Miss America 2023 - Let's get it done!

[Mark K]

Interesting that they started it with now induction trunk. I've never seen that done before.

Good stuff.

Will

I did visit the hangar Thursday afternoon and Scotty told me that they were planning on filling the cooling system & doing a series of engine runs to purge the system of air Friday morning. I'm thinking that the trunk wasn't necessary as all they're doing is to start and run the engine up to temp, shutting it down, opening up the air bleed line, purge the air, close it, and repeat. You can also see a lot of water on the deck in the photos... that's not all rain - it's water runoff from the purging process. So I know that's what is pictured, no engine runs were done, just bringing it up to temp. Leaving the trunk off may also allow easier access to check the lines for leaks & such during the process. I'll be heading up there in a few hours for the first flight and ask Scotty for clarification.

It's gonna be a very fun day

[Mark K]

Home for lunch, so thought I would update you guys. Found out after I got there that Brent was scheduled in surgery today until noon, so the test flight looks like a go somewhere around 1PM. Plane was ready to go when I left at 11:30am - scud has burned off too (was overcast at 800 feet for a while this morning) so weather won't be an issue. Better get back - but here's a pic to tide you over .

[GRNDP51]

She’s up!!

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N991R

[Mark K]

Test run went awesome ... details & pics later!

[Mark K]

It certainly was a busy Saturday... so picking up where we left off - when I arrived this morning Greg Butler & Rick Shanholtzer were already busy getting things ready for today's text flight. Rick was taking care of inspecting the motor one last time, making sure all the ancillary connections to the race motor were correct & everything looked 110%. Meanwhile Greg started in on attaching the nosecone & topping off the oil, then when Scotty arrived they attached all the cowl panels, added water to the spraybar tank, cleaned the windscreen and Miss America was finally ready for her 1st flight with Rick's new race motor (photos 1 through 19).



The flight itself went off without a hitch. At approximately 12:55PM Brent took off in Miss America in what could best be described as "textbook fashion".... climbing to altitude with little effort, the motor sounding strong and not missing a beat... filling the air with a concert-hall of music that only a Merlin V-12 could produce. Brent told me after the flight that the aircraft felt "beasty", easily cruising at 250 kts at only 40 inches of manifold pressure. He had to use the spraybar on takeoff (the outside temperature was approaching 90 degrees F - 32 degree C - so it was a HOT day here in Oklahoma) but after that he never used it again... the heat exchanger was working very efficiently. After about a 30-minute flight, Brent brought her back in for a landing & the post-flight inspection. (photos 20 through 42).



The mood seemed positive as the aircraft was being pushed back into the hangar... Brent obviously was pleased with his mount and all indications pointed towards a successful first flight. Cowl panels were removed and the first thing that was noticed was just how dry the engine compartment was. There were hardly any fluids present... just a couple of drips, the top of the trunk was as dry as a bone, motor still looked fresh, no leaking anywhere... but the big test was coming, are the screens clean? Were there any signs of metal wear, any "glitter" in the bucket??? It didn't take long after Rick removed the screens - one huge smile told it all, no metal in the screens what-so-ever. There was some carbon residue, and one or two tiny flakes of liner coating material, but everyone was all in agreement. As Greg put it, "Rick, looks like you got a winner". (photos 43 through 49).



So that's our report for today. Next week Brent has another flight scheduled for Saturday morning where we'll be taking up Miss America and Brent's B-25 for a little air-to-air photo shoot... should be a blast!!!! And sorry about the video... the D4 camera doesn't lend itself well to taking videos since you cannot use the viewfinder and must use the LCD display on the rear of the camera. In bright light, you can hardly see any detail in it, much less frame a video. Probably works great with a tripod on non-moving subjects. I won't be using the video feature on the D4 in the future - not really useful for this kind of photography without spending money on a sun shield for the LCD.

It does take great pics though!

[AAFO_WSagar]

Nice work Markers! Can't wait till next Saturday!!!

[RAD2LTR]

Well thats awesome news. No metal and a dry, clean engine post flight is excellent. Can't wait to see the A2A stuff. I wish I could do the shoot with you.

Nice shots and I can't wait to see what next week provides.

Will

[Mark K]

Nice shots and I can't wait to see what next week provides.

This week wasn't too bad... after some minor cropping - I have a new wallpaper
Now I remember why I like taking pictures of planes on concrete... bottom of the plane doesn't get washed out in shaddow.

[mitchcarley]

Mark - Beautiful and informative. THANK YOU! Mark, Wayne and Team thank you for this access being possible.

[Mark K]

So I guess here is where I get to share my sad little story. This morning I got the pleasure of flying in Brent's B25 to shoot some photos of Miss America and despite my best efforts, I failed pretty spectacularly as I have 0 photos to share. A bit of an explanation is in order, so here we go.

