TX-EcoDragon's Photos-Part I

[TX-EcoDragon]

P-51D Risky Business at CMA




P-51D Merlin's Magic at NTD



S!

TX-EcoDragon
TX Squadron XO

[TX-EcoDragon]

Huntress III and Clay Lacy's Snoopy P-51D at CMATom Womack waves from his SuperChipmunk at NTDPT-17 at NTD T-28 Trojan at NTDTexans in formation over CMADelmar Benjamin in his GeeBee R2 at NTDDelmar displays the R2's knife edge abilityTwo Super Stearmans of the Red Barrons Squadron start a series of Snap rolls at NTDGene Soucy lets Theresa Stokes take the best seat a passenger can get on an Ag-Cat!S!TX-EcoDragonTX Squadron XO

[TX-EcoDragon]

The day of my Solo! I did my PPASEL Training at VIS.Flying to Monterey (MRY) from Visalisa (VIS) in the Archer at 8,500 Feet.Me pulling over the top of a loop about to make the kill shot. . . err. . . well .. sorta. .  . ok .  .  . not really.Along the way to monterey in the ArcherOn Final runway 30, at Visalia, in the ArcherIn a Cessna Skyhawk over Santa Barbara. . . at sunset!In the back is my Friend Degas and his Girlfriend Sierra. . .it was their anniversary! During this time I was based at SZPNow I fly out of University Airport, 0O5, here is one of the C-172 I flyHere is my current ride of choice, the 180 hp C-172 RG, or Cutlass.This one cruises at 138-140 KTAS and is happy as a clam descending 150 KTAS at 500 fpm. Oh. . and has 700 nm range at these speeds.Tailhook Convention FlybyF-14 Tomcat gunsThese are pretty wide.  .  . I know this. . .scroll right to see the sequence of threeF-14 Tomcat at Mach .99 (a hair below the sound barrier) with bow wave decompression vapor formation! This pass was at about 100 feet of alt.This was a real treat fo rme to capture on film. I had been trying for years to get a series of shots of this phenomenon while shooting on my old fully manual Nikon N2000. My first venture out to the naval airbase with my F100 was awesome!! 5.6 frames per second, and "the world's fastest autofocus" made these possible. About one second elapses during these 6 photos. The camera tracked the aircraft and maintained pretty dang sharp focus, the hardest part was keeping this lightning fast flyby in the viewfinder!!!I hope ya'all enjoyed these (I spent about 3 hours scanning and uploading so if nobody looks just pretend you did)S!TX-EcoDragonCurrent mount: P-39 Q10Favorite Plane: BF109-G6A/Sand a bandit on my 6Most feared/resented FB addition: LA-7Characteristic noise during dive as reported by a third party witness: GGGGRRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWK!!!

[TX-Cage]

post to prove i looked.....hehevery nice shots Eco     :)TX-CageBlack 5... end ...

[TX-Zen]

Nice photos EekOYou should have stole the mustang when they weren't looking, just like Rahman did to get his Yak 3 back in the day. You see, he and I were flying a special comando mod two seat 109 and we decided to steal a Yak for testing purposes...........TX-ZenBlack 6TX Squadron CO

[TX-EcoDragon]

Hehehe . . . thanks Cage. . . and ZenYeah. . that open canopy does seem to call me my name softly. Even looking at it now I cant help but  start to fantasize!!S!TX-EcoDragonCurrent mount: P-39 Q10Favorite Plane: BF109-G6A/Sand a bandit on my 6Most feared/resented FB addition: LA-7Characteristic noise during dive as reported by a third party witness: GGGGRRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWK!!!

[Springster]

Great shots guys, those inflight pics make me wanna go flying! Those Tomcat photos are phenomenal! That is very exciting sequence, thanks for sharing it! By the way, I am thinking about buying the Forgotten Battles sim, and I found the squad directory which in turn led me here. You guys have a very professional looking site and it is clear that you take it very seriously and I think I am going to pick it up in the morning and give it a try!Also, I started working towards my PPASEL at VNY and I vividly remember the time my CFI and I went flying to SZP. I was intimidated just flying in the pattern there with that terrain, and I never was able to fly an approach that felt right with all the wind shears that are apparently all to common there, so my 6 circuits were all go-arounds, and my CFI ended up doing the landing so we could pick up our $100 pasta at Logsdon's!I didn’t finish my training as I now have twins to raise, but one of these days I will finish it, and then Santa Paula here I come!Rob Spring

[TX-EcoDragon]

Hi Rob,Congratulations on the twins! Its too bad you had to cut your training short, but in truth training is much of the fun of flying, and as all the old experienced folks keep saying, your certification is your liscense to learn, its not the destination. I have been flying for 5 years without any training flights mixed in (although I suppose you could count BFR's and cekouts when I relocate), and though I am not complaining, I have to say that dual instruction doing new things, flying to newplaces, in new aircraft categories is one of the highlights of flying. I am actually not based at Santa Paula any longer, I am now going to UC Davis, and am based at 0O5. I too did my primary training at a large runway, VIS was 6,543 X 150. SZP is a whole other beast, and perhaps its not the best place to bring a fresh student pilot to introduce them to short (and narrow!!) strips. SZP's runway only leaves 2 feet of space to either edge of your wingtips, with power lines, a rock mill, a 2,600 foot mountain, three distinct wind funnels in the form of the valleys, and then this is all compounded by the many randomly alligned hangars that then funnel the wing in even more directions. . . I flew probably about 50 hours of time while based at SZP and every landing was a full time job, they always are of course. . .but SZP has proven time and time again to bite those that don't recognize that. I am not a CFI yet, but in my mind, a student should have seen the various perspectives on final at various different runway sizes before needing to deal with all the other things that Santa Paula throws at you. What I am saying is, the fact that you did 6 go-arounds isnt a bad thing in my mind, or most aviation authorities, the choice to cancel a landing that your not comfortable with is a good one, their are many pilots who have not felt capable of such choices, and have paid the price with their lives. SO be proud that you dont let your ego or over confidence lead you, pilots live long and prosper when their mind is in control, and short and dramatic lives when they let the airplane get ahead of them.About the sim, I say buy it! Its great fun! Best out the wondow views I have seen anywhere, and in the previous version of the sim (IL-2) the best flight physics I have seen in pretty much all desktop softwares out there. The current version of the sim will likely be patched back towards the Flight models of the original, so dont let this drawback stop you!Look forward to seeing you in the virtual air!BrettAKA: TX-EcoDragon

[LW_Tornado]

S~ Rob, nice of you to stop by , and great stories both of you !! The game is fantastic , I'm not a real pilot, but what really makes the game the best is the group of guys i fly with !! This TX Squadron is something else , have to experience it to really explain it, but you come on back now ya hear :)BillTX-Tornado