Just got some photos in from the engine repair shop.

In June 2009 I went down to Red Bluff, California to pick up Russian Thunder after the conclusion of some extensive restoration work. I shared pictures of some of the progress in previous blog entries from that time period, so I won't go into all the details but suffice to say that the airplane was torn apart and pretty much fully rebuilt.

When I bought Russian Thunder there wasn't much info available. The previous owner had passed away and the logs were a bit skimpy. The first thing I did was peel off the sponsor decals at which point I found a fairly large gash in the side of the fuselage! It seemed after this that it was in my best interest to err on the side of caution, which is what made me decide to do the full restoration.

During this process the engine was pulled and looked over thoroughly. It looked fine and had been running well so I made the call to keep it. I had a nagging feeling that it would have been better to just order a new engine but absent some reason to trust that feeling I made the call to put the old engine back on. From the standpoint of the logs it appeared nearly new, with only 300 hours or so on it.

Unfortunately on the first test flight after the restoration the engine gave out.

Normally in Russian Thunder (or any other aircraft in this class), takeoff happens very quickly after the throttle is advanced. As I advanced the throttle and started down the runway, pushing the...Continue Reading

I wasn't sure how much to share about this but word started getting out shortly after the incident, including at least one photo that circulated a bit (after which Jim G pretty well goaded me into talking about it for the RCG Podcast) so I suppose a blog entry is in order.

My associate Doug and I were trying to get the airplane to Lakeland, Florida for the Sun 'n Fun fly-in. Bad weather made that difficult. We ended up getting stuck in a little airport in Alabama (happily holed up with a couple of nice folks from Rans Aircraft, including Randy Schlitter, the owner) for a day and a half. By Thursday I had seen enough of the hotel and felt pretty sure Sun 'n Fun was a lost cause due to the tornadic winds that swept through and destroyed many aircraft. I made the decision to leave Doug with the airplane and go to the Toledo show.

I planned to stay at the Toledo show Saturday and then fly down to Lakeland and make the return trip to Oregon with Doug, but after seeing that Sun 'n Fun was basically a rain out and eventually realizing how tired I was I decided to take an airliner home.

Unfortunately during the return flight from Florida something happened that jammed the elevator controls on the Sbach. Doug was too low to bail out, flying at about 9,000 feet over 7,500 foot terrain, and he couldn't let go of the stick without the plane pitching forward. Unable to climb or maintain level flight he was forced to descend to the nearest airport, using elevator trim and...Continue Reading

A bit of "full scale" news for those interested. Today XtremeAir of Germany announced that my company, Extreme Aerosports, is the new US Agent for Sbach aircraft.

I recently visited the Sbach factory in Germany to make this deal with compatriot Doug Jardine. Philipp Steinbach, XtremeAir's lead designer and test pilot, gave us the grand tour and an exhilarating demo flight which I will not soon forget.

I'm attaching some of the photos I took from the trip. You'll notice some similarities to model plane construction. Enjoy!

...Continue Reading

This week we took some pictures of me with my new Sbach 342. My aerobatics company, Extreme Aerosports, will hopefully be making an exciting announcement next week. Stay tuned!


Jim

Today I took the willing participants of my family to see the Spruce Goose in McMinnville, Oregon at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

We were allowed onto the Flight Deck for some photos after a small bribe.

If you are ever in the Portland, Oregon area this museum is worth a visit. They've recently added a separate space museum and an IMAX theater.

They are continually developing the museum and adding new aircraft. There is a nice R/C model field behind the museum as well as a display area with tanks and other WWII-era military hardware.

Curiously, they are building a new feature right now, which I presume will be open in 2011. I promise I am not making this next part up. They are adding a separate indoor water park with a wave pool and several slides. The slides are all entered from a 747 which is mounted on the roof of the very large building. I've never seen an aviation-themed water park before. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of this. I understand they are adding a lodge of some kind next year.

What I always take away from museum visits is how many people, like me, are fascinated with airplanes.

...Continue Reading

I spent the last few days in Las Vegas at the annual trade show for the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS).

I went to learn about the air show industry and to see how much interest there is in my aircraft, Russian Thunder and my new Sbach 342.

