How lucky I am

[Anonymous Poster]

Can you imagine what about 16 of those in the air at once must have sounded like?

 

[Wingnut]

we had a B17 and B25 visit our area mid-Summer. Attracted a great deal of interest and made the evening (local) news 4 nights running.

 

[bgott]

I think one or two of the Japanese planes around here are restorations. They have updated engines, though. The B-29 I saw was "Fifi".

 

[TimSullivan]

Me too, I live in the area of an air museum and it is always exciting to see the vintage aircraft. B17, Catalinas, P51 and others when the shows were scheduled.

We lived on a lake and a P51 was owned by a local resident. He had a means of making the sound of the machine guns and would "strafe" the boats on the lake. The reaction of the boats was sometimes priceless.

I always wanted to fly one but never thought that I would get the chance. I played around in a Cessna but always watched the old planes with the dream to fly them. A Florida company came to the airport with their T6 and offered rides. When I found out I could sit in the front seat and fly the plane, I signed up in a hurry.

The big day came and the sky was clear and the wind calm. It was a perfect day to fly. I met my supervising pilot and he went through the ground check. Soon we were taxing and then he raised the RPMs and we jumped into the sky. He took the plane to 1000 feet and then those words I was waiting for. You’ve got her, take me for a ride. It was my first time with a stick but it was all I had anticipated and then some. My course was toward the lake where our home was and I was going to show it to him. To say that this was no Cessna was clear when I flew up the lake banked to make a 180 degree turn and dropped the nose to come down for a look at our home. I doubled the air speed as I descended and blew by the house before I could point it out.

The flight was an hour long and my pilot did some rolls and other maneuvers and let me try my best to follow his lead. During the first attempt at a simple roll, I put the plane into a dive coming out. I really expected to hear him tell me he was taking the controls but he let me correct my error. I climbed and tried again and I DID IT.

As we were on the final approach to landing and I guided the plane toward the runway I heard him say I’ll take it now. In a few seconds the wheels touched down and it was over. I will do it again

 

[jimmoore]

here is an interesting web site.
http://home.att.net/~C.C.Jordan/index.html

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Boy, I thought I was lucky! That must be a real trip to fly that Texan. I ended up driving over to the air show on Sunday, and got to crawl all over a Texan. They sure weren't offering to let me fly it though! I got a good look at that B25 too. It definitely was the Confederate Air Force, but not the "Yellow Rose of Texas". It was "Show Me" from Missouri. Fourteen cylinder radial engines, about thirty missions, three enemy aircraft kills, three enemy ships, a whole bunch of 50 cal guns sticking out, and a wife that couldn't care less. I sure thought it was cool though.

 

[8NTX]

I thought that they had changed the name of the Confederate Air Force to something else. It seems like anything with Confederate in it, or the Confederacy, the Confederate flag, etc., is now considered to be racist. The high school I graduated from had the southern Colonel as it's mascot and the Confederate flag as it's symbol. The flag is gone, of course, along with much of the traditions, songs, etc. Sad to see.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Yeah, your'e right. The name is Commemorative Air Force now. The new name might be a little less exclusive to people from the north. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

I dug up this old thread to identify an opportunity to see one of the great airplanes of the past.
This airplane will arrive Saturday for the "Air Venture Air Show" in OshKosh Wis.
From there it heads to the National Air and Space Museum in Wash. DC.

If you liked the B25 sound, you will like this one.

First flight: Dec. 31, 1938
Model number:
SA-307B and C-75
Classification: Commercial and military transport
Span: 107 feet 3 inches
Length: 74 feet 4 inches
Gross weight: 42,000 pounds
Top speed: 246 mph
Cruising speed: 220 mph
Range: 2,390 miles
Ceiling: 26,200 feet
Power: Four 1,000-horsepower Wright Cyclone engines(Studebaker)
Accommodation: 5 crew, 33 passengers

 

[BB_TX]

Raytheon sponsored an air show near here a couple summers ago. Lots of old WWII era fighters, bombers, transports, and trainers flying around with simulated dog fights. Also parked on the tarmac so that you could go thru some of them. Great show. I can still remember as a kid seeing the occasional B-36 fly over. That was an awesome sight and sound. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif