http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php Copyright 2008, Infinity Entertainment Infinity Entertainment en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080904-173439 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080904-173439 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:34:39 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080804-175710
Susan Cress and I had just completed a very nice call with a company that really understands what our program is all about which, in itself was very refreshing. It always helps when a company is also involved in and understands the aviation industry. At the end of the call I headed out to the airport to check on a few things and have breakfast with the usual gang at the Sky Kitchen.

Well, Willie Turner of Hiller Aviation Museum comes walking in, in his usual upbeat stride saying hello to about everyone in the coffee shop. This time around he had a guest. Willie came over and said “David, I want you to meet Kermit, Kermit Weeks”. WOW, I’ve known about Kermit for years but have never had the pleasure of meeting him. Willie wanted Kermit to see the Turbine Toucan, an aircraft that Kermit had not heard of, until today.

At the end of lunch Willie arranged for Kermit to stop by and see the plane before heading out on business. I’m guessing, based on what Willie told him on the drive over to the hangar, his expectations were fairly low. After all, Kermit owns the most prolific aircraft collection in the world and is a guy who’s been there, done that and seen it all.

When we opened the hangar door, I believe Kermit’s eye’s lit up in a big way. Being that Kermit is a three-time U.S. Aerobatic Champion, he instantly understood exactly what he was looking at and the staggering potential of the aircraft. He walked around the plane several times. As he did, he asked some very good questions few people ever have ever asked.

Though he is a giant in the aviation world, he is a very approachable, down to earth person with a great sense of humor. I really enjoyed our meeting and hope we get opportunity to spend more time together down the road.

If you haven’t had the chance, I would highly recommend a visit to Kermit’s Museum, which is called Fantasy of Flight. It is just off Interstate 4 in Polk City, Florida, just down the road from Orlando and Disney World. I’ve been there on several occasions and it really is a wonderful experience if you love aviation, like most of us.

For more information on Fantasy of Flight please go to www.fantasyofflight.com, you will not be disappointed!

To learn more about the man himself, Forbes did a great article a while back called “Mad For Airplanes” http://www.forbes.com/2001/01/15/0115garage.html

As I understand it, Kermit has some VERY big plans for his museum, so I highly recommend keeping an eye out for developments, should be very exciting times at Fantasy of Flight.

-Have a great week!]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080804-175710 Infinity Entertainment Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:57:10 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080730-200050


More then a year ago, after hearing about the Turbine Toucan, RC World Champion Quique Somenzini approached Infinity Entertainment Inc. with the desire to produce scale RC versions of the Turbine Toucan. Being the godfather of 3D aerobatics, Quique was acutely aware of the potential of the full-scale aircraft and wanted to be a part of it, and from the ground floor!

All of us at Infinity Entertainment were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with Quique. For one, he is a pioneer in the 3D aerobatic space. But the reason we were so compelled to work with Quique is for reasons that might not be so obvious.

Quique is integrity driven and wants to change the way business is done in the RC world (like what we want to do in the air show world). Quique purchased exclusive trademark rights to reproduce the Turbine Toucan, the paint scheme and name. This kind of partnership is a rare affair in the RC world. And to us, it is a symbiotic relationship. With between 8-12 million hits a year on the Turbine Toucan site, projected 10-12 million annual “at venue” attendance and Quique’s dominate roll in the RC world, this will be a force to be reckoned with.

There are a great deal of air show fans that are also RC pilots, so anything we can do to get people to come out and see us, the better. And the better for our title sponsor! And of course the opposite is even truer. The popularity of the Turbine Toucan will ultimately drive sales of the RC kits world wide. In either case, we are a team. And the “team philosophy” is another differentiating component to what our entire program is all about. In fact, the next chapter of “The Other Side of the Business” rant (Blog) talks about our very philosophy of team work from the inception of our journey.

In the mean time, its nice to see Quique make his mark at the famous Joe Nall scale RC event this year and even better to see the Turbine Toucan on the Cover of Sport RC Flyer! ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080730-200050 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:00:50 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080304-212746
We now have complete aural alert system for every engine parameter. We get both audible and visual cues now making it much easier to operate the aircraft. With the immensely customizable Electronics International MVP-50T, we were able to consolidate more then 15 instruments into a very small footprint. We also have audible cues for reminders for switching tanks, bleed air heat data and the list just keeps on going.

After two month of being locked up in our hangar due to no taxiways (KSQL Construction) we are happy to get the plane back in the air. Though we did use the down time well, it sure will be nice to return to working on the very purpose of this aircraft, aerobatics.



