THE X-PLANES OF EDWARDS! - Painting the famed research aircraft at the Air Force Flight Test Center
Вставка
- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Want to continue receiving new aviation videos, weekly updates, and have Q&As with Mike? Learn more at: www.celebratin...
X-planes just never get old...
Chuck..............our hometown hero here in Lincoln County.
Wow Mike, what a great summary of that incredible era in aviation. For a person born and raised in Southern California, right in the middle of the boom aerospace economy and near-daily sonic boom times, I’m so glad that someone, you, lived and continues to live the life in aviation that this 79 year-old youngster still imagines.
Appreciate the comment, and I dreamed of being in SoCal during that era. You were very fortunate to have lived here in that magical time!
I remember first hearing what wre explained to me as Sonic booms in 65, I was 3yrs old, & told not to worry & why by my uncle & gramps, who had previously worked @ North American Aviation during WW2 thru the F86 Sabre years
This is the best thing I ever saw.
Just bought the book.... Mike, on your drawing of the Bell-X2, at1:36, it looks like you had a B-36 flying over. Your attention to detail is impressive, aviation has a good friend in you. Thanks for your time and effort you put into your work....
Thanks for buying the book Mike, and really appreciate your comment!
Just saw this live - fantastic, thank you! My insomnia finally paid off big time!
Thanks, and glad I could help. Appreciate the comment!
Love the video and your artwork!! You are definitely a first-class channel on YT!!
Appreciate the comment Patrick, thanks!
Great art and wonderful stories, thank you so much, Mike! 👍🍀
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Mike, loved the picture of Airman Machat. A perfect gig line, of course !! Great presentation, worth watching over and over.
Thanks Bert, and yeah, I didn't want to lose a Form 341. Appreciate the comment, thanks!
My aunt spent her entire career working at Edward AFB. I remember so well going to visit and seeing all the X-planes and the modern ones as well. Beautiful work.
Wow! You were definitely there during the Golden Age of flight test. Thanks for watching!
Your last photo, the "selfie" reminded me of a story one of my elementary teachers told. During WWII he was in junior high on a playground when a flight of B-24's flew over, one of his friends looked up and commented "I'd hate to be up there in one of those" my teacher said "I'd hate to be up there without one"!
Love it, thanks!
Mike, thanks for a superb video! A huge amount of aviation history packed into this production.
Thanks Lance!
Mike, I got your book. Simply superb. A good way for us to vicariously share your life's journey in aviation art!
@@lancerevell5979 Appreciate that, and 'hope you enjoy the stories!
Gotta love the X planes..
Agreed!
I took a copy of “Return from Mach 6” to the X15 symposium NASA held in Lancaster, June 1989. All the pilots there signed it. I was a tower controller at Edwards in the late 1980’s. Great channel.
Awesome art work! My favorite is the XB-70 pictures, just beautiful! The XB-70 is my favorite airplane. Great stories Mike!
Many thanks!
Thank you Mike. Your series just gets better and better. Absolutely unbeaten for genuine first hand information.
Really appreciate the comment, thanks!
I love the xplanes. I had a book about them as a boy and I would look at it every day after school for like 6 months after my dad got it for me.
Great video, I really enjoy when you showcase your artwork and how it's done.
I also enjoyed your mention of Toward the Unknown. I was luck to catch it on TCM nearly 10 years ago, and ordered it on DVD afterwards, there are so many great aircraft in the movie!
Thanks Sergio, and I must have watched that movie (bootleg VHS, then DVD) dozens of times!
I love the painting of the TPS Texan and F-16. Every time I walk the halls at TPS I look at that painting.
Appreciate the comment, thanks. That was a very inspired painting!
Looking UP at the ground! Your way Mike. Much better!
Another great video and the artwork is amazing. Great stuff.
Thanks John!
Fantastic art and back stories. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Guenther, and 'appreciate the comment!
@2:35: Great sketch of a Victor snapping off what appears to be an American-built Skybolt missile.
Because of your paintings I have so many x planes
Thanks Jesse!
