As posted in the WW2 subforum, I had the chance to fly in an SV-4 and twice in a North American SNJ. The SNJ (basically, a T-6 Harvard modified for US Navy training) was built in '43 and served in the USN until the end of the 50's, at NAS Pensacola, mainly, then with the Spanish Air Force. It's owned by a French friend of mine who bought it about 6 years ago, stripped it completely, and restored it. I had the chance, in August, to go with him to an airshow in St Gaudens. It was a marvelous experience, really great fun! My friend did the take offs and the landings, then left me the stick for the flights as he was just basically enjoying the view, and checking the maps. So yeah, I had the opportunity to log four and a half hour flight time with the bird, spend the week-end with it, taking care of it, refueling it, and so on. There was a couple other warbirds there, as well as some general aviation planes. Was one of the nicest week-end ever, lot of stories shared. Of course, this is where my avatar picture is coming from. Here are a couple more:
Fred, the pilot, wanted to see me from above at least once in the week-end!
The bird, in flight:
The week-end was also the opportunity to put my behind in one of my favorite aircraft, the OV-10 Bronco:
P.S.: Never mind he shabby looking. It was a VERY hot week-end, and refueling, pushing/pulling planes from parking spots and so on are not exactly what you'd call clean jobs, so I went for practical, light, expandable clothes.
Fred, the pilot, wanted to see me from above at least once in the week-end!
The bird, in flight:
The week-end was also the opportunity to put my behind in one of my favorite aircraft, the OV-10 Bronco:
P.S.: Never mind he shabby looking. It was a VERY hot week-end, and refueling, pushing/pulling planes from parking spots and so on are not exactly what you'd call clean jobs, so I went for practical, light, expandable clothes.
