jasonmcdowell

Migrated over to Bluesky - @cessnateur.bsky.social

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

@otisostertag2 I keep in touch with an A-10 pilot. He reports they are actively salivating at this coverage.

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Throwback to the time I sent a set of sparkly handlebar streamers to my friend the_fire_and_the_phoenix_ for his Embraer.
Never one to back down from a challenge, he mounted them to the yoke and proudly rocked them… https://t.co/ZCiOJG1lOa

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Before there was Draco, there was the Max Holste MH.153.
While not entirely comparable, both are rugged, STOL tailwheel aircraft that began life with a common piston engine and were later upgraded to a much… https://t.co/YCkGWEiC6r

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Everyone seemed to enjoy yesterday’s post about the crazy Kai Tak approach in Hong Kong, so here’s actual video footage of how it looked from the cockpit.
This footage is courtesy of @airboyd on YouTube, a channel… https://t.co/DgTlKdhhfD

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

In celebration of International Dog Day, I’d like to honor a particularly memorable canine friend named Blue.
Blue worked for Kenmore Air as a greeter, fleet watchdog, and dog treat inspector.
He dutifully worked… https://t.co/Yy12QsW1dy

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

It’s rare that I write posts that have anything to do with airliners.
By design, and appropriately, they’re relatively boring, predictable, and not nearly as freakish as the aircraft toward which I tend to… https://t.co/c32oUtmqVv

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

I’ve written a few posts about aircraft that utilize dissimilar engine types this week, so here’s one more.
This is a Fairchild C-82 Packet, a fairly large cargo plane first flown in 1944 that was essentially an… https://t.co/8l6sxai9V2

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

An interesting phenomenon sometimes occurs when one looks at photos of airplanes all the time.
It’s not uncommon, when looking at one with a single, unusual feature, to become fixated on that feature and blinded to… https://t.co/5CDpDRn09P

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

When it comes to aerial refueling, there have been some strange pairings of aircraft types over the years…but I’d wager none stranger than the example you see here.
In this photo, the tanker is a North American AJ… https://t.co/ovCXZjZxfX

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Before the Hondajet came to be, Honda experimented with this, the MH02.
Partnering with Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, Honda completed construction of the MH02 in 1992 and flew it… https://t.co/P0I4nfRxg7

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Ask Burt Rutan to design a personal aircraft inspired by a Swedish STOL fighter jet, and this is what you get.
This is the Rutan VariViggen, a two-person aircraft powered by a conventional Lycoming O-320 rated at… https://t.co/s0LCG0hjYm

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

This air-to-air footage of a Ukranian Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker is incredible to begin with, but when you turn up the volume, it becomes even better.
It's only then that you're able to hear the constant thrust changes… https://t.co/bS7QKGmWLJ

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Here’s a great comparison between the two proposed landing gear designs of the 1950s-era East German Baade 152 prototype airliner.
Only three examples of the aircraft were built, one of which crashed and was… https://t.co/jtjxorQkSI

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

If you ever want to see some particularly freakish aircraft, simply Google “aircraft testbed” and then click the “images” tab.
You will be presented with some wonderfully bizarre creations, most of which consist of a… https://t.co/fJoEELhS33

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Typically, if you should find yourself skittering across a frozen lake at 100mph in a Cessna 150 that’s traveling backwards, your day is most likely not going according to plan.
If the Cessna 150 in question has… https://t.co/OxqBgeQMkY

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

In addition to seeking out unique and little-known aircraft types, it’s also satisfying to seek out unique and little-known *angles* of said aircraft.
While this can be difficult to do in popular museums with… https://t.co/qvjXDlvoix

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

There’s really nothing quite like workplace shenanigans to liven up an otherwise routine day.
Here, using some spare tape, a clever technician successfully transformed an everyday thrust reverser into an aggressive… https://t.co/F4QJHU0bkg

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

It takes a lot of imagination and money to modernize a 1937-era German flying boat with three PT6A-45 turboprop engines, an entirely new wing, and amphibious landing gear.
Claude Dornier’s grandson, Iren, apparently… https://t.co/LI2Kcm6vdj

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

Yesterday’s post touched on the topic of art, and while I have no actual artistic background or true artistic talent, I do pay attention to some of the more subtle and interesting visual aspects of aircraft… https://t.co/dshzYI56st

[jasonmcdowell @jasonmcdowell]

I’ve always laughed at some of the ways the art crowd describes certain paintings.
Studying a piece of canvas slathered in some random paint splatter and perhaps one yellow rectangle, they marvel at the tension it… https://t.co/nEiKjjbb8y