All I can say Mike, is that you have more wonderful life experiences in your little finger than most of us have in our entire life. I’m happily envious because I get to enjoy your experiences through your videos.
Really appreciate the wonderful comment, thanks.
Loved visiting Edwards AFB in January '97. Such a buzz for me as a kid travelling the US all the way from Australia to the home of supersonic flight. Love your presentation here. Thank you very much for sharing your work!
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
I understand why the magazine 'inverted' your painting but as a pilot I feel tyhat the original idea you had does a better job of conveying the disorientation that goes with such manuevers.
Agreed 100%!
The Mad Jetter - Up is Down; Down is Up. Both work.
I love your book, Mike! And I love your 50th anniversary painting, "Hey, Pard, You'll Get a Free Steak and Pancho's Tonight!"
Koji - Great hearing from you and thanks for buying the book! You were there when many of thiose stories happened. 'Hope you're doing well.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 I wad there... thanks to you! I still have the autographed book and cherished machmeter.
When I to the air show in 1962 in Del Rio Texas Air Force Base. I only saw the F86, U2, and Strajo fuel tanker. As a 9 boy I started building model airplanes because of my first visit to the air show in 1962.
I personally prefer the F-100 as you intended to be. Very exquisite.
Many thanks!
Great summary of the legendary pilots and aircraft of Edwards. Superb paintings and background information.
Many thanks!
Fab, beautiful paintings and memories
Love the channel. Your passion for aviation is unquestionable. Lots of respect for the quality of your artwork. Best regards from France.
Appreciate the comment, many thanks!
Mike, another great vídeo! Thank you Very much for upload. Your Channel is a great source of information about lots of US aviation programs. Thank you Very much for your work! Congrats From Brazil! If you have the opportunity tô visit my country, please let me know!
Appreciate the comment, thanks Alexandre!
Just finished watching your latest post. What a wonderful video. Love the X planes. Was always in awe of just about every subject you covered. You are truly a gifted historian and artist. Amazing paintings! As always God bless you and yours and thanks again for all you do! Take care always sir, you are certainly a treasure! 🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thanks Martin for all your wonderful comments. Really appreciate having you onboard the channel!
Awesome work my friend it brings alot of memories when I went to an Air Force Base air show in Del Rio Texas in 1962 I was 9 years old. Great work
Beautiful work Mike. Wonderful legacy. Cheers
I worked on two aircraft that you have had painted. One was the XP-59 and the Bell X-1 while working at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum restoration shop. I met General Craigie and Ann Carl in a talk at the Smithsonian and Chuck Yeager when he just happened to just drop by the restoration shop. Thanks for all of your art and history you've done a wonderful service in preserving aviation history.
Thanks Will, and 'appreciate the comment!
Wonderful paintings and even more wonderful life you describe painting them. As a side note--I was lucky to get to know Stan Smith in my early flying days. He taught me a lot about designs (my interest at the time was soaring) and told me great stories about his history and lots of other designer engineers he knew and I'd heard about, and greatest, about being a modest gentleman.
Wonderful comment thanks, and neat that you knew Stan Smith. Thanks for watching!
I love history lessons! Thanks Mike for sharing these wonderful pics and paintings! This was my passion growing up.
Thanks Peter, and glad you liked it!
Thanks for sharing 👍
The new book seems to be a real steal!
Many thanks!
Congratulations Mike. A very fine documental. Thank you for your dedication to put in our hands this gem!
Fantastic episode, I always liked x-planes
Thanks Stefano!
Very beautiful drawings and somewhat nostalgic,thanks for sharing!
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
What a fascinating story, Mile! Nice work.
Totally cool!
Thank you for sharing the beautiful paintings and stories. Hard to imagine all that you have seen and done in your career. Blessed must be an understatement. Take care and stay safe.
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
I so enjoy your vids about this special place. Having worked on south base for over 30 years 1988 to 2019 ,i am sure i witnessed some of your flights. Love the detail and history of your paintings.