I have to receive a waiver before I'm able to fly in air shows. I haven't gone through the process yet, so I used my time to ask questions about the waiver process. Air show pilots must present their routine to an Aerobatic Competency Examiner (ACE), who will then set an initial base altitude of 500 or 800 feet. I understand that 500 feet is generally the norm right now but it will soon go to 800 feet, so it makes sense for me to work with an examiner soon. After performing at a certain number of airshows, the altitude is lowered to 250 feet then to the surface. Pilots are allowed to fly under their altitude in non-aerobatic manners, so it's not quite as restrictive as it may sound at first.

Flying air shows involves some risk so a big part of the ICAS show was about safety for performers and spectators. I learned a great deal due to an excellent presentation and follow up Q&A session. I'm very delighted with how forthcoming air show pilots are about their own mistakes. An openness like that makes it much easier for people to admit their shortcomings and set realistic expectations for themselves.

Since I don't have a waiver I worked things out with Doug Jardine and Rich Perkins to fly my Sbach and Yak-54,...Continue Reading

In my last blog entry I mentioned flying the Sbach 342.

I'm pleased to announce that I've purchased the airplane. It was delivered to me yesterday. I put a couple of flights on it with Kevin Eldredge, who many of you may know from his Relentless NXT Reno race plane.

I'm already feeling very comfortable with the airplane. It is quite a departure from my Yak, Russian Thunder. I will report more when I have more time on the airplane. For now, here are pics. Enjoy!

...Continue Reading

Last week after our wedding and a short stay in Portland, Annette and I took a brief honeymoon trip to San Luis Obispo, California, to visit new friend Kevin Eldredge.

You might already know of Kevin from his Reno racer, Relentless NXT. Kevin had a close call at this year's race, which unfortunately denied him the opportunity to set a new record in his class. We talked a little bit about the risks of air racing and the recent death of top aerobatic pilot Renaud Ecalle.

During the visit Annette and I were fortunate to get a ride in Kevin's Sbach 342. This plane has more going for it than great looks! Shortly after takeoff we were doing over 190 knots in a shallow climb toward the coast. While I didn't get a chance to do much more than garden variety acro, the increase in performance over my Yak-54, Russian Thunder, was evident. We climbed through each aerobatic maneuver with ease. The visibility through the one piece canopy is outstanding. My Yak rides along fairly nose-high and I don't get a chance to see what is in front of me very well. I enjoyed being able to push the nose down in the Sbach, cruising along at over 200 mph, with great visibility in front of the aircraft.

It clearly is a real winner on the ground as well. The all carbon fiber construction allowed Xtremeair's Philipp Steinbach, the designer, to create a very curvy airplane. The shape is organic, even voluptuous, when compared to other aerobatic aircraft. Even so, it disassembles easily...Continue Reading

Yesterday Annette and I took our vows in front of close friends and family. It was a very special ceremony that was perfect to the last detail.

Many of you already know my new wife Annette from our joint attendance at various fly-ins and trade shows. What you may not know is that she is an avid R/C-er and a full scale aerobatics hopeful as well. I'm not sure there are many women as lovable as Annette who would warmly accept a new transmitter as a wedding present, but I present to you these photos as proof! Yes, that's her actually kissing her new Futaba 8FG 8-channel radio.

Jim T. Graham and SleepyC (Steve Cinch) from FlyingGiants came up last week and I managed to talk them into riding in Russian Thunder with me. I'm sure they'll blog about it separately so I'll simply say that I don't think they'll forget the experience any time soon!

...Continue Reading

Just got back from a trip to Pendleton, Oregon for the Beaver State Regional IAC Aerobatic Contest.

While I was there, RCGroups user "deckert" drove in with his wife and took some photos of my plane and put them in his blog. He also wrote up a nice little article to explain what it is like to visit one of the International Aerobatic Club (IAC) events.

As deckert states in his blog, the contests are as much about the social gatherings as they are about the competition. I'm sure the feel is quite different at the Nationals or a World Championship, but at a regional event like this one everyone is mostly interested in helping each other out and making sure everyone flies safely.

