"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
08/11/2016 at 18:52 • Filed to: None
8
22|
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
08/11/2016 at 18:52 • Filed to: None | 8
| 22 |
For those who don’t know, I attended my first Airventure last month. Airventure is a massive week-long annual gathering of aircraft and aviation enthusiasts, where over 10,000 planes and half a million people descend upon Oshkosh, Wisconsion. Arrival day (Sunday) is twelve hours of chaos as planes arrive in such a massive swarm that the airport turns one of their taxiways into an active runway and shortens the gaps between planes so there may be up to three planes landing on a single runway at the same moment. On the radio the arrival chatter is a one-way conversation as the controller in the tower speaks nonstop, jumping from plane to plane, barking orders. Pilots are informed in advance that they shouldn’t verbally acknowledge (ain’t nobody got time for that) but simply rock their wings. Sunday is a hell of a day, especially if you’ve got a radio so you can !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
The most striking moment though came on Wednesday.
It had been a fun day of browsing the vendors, watching the aerobatic performances of the various stunt planes, and sitting in on builder forums. My brother and I had bought a bag of mini donuts and walked over to the flight line, finding a spot at show center so we could be in the middle of the action when the night air show began. On the nearby stage there was a old time radio reenactment taking place, with a live swing band, interspersed with news bulletins and various general announcements of patriotism and good feelings. It was a very relaxing atmosphere, the perfect way to wind down after a hot and busy day.
At this point I was laying on my back in the grass. The band had been playing for close to an hour, but beyond the music my ears picked up the faint hum of radial engines, a lot of them, approaching from the distance. I gave a quick glance past the tower, towards the sun, and saw the silhouette of a tight squadron of small aircraft approaching. Formations of all forms had been flying overhead all week with such regularity that I paid this one no mind. My mind wandered, enjoying the music. As the song came to a close the radio host popped back on, cheerfully welcoming the arrival of our noble airmen, “Our boys are back!” I lazily glanced up at the formation again as they passed overhead. I saw black cowlings and bright red circles on silver wings. A moment later the runway exploded.
The air raid siren wound up as chaos descended. The formation of Japanese Zeros and Kates scattered, diving down on us from every direction as they started their individual attack runs. Soldiers on the ground attempted to return fire with whatever guns they could find, from roof-mounted machine guns to service pistols. We could feel the heat from each explosion, see the flash of every rifle shot. As the air above the runway became increasingly thick with smoke a P-40 Warhawk lifted off, it’s engine thumping heavily in contrast to the buzzier Zeros. Moments later a Zero burst through the smoke just a few feet over the deck, the Warhawk in hot pursuit. Smoke rings rose high into the air, only to have Zero pilots dive through them on yet another attack run. A B-17 rumbled into the air, trying to flee into the sky before it could be destroyed. It was a seemingly endless barrage of thick smoke, screaming engines, explosions, gunfire, and madness.
This was, of course, a simulation, a reenactment of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The explosions were controlled pyrotechnics, the firearms were all loaded with blanks, the eight attacking Japanese aircraft weren’t true originals but replicas built for the 1970 film !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (you should go watch that BTW). After watching long enough you could even see that each plane’s seemingly haphazard and blind dive through the smoke was actually on a looped route. And yet, despite all this, it was overwhelming. Those first few moments in particular, brilliantly delivered as a surprise in the midst of calm, almost bordered on terrifying. And even once the shock was gone and it was just a case of “sitting there watching a show” there was so much going on in so many different directions, both in the air and on the ground, it was impossible to know where to look, where to focus, which plane would attack next. Having witnessed this recreation I can’t even imagine what it was like for real when 44 times as many planes suddenly descended upon the real Pearl Harbor 75 years ago.
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 19:02 |
|
Real A6Ms or Texans gussied up?
|
Dusty Ventures
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
08/11/2016 at 19:05 |
|
These were (supposedly) the ones actually used in the film, so whatever those were.
RallyWrench
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 19:09 |
|
Man, that is incredible.
Spaceball-Two
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
08/11/2016 at 19:14 |
|
Yes. There are only a handful of flying Zeros in the world left. This group is a bunch of chopped up T-6s. BUT, a really good interpretation of the real deal.
pitstop_pitowski
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 19:22 |
|
I swear I saw you one of the days at the EAA. We had just left lunch at Friar Tucks after a shower passed through (Wednesday of that week, we only went Wed and Fri) and I saw someone similar to your stature get off a bicycle and walk into Friar Tucks just Northwest of runway 9. Didn’t say anything at the because I was with my wife and her friend and of the thousands of people there who’s to say if it was you. Just checking.
|
Dusty Ventures
> pitstop_pitowski
08/11/2016 at 19:23 |
|
What color was the bike?
