July 2013 Issue of RCN News Magazine

This issue's modeling column features the Seafire XV in 1/72 and a couple of decal reviews.  You can download the magazine and/or buy your print copies here.

Tulsa Air and Space Museum

While in Tulsa, I visited the small, but interesting, Tulsa Air and Space Museum. It is not often that I see aircraft types I've not seen before but the Tulsa Museum had two.

A former American Airlines MD-80 has been donated to the Museum and it will be modified into a park ornament and classroom.

A nice looking Spartan NP-1 has traveled to to quite a few places in its lifetime; including Grosse Ile, Michigan, Wooster, Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and now Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (For the eagle-eyed, the red airplane is a Spartan C-2.)

I've seen Spartan Executives before, but never a nose gear version.  This is the Spartan 12W Executive.  It was the only example of its type built.  Nice looking plane.

Another new aircraft to me was the Rockwell/DASA Ranger 2000.  A competitor in the USAF JPATS evaluation, three were built in Germany.  N204NA was the third prototype and the aircraft was derived from the German Fantrainer.  Of course, the T-6A Texan II was purchased by the USAF instead of the Ranger 2000.

They have an F-14 too, Goose.

May 2013 Issue of RCN News Magazine

This issue's modeling column features two 1/72 Merlin Seafire reviews. You can download the magazine and/or buy your print copies here.

FHC's June 29, 2013 Fly Day

The theme was Air War in the Pacific and it was also the public debut of the newly restored F6F-5 Hellcat BuNo. 79863/N79863.  I got some nice shots of the Hellcat, but the Zero fared less well.

Not quite Pacific, but it did spray quite a bit of water...

Why do I even try?

This was supposed to be a really nice photo of a AN-124 taking off during the Flying Heritage Collection Fly Day a couple of Saturdays ago...