I learned a lot from this competition and hope to put my experience to work in mid-September at the competition in Ephrata.

Congratulations to my friend Steve Ellison for his first place win. Great job, Steve!

Jim

We've updated the Russian Thunder website with some new photos of the aircraft.

The new engine, paint, and other modifications are working out great. I think I'm finally on top of all the maintenance issues. I do still have a bit of a problem with the air start system, so I'm forced to take a small scuba tank with me as a backup to start the aircraft, but this is a minor nuisance.

I've taken the week off to prepare for the Beaver State Regional Championship aerobatic contest this weekend in Pendleton, OR. This is the first IAC event I've been able to attend as a competitor since 2008, so I'm merely hoping to fly safely and relearn as much as I can. I'll be pretty busy but will try to take photos and videos along the way. Wish me luck!

Jim

The Heli Trials contest has ended and it is time to announce the winners.

Congrats to Zpix! He had the top score for the month and wins a Heli-Max Novus 125 CP.

Sleedo is our random pick winner. He wins the Novus CX.

ItalianGreys and Wartexx came in second and third and each have won a Castle ICE Lite 75 Controller and a Castle Link Field Progammer as well as a set of Castle 5.5 mm Bullets.

Unfortunately, cheating was definitely a factor in at least 5 of the top 10 times. We can't rule out the winners, but I will say that at least one of them cheated under a different account. That makes his prize suspect. Rather than tell you who it is, I'll let that person sweat it out. Jim Graham will be contacting the winners and will make the final determination. If we decide to give a prize to someone further down on the list, you now know why.

One fascinating example of brazen cheating comes from the user Killerflyer, who is also bassman2914. This user both cheated and still managed to complain loudly about cheating under his alternate account. You, sir, look ridiculous.

But this is supposed to be a happy occasion! Congrats to those who legitimately won and thank you to the cheaters for teaching us how to better design the game.

Jim

By now you've probably seen the banner ads and announcements for HeliTrials, our new helicopter-themed game.

Linkity link: http://www.rcgroups.com/helitrials/

This was a lot of fun for the Knife Edge Software staff to put together. We originally prototyped the game in the RealFlight engine, but decided that it would be better as a web game with simple keyboard controls. We learned some lessons during the development of this game that will pay off nicely as we work on future editions of RealFlight.

It's just in "beta" right now, meaning it's not completely finished, but it's free to play and you can even win a prize if you can get a top time, or are just lucky in the random drawing.

As I type this, RCGer MajorAvenger is in the driver's seat to win the Heli-Max Novus 125 CP we'll award to the highest scorer. Some other lucky user will win the Heli-Max Novus CX, and other lucky pilots will win some great prizes from Castle, namely an ICE Lite 75 Controller and a Castle Link Field Programmer.

The contest ends at the end of this month so get in there and play!

Note that anyone can play, but you must be logged into RCGroups to record times and compete for a prize.

Jim

Our staff is too busy to follow up on all the great suggestions we receive, so I guess it's time to bring in some new blood.

I need someone who can take vague ideas (like "make the blogs cooler" or "set up a wiki" or "make a mobile version of the site") and run with it.

Required technical experience:
- Linux
- Apache
- PHP
- Photoshop

This is a contract opportunity with potential.

We need someone who can create both the art and the code, so if you are a pure coder or a pure artist this probably isn't the opportunity for you. The best candidate is someone with experience designing elegant web user interfaces.

If you want to separate yourself from other candidates, consider doing a few mockups to show how you would redesign some part of the site.

Email me at "jbourke" at the obvious domain name. Send along whatever you think I need to believe in you.

Jim

This weekend I will be in Toledo, OH, USA, for the Weak Signals R/C Expo.

Don't forget to stop by the ETOC if you are in the area that weekend. If you aren't familiar with the Electric Tournament of Champions its a great event run by Ohioan Tom Krogel, owner of TNT Landing Gear and all around R/C ne'er-do-well. It features amazing piloting of lightweight indoor foam models set to music.

However, I must warn you that we will be shooting t-shirts into the crowd using our slingshot, which I've dubbed the "Rubber Fist of Doom".

