Friday, July 10, 2009

Those Summer birds...

Some of you have asked if I have been taking a blogging vacation ( I have not been posting as much as I used to) which was very nice that you inquired. I really do appreciate your concern..and all is fine...Really! During the summer I get very busy with another type of bird .. so I decided to share some photos of the OTHER birds who I take photos of, help organize, pack and ship kits, carry, etc.. ..the ones that live in my basement and in my dining room and come out to play on calm, sunny days and definitely on all summer and early fall weekends. My husband builds, from scratch, remote control WWII model airplanes...also known as Warbirds. He does demo flights prior to full-scale (real) airshows and we also attend remote-control airshows up and down the East coast most of the summer. His planes have taken Best of Show many times and the 2007 and 09 WRAM NY Designer Award. They are built to scale (1/6 scale) all balsa wood with wing spans that range from 101 inches to 114 inches. They all fly, have retractable landing gears and are gasoline powered.

This is a bomber called an Avenger/ TBM 3E used mainly in the south pacific during the war.
Looks real doesn't it..we take them to an old navy base to take their pre-maiden flight photos.
Placing them on the old runway helps to give them a realistic look.


This is another Avenger TBM 3E bomber (different paint scheme and different markings) ...releasing its torpedo during a demo flight for a show we attended last year. The plane is flown and operated completely by radio. Timing is essential when releasing any bombs or torpedoes. The average weight of his planes runs about 36-38 pounds.

This is a P-38 Lightning, a fighter, used all over the world during WWII, but most likely remembered as being more successful in the Pacific. This model has twin engines and is the largest wing span of his planes..114 inches. The engines for the P-38, for those who want to know, are 50cc/ quite powerful. Speeds reach 60 - 80 mpr. for most of these planes.
This is a BeechCraft D-18/C-45 transport, used to transport VIPs during the war. Also a twin engine. All landing gears on his planes retract and fold up into the belly of each plane. The "W" insignia (seen of the tail) represents Willow Grove Naval Airbase.. where his father was in the Navy. The real (blue) Avenger and Beech Craft actually flew out of Willowgrove in the 1940/50s.
This is an SNJ or an AT-6. It was used by the military, as an advanced flight trainer.
I am his partner in crime, so to speak. We have been doing models for over 30 years. He has recently started selling his own designs for these airplanes. The Avenger and the Skyraider shown below are his own plans and he sells the kits, plans and other parts to build. About 1200-1600 man hours go into building one of these. As all pilots know, what goes up must come down..and we have lost a few a long the way..but it is his hobby and now his mini-business. It does, however, keep us busy during the summer months as we travel quite a bit...but all in fun!
His latest design and build is the AD-5 Skyraider (pictured below) which just flew her maiden flight this past Spring. Well, now you know about the other birds in Tina's life...the giant-scale birds.
We are off for a long weekend and show being held in Newark, Delaware...so I will be catching up with everyone early next week. If you really want more info on his craft...feel free to visit us at www.Kelloggplans.com ... if not that's fine and dandy ;-) Do hope you all have a great weekend!

20 comments:

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

WOW!That's as facsinating as the other birds.My husband will be very interested in this.We have been to many airshows and enjoy them tremendously.We have only attended one scale show and enjoyed that as well.Good luck and keep on having fun.
Blessings,Ruth

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

COOL! I had to show this post to my husband. He loves RC airplanes and your photos made him almost drool!

Eve said...

This is SO cool Tina! We had a basement full of planes we couldn't fly because the wind in NY never stopped blowing and now we live in the woods!! Enjoy your fun hobby, those planes are great!

Nick S said...

Fascinating stuff Tina. Those planes are awesome . What fun !

Kelly said...

Wow! How cool....

troutbirder said...

Now those are some cool "birds." I read a lot of WWII history and these planes certainly put a face on the aerial part of it.

NCmountainwoman said...

Absolutely fascinating! We are WWII buffs and these are amazing planes. I've always admired the gutsy pilots and crew who flew them. What a wonderful hobby. Let's see more of them this summer.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Tina: What a fun time in the air. Those are nicely engineered planes.

Janice K said...

Your blog brought back many memories. My youngest son made and flew remote controlled airplanes. He also became a pilot.
Many times there was a table set up in my family room while balsa wood was being transformed into something that would fly. I still have two planes that were his hanging in my house. And there were many times that I went with him to find a space open enough for him to fly his planes.

Your husband's planes are outstanding. Good luck with his business and thanks for sharing with us.

Gail said...

In a multi-talented family like yours, life is never boring. Great job, hubby of Tina.

Anonymous said...

Holy smokes. This is all first class stuff. I mean it is beyond a hobby but professional from the get-go. What a hobby. Frankly, I have never seen anything quite like these.

54th Wedding Anniversary Today

Neal said...

That's really neat. The picture of the P-38 brought back memories. If you go here you can read the story of a P-38 that was lost and recovered. They restored the plane in Middlesboro, KY and since that's the area I grew up in I am back down there pretty often so I got to watch them restore the P-38. I was sorry to see them sell it to some place in TX because that means I never get to see it anymore.

Neal said...

Hey, Tina I have some pictures of the P-38 but would appreciate any you can get. Can you email me at emailforpreston-blog@yahoo.com ... this is a semi-fake email address but I'll still get the message. If I start getting SPAM on the address I'll just delete it. I'll send you a few pictures when I get your email address and also send you my real email address. Thanks.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi There, We're home after a wonderful weekend in the gorgeous North Carolina mountains. I'll post in the morning.

Wow Tina... I had no idea your hubby's hobby was something MUCH more than what I think of when people fly model airplanes... Your hubby is GIFTED--and those planes look FABULOUS. I am SO impressed.

Glad you have more 'birds' in your life.... ha

Hope you had a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

I think these summer birds are every bit as fascinating as your birds of the other seasons. This looks like lots of fun -- enjoy the summer.

Leedra said...

What a wonderful way to spend your time together. I am sure this started as a hobby. Hobbies do turn into something more sometimes.

Think we are all blogging less this summer than we did last summer. Maybe we will get back into it come winter, and maybe not.

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing these beauties with us Tina

Dave's Bird Watching Blog said...

Very cool planes! Our oldest son would love something like that!!!

FAB said...

Tina, I have an Uncle who builds & flies model planes BUT not of this scale. He also uses every spare piece of space throughout the house!
Great post & I enjoyed looking thro the website. Well done hubby.

Dawn Fine said...

how interesting! I can see why you are so busy! I have seen model planes..but never this size..
must be a ton of fun!

would like to hear your thoughts..