us a line anytime:
webmaster@taildraggersinc.com
Chevrolet Presents: Sky Billboards (1935)
At this point, I'm starting to wonder
how I even find this stuff...
This is a video sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Company and produced by
The Jam Handy Organization (says so in the video). The website I
found it on,
Internet Achive, says it's from 1935, and I believe it could be.
It's a long, silly video that explains how skywriting is done. The
acting is poor, but the flying is just wonderful. Three old
biplanes, I believe they're all Waco's, twisting and cavorting through the
skies selling whatever Chevrolet tells them to sell. I just can't
figure what letter requires a snap roll.
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Sweet
Snowy Beaver!
What you're looking at is the absolute
coolest
1.0L Sigg bottle ever produced. I take this puppy with me
everywhere I go. It keeps my water oh-so-cold and delicious.
It's got a nice seal to the lid to keep everything fresh, too. Who's
that feller on the front? I ain't telling. I will tell you
this, however... You NEED a ton of these. You need one for the
hangar, one for the cockpit, one for the car, one for the house, and one
for the office.
What does "Sweet Beaver" mean? It's an expression of excitement,
satisfaction, and joy.
Say you just glued up the first wing rib for your new Pober Junior Ace.
In all the excitement of a job well done,
you
yell out, "Sweet Beaver!"
Imagine the tires of your Aeronca Champ are just ever-so-smoothly kissing
the grass after a perfect landing at the end of a perfect evening flight.
As you let out a sigh of satisfaction with your perfect life, you mutter,
"Sweet Beaver".
Are you starting to get the idea? Whenever life gives you a moment
of joy, that's a "Sweet Beaver" moment.
Now, if you just can't get enough of all this "Sweet Beaver" nonsense, get
yourself a
T-shirt, a
mug, or perhaps a nice pair of
thong underwear for
your lady-friend(s). See, I put that in parenthesis because I'm
pretty sure you've got at least two lady friends, you bug stud, you.
So, what are you waiting for? Don't you want excitement,
satisfaction, and joy in your life? Of course, we all do (Sally
Struthers). Cruise your high-speed internet on over to
Sweet
Beaver Cafepress Store, and pick up some sweet "Sweet Beaver" gear for
you or your sweetie. Get something for your airport pals, too.
They might look at you funny at first, but they'll thank you for it later.
Trust me, I'm a professional.
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Alphabet Soup Aerobatics: RV-4, DR-107, S-2C, S-1T
Do you like airplanes? Do you
like aerobatics? Do you like to watch airplanes do aerobatics?
Do you like to feel like you're piloting one of those airplanes while
they're doing aerobatics? No?! Well then, buster, you're gonna
hate this video.
This video has most of my favorite things. There are two Pitts', a
One Design, and even an RV-4. Not one of those plug-and-play
"modern" RV's where you just line up the holes, but a real, honest to God,
build it yourself RV. Am I the only one who's getting bored with
RVs? I mean, they're damn good airplanes, but seriously, do they
have to be so popular? But I digress...
I like airplanes, I like acro. I like watching airplanes do acro.
I even like to pretend I'm up there doing the acro, and I like this video.
This is from 8KCAB.com
The site has some good information about the Citabria and Super Decathlon,
plus info about the One Design and Pitts. Most importantly, there's
a whole page full of pictures and videos. With airplanes and
aerobatics. What more could you ask for?
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59
Lonely Years
I spend a lot of time surfing the net
looking for interesting stories for Taildraggers, Inc. The web of
aviation sites is overwhelming sometimes, and as you weave your way
through it's tangled mess of somehow-connected pages, every once in a
while you come upon something truly extraordinary. This is one of
those stories.
Charles Moseley bought NC7057H brand new in 1946 and he and his daughter,
Charlotte, used it for flying between his ranch operations for the next
several years. When the ranch was sold in 1950, the airplane was no
longer needed, and was pushed back into the barn. It had 197 hours
on the airframe.
Jared
Calvert discovered the airplane in 2009 while looking for a project to
turn into a Clipped Wing Cub. Realizing the very rare opportunity he
had found, the Cub is now being restored back to original condition, and
will no doubt be one of the lowest time Cubs in existence.
The project is underway at Ranger Airfield in Ranger, TX (F23).
Intentions are to use the Cub to introduce more people to aviation, and
expose and inform people about the efforts to preserve Ranger Airfield.
To read the full story of the Barn Cub, please read the Texas Chapter of
the Antique Airplane Associations
April 2009 Newsletter. To learn more about Ranger Airfield, and
the Cub restoration project, please visit the
Ranger
Airfield website.
