Fair Skies/Blue skies..

Greetings Dear Readers,Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know of my interests in aviation-as a tiny pink leopard in the RCAF, I have had some spectacular crashes interspersed with some relatively straight and level flying. This week, we have a special place to visit-the Balsa Airport and Aviation Community in Aveousa.

Here on the "Flight Line" you can see some of the planes that Bancos Milestone has built and sells here.

Let's listen in to his commentary, as we walk and talk...(Please note, dear reader, that I have edited for clarity and brevity)
[17:19] You: ok, So what was your first plane?
[17:20] Bancos Milestone: my first aircraft was the Sutra.....which was a combination of the Sukoi and the Extra 300, but I was not very good at scripting then so only used basic flight scripts but it sold reasonably well
[17:20] You: Got one around?
[17:20] Bancos Milestone: I don't even sell it any more
[17:20] Bancos Milestone: sure
[17:21] Bancos Milestone: c
[17:21] You: she's a beauty
[17:22] Bancos Milestone: and it had a formation that went with it
[17:22] You: 5 planes?
[17:24] You: Well, that's impressive
[17:24] You: an entourage
[17:24] Bancos Milestone: first ever formation flying in sl
[[17:25] Bancos Milestone: I try to always give something extra with each plane
[17:26] You: I see
[17:27] You: and how did you start all this?
[17:27] You: are you a pilot in RL?
[17:27] Bancos Milestone: yes
[17:30] Bancos Milestone: yes I had polio at age 18 months old
[17:30] You: ok,
[17:30] Bancos Milestone: which is not known by many here
[17:30] Bancos Milestone: but that is fine
[17:31] You: and ?
[17:31] Bancos Milestone: so I had some unusual physical challenges to overcome in order to fly
[17:31] Bancos Milestone: walked on forearm crutches all my life
[17:31] Bancos Milestone: but my feet still work on the rudder pedals
[17:31] Bancos Milestone: and I have built 3 homebuilt aircraft in RL
[17:32] You: Wow
[17:32] You: so flying for you means more
[17:32] You: than to the average person
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: it is where I am the same
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: no limitations in the air
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: and that is why I love second life
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: I am the same here
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: with no physical limitations
[17:32] Bancos Milestone: as I do in Real life
[17:33] You: yes, i understand
[17:33] You: and the freedom
[17:33] You: that it brings
[17:33] Bancos Milestone: My dad took me for my first plane ride at age 5
[17:33] Bancos Milestone: in a brand new 1956 Cessna 172
[17:33] Bancos Milestone: and I never got over it and neither did my twin who is Real Bright here
[17:34] Bancos Milestone: I built every model airplane I could get my hands on
[17:34] You: as soon as I could
[17:34] Bancos Milestone: I learned to fly in Jersey
[17:35] Bancos Milestone: at a now closed airport called Asbury Air Terminal in Asbury Park New Jersey
[17:35] You: yes,
[17:35] You: there was a lot on the shore that is now gone
[[17:36] Bancos Milestone: a whole lot more in 1966 when I first soloed in a new Cessna 150
[17:43] Bancos Milestone: my SkyKing songbird
[17:43] Bancos Milestone: from the series in 1950
[17:44] You: ok, simular to the one you flew in as a child
[17:44] Bancos Milestone: this was Sky Kings first plane The cessna T50
[17:46] Bancos Milestone: but Sky King flew around saving everyone in various adventures
[17:46] Bancos Milestone: so it had an impact on me as a kid
[17:46] You: yes, I vaguely recall the show
[17:46] Bancos Milestone: another thing that created a passion for aviation
[17:46] Bancos Milestone: you can still get the videos today on DVD
[17:46] You: of course ;-)
[17:47] Bancos Milestone: He later switched to the Cessna 310
[17:47] You: And do you still sell this one?
[17:47] Bancos Milestone: yes
[17:47] Bancos Milestone: on the flight line
[17:47] You: ok
[17:47] Bancos Milestone: it even plays the opening theme when you start the engine
[17:48] You: is there a fantasy plane that you would like to build?
[17:48] Bancos Milestone: This was probably it in terms of my favorite.

