we’re not exactly sure why or how these guys were there, but judging from their other videos on Youtube it seems like they are hunters. With a woodsy and mountainous setting in the back, we’re assuming that the guy that captured this footage and his buddies were just strolling through the woods when all of the sudden they were greeted by not one, but two A-10 Thunderbolts. More often than not called Warthogs or just Hogs, their pilots just kept on doing low flybys and looping around for another set.
A-10’s official name is Thunderbolt II, a name which comes directly from the P-47 Thunderbolt that was used during World War II.
Warthogs were the only planes ever developed specifically for CAS (close air support.) Entering service in 1976, the entire plane was actually built around its gun, namely, the GAU-8 Avenger rotary gun. Able to fire up to 4,200 30mm rounds a minute, this plane/gun combination is the most effective CAS platform ever built.
It is also the safest plane for its pilots as well. With a myriad of precautions taken in design stages, engineers knew this aircraft would be taking on a lot of enemy fire. For this reason, the engines were taken off the wings to decrease the likelihood of fires. Also, the pilots sit in a 1,200 lb. titanium armored “tub,” protecting him from small arms fire while strafing.

Ann Hansen is young, but she isn’t letting that stop her from living her dream, even if it is a dream fraught with danger.
Hansen, 19, was in Mariposa over the last few weeks battling the Ferguson Fire — just not as a firefighter on the ground.
She is a copilot of a Sikorsky CH-54A Sky-crane helicopter. Along with her captain, Gregg Deacon, she has been flying into dangerous areas near the fire and dropping water and retardant to douse the flames.
“At most times out here, people ask if I’m with my dad or grandpa,” said Hansen in an interview while stationed at the Mariposa Yosemite Airport. “I look young for my age, like I’m still in high school.”
Indeed, Hansen looks like she could still be in high school. But don’t let the youthful face fool you. She’s up to the task.

“I’ve been very impressed with her, especially considering her minimal amount of experience,” said Deacon, the pilot. “It’s a complex aircraft and our mission is complex. She’s monitoring a lot of instruments and dealing with most of the radio calls. She’s doing a lot of multitasking. And we go into some difficult types of places.”
Hansen is from Philipsburg, Mont. It was there that she developed an interest in flying. Her father worked as a ranch manager. Every year, Hansen would be inspired by watching crop dusters fly overhead.
Adding to her interest in flying was the fact that her father also wanted to be a helicopter pilot. Only he never took the opportunity.
“I always had that in my head growing up,” she says of wanting to fly a helicopter.
Ten days after she graduated high school, she started in flight school at Rocky Mountain Rotors, in Belgrade, Mont. Shortly thereafter, she transferred to Jerry Trimble Helicopters flight school in Oregon.
“I never had any previous aviation experience,” Hansen said. “It was overwhelming.”
She stuck with it, and in a short period of time, she became certified to become a helicopter co-pilot.
“My parents are thrilled with it,” Hansen said, acknowledging that in a way, she is fulfilling her father’s dream of flying.
She now works for Helicopter Transport Services and has the opportunity to work on fires as well as other special projects.
“It just depends where they need me to go,” said Hansen. “The challenge is fun.”
She admits there is danger in what she does. Engines could fail on the copter, or worse.
“Everything we do has a little risk,” Hansen said. “(But) it’s fun, for one, and you’re helping with something.”
Hansen’s end goal is to become a “PIC,” or a pilot in charge. Essentially, it’s the rank of captain.
“There is still a lot to explore,” she said.
There may be plenty to explore, but for someone who is only 19, Ann Hansen has already experienced quite a bit.

Tammie Jo Shults, reportedly one of the pilots responsible for landing the Southwest Airlines flight 1380 that experienced an engine explosion earlier today, was also one of the first women pilots in the Navy and one of the first women to fly the F/A 18 fighter jet.
Earlier today, flight 1380 was headed from New York to Dallas when its engine exploded. One person was reported dead following the incident, and one person was reportedly partially pulled through a broken window, one person suffered a heart attack, and others were hit with shrapnel.
According to social media posts from some of the 143 passengers on the flight, Tammi Jo Shults was the pilot who managed to navigate the flight for an emergency landing. She reportedly greeted passengers as they exited the plane after the landing.