]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry080304-212746 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:27:46 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry071118-114525
Our first and only attempt was really just a practice and was done on our departure back to San Carlos. The Toucan was loaded with nearly 80 gallons of fuel, in a record attempt we might only have 30 gallons on board. Right off we were carrying 335 extra pounds, which makes a huge difference.

First time out of the gate we broke the C-1C class world record by more then a minute and a half! This was a best angle of climb attempt more then a time attempt for team Turbine Toucan. From take off to 10,000ft. we maintained a 75º deck angle, which doesn’t get us there nearly as fast but provides a lot of fantastic data in the process.

Airspeed was in the 80-90kt range all the way up. What was really fascinating after leveling off at 10,000ft in almost 2 minutes flat was that we never really left the airport. The toucan was just at the end of King City’s 4400ft runway when we arrived at our first destination in route to San Carlos.

The next attempt we’ll be keeping the airspeed up at about 120kts all the way up to 10,000ft and with only 30 gallons onboard. This should make a HUGE difference as we continue to get the time down. Still, today’s record broke the 35 year standing record of 3 minutes and 30 seconds by nearly 40% (at 2 minutes) not to bad for never leaving the airport! Team Turbine Toucan is VERY excited about the potential of this aircraft and today's practice reinforces our enthusiasm.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry071118-114525 Infinity Entertainment Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:45:25 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070927-142242
Though we have crew monitoring trends on the ground and reporting any unusual trends to the pilot via a discreet frequency, it still requires pilot input to correct the exceedence. The latency in communication from the ground to the pilot might only be a few seconds, but that is a critical few seconds when you can overspeed N2 or have large spikes in ITT.

The new system completely eliminates pilot input for corrections, which greatly reduces pilot workload when high power and low altitudes are experienced.

Tjaart has also added significant telemetry interface updates for the ground crew. Now we can completely data log the entire flight. We can also display on a graph all engine parameters, which now give you graphical trend data in real-time. This allows us to play back historical data and map it with any particular maneuver to see what, if any effect it has on the Turbine.

This is really ground breaking technology for Turboprops! We can’t thank Tjaart and Maurits enough for the continued support; it is this kind of dedication and support that has made the project a reality.]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070927-142242 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:22:42 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070914-013427 www.turbinetoucan.com receives over 3 million hits! The entire infinity entertainment team is grateful for a loyal following. In just a few months time, since the announcement of the Turbine Toucan, we have received over 3 million hits. Most, if not all traffic to the site has been viral, which absolutely delights us. We have only had one press release, which was the introduction of the aircraft a few months back, way before the plane had even flown.

We are grateful for all the support we have had worldwide. Now that the test phase is complete, we are going to spend more time keeping things fresh on the website. More in-flight images, video and stories to follow as we head into two separate programs. World record attempts and exploring the vertical/aerobatic program for 2008 air show season.

All in all, we are grateful for a very good first six month with the Turbine Toucan and www.turbinetoucan.com.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070914-013427 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:34:27 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070913-141815


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070913-141815 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:18:15 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070910-203943

Today represents the pinnacle in the test phase of the Turbine Toucan. Our very last systems tests were an overwhelming success. We developed a proprietary oil system designed to help prolong vertical flight. The system performed flawlessly today. We simulated oil pressure loss and the system took over and provided oil at the exact same oil pressure and volume. The system worked transparently, the engine never knew the difference.

This last test concludes nearly six months of work. We officially start working the plane through the aerobatic regime full time from here on out. This moment represents the biggest achievement so far, a successful aircraft that has lived up to all our expectations.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070910-203943 Infinity Entertainment Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:39:43 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070803-212420
Lots of traditional maneuvers have been explored, and the control harmony of the plane is better than we have expected. We’ve been as fast as 200kts straight and level cruise so we are creeping up on the speed.

We have had 12 squawk free flights and have now introduced the entire fuel system. The duration of flights is now well over an hour. Our next venture is to go up high and establish all the at altitude profiles for the plane before we close out the phase one test flights. We are quickly rounding up on 40 hours, so we’ll be able to return to SQL in about another week. Then it is off to exploring the potential of the aircraft.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070803-212420 Infinity Entertainment Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:24:20 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070712-220854
As Ken prepares to start to explore the aerobatic envelop in the coming months, David Kervinen will start to work on the performance oriented world record attempts with assistance from Butch.

The before and after flight photos. The first, Ken's got some butterflies going on. The second photo, says it all! He's just flown one of the World's Most High Performance Civilian Aircraft flying.



]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070712-220854 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 13 Jul 2007 03:08:54 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070711-230000

After over a year of working closely with David and Ken, the fruits of all Butch’s labor finally pays off. Butch made his maiden flight today at 8am. We have an hour and a half commute each way to the aircraft. We couldn’t pry the smile off Butch’s face the entire drive home. Butch has flown more then 350 types of aircraft, logged over 33,000 hours and retired a captain of the 747-400. But nothing was going to prepare him for the kind of performance he saw yesterday. And all Butch could do was to repeat the phrase “and I was only at 50% power, the potential is staggering”.

