A bit of flying perspective

 

1. Fifi appeared at an airshow near me years ago with a B-24, B-17, B-25 & a few other vintage warbirds. I went through the B-17 and was struck by how small it seemed. The B-29 buzzed the field a time or two and it was amazing, if you ever get a chance to see one one these old girls in the air don’t miss it, the sound of those engines will shake your soul.

   Posted by Col. Bat Guano       01/22/2015  at  06:46 PM  



2. Ya, saw a B17 at the Phoenix airshow back in 96. It is a tiny lil thing compared to the 7 series boing boing passenger shit. I also saw a F117 ( Stealth fighter) taking off when in Vegas up by the Base there( right next to the Nascar track). They also had a couple B1B bombers flying off too that day. Pretty cool.

    

   Posted by Rich K       01/22/2015  at  06:55 PM  



3. every year they have “WWII Days” out in Reading PA. Always some big airshow is part of it. I could drive out there I suppose.

   “shake your soul” is right. I was outside on a break at AT&T one day when a Mustang and a Thunderbolt went putting by a short way up in the sky. Got me all misty eyed before I even saw them because I knew what I was in the presence of, and what it represented. I was not able to articulate that thought in a way my coworkers could grok. The few that even noticed only heard loud airplanes. No one else even looked up. I was like that kid in the scene from Empire of the Sun.

   Posted by Drew458       01/23/2015  at  03:47 AM  



4. Back after the fear of lawyers sunk the airshows at the local airport, they used to fly in warbirds for static display. I got a chance to see the FiFi and a B-17 in person. I think there was a b25 and a Constellation there one year… cool stuff. That B17 was a lot more cramped than it looked to a kid brought up with the 12 O’Clock High tv show.

   Posted by JimS       01/23/2015  at  08:48 AM  



5. I got to see “ FiFi “ at Dobbins ARB here in Atlanta many years ago. The B 29 is impressive up close. Even sitting next to a C 5A!!

   mIKE

   Posted by BOGEYB       01/23/2015  at  10:05 AM  



6. Here’s a shot of the nose end of FiFi parked at Bishop airport in Flint, Michigan.

   Fifi at Bishop

   Posted by JimS       01/23/2015  at  11:54 AM  



7. Yeah, in one sense they’re small and crude by today’s standards.  Take them in their context and they’re incredible. 

   Those old prop jobs were the greatest of their kind ever built.  They were built when aerodynamics still wasn’t fully understood.

   An F16 may fly at Mach 2 and perform incredible stunts, but a P51 is an AIRPLANE.

   Posted by Dr. Jeff       01/24/2015  at  01:57 AM  

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