I FLEW a WWII airplane!!!!

[Dixon Cannon]

Congratso!!!

That sounds like logable time. Was the PIC a CFI? You're on your way to a type rating!! -dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Some inflight pics of the Fortress...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=112887#post112887

My wild ride! -dixon cannon

 

[Story]

Did Jack Webb do this narrative?

In case anyone asks you to fly second-seat while they do a simple overflight over the Bay of Pigs...

http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/A-26.html

 

[Tomasso]

What a blast!

Although I'm not a pilot, I think that I know a bit of your excitement. A friend of mine was in the air show business and he would arrange for me to fly, as a passenger, with some of the various acts. The most fun, by far, was the Red Baron Squadron, who flew Stearmans. We flew some loops, it was a blast!

 

[birddog]

I have worked in aviation since 1969 & am extremely fortunate that I fell into a professional nitche where I could do well. This has allowed me the rare privilge of owning three small vintage airplanes; a 1940 Luscombe 8C, a 1942 Piper Army L4-B & a recently purchased 1946 Fairchild 24.

I got the aviation bug as a kid in the '50's watching DC-3s'Beech 18s & other now vintage flying landing approaches over my parents home in Buffalo N.Y. When I went in the Navy in 1969, I flew as an aircrewman in the Grumman S2-F Tracker, a plane as heavy as a DC-3 but half the size, with two engines, the same engines as a B-17.

The result is my hearing is bad, I have AIDS (Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrom - due to too much travel & erratic working hours), & I spend a junkies fortune on owning planes I only use occasionly. On top of this, I emigrated from the U.S. to Europe where gas is 3 times the cost.

Give it up...... NEVER!!!!

Birddog

 

[Spitfire]

I have been a long time fan of the DC-3 and hope to get to ride in one sometime. If I remember down at Long Beach California is a company operating one.

Sounds heavenly!

Hey John - Come to Denmark and I'll give you a ride in this old lady. Produced in California 1944. True warbird.
I was up with her twice last summer. BBBBRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMM.....

 

[staggerwing]

I have been a long time fan of the DC-3 and hope to get to ride in one sometime. If I remember down at Long Beach California is a company operating one.

Sounds heavenly!

A while back my wife bought my a DC3 type rating course for my 40th birthday. The school was down in south Texas. I passed the checkride with the FAA but unfortunately don't guess I'll ever get behind the controls of a DC3 again. Still a fun time and quite a novelty. I know professional pilots with 10s of thousands of hours who don't have one of these. Guess that's why I married her...

 

[staggerwing]

a recently purchased 1946 Fairchild 24.

Birddog,

I've been kicking around the idea of getting either a Fairchild 24 or a Stinson 108. The Fairchild's way cooler and more "vintagey" but there is greater parts and technical support for the Stinson. I'd love to know more about your experiences with the Fairchild.

 

[dhermann1]

C 47 flight

Well, when I was in the Marines in 1969, I got very lucky one time. A bunch of us got a flight from Oahu to the Big Island in a C 54, and then rode back in a C 47. The pilot was catching up his hours to stay certified, so we just flew low slow circles around Kiluea Crater for about an hour. Pretty cool experience. Then I got a flight on a KC 130 back from Hawaii to California. 5 hours. We got to sit up in the cockpit for a good long while. Just glass and miles and miles of blue ocean.
My other "vintage" airplane flight was from Milan to Rome on an old Alitalia Vickers Viscount. Not a warbird, but still a very cool old plane. The first successful turbo prop passenger plane.
If you want to own your own T6 I believe you can expect to fork over about a quarter million bucks, and pay about a thousand dollars an hour to put it in the air. Talk about the sport of kings! And of course, to have an airplane basically means being practically married to it, if you want to keep your proficiency up. But, oh what a pleasure!

 

[birddog]

Birddog,

I've been kicking around the idea of getting either a Fairchild 24 or a Stinson 108. The Fairchild's way cooler and more "vintagey" but there is greater parts and technical support for the Stinson. I'd love to know more about your experiences with the Fairchild.

Staggerwing,

I've just bought the plane, it's in CA, I'm in Germany & I haven't flown it yet. Remind me in a few months & I'll get back to you.

Birddog

 

[Stony]

We didn't fly it, but we did get to fly in a biplane a couple of years ago. I took Maintcoder's as a suprise for his birthday in 2002. The surprise didn't work out, the plane needed a repair on super short notice so we had to postpone but it was a tremendous experience anyway, past Seattle over the Puget sound on a hot August evening. What a rush! I am being lazy by only adding the link. Maintcoder took some awesome photos while flying if you are interested in seeing them let me know!

http://www.oldethymeaviation.com/airplanes.htm

The red and yellow plane on the link.

Barbigirl, I work at the MOF where you took the ride.



I also got some stick time in the B-17 "Nine o' Nine" back in the 90s when the FAA still allowed it. I got to "take the wheel" over Puget Sound and they even let me make a 180 degree turn back to the field. Needless to say, I was "in tall cotton".

 

[Jerekson]

MDFrench, that is quite a story! Wow! I wish I could have an adventure like that. No doubt, that your a lucky one

 

[henderson field]

Daisy, Daisy...

Based near me is one of the last remaining two-seat Spitfires, the "Grace Spitfire". http://www.ml407.co.uk

My ambition, if I ever win the National Lottery, is to be flown in it. Just 5 minutes would be the best experience of my life!!

Perhaps I should sell my body to science and get a down-payment

HF

 

[Feraud]

This summer I will be taking a biplane ride at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.
I need to get my barnstorming gear in order.