What is really staggering to us is the level of commitment Butch has made to the entire program. He literally put his life on hold for the past year to see us through this most amazing journey. Butch inspires us all, has been a wonderful mentor and most importantly, became a very close friend.

THANK YOU BUTCH!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070711-230000 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070626-212632
At that rage, he was doing 8,400 feet per minute! THIS WAS NOT FULL POWER! Our analog VSI only goes up to 6000fpm, so we really didn't know what kind of performance we sustained as that was not really the mission of the flight. It's when you sit down, take a minute to reflect on things do you really start thinking about what we got going on here. I'm a actually a little stunned.

Dave Morss has been very methodical regarding the addition of power on every flight, so we are excited to find out what we get when we start introducing full power take-offs.]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070626-212632 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:26:32 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070624-004302
We are very proud to represent Tesla Industries while campaigning the Turbine Toucan and believe it is going to be a wonderful relationship! Look for our start cart, which will be coming online in the next few weeks!


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070624-004302 Infinity Entertainment Sun, 24 Jun 2007 05:43:02 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070515-190527
Silver Parachute Sales and Service, Para-Phernalia's largest dealer is owned and operated by master rigger Allen Silver who will continue to support the Turbine Toucan Team going forward. Infinity Entertainment has been a customer of Allen's for some time and we are excited to take the relationship to the next level.

We are thrilled to be partnering with two world-class companies.

For more information about the world's best emergency parachute systems click the link below.
www.softieparachutes.com



For more information about Silver Parachute Sales and Service click the link below.
www.silverparachutes.com



]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070515-190527 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 16 May 2007 00:05:27 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070509-233000

WORLD’S FIRST EVER HOVERING BIPLANE TAKES FLIGHT

The Turbine Toucan makes first flight


HOLLISTER, California – May 9, 2007 – Infinity Entertainment’s Turbine Toucan, piloted by Test Pilot Dave Morss, successfully completes first flight. Beating all expectations, the plane performed flawlessly. Weighing in at just over 1,650 pounds, powered by a 750 horsepower turbo prop delivering almost 3,000 lbs of thrust, the Turbine Toucan is the highest performance biplane ever built.




After 14 months, 5,200 man hours and overcoming various technical complexities, it all came down to today’s defining moment. Over the course of the past 30 days, the Turbine Toucan has undergone exhaustive testing to prepare for today’s first flight which took place just after 9:00 am PT.



Learning to fly an aerobatic aircraft with a positive thrust to weight ratio is a daunting task! More people have walked on the moon then have experience with an aerobatic aircraft with a 1.5:1 thrust to weight ratio. Taking on the challenge of exploring the 3-D aerobatic potential of the Turbine Toucan is aerobatic pilot, Ken Erickson. Ken comes to Infinity Entertainment as one of the world’s premiere aerobatic instructors. Ken brings to Infinity Entertainment extensive experience in a variety of aircraft and has over 10,000 hours. Ken will draw on his 27 years of experience as he develops and designs the Turbine Toucan airshow program for the 2008 airshow season. Dave Morss will continue to conduct all preliminary testing before turning the Turbine Toucan over to the Infinity Entertainment’s airshow Team.



The Turbine Toucan will make four world record attempts in 2007, two of which will be made this summer. Records include time-to-climb, world’s fastest biplane and world’s only hovering biplane.



Founded in 1992, Infinity Entertainment Inc. is a multi-faceted Entertainment and Event Marketing Company dedicated to providing highly differentiated, ROI driven world-class experiences. The company is composed of innovative, best-of-breed creatives who have years of hands-on experience managing, positioning, developing and executing awareness for some of the world's leading brands.



]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070509-233000 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 10 May 2007 04:30:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070508-230000
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070508-230000 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 09 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070427-130000 ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070427-130000 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070426-150345 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070426-150345 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:03:45 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070426-142321
Uncharted territory for a biplane no doubt. Hopefully we’ll be posting video soon.