Thanks Rodger, and you were certainly there during a special era in flight test! Appreciate the comment.
In your painting of the descending F-100 the original view evokes to me a greater feeling of the forces being experienced by the pilot. The magazine printed version seems a more plain representation of the airplane.
Agreed, thanks!
I want a time machine....to have been around in that era!
There's always a time and place for some X-Planes....
Might just have to get that book! 😎
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
You somehow capture both the courage and achievements in these spectacular paintings Mike. Really interesting small detail info too (frost on panel, temperature paint strips etc.).
Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Your book is beautiful and has the perfect picture on the front cover jacket😉👌
✈
Hi Barbara, and thanks for buying the book. That cover image was from the publisher asking if I'd done a painting of something that no one else had ever done. Hope you enjoy the artywork and stories!
Bill Bridgeman figured prominantly in the Book I just read (Beyond Blue Skies).
There wasn't any Edwards or Douglas pilot I ever spoke with who didn't have high praise and wonderful memories of Bridgeman.
Great video...I would say it is XTRA Special! You were a lucky guy Mike. Too many aircraft to mention but you had paintings of all of them. F-100...ground up! F-100 my favorite Century Series plane. Thanks for your work.
Appreciate the comment Joe, thanks!
Great job Mike!
Many thanks!
On the question of the orientation of the painting that you did at the first of the video, I believe that you're philosophy on it what's the proper one. It really gives it and inertial feeling of dizzying power being produced Molly aircraft and his pilot dealing with it.
In the orientation that it was later published in it just looks like a straight-in nose dive hellbound for Earth, nothing reaching for inconceivable heights which is the feeling I get when you turn the painting back to the way you thought it should be. The original orientation almost gives a feeling of vertigo as I look at it.
👍🏻🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Great comment, thanks William!
Great video! Looking forward to seeing the new Air Force Flight Test Center Museum when it opens. Already have the excellent book!
Thanks Vik!
Incredible!! You attention to detail is impressive and I really enjoy your explanations of how you made the work, work. Thank you!!!!!
Appreciate the comment, thanks Chuck!
Very cool Mike! Kudos for saying N-A-C-A rather than the "nakka" heard so often.
Thanks Jim, and yeah, I guess that's a flight test thing!
6:00 I'm surprised there'd be LOX frosting on the X-1 during its landing approach. The XLR-11 had fuel for about 135 seconds of thrust, after that the X-1 was a glider. Apparently, there was enough residual liquid oxygen to freeze the condensation at low speed. From your other paintings, LOX frosting was visible on the X-15's skin when it landed. Amazing how fast the Inconel skin cooled down from glowing incandescent.
Oh great, now I have to buy another book, never mind the twenty bins of books to be read.
Excellent work!!!
Many thanks!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 You're welcome Mike!
Fantstic
Good video.
My girlfriends dad was in the RAF and they used to go Boscom on Holiday , makes me laugh inside, because while she was building sandcastles , he was looking for TSR and the like (he had retired£
Regarding the F100 illustration, I prefer the steep dive direction. My little brain found the spin to be a bit disconcerting. Beautiful work Mike. Interestingly, as a boy growing up in Southern California, there was no shortage of sonic booms and con trails out of the high desert.
I'm envious!
I just found out about the X26-A Frigate and it’s stealth variants .. supposedly the longest X program …all derivatives of the Schweizer 2-32 … the QT-2 versions were equipped with state of the art noise suppression and were undetectable at low altitude
Yes, that was an amazing program. Who would have guessed that fate for the good ol' 2-32?!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 one was restored to original and is still flying in Boulder Co… Now That’s a bird with some stories …
At the Planes of Fame museum in California they have the X-2 they used for the movie! It’s tucked away in a back corner with the wings removed. I was puzzled when I saw it since they only made two and both were destroyed, then j stumbled upon your video and all the pieces fell into place. I can send the photo of it if you’d like
Outstanding! Your ability and talent to turn a historic black & white photo into a vivid colorful image is eye opening. It's like An aviation version of the Wizard of Oz transition (B&W to Color). Great job. Excellent explanation of the eye for detail on your art work. Loved the XB-70 & the X-15. Your painting of the Edwards test aircraft in formation, reminds me of the Robrt McCall murial of NASA's manned space flight in Bldg. 2 at Johnson Space Center here in Houston. Great way to start a Monday!