Currently Miss America doesn't have her stock motor in place... she has her race motor installed and as such, does not like to be flown at slow speeds. The edict from engine builder Rick Shanholtzer was nothing below 35 inches... which pulls the plane along at 240/250 kts. Although the B25 has this nice hole in the side of it to allow for photos to be taken, it's not capable of the speeds Miss America would be flying. This made it necessary for Brent only to do flybys past the B25, with about a 50 to 60 kt closure rate on those passes. So this meant that I would have to pan the camera, and the tight confines of the B25 I soon learned that it isn't really setup for that. I also knew that Wayne wanted that "money shot" as he called it - so to me that meant slower shutter speeds need to be used (1/60 sec or so - needed lots of prop blur.). So, I thought the first two passes I'd go with the 1/60th shutter speed with my new Nikon image stabilized 28-200mm (VR) lens... and pump it up from there. After the second pass I reviewed the pics & it appeared that 1/60th sec. was too slow. I planned on bumping it up to 125th, 1/180th, to 1/250th sec. on subsequent runs. I was also going to change out the lens to my 80-400mm VR lens to have more time on target (no way to pan, so i was just going to focus on that "money shot") on subsequent runs - but those runs never came. There was almost a third one, but I could see Brent was too high and out of position, and after that I didn't see him again until we landed.

So it is what it is, sorry guys. Inexperience combined with the situation that presented itself didn't work out this time... but maybe once Miss America gets her stock motor back in and slows down it will be a different story.
I will say this much - despite not getting any photos - it was a BLAST!!!!

EDIT:
After talking with my brother-in-law (he was riding in the tail of the B25) he sent me a video that kinda explains my day. It's not good quality at all (from a cell phone through plexiglass) but what it clearly shows is Miss America and Brent passing off the side on the plane as my brother-in-law pans right. Unfortunately, the port hole for the photographer is on the opposite side of the plane.

I knew Brent had more time than just two passes.... and I was right . Too funny!!!!

[RAD2LTR]

Well, you had fun. That was a positive. Panning a pass a2a might be tough. I guess we'll just have to figure out another A2A shoot in Sept somehow.

Will

[AAFO_WSagar]

Ouch Markers! Sorry it didn't work out well... whod-a-thunk that a B25 could not go fast enough to formo fly with MissA... which is a good thing as far as making a winning airplane is concerned! Mebbie we'll get another chance at Reno.. Particularly if Will can secure a fast enough ride, He's already shown how welll he can shoot through plexi! Again,, sorry for any part of my motivation to get that "money shot" that played into your mission not workin well! I would have probably been up around 400 for shutter speed... Screw the blur LOL! You done good buddy!

[Mark K]

I would have probably been up around 400 for shutter speed... Screw the blur LOL!

I've taken crystal clear pictures at 1/60th sec. at 400mm with my image stabilized lens, so at 200mm it should have worked out rather well. I'm assuming it was something to do with the vibrations from the two big round motor hanging off the wings and my inability to isolate myself from those vibrations (I was sitting on a few cushions, but they obviously didn't work out great). No, with a couple of more passes I would have gotten it - they just never happened.

The thing that made it a blast for me was that my brother-in-law has two favorite aircraft... the F104 Starfighter and the B25 Mitchel bomber. So, for him it really was a dream come true. He was as giddy as a schoolgirl, eyes bigger than a golf ball, got all excited and such... and he couldn't wait to get up in the tail gunner's chair... spent the entire flight back there taking videos & photos. Speaking of which, you already saw his work above with Brent & Miss America passing off the pilot's side of the aircraft. On a different run he was able to snap a photo as Brent passed... and unfortunately again, the photographers port hole is on the opposite side of the plane. LOL



If I would have gotten those two last passes it would be a different story. All good... we learn by doing
First pass caught me off-guard and I wasn't setup correctly. Next pass I had the setup & technique down, but camera shake ruined the image (1/60 at 200mm - seen below). Next pass I already had changed out for my 400mm lens, so the image would have been 2 times closer before it went out-of-frame... and with a faster shutter speed, the money shot was gonna happen IF the pass would have come.

[AAFO_WSagar]

It's all good Markers! I'm just happy you got up at all! I know exactly how your brother in law felt.. my first warbird ride was in my absolute favorite WWII plane.. Evergreen's B-17 in the tail gunner position even during take off and landing... we flew REALLY low.. I've got video of the flight.... if I ever figure out how to get my video tapes digitise

[AAFO_WSagar]

Hey Markers, can I get you to email me the original (full size) file? I ran the small version through topez labs trial program and it made some inprovement.. it would do much better work on original!