roadrunner 
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« on: February 20, 2011, 03:00:12 PM » |
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I have been preoccupied lately with remodelling the bathrooms. I finally decided I needed to get the bike back out on the road  Decided to ride up to Mojave for the Plane Crazy affair, held every 3rd Saturday at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Weather was about 44F when I left home but the weather was otherwise gorgeous! First stop was at the Tropico Gold Mine (now closed). This was the site of the Chili Cookoff World Championships from 1975-1992.   Next stop was the site of a set built for the movie Blue Thunder back in the early 80's. The bike picture is taken in the same general area but from a different camera angle than the following picture.   The Tehachapi mountains got a little snow on Friday night..  Finally reached Mojave and met up with my Dad and Uncle Jack...   I was pretty comfortable in my Alpinestars gear but a cuppa coffee sounded good! Dad's 92 but still going strong. We have a standing golf date every Friday.  After this picture, we moved inside for a tri-tip luncheon with the proceeds going to the fundraising for a Mojave Transportation Museum. Part of the luncheon was a very interesting presentation by Jim Payne, a world-class sailplane pilot. The topic was flying sailplanes safely in the "wave" created by the Tehachapi and Sierra mountains. Mr. Payne has held numerous world records for sailplanes. The SpaceShipTwo and the White Knight Two were rolled out for Plane Crazy. What a great opportunity to get some nice pics and see the largest composite aircraft ever built!   Gotta love the art work on this aircraft!   Flight testing is currently underway and successful from all accounts...   Here is a Burt Rutan designed LongEZ ..   Here is a cool F-86  The SpaceShipOne (a replica) is on display ...  along with a Rotary Rocket Roton ATV. This design had some flaws and the company went out of business about 2000.  About this time the weather was getting more ominous, so I hopped on the freeway and headed back to Lancaster, barely beating the rain.  |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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fortyhourdays
Dining Room Mechanic
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« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2011, 03:15:34 PM » |
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Very cool!
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Jon
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Bumblebee
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« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2011, 03:19:09 PM » |
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Barrows Bearhawk? I want one. Rutan is a crackpot. Not smart enough that he can't do something so he goes ahead and does it anyway.  Did you know the SS1 reentry stability system is based upon a shuttlecock, as in the birdie from a game of badminton? IIRC the story goes that they couldn't insure that the vehicle would fall belly side down at high altitude in a stable configuration. One night he woke up scrambling for pencil and paper. The next day they were chopping half the tailfeathers off shuttlecocks and tossing them up in the air. Leading edge high tech rocket science coming at you...straight out of the 1860's.  |
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You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going.
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pw363
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« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2011, 03:27:24 PM » |
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very nice. thanks for sharing.
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fishball
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« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2011, 03:54:08 PM » |
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Excellent. So what's the story with the LongEZ, why is it nose down when parked?
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Dan
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edac
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« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2011, 04:33:16 PM » |
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Thanks, nice report.
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Bumblebee
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« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2011, 04:41:32 PM » |
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Excellent. So what's the story with the LongEZ, why is it nose down when parked? It's parked that way on purpose. Take the pilot out with the heavy engine on the back, the center of gravity is very close to the rear wheels pivot point. It takes very little to topple one over backwards. The alternative is to put weights in the front seat. |
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You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going.
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roadrunner
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« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2011, 04:52:54 PM » |
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Excellent. So what's the story with the LongEZ, why is it nose down when parked? It's parked that way on purpose. Take the pilot out with the heavy engine on the back, the center of gravity is very close to the rear wheels pivot point. It takes very little to topple one over backwards. The alternative is to put weights in the front seat. BB is absolutely right on this. Note that all planes are parked facing west (the prevailing winds come out of the west). Mojave is noted for some horrendous wind speeds (100+).  |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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Burgi
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« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2011, 06:00:14 PM » |
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That Virgin plane is cool looking. Glad you beat the rain home. Some of us weren't so lucky.  |
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Twist N Go
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FearThis SC
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« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2011, 06:04:16 PM » |
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Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.......looks like you had a great ride and day! |
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85 Honda NightHawk CB700SC
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tomb raider
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« Reply #10 on: February 20, 2011, 06:21:27 PM » |
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Great T/R, I was in that area not long ago. Wishing I was on the Bike instead of hualing a car trailer.