Wonderful comment, thanks James!
The X is for Xcellence….!
a video on the history of a pilots survival equipment would be cool also one on aircraft oxygen systems from the beginning to whenever and my final suggestion being how CBRN is dealt with in the air and one very actual last suggestion is what would cold war pilots do after dropping the bomb?
Great suggestions thanks, and I had a Cold War Luftwaffe F-104G pilot tell me they were issued two eye patches for a nuclear strike mission. One to wear on the right eye inbound to the target, the other to wear on the left after being blinded by the detonation. Different times!
Hello Sir! Awesome series!
Have you done a show about Hemet Valley Flying Service?
Also, my grandfather was what would be called a systems engineer these days, at NAA from 1937 to 1961. I’ve got a few pictures of some of the projects he was working, one which is the P-82. Might make an interesting show?
Thanks again for your work, art and effort!
-Forest Hansen
We all know you paint aircraft but have you painted portraits of any aviation people? Thanks for all you do.
Thanks for the question, and no I've never painted portraits or figures other than crewmen in and around aircraft. Just wasn't that good at it. Thanks for watching!
Mike, did you know Ren Wicks? I have a 1940's litho of the P-38 he did for Lockheed and the ad that was make from it from a LOOK(LIFE?) magazine.
I'm a little jealous of your opportunities to go on so many incredible flights! As an enlisted avionics tech, I got a handful of backseat rides in TA-4 Skyhawks, which was great fun and provided wonderful photo opportunities. Still, some of the flights were hard on a body not accustomed to it, and "things" occurred. :-) Any particular experiences of this type that you'd like to share??
Thanks Steve, and although I was pretty well acclimated in high-performance aircraft, the TA-4J holds a special distinction. Flew with the Blue Angels in 1980 on assignment from Douglas, and it was the only time I ever blacked-out in a jet - no G-suit and no oxygen mask. Thanks for watching!
“….and became the first man [and plane] to reach Mach 4, 5, and 6 - and first to 200,000’ and 300,000’ “
Can we just take a moment to think about that for a second? 😳
Exactly! And to think that all happened in a span of only 18 months. Thanks for watching!
Pancho's, wasn't that the nearest watering hole to Edwards? And I think the owner was a lady called Pancho, and she was a aeronautic pioneer in her own right. I think, ha ha. As usual an interesting video.
Thank Peter, and yes, Pancho Barnes was a pioneering aviator who flew as a racing pilot, movie stunt pilot, and airshow performer in the 1930s, and then had a ranch just west of Muroc (now Edwards) called the Happy Bottom Riding Club which became the legendary club for those early test pilots in the 1940s.
I would buy any scale mode box that has this boxart!
Many thanks!
Beautiful job as always Mike. But, I can't seem to locate the dedicated X-1 Yeager and Hoover painting video you mentioned. What is the title of it? I'm hoping to get some tidbits for an X-1 build I wish to do, specifically on what orange shade you selected since I know the X-1 underwent a few repaints over the years, meaning the color it was back in 1947 isn't necessarily the same as it is today (or as it was for the 1949 ground takeoff for that matter). Thanks!
Thanks for writing, and apologies, as the story of my X-1 painting is actually buried in the "Turning Models Into Art" video, from 07:25 to 11:52. Here's the link: ua-cam.com/video/1xD9lzBTkdQ/v-deo.html. The X-1's color was mixed in oil piant to best represent the airplane in the lithographs that General Yeager had printed. The fact that he signed-off on the project is the only evidence of color accuracy I can offer, and my suggestion would be to paint your model in whatever color looks correct to you. 'Hope that helps, and thanks again.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 excellent. I just watched it. Lots of tidbits. Like you I also built the Revell 1/32 kit as sort of a quick pass before doing a feature build, which will be of a Pegasus 1/18 Bell X-1 kit in flight. Interesting tidbits from Yeager regarding the features on the kit such as the 10% wing (the tailplane also lacking the balance weights on 6062) from 6063. The soap on the windows I wasn't aware of either. I'll have to decide if I wish to add it as with my luck, some IPMS judge will dock me points for not having a clean and pristine windscreen (hey, that rhymes!).