Last year the Rubber Fist of Doom took out several allegedly innocent attendees with t-shirts right to the solar plexus. I've attached a photo from right before such an incident. The photos immediately after are sequestered.

This year we will adjust the inclination and remove the lead ballast from the shirts, thanks to your many suggestions.

Jim

Just a simple question for you: what would make RCGroups better?

What features would you like to see improved or added to the site?

If you want to contact me privately, you can use the Contact Us link.

Jim

I stayed home today sick and had a bit of a fever.

To make me feel better, Annette made me cookies with hearts on them. Somehow my addlepated, fever rocked brain saw them as ducks. I said: "What's with the ducks? Are they for Easter?" Annette never skipped a beat. She just said: "Yes, dear, they're for Easter" and asked me how I was feeling. Sweet gal.

Anyway, since I'm clearly mentally compromised, let me tell you a story...

For about 2 years I have absolutely refused to say the number "eleven" properly.

Instead, I say "a lemon".

I started doing this to make my kids laugh, but my humor apparently is like a poison: if you get enough of it in small doses, you grow resistant.

It still makes me laugh a bit. When I say "a lemon" I always try to make it sound quite a bit like "eleven". No one ever seems to notice, because people don't pay attention.

So lately I've been finding ways to uncomfortably interject my favorite number into conversations. At the local 7-11 store, this is easy. I simply say "This 7-a-lemon sure has great Slurpees!" in a loud voice in between overly noisy sucks on the straw.

In other situations, my attempt to insert "a lemon" into conversations sounds abrupt and ridiculous. I especially enjoy doing this when my kids are around, because they know my rule is to repeat a joke until it isn't funny anymore, and then keep doing it until it is funny...Continue Reading

I haven't made a blog post for awhile, so here is a quick one...if you saw "Airplane!" as a kid, like I did, you probably enjoyed it for it's slapstick nuttiness.

What I didn't know until now is that Airplane! was actually a spoof of a movie called "Zero Hour".

Take a look at the following clips from Zero Hour and I'm sure you'll get a chuckle.

But be warned: it isn't going to be funny unless you've seen Airplane! a few times...

Douglas DC-4-"Joey...Do You Like Movies About Gladiators"??? (9 min 25 sec)

Jim

When I started flying "full scale" aerobatics, I was delighted to learn that I wasn't the only R/C industry figure to make the jump.

Steve Ellison, of Horizon Hobby, lives in Salem, Oregon just a half hour or so from me. He flies an Extra 300 which he has decked out nicely in his favorite logos.

Steve has a few years of experience on me and is the stronger pilot. We haven't had much of an opportunity to fly together yet, since Russian Thunder has spent so much time in the shop, so Steve sent me some pics during a practice session in Madras, Oregon.

Steve tells me he is excited about working toward further proficiency and hopes to someday get his aerobatics waiver to perform airshows. We're two peas in a pod, I guess.

I have some news on Russian Thunder. I purchased an engine from Jill and Carl at m-14p.com. It is scheduled to be installed next week. Hopefully, I'll be back in the air again soon. It's been a long wait. I still haven't said much about the shaky test flights I "enjoyed" over the summer...maybe I'll get to it next week.

Jim

I just received word that IAC president and former world champion, Vicki Cruse, passed away earlier today during the World Aerobatic Championships in the UK.

Vicki was at the controls of a borrowed Edge 540 during her qualification run when a snaproll on a vertical downline ended in her passing. I don't have any further details, but I have to assume a mechanical problem of some kind. The official IAC announcement suggests this as well.

http://www.iac.org/news/2009%20-%200...html#TopOfPage

I didn't know Vicki well, but I mourn her loss along with every other member of the International Aerobatic Club. My every interaction with her was a pleasure. I looked up to her as a pilot, and feel she did a tremendous job of presiding over the IAC.

My heart goes out to her close friends and all the attendees at the WAC. It must seem impossible to continue on with the competition after witnessing such a tragedy. Fly well.

I never knew her family, and I doubt my words will reach them, but you are in my thoughts. I know nothing could make sense of what happened, but I hope it helps to know how exceptionally she represented herself, and her favorite sport, and how much everyone in the IAC will miss her.

Jim
IAC 434151