4th of July SALE

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Mooney Ovation 3: Turbo Performance Without The Turbo

Say what you will about American cars, but America builds some of the best civilian airplanes in the world. In the lower rungs of general aviation, especially trainers through four-seat retractables, American flying machines have virtually no equal.

Take, for instance, the Mooney M20R Ovation 3. The current M20R is a third-generation Mooney, the beneficiary of a half century of development. Designer Al Mooney inarguably got it right the first time out of the box back in the 1950s when he created his four-seat M20. While today’s airplane is light-years ahead of its ancestor in performance, comfort, systems, aerodynamics and electronics, you can still see the heritage of design—the arrogant, vertical tail; short, rubber doughnut gear; and tall baggage compartment.

Though it may not be the airplane Luke Skywalker would fly, the basic four-seat Mooney has aged at least as well as Christie Brinkley (who, more than coincidentally, is the same age) while nearly doubling climb rate and adding almost 100 knots to cruise speed.

In fact, Mooneys have consistently enjoyed speed disproportionate to their horsepower. The type has been among the world’s fastest and most efficient personal airplanes since its inception. Today, the Mooney Acclaim S is the acknowledged leader in the turbocharged class, notching near-turboprop speeds on a measly 280 hp.

Similarly, the Ovation 3 is the quickest normally aspirated single—quite simply (or not so simply) the fastest production airplane above the planet without a blower under the bonnet. The Ovation 3 features essentially the same 310 hp Continental engine used on the Cessna Corvalis 350 and the Cirrus SR22-G3. (The only significant differences are associated with repositioning some items to accommodate the Mooney’s retractable nosewheel.)

Indonesian military plane crashes on Java

JAKARTA, Indonesia – An Indonesian military plane carrying more than 100 people crashed into several homes and burst into flames Wednesday, killing at least 93 people.

Others were injured and more were feared dead. Black smoke billowed in the air, as soldiers carried badly burnt bodies on stretchers to waiting ambulances.

Military spokesman Sagom Tamboen said the C-130 aircraft was transporting troops and their families, including at least 10 children, when it tumbled from the sky near an air force base in East Java province. There were 112 passengers and crew on board when the C-130 Hercules crashed near a base in East Java province early Wednesday.

The plane smashed into a row of houses in Geplak village, killing three on the ground, before skidding into a rice field. The tail of the plane and several large parts of its body were scattered in the paddy and nearby bushes.

The country’s air force has long complained of being underfunded and handicapped by a recently lifted U.S. ban on weapons sales. It has suffered a series of accidents, including a Fokker 27 plane that crashed into an airport hangar last month, killing all 24 onboard.

A series of commercial airline crashes in recent years has killed more than 120 people in Indonesia.

B-1B Destroys Enemy Bunker

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 23, 2009 — Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Feb. 22, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer destroyed an anti-Afghan bunker near Now Zad using a guided bomb unit-31. Personnel in the bunker had been firing on coalition troops.

In the vicinity of Shurakian, many coalition aircraft provided air support for an ambushed coalition convoy after one vehicle was disabled by an improvised explosive device. Enemy forces took cover and pulled back from the immediate area when the aircraft arrived. An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II destroyed an additional IED using a GBU-38 as the convoy prepared to depart.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II intervened after anti-Afghan forces in fortified positions near Nangalam engaged a coalition convoy with rocket-propelled grenade and assault-weapons fire. The A-10 used a GBU-38 and 30mm cannon strafes to destroy the enemy positions.

While providing overwatch near Lashkar Gah, a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet used GBU-12 to target an enemy indirect fire position launching attacks on coalition units. The strike successfully ended the attacks.

During a ground firefight on in the Morghab area, an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle bombed an anti-Afghan forces fighting position using a GBU-12. After the initial strike, nearby enemy personnel tried to flee the area on motorcycles, but paused briefly to abandon their weapons in a nearby settlement. With other coalition aircraft helping to maintain positive identification of the enemy personnel, the Strike Eagle pursued, hitting the motorcycles with another GBU-12 and a cannon strafe once the risk to civilians had passed.

Read more here.

NYC Toy Fair Offers the Opportunity to Smash Bernie Madoff

NEW YORK – One of the vendors at this week’s Toy Fair is offering the “Smash-Me Bernie,” a $99.95 Madoff lookalike doll that wears a devil-red suit and carries a pitchfork. It comes with its own hammer — so you can pulverize it.

Phoenix, Ariz.-based ModelWorks is behind the caricature Mini-Me figures, which can be customized to look like celebrities or whomever a buyer chooses.

Madoff was arrested in December after investigators said he confessed to his sons that he had swindled investors of $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme.

The toy fair is open only to the industry and runs through Wednesday.

Best Models for Great Deals

Warplanes.com proudly brings you their marked-down products!

