1911 flight testing at Pax River

[Baldeagle]

Thought some of you might find this interesting, the flight test engineers at Pax River are instrumenting the 1911 Curtiss Pusher and designing flight profiles for us to fly so they can document how it flies. Here's Bob's blog entry on the subject:
http://elycurtisspusher.com/2011/03/25/416/

It's a volunteer project that is somewhat akin to when they have the current pilots fly WW2 or early jet aircraft to give them new parameters to work with and a new perspective on thier "normal" day jobs.




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[Baldeagle]

Photo from Friday at Pax River



And part of the test cards, all tasks were done for approach, cruise, and max speeds



It was a bit windy so tubulence was a problem, but I think they got enough data to come up with a pretty good simulator.



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[Cvairwerks]

State of the art, 100 years apart.....then there is the Bug....

[Jerry O'Neill]

That's awesome!
Were Navy Test pilots actually allowed to fly the Pusher?
Jerry

[Sigurjon]

How cool is that! Thanks for sharing.

Sigurjon

[Baldeagle]

Were Navy Test pilots actually allowed to fly the Pusher?

No, but we didn't get to fly the F-35 either...
Several of them did sit in the Curtiss, but I think that was enough for them-

Next stop, Hyde Field in the FRZ (inside a 10 mile radius of DC, for which flight we had to be fingerprinted and have background checks from both the FAA and TSA, that Curtiss could be dangerous...), from where the airplane will be trucked to National Harbor and hung in the convention center for the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition on April 11-13.




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[Dudley Henriques]

Photo from Friday at Pax River



And part of the test cards, all tasks were done for approach, cruise, and max speeds



It was a bit windy so tubulence was a problem, but I think they got enough data to come up with a pretty good simulator.



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I remember Strike well. Brings back good memories with some REAL fine people.
Got a few hours on the F14 project with Jack Batenburg and DD Smith complements of Admiral Brown and Tom Flannery. It was DD and Pete Angilina who rode the #619 Test Bed Turkey down into the bay. They got out but DD looked like he got his horn stuck while following the Pagan Motorcycle gang down the freeway in LA!
Dudley Henriques

[Baldeagle]

Tom Flannery was Bob's Skipper in his S-3 squadron way back when (Bob built and flies the Curtiss, I'm second pilot), and he came out to see the Pusher when we had it at Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago.




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[Dudley Henriques]

Tom Flannery was Bob's Skipper in his S-3 squadron way back when (Bob built and flies the Curtiss, I'm second pilot), and he came out to see the Pusher when we had it at Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago.




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Tom is a great guy. When Admiral Brown invited me down for a bit of time in the F14 and to fly the T38 at TPS, Tom handled all of it. Had a great time at the Belvedere across the road from the main gate. Spent the evening with TPS guys hoisting a few and deciding which one of us was going to climb up on the roof to "steal" the huge plastic cow the Belvedere put on the roof as a sign
Tex Birdwell and the guys at TPS and the guys at Strike were some of the finest people and the best aviation talent I've ever met in aviation.

Best of luck with the pusher. Knowing what I do about the people at Pax, I have no doubt whatsoever you guys can not only handle the job, but have one hell of a good time doing it

Dudley Henriques

[seabee1526]

Great Pic. It would be nice to see the F35 at the Centenial shows....and I can't wait to see the Pusher at TOM this year!

[Baldeagle]

Bob flying past the nuke plant north of Pax River on the way into the FRZ and Hyde Field


The airplane is now hanging up in the exhibition hall at National Harbor for the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Expostion starting on Monday.

Enroute to Nat'l Harbor, slow trip



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