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Jimbo
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roadrunner
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« Reply #11 on: February 20, 2011, 06:34:39 PM » |
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Great T/R, I was in that area not long ago. Wishing I was on the Bike instead of hualing a car trailer.
Tombraider ... a long time ago, I lived in Ridgecrest & China Lake ... not too far from where you took those shots. I forgot to mention in my ride report but 2 separate incidents of "roadrunners" barely made it across the road in front of the bike. I'm going to have to get a helmet cam ..  |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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roadrunner
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« Reply #12 on: February 20, 2011, 06:50:04 PM » |
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That Virgin plane is cool looking. Glad you beat the rain home. Some of us weren't so lucky. Sorry about that Burgi! I was almost hoping to be caught in some rain to see how rainproof this Alpinestars outerwear really is .. |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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Burgi
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« Reply #13 on: February 20, 2011, 09:37:30 PM » |
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Sorry about that Burgi! I was almost hoping to be caught in some rain to see how rainproof this Aerostar outerwear really is ..
I had on a water proof jacket and regular jeans. I think the jacket worked OK but my legs were so cold I can't say I really noticed.  It doesn't seem there is any such thing as a warm rain here, it is always cold and miserable. One of these days I'm going to actually bring along my rain gear.  |
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Twist N Go
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tomb raider
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« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2011, 07:19:50 AM » |
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I don't think that would be any fun Roadrunner, be safe..
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Jimbo
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roadrunner
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« Reply #15 on: February 21, 2011, 08:33:55 AM » |
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Sorry about that Burgi! I was almost hoping to be caught in some rain to see how rainproof this Aerostar outerwear really is ..
I had on a water proof jacket and regular jeans. I think the jacket worked OK but my legs were so cold I can't say I really noticed. It doesn't seem there is any such thing as a warm rain here, it is always cold and miserable. One of these days I'm going to actually bring along my rain gear. It's been unusually cold lately .. we almost had snow on the valley floor on Saturday. BTW, I misspoke, my gear is Alpinestars, not Aerostar (where did that come from?)...  I don't think that would be any fun Roadrunner, be safe..
Thanks Tomb .. you're right! It was a perfect ride so why throw cold water on it .. |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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cjbear11
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« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2011, 09:15:10 AM » |
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Awesome report! Thanks for sharing!
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hppants
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« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2011, 11:18:06 AM » |
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What a great report. I love air shows of any kind. Were any of the planes flown for this show? Also, I have never seen a roadrunner before. The cartoon depiction is pretty darn close!! |
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roadrunner
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« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2011, 12:54:38 PM » |
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What a great report. I love air shows of any kind. Were any of the planes flown for this show? Also, I have never seen a roadrunner before. The cartoon depiction is pretty darn close!! This was a static display air show. There were a number of fly-in attendees, tho. The big attraction (for me at least) was the chance to see the White Knight Two and SpaceShipTwo up close. The weather was a bit iffy but held up so they were able to bring them out of the hangar.  Those roadrunners are pretty shy and I can't ever recall seeing 2 in one day before! They usually run most of the way across the road and then take flight for a bit before disappearing...  |
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68 CL350, 74 DT250, 92 CB750
66 CT90, 82 FT500, 98 CB750
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ariwhiteboy
Child Psychologist (No, Really)
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« Reply #19 on: February 22, 2011, 05:54:00 PM » |
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Great report road runner, I love airplane stuff like that. It always takes me back to my childhood trips to airshows with my dad.  |
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What is good Phaedrus, what is not good? Need we ask anyone this?
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