Abrams Main Battle Tank

Regular Price $399.95

Sale Price $149.95

F-16 Fighting Falcon

Regular Price $159.95

Sale Price $109.95

P-51 Mustang Tuskegee

Regular Price $169.95

Sale Price $99.95

Login to Warplanes.com to purchase any of these models or call 1-800-579-1207.

Warplanes Clearance Sale

Warplanes.com is having a CLEARANCE SALE starting this month of January. Offer is good until supplies last. Get up to 60% discount on your favored waplanes, commercial aircrafts and more! Visit www.warplanes.com for more information.

Warplanes is your home for high-quality scale models of military and civilian aircrafts. Own a piece of aeronautical history from whatever era that interests you. Warplanes carry an array of military models jets, aircraft carrier models and military plaques. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, Warplanes will make it for you.

Funky USB Aircraft Mouse

So you call yourself a true-blue aviation enthusiast? Then you got to have one of this aircraft usb mouse with spanking designs connected to your PC, notebook or laptop. This would be a nice accessory to compliment your desktop model planes collection.

The specs:

• Cool aircraft design
• Resolution: 800dpi
• Plug and play
• USB interface
• LED light up when it’s plug into USB port
• Support Windows 2000/XP/VISTA
• Dimension: 155 x 115 x 35mm (approx.)
• Weight: 90g

Israel Halts Fire

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza fired salvoes of rockets into southern Israel on Sunday, defying a unilateral cease fire called by Israel and threatening to reignite three weeks of violence that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and turned Gaza’s street into battlegrounds.

The Islamic militant Hamas has been battered badly by the Israeli onslaught, and it was not clear how seriously it intended to try to jeopardize the cease-fire. The rocket fire resumed as a slew of foreign leaders headed to Egypt to try to cement an end to the war.

In Gaza, people loaded vans and donkey carts with mattresses and began venturing back to their homes to see what was left standing after the punishing air and ground assault the tiny seaside territory endured. Bulldozers began shoving aside rubble in Gaza City, the territory’s biggest population center, to clear a path for cars while medical workers sifting through mounds of concrete discovered dozens of bodies in the debris.

Israel quieted its guns and grounded its attack aircraft before reaching a long-term solution to the problem of arms smuggling into Gaza and Israel’s declaration that it would keep soldiers in Gaza until militants hold their fire raised the prospect of further clashes with Hamas, which has said it would fight on until Israel pulls out.

The cease-fire went into effect at 2 a.m local time after 22-days of fighting that killed some 1,200 Palestinians, about half of them civilians. Thirteen Israeli’s also died.

Israel decided to hold its fire just days ahead of Barack Obama’s inauguration Tuesday as president of the United States. Outgoing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration welcomed Israel’s decision.

Israel originally said it would continue its offensive until it received international guarantees that Hamas would not rearm, as militants did during a 6-month truce that preceded the war. In a step toward achieving those guarantees, Israel on Friday won a U.S. commitment to help crack down on weapons smuggling into Egypt and from there, to Gaza.

But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday that his country would not be bound by the agreement. Egypt’s cooperation is essential if the smuggling is to be stopped.

United States Air Force Thunderbirds 2009

The US Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, Thunderbirds, announced its 2009 air show schedule recently.

In their 56^th season, the Thunderbirds are scheduled to perform more than 73 shows in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Far East. Lt. Col. Greg Thomas will be the team’s commander and leader for the second season. Thomas will join 11 officers and more than 120 enlisted Airmen during the 2009 air show season.

“Our team comes from over 30 specialties throughout the Air Force; they are proud to represent their fellow Airmen who continually execute the Air Force mission, which is to Fly, Fight and Win… in air, space and cyberspace.” – Lt. Col. Thomas

The 2009 Schedule:

March

21-22 Luke AFB, AZ

28-29 MacDill AFB, FL

April

4-5 Keesler AFB, MS

18-19 Ceiba, Puerto Rico

25-26 Langley AFB, VA

May

2-3 Robins AFB, GA

9-10 Branson, MO

15-17 Andrews AFB, MD

23-24 Wantagh, NY (Jones Beach)

27 USAF Academy, CO

30-31 Ellsworth AFB, SD

June

6-7 Hill AFB, UT

13-14 Ocean City, MD

20-21 Dover AFB, DE

27-28 Helena, MT

July

4-5 Battle Creek, MI

11-12 Peoria, IL

18-19 Dayton, OH

22 Cheyenne, WY

25-26 Milwaukee, WI

August

8-9 Vienna, OH

15-16 Chicago, IL

19 Atlantic City, NJ

22-23 Selfridge ANGB, MI

29-30 Hillsboro, OR

September

5-7 Cleveland, OH

12-13 Sacramento, CA

19-20 Hickam AFB, HI

September 22 – October 26

Thunderbirds 2009 Far East

November

7-8 Homestead ARB, FL

14-15 Nellis AFB, BV