​Shults was one of the first women fighter pilots in U.S. Navy history, as well as being one of the first to pilot the F/A 18 jet, as reported by Heavy.com. Shults is from New Mexico, and joined the Navy in 1985, where she also flew the LTV A-7 Corsair as part of VAQ-34, an electronic aggressor squadron, according to All Hands, a Navy magazine. “In AOCS [Aviation Officer Candidate School], if you’re a woman [or different in any way], you’re a high profile; you’re under more scrutiny,” Shults said. Chances for women to gain as much knowledge about the aviation community are limited.
“It would be nice if they would take away the ceilings [women] have over our heads,” Shults said. “In VAQ-34, gender doesn’t matter, there’s no advantage or disadvantage,” she said. “Which proves my point - if there’s a good mix of gender, it ceases to be an issue.”
Here’s more on Shults via Heavy.com:
She wasn’t allowed to fly in combat while she was in the Navy, according to a 2006 article that is no longer online but can be accessed in a forum about fighter pilots here. But did become an “aggressor pilot.” She resigned her commission in 1993 and joined Southwest Airlines.
In the video below, you can hear Shults’ radio communications following the engine explosion, where she manages to calmly explain that part of the aircraft is missing and that passengers are injured as she lines up with the runway.

Valerie Thompson is no stranger to speed.

Thompson has been chasing land-speed records since she left NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing for the salt flats. In 2016, she took the title of world’s fastest female motorcycle racer and now wants to be fastest, period. But those numbers come at a price. 
During a run at the Lake Gairdner World Speed Trials, her BUB Seven streamliner lost control and crashed... at 343 mph. According to a Facebook post by the event’s sanctioning body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, “Thompson had passed the four-mile marker and reported being at 299 mph when the trouble started. Chase vehicles saw the tail end of the streamliner come up in the air, but the chutes were deployed which helped stabilize the resulting crash. The wreckage was spread out along nearly a mile of the course.” When I first saw this video, I expected severe injury at the very least, but I seriously underestimated the BUB Seven.

Denis Manning, the designer behind the BUB Seven, was on hand to comment on the crash in the video posted by Bonneville Stories:

“It’s gonna take time to determine the why, but we certainly know when and how. The best news is that she walked away from it. When you’re designing a machine like this, you are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of getting the record.The theories about how much horsepower, how much frontal area, what kind of drag, all of that, you take into consideration and you make your choices to try to get the record. The dark side, I call it, is that you don’t really know what can happen if you have calamity, tragedy.”
If anyone was qualified to make a guess, though, it’d be him. The AMA counts Manning among the most accomplished builders in the sport. Decades of record-chasing all started as a teen watching Mickey Thompson race his quadruple-engined Challenger. Today, Manning can be found pushing the boundaries of speed with his creations.

​“As the builder, I come away from this very proud that the machine did what I thought it would do. I swore by the monocoque carbon fiber composite, I knew in my heart that it would be all right. But again, that’s just theory. Now, you walk up to it, and the theory, it’s right. Number one, she walked away. Number two, the machine says OK, I took a beating, but here I am.”


Thompson is expected to make more attempts at the overall motorcycle land speed record of 376.363 mph, set by Rocky Robinson in 2010. Hopefully she makes a full recovery as expected and can get back to chasing her dreams aboard the resurrected BUB Seven.