[17:49] You: do you bring in the drawings and work from the original?
[17:49] Bancos Milestone: yes I don't care for Sculpties as they are just now starting to get to where I am considering using them
[17:49] Bancos Milestone: yes
[17:49] Bancos Milestone: I scale every airplane
[17:49] Bancos Milestone: to exact scale using plans
[17:49] Bancos Milestone: that I bring in world
[17:50] You: i see
[17:50] Bancos Milestone: This was for the Bf109
[17:50] You: oh, this is good
[17:50] You: let me get a snap as soon as it rezzes
[17:51] You: I love to show process
[17:51] You: if the builder will share it
[17:51] Bancos Milestone: I use Side , top and front views

[17:57] Bancos Milestone: the big bombers the B17, B24 and B47 were the hardest
[17:57] Bancos Milestone: of my builds
[17:57] Bancos Milestone: but some of the most popular
[17:57] Bancos Milestone: and very detailed in terms of Textures, and scripting
[17:58] Bancos Milestone: B24 Liberator
[17:59] You: oh man
[17:59] You: that is incredible
[18:00] You: love the nose art too
[18:00] Bancos Milestone: all of the engines can be stopped in the air with a 25% power loss for each engine
[18:00] Bancos Milestone: so just as in RL you must throttle up the remaining engines
[18:00] You: and what does that mean?
[18:00] Bancos Milestone: to maintain airspeed and altitude
[18:00] You: I see
[18:00] Bancos Milestone: so you can simulate an engine out if you want
[18:04] Bancos Milestone: most of my planes have working ailerons, flaps and Elevator and Rudders

[18:05] Bancos Milestone: B47
[18:05] Bancos Milestone: was first time Boeing mounted the engines on the wing
[18:05] Bancos Milestone: and was responsilbe for all of the jetliners you see today
[18:05] Bancos Milestone: including the B52
[18:05] You: that had to make the engineers nervous
[18:05] Bancos Milestone: yes
[18:06] Bancos Milestone: This was used in The Strategic Air Command
[18:06] You: yes
[18:06] Bancos Milestone: as a Nuke deterant
[18:07] Bancos Milestone: This had no thrust reversers
[18:07] Bancos Milestone: so it had a drag chute
[18:07] Bancos Milestone: to help stop the plane after landing
[18:07] You: I see
[18:07] Bancos Milestone: and I have that on mine and it works
[18:07] Bancos Milestone: also have working instruments on the control panel
[18:08] You: the chute?
[18:08] You: works in Sl?
[18:08] Bancos Milestone: yes
[18:08] Bancos Milestone: causes drag when you touch down
[18:08] Bancos Milestone: you deploy the chute by typing "d" in the chat window

Totally, well, awesome! Bancos!

He also has a steampunk plane, and just rolled out some new items- Notably the Mosquito Bomber (you know you want one!)


and a GeeBee High Performance plane for the Tinies- in fact Dear Tiny Readers, he has started a whole line of planes for tinies.


Ok, now over in another part of Balsa, one of Bancos' former students is hard at work on some very special planes.
In RL Josh is an intructor in Hot Air Balloons, but I'll bet that these go a lot faster... the P-47 (affectionately known as the "Jug") and the Super Thunderbolt.

But the most exciting plane in Josh's growing inventory is a scale replica of the Electra- the very plane that Amelia Earhart flew into the books of aviation history, when she and her copilot Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Obviously, this was a labor of love- Hours and hours of work, and you can buy one for your very own.




So, Dear Reader- a rather long blog this week- hope you enjoyed meeting this passionate pilots- I sure did. Here is the LM for you to visit them, and see for yourselves.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/BALSA%20INC%20AVEOUSA/177/160/29

Oh, Yes and stay tuned for Big Bash Party News- My celebration open to all, at my estate in Impish Glee- Dancing, DJ's, Freebie hunts, and introducing- the AV slingshot! A Vicki Brandenburg creation- How far can you fling your av?

Stay tuned- the fun really begins on Sept. 5th...

That's all for this week- Be safe, have fun.
Annabelle