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Eric
Clutton's F.R.E.D
I met Eric Clutton at a R/C model
aircraft swap meet in Tennessee sometime back in 2005. At that time,
I didn't realize that the humorous and emphatically polite older gent from
"across the pond" was the same Eric Clutton who designed and built
F.R.E.D., a simple, single-seat homebuilt that I had seen advertized in
the magazines for as long as I could remember. Known as "Doctor
Diesel" in the R/C community, Eric has been supplying modelers in the US
with small diesel engines for their aircraft, and all the specialty fuels
needed to keep them running. When I caught up with him again at
another R/C event, this time in Eric's new hometown of Tullahoma, TN, I
bought a PAW diesel engine from him, and used the
opportunity
to ask about F.R.E.D. I also picked up a copy of his book, "An
Aeroplane Called FRED". F.R.E.D. is an acronym for Flying Runabout
Experimental Design, and was first flown in 1963. It is a economical
"fun-machine" intended for recreational flying, and features a novel
folding wing design so that the airplane may be towed home and avoid the
added costs of a hangar.
F.R.E.D. enthusiast Matthew Long has developed a new website dedicated to
the airplane for the purposes of spreading the word about the design.
He has compiled photos of F.R.E.Ds throughout the years, and even has a
video of an interview with Eric Clutton. If you'd like to learn more
about F.R.E.D., visit Matthew's website.
F.R.E.D. plans are still available from Eric Clutton for the reasonable
sum of $50. Eric is still flying the original F.R.E.D. prototype
from his hangar in Tullahoma, TN. The design has been accepted by
Britain's Light Aircraft Association (LAA). If you're looking for an
affordable, LSA-compliant homebuilt, why not consider a F.R.E.D.?
Fly on over to
F.R.E.D.'s new home on the internet.
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Wichita
Photos - 1929
Wichita, Kansas has claimed itself to
be "The Air Capital of the US" since 1927. Clyde Cessna began building
aircraft in Wichita for nearly a century ago.
Matty Laird formed the E.M. Laird Airplane Company in 1920, employing men
who whose names are still synonymous with aviation: Walter Beech, Clyde
Cessna, and Lloyd Stearman.
These three men formed the Travel Air company in 1925, and built the two
aircraft featured here. The Travel Air Model R (1929, at right), and the
Travel Air Mystery Ship (1929, below). History tells us that the Clyde
Cessna and Walter Beech left the company in 1927 over a dispute over
whether to build monoplanes or biplanes.
In
the last 90 years, Wichita has seen aircraft businesses come and go,
companies absorbed into ever larger conglomerates, but "The Air Capital of
the US" will forever be remembered for it's role in helping to give birth
to not only the Golden Age of aviation, but also the Post-War production
boom that gave us some of our most treasured classic aircraft.
Wichita is still a major player in the aircraft manufacturing business,
but global economics have changed the rules. Cessna is now manufacturing
airplanes in China (disgusted), and the cost of new aircraft are
continually pushing higher, making it even more difficult for the average
person to afford a new airplane manufactured in the US. Blame it on the
lawyers, blame it on China, blame it on unions, blame it on mismanagement
and poor timing. You can place the blame anywhere you want, but it's still
true.
As
our government continues to develop more burdensome regulations to provide
the illusion of safety and security, we are left only with the memories of
the "good old days". Days when a man with an idea could revolutionize an
entire industry. When a pilot had the freedom to fly his ship anywhere he
pleased, and the evolution of the machine seemed never-ending.
The pictures here are from a website called
Wichita Photo
Archives. They have photos of all things Wichita from the 1860's
through today. If you're like me, and you have a passion for
aviation, you will really enjoy taking a trip back in time to view these
photos.
The photos are searchable and categorized for easy surfing. These
three images I've chosen are just a sampling of the many photos on the
site. Take a trip back in time to the early days of Wichita aviation
at the Wichita
Photo Archives.
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Learning To Fly In 1953br />
YouTube is a wondrous cavern full of
mysterious and often delightful treasures. As you carefully thread
your way past the videos of
funny
animals,
fat
chicks on dirt bikes, and
morons shooting bottle rockets out of their posteriors (not safe for
work OR childred), you will occasionally see the glint of something truly
spectacular.
Bomberguy's
YouTube channel is one of those shining diamonds hidden amongst the piles
of crap.
This video is a great reminder of how life used to be. I know a lot
of us long for "the good old days". Some lived through it, and some
of us can only dream about what it must have been like. Tag along
with this student pilot as he learns how to fly in 1953. Be sure to
watch it all the way to the end. They show some unique old birds
that any modern aviator would love to have "new" all over again.
Here's a line from the flick to make you just a little nauseous, "It costs
less than a hundred dollars to learn to fly, and less than five hundred to
become a qualified, licensed pilot."
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Looking for some more Aerotainment? Check out the Archives!