Thanks for the tidbit about the color as well. I'm wondering since Bell painted these things at their Niagra plant if they opted to use the same orange from the RP-63 Pinballs. Orange admittedly is such a strange color to match and pictures (especially digital ones) can interpret it differently. I used Tamiya TS-98 Pure Orange sprayed over a white basecoat for my Revell model and I might use it on my 1/18 build, but it seems maybe a tick too dark and not yellow enough. But I'll evaluate how it looks in sunlight when I get a chance. I'm leaning more towards a yellow/orange shade for the bigger build. Since the Glamorous Glennis itself is painted in more of a gloss shade today rather than the flat coloring of 1947, it doesn't look quite right either I think. Oh well, that's modeling.
Now one final bit I think I may also try on my Revell is representing the frost on the LOX tank. A few years ago I found out quite by accident that if I thin Microscale Micro Gloss with Tamiya X-20A Airbrush thinner (instead of water) and airbrush it onto a flat painted surface, it turns into a frost. Not so hot for a gloss coat, but potentially perfect for iced up condensation on an X plane.
Thanks again for reaching out amigo. It seems fitting to start watching your channel as I have been branching out more into building prototype and test bed aircraft. Over the past couple years I have done five test plane models (starting with the Hasegawa X-29) and they have quite a different and attractive feel to front line combat jets. I will be doing more in the coming years.
Why no blackbird ? Great artist
Appreciate the compliment, thanks, and my Blackbird paintings are featured in a separate video: ua-cam.com/video/knUHpohsLv4/v-deo.html
Knowing how test pilots are hotdogs I'd be willing to bet that George Welch was first.
Hello, love your video's I am interested in the first prop driven sweptback wing aircraft ever. That is the Bell L-39. Which was a P-63 Kingcobra with Sweptback wings Bolted on the wing root. later they added an 35degree Total sweptback wing modeled like the x2. To test the low-speed characteristics of this wing. I am looking for the wingspan on this aircraft was it the same as the x2? Thankyou
Great question, and turns out the L-39 had a 34' 6" wingspan while the X-2 was 32' 2". Difference could very well have been the fuselage diameter. Thanks for watching!
Awesome art work! Do you have a book that I could buy? :)
Yes, it is called "PAINTING AVIATION’S LEGENDS" -
www.specialtypress.com/painting-aviation-s-legends-the-art-of-mike-machat.html
Enter "MIKE" in Coupon Code at check-out, and receive a 25% discount from the publisher. Many thanks!
Just a hint, there is no "Airplane Art" on Face Book.
Thanks for the comment, and you might enjoy this FB group: facebook.com/groups/126404454112464/?multi_permalinks=4826632864089576¬if_id=1643956532567260¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif
Hey Mike, have you ever heard of Santa Fe Skyway????
Yes, an interesting airline that flew Douglas DC-4s, if that's the one you mean. Thanks for watching!
Bell X-2 painting and some photos I have seen depict the national marking with the red stripe and without it, on the same aircraft at the same time. Knowing your attention to detail and historical research for your paintings, was there a reason or pattern to the omission?
Disregard please! I found your fascinating X-2 video which answered it!
@@georgegagnon9620 Thanks George!
Mike - who was the name "Pard" given to?
Hi Chuck - Both Yeager and Hoover called each other 'Pard,' even at the signing of the lithos of that painting in 1997. Thanks for watching!
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 I work as a Civil Service employee for the US Air Force, and in the unit I am assigned to, the pilot/aircraft operational call signs are PARD XX, e.g. PARD 01, PARD 15, etc...
Talent?