Air racing is set to be revolutionized with plans for the world’s first all-electric airplane race announced this week.
Leading companies in electric aviation manufacturing are being invited to tender to become a founding technical partner of the new motorsport series, Air Race E.
The series will be run by Air Race Events and led by world-leading air racing promoter Jeff Zaltman, who has also founded the globally successful Air Race 1 World Cup, alongside an international team of leading authorities in the sport.
Air Race E will see electric airplanes racing directly against each other on a very tight circuit just above the ground and at speeds faster than any land-based motorsport. Formula Air Race planes, classified as “Experimental”, are the only planes in the world designed specifically for racing and built to a specific race formula.
The demand for speed, performance and power management under the rigors of a competitive race environment provide the perfect platform for the development and promotion of cleaner, faster and more technologically advanced electric engines.
Electric aviation is one of the fastest developing technological areas and is seen as the third generation of aviation by the like of Rolls Royce, Airbus and Siemens who are leading the way in the technical development of commercial electric planes in this fast-paced Research and Development intensive industry.
Jeff Zaltman, CEO of Air Race Events, commented; “We are thrilled to announce the world’s first and only all-electric airplane racing championship.
“Air Race E has secured all the key components to make this vision a reality: the airplanes, the race pilots, the engineers, the sports associations, a test center in Europe and the racing heritage and expertise that is unrivalled in the world.
“We are now just looking for the best powerplant and electrical systems for the job. Air Race E will become the unifying body that will drive the development and promotion of cleaner and faster electric aircraft.
Air Race E is to be sanctioned by the official Formula Air Racing Association (FARA) and Association des Pilotes D’Avions de Formules (APAF), the two formula air racing governing bodies, upon launch of the series.
Air Race E will be a similar format to the sport known as ‘formula one pylon air racing’ where the world’s best race pilots compete simultaneously to be the first one to cross the finish line. Eight airplanes race directly against each other at speeds of over 400kph around a tight circuit just 1.5km end-to-end.
Des Hart, President of FARA, said; “Formula Air Racing has a rich history as the fastest and most innovative international motorsport and Air Race E will allow us to continue that story and give us the global platform to take air racing into the next generation and beyond.
“It is crucial that we have a structure like Air Race E in place to provide the leading edge to development while propelling the sport and inspiring audiences. The electric revolution is poised to change aviation and Air Race E will play an important role in the advancement of technology.”
Dominique Milcendeau, President of APAF, said; “There is no doubt that air racing has been significant in aircraft and engine designs and in technological developments. The Schneider Trophy, the Reno Air Races, the Gordon Bennet Trophy and the Cleveland Races ring in the mind of pilots but also engineers worldwide.
“The future of electric aviation is now; and Air Race E will enable the link between the world’s greatest technicians and air racing teams in a global competition offering an opportunity to showcase and test the technological advances of the electrical propulsion domain.”
Air Race E is planning to launch its inaugural series of international races in 2020.

We figured that if anyone of you has a Sukhoi aircraft somewhere in your backyard, you probably shouldn't do what the pilot in this video did. You know, just in case you do.We're not pilots but have been doing this for a bunch of years now (this makes us the Chair Force, right?), but it looks like he almost stalled right when he took off. Just look at the footage. The Su-27 took off in the distance and it took it a little while to come into the frame. There are actually a couple of people standing there on the field. Keep an eye out for the guy farthest to the left.
The fighter took off and made a sharp left bank and judging by the way the right wing dipped and the angle of attack increased, this guy was about to lose all his energy and hit the ground. Tell us if we're wrong. Seriously, our expertise is limited but that's what it looked like. 
Then there's that poor dude in the video. Since the plane sort of wobbled for a second there, it must have been hard to gauge exactly where this plane would go down if it actually did. He goes right for a bit, then changes his mind and books it left before finally hitting the ground when it was directly over him. 
Can't imagine what was going through his head.

tags: su27 pilot , crazy russian pilot , breed of speed , nathan finneman , sirdrifto , aviation , jet , crash

Generally speaking, adding turbochargers to a motor doesn't do great things for a car's sound. The air rushing through the turbo(s) tends to muffle the sound, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this heavenly Sauber Mercedes C11. In fact, it sounds like the result of sticking two big turbochargers onto a NASCAR stocker's big V8.
It's an angry sounding thing: not sonorous like an old Ferrari V12, but something purpose built to destroy its competition. The quick rise in revs as the turbos suddenly spool up make it all the more dramatic.
The C11 was the successor to the 1989 Le Mans-winning Sauber C9, which used an evolution of the  M119 twin-turbo V8 found in the C9. The M119 started life as a V8 in Mercedes' road cars, but underwent significant tuning to become the 700+ horsepower monsters you see here. 
So, if anyone ever tells you turbocharged engines don't sound good, point them in this direction.