]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070426-142321 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:23:21 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070425-175100 ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070425-175100 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:51:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070420-160000 www.airshows.org

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070420-160000 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070410-060000 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070410-060000 Infinity Entertainment Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070407-020000
We are now starting to read all the message boards and it is totally overwhelming to see the level of support we have for the Turbine Toucan. All I can say is WOW. Everyone at Infinity Entertainment Inc. is ecstatic and joyful, thank you!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070407-020000 Infinity Entertainment Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070406-093000 ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070406-093000 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:30:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070406-083000 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070406-083000 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:30:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070405-050000 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070405-050000 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070404-220000
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?Cont ... fb42c&

Podcast:
Paul Plack talks with David Kervinen, CEO of Infinity Entertainment, about the Turbine Toucan

http://www.aero-news.net/podcasts/casts ... -04-05.mp3

or here from our site:

Ann-special-feature-2007-04-05.mp3

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070404-220000 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:00:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070404-063000
SAN CARLOS, California – April 4, 2007 – Infinity Entertainment completes the two-year project of designing and building the world’s first-ever hovering biplane. Weighing in at just over 1,650 pounds, powered by a 750 horsepower turbo prop delivering almost 3,000 lbs of thrust, the Turbine Toucan is the highest performance biplane ever built.

-More_
http://www.turbinetoucan.com/news/releases/4-4-2007.php]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070404-063000 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:30:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070402-223632
We are extremely pleased with the continued progress; we continue to hit milestones on schedule with minimal delays.

]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070402-223632 Infinity Entertainment Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:36:32 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070328-112925
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) are the official aviation records agency world wide, we will make two of the attempts through them. Time to climb 0-3000 meters and 0-6000 meters in the turboprop single engine land category.

We also will make two world record attempt through Guinness Book of World Records as we have to categories that FAI does not recognize. This includes world's fastest biplane and only biplane to ever hover. The world’s fastest biplane record was set and uncontested for 66 years now. The only biplane to ever hover will be a first.

We are in the process of registering our endeavor with Guinness Book of World Records and will keep you posted!
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070328-112925 Infinity Entertainment Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:29:25 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070326-183554 http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070326-183554 Infinity Entertainment Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:35:54 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070326-153659 ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070326-153659 Infinity Entertainment Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:36:59 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070324-162500 ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070324-162500 Infinity Entertainment Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:25:00 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070322-140148
One last inspection will be done before we are completely ready for our initial test flight operations. Check back often, we’ll have more news to report as we get closer.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070322-140148 Infinity Entertainment Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:01:48 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070320-160459 To learn more about Quique, please check him out in our “Club Toucan” area under RC modelers.
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070320-160459 Infinity Entertainment Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:04:59 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070316-132423 Instructor ASMEGI, A&P, DAR, DE, EAE, Flight Engineer Turbojet certificates. Dave has over 27,000
hours in over 300 types of aircraft including 35 prototypes.

“Dave is uniquely qualified to do the Toucan’s initial flight tests. Drawing from his experience test flying
the Oracle Turbo Raven as well as his vast knowledge with our specific turboprop model, it is a natural fit.
Dave’s wealth of aerobatic experience made for a perfect blend of skill sets for this mission.” Says Team Owner David Kervinen.

We are extremely pleased that Dave will be joining forces with us in our efforts to put the Turbine Toucan
into full time service for the 2008 air show season. To learn more about Dave Morss,
please click here. ]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070316-132423 Infinity Entertainment Fri, 16 Mar 2007 18:24:23 GMT http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070212-211001
Our journey has been filled with some amazing twists and turns in the past year. We received our first airframe at the beginning of Dec. 2005, and it was a huge shocker. Turns out the crate with the airframe, all the fitted sheet metal, canopy system, firewall, fuel tanks and tail feathers had been damaged. Not just damaged, virtually destroyed! The freight company didn’t tell us that a 40ft. piggyback container fell on our crate on the way to California from Florida. Nice. It was a heart stopping surprise when it was received, to say the least.

I knew in my heart there was no way we were going to make the 2007 air show season and that we’d have a year setback do to the time required to build all new parts. I’m feeling very kind at the moment and won’t post the shipping company name, but they were not all that great to work with and were not forth coming about what had happened with the container.

In the mean time, Jim and Kevin Kimball called all their clients and asked if they could slide some schedules around to accommodate this emergency. The Kimball’s customers come to the rescue! The Kimball’s doubled up shifts to get us back on track. The Kimball’s are the real hero’s here! Only two months later and we had all new parts to keep us moving forward. And in the end, with all the setbacks we only lost two months from our “unrealistic” time schedule for the build.

With a total loss of confidence with trucking companies, I personally flew out to Orlando, rented a truck and made the trek back to California. Two separate trips were made during the past year. First trip was in February to receive the airframe, sheet metal, tail feathers, fuel tanks and canopy system. The second trip was in April, we picked up the wings, propeller (from MT in Deland) and the Engine.

By April, we were in full production mode. Nine months later, we were done. What a ride, and it has only just begun. David
]]> http://www.turbinetoucan.com./news/index.php?entry=entry070212-211001 Infinity Entertainment Tue, 13 Feb 2007 03:10:01 GMT