|
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Spaceball-Two
08/11/2016 at 19:31 |
|
I used to live in Japan and I go back a lot, I saw a real one take off and fly around, then land. I have heard the Texans and they don’t sound the same. There is actually only one flying with an original Mitsubishi engine. I visit the one at the Yasukuni shrine whenever I am close to that part of Tokyo.
|
pitstop_pitowski
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 19:31 |
|
Blue, I think?
|
Spaceball-Two
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
08/11/2016 at 19:32 |
|
Paul Allen owns a couple here in Seattle and he brings them out to fly a couple times a year. They have a very distinctive sound.
|
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Spaceball-Two
08/11/2016 at 19:40 |
|
I wish we knew what happened to the last Reppu, nobody knows. I talked to a guy from the Smithsonian in Japan and he says they know about a couple of them and how they were destroyed but one was never found and no records. Either it was destroyed or someone hid it. It was moved around and kept in hangars, could have been bombed to dust and we’d never know. It was never collected because he said they would have put it on the carriers full of enemy aircraft for sure. They loaded lots of planes of interest on carriers heading home.
|
Spaceball-Two
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
08/11/2016 at 19:46 |
|
It sounds like the lines used to make it were bombed out before any numbers could get produced. You never know though. Could be one growing weeds at the far end of some remote airfield in the Philippines.
|
Dusty Ventures
> pitstop_pitowski
08/11/2016 at 19:52 |
|
Not me then. My bike was black and neon green.
Jcarr
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 20:03 |
|
I download a few hours of the ATC each year so I can listen to it the next summer when I’m starting to get Oshkosh fever.
|
Dusty Ventures
> Jcarr
08/11/2016 at 20:07 |
|
I was so disappointed that I could neither find any 2016 ATC nor any final (118.500 or 126.600) ATC on YouTube. Everything I found was approach, 120.700
|
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Spaceball-Two
08/11/2016 at 20:08 |
|
They never reached production and never left Japan, it was just being tested and even updated the A7M1 to an A7M2. This is what they know, but we still never found one. Some were for sure destroyed or crashed from the M2s and nobody knows what happened to the prototype M3. I saw one schematic with a rear mounted gun behind the cockpit, no notes, but it looks like it was to shoot at a pursuing aircraft. Supposedly with the M2 update it was going to be better than a Mustang.
A7M1 Repp
First prototype powered by a 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) Nakajima Homare 22 engine, with a maximum speed of 574 km/h (356 mph). The armament consisted of two 13.2 mm (.52 in) Type 3 machine guns and two 20 mm (.80 in) Type 99 cannons in the wings. Harbouring excellent manoeuvrability, the aircraft’s Homare engine was deemed underpowered which resulted in its cancellation. Two built.
A7M2 Repp
Revised version powered by a 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) Mitsubishi Ha-43 engine, with a maximum speed of 627 km/h (389 mph). Armament the same as previous model, or four 20 mm (.80 in) Type 99 cannons. The A7M2 was to be the main production aircraft of the A7M series. Eight built.
A7M3 Repp
Proposed land-based fighter version powered by a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) mechanically driven three-speed supercharged Mitsubishi Ha-43 engine, with a maximum speed of 642 km/h (398 mph). The armament consisted of six 20 mm (.80 in) Type 99 cannons in the wings. Prototype under construction but was incomplete prior to end of war.
A7M3-J Repp-Kai
Proposed land-based interceptor version powered by a 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) turbo-supercharged Mitsubishi Ha-43 engine including an inter-cooler, with a maximum speed of 648 km/h (402 mph). The armament consisted of six 30 mm (1.20 in) Type 5 cannons, four wing-mounted & two oblique fuselage-mounted. Full-scale mock-up built, but no prototype
|
pitstop_pitowski
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 20:21 |
|
Glad I didn’t say “DUSTY VENTURES!” then. Glad you had such a great time, the EAA is awesome. Are you going back next year? My wife is now totally down for next year, it only takes one time and you get hooked.
|
Jcarr
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 20:22 |
|
Might just have to download mp3s and upload them yourself.
http://www.liveatc.net/archive.php?m=…
|
Dusty Ventures
> pitstop_pitowski
08/11/2016 at 20:27 |
|
Not sure yet. I definitely want to, but it’ll depend on the race schedule
|
Dusty Ventures
> Jcarr
08/11/2016 at 20:28 |
|
OOH!
|
Jcarr
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 20:32 |
|
They keep a running 30 days of archive for each feed. It’s a little cumbersome as you have to convert to UTC time and they come in 30 minute chunks, but it’s free. They also have an iPhone app for listening live. Well worth the $5 they charge.
|
Dusty Ventures
> Jcarr
08/11/2016 at 20:36 |
|
Time to get to downloading before they’re gone then!
|
Jcarr
> Dusty Ventures
08/11/2016 at 20:41 |
|
10am Oshkosh time is 1500 UTC for reference.