It may not be full size, but its still pretty damn cool. Watch the combustion process of a rotary engine.

tags: breed of speed , mini rotary engine , awesome , see through engine , mazda , wankel , sirdrifto

Elon Musk’s car is headed off into very deep space after being strapped to the top of a rocket.
The Tesla Roadster was originally intended to head into orbit around Mars as part of the Falcon Heavy test, which would try out the most powerful rocket on Earth. To fill up the space that would normally be occupied by scientific equipment or another payload, Mr Musk put a car into the rocket – and blasted it out into space, filming it as it went.
In the original plan, the car and the dummy that is sat in it would have gone into orbit between Mars and Earth, slowly passing around the solar system. But the payload has overshot that route and is now headed even deeper into space.

It’s now on its way to the asteroid belt that rings the very edges of our neighbourhood, Mr Musk said. One of the bursts of fuel that get burnt off to give it momentum had actually pushed it too hard, and it was heading away from its planned route, he tweeted.

While the change of route could look embarrassing for SpaceX, it might also encourage more private companies to enlist its services. The long route that it is planning shows just how powerful the Falcon Heavy rocket is, and the ability to get out into the asteroid belt could be useful.

It could even be incredibly valuable for the various private companies who hope to set up asteroid mining companies. Many of the objects deep out towards the edges of our solar system are thought to contain expensive and rare materials – but as yet there’s no way to get hold of them and bring them back down to Earth.
Indeed, some have suggested that the dwarf planet Ceres could serve as a base or hub for those missions, with mining spacecraft landing there first before pursuing the rich asteroids. The car is headed very close to Ceres, according to the orbit route shared by Mr Musk.

All of that work is many, many years in the future. But it is exactly that kind of private space travel and exploration, by commercial companies, that SpaceX wants to make money launching rockets for.
Tesla hasn’t revealed much about the car’s trajectory. Data could allow astronomers to calculate where it might end up as it travels through the solar system, but for now it’s not clear where the pull of the various planets in our neighbourhood will take it.
It’s unlikely that the car will ever collide with anything major, since it’s so small. But once it arrives in the asteroid belt, it might be joined by more things of its own side, and it’s possible it will be smashed up then.
If that doesn’t happen, it’s not clear how long the car will last for, or how it will be destroyed. Mr Musk said that he expected the orbit could last a billion years – but it depends entirely on what sort of orbit it ends up in, and how it deals with the harsh environment of space.

tags: breed of speed , tesla overshot , tesla rocket , car in space , nathan finneman , space x , elon musk , tesla orbit

An aviation blog has posted a photo of a US AF F-4 jet flying upside down as it intercepts a Soviet Tu-95 strategic bomber. The story behind it is one of how mid-air encounters now deemed “unsafe” were once regarded as professionals having a bit of fun.The picture was published by the popular military aviation blog The Aviationist on December 4 as an illustration of how the definition of recklessness has changed since the Cold War. Maneuvers like barrel rolls or aggressive turns during interception missions are now usually branded by the Pentagon as “unprofessional” or “unsafe” if performed by Russian or Chinese pilots responding to American aircraft.

But a few decades ago such stunts were quite routine and not perceived as anything dangerous. Military aviation blogger David Cenciotti cited a US spy plane veteran pilot calling such episodes “ho-hum.” He added that American pilots actually behaved in the same manner, as evidenced by the photo with the ‘Phantom’ flying upside down alongside the ‘Bear.’
The image went viral, and its owner Robert M. Sihler contacted the blog and revealed he took it during his deployment to Iceland in the 1970s, a period of reduced tension known as detente.
“Generally, we did these barrel rolls at the request of the Soviet crew members. They photographed us as well. The Cold War was winding down and the attitudes on both sides had improved,” Sihler said.
When asked whether he considered the barrel roll a difficult or an unsafe maneuver, Sihler replied frankly: “Not really! The Soviets, at the time, gave us hand signals asking us to ‘perform’ for them. The rolls were not dangerous at all.”
The mood surrounding Russia and the US has recently been quite different, with both sides complaining about the other’s conduct over Syria. This week the Russian Defense Ministry accused the US of trying to interfere with Russian bombing missions and thus defending terrorists. The accusation came in response to controversial remarks from a US Air Force spokesman, who claimed that “unsafe behavior” by Russian pilots may prompt the Americans to shoot the Russian warplanes down.

tags: breed of speed , nathan finneman , cold war barrell roll, f4 phantom , russian intercept