PLANES, PLANES AND MORE PLANES … If only I were born smart enough to fly em.

 

1. This is the sort of thing that makes me wish, with all my heart, that I’d been born 40 years earlier.

   Yes, I would almost certainly be dead, by now (or at least 97, close to the same thing) but flying in an airplane of cloth and wood, with a compass as the only guide, surely is so much more real, somehow, than cradle-to-grave safety regulation

   I would happily give up all my time on a pc, for one hour behind the stick of a Spitfire, Lightning, Corsair or Mustang.

   Posted by Siddhartha Vicious       07/16/2009  at  07:39 PM  



2. I’d even be thrilled with a Piper Cub but yeah ... I’ll second you on all those planes.
   I try to imagine what it must have been like and just can’t.  The closest I can come is when my instructor had me do a stall.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh.  Stomach in throat as the nose went down. But the very worst, the one time I really froze, was when I lost the horizon for a brief moment. Seemed like forever.  And just think, those jocks who flew the real thing did that as a matter of course. It was nothin’ to them.

   In more modern times, I’d sure love a ride in what they call a Warthog.  I never thought that was an ugly plane. And for a jet, I thought it approached the classic beauty of the planes of WW2.  But then, beauty is in the eye of I guess. 

   And btw, German Hannah Reich (spelling? not certain) was test flying the first German jets as well as other warplanes. She was about 5’, don’t think much more if that.
   There is something kind of special about ppl who can do those things. I am not ashamed to say that although I’d love to be able to do the flyboy thing, I’d cower at the thought of being THE FIRST as in ,, TEST PILOT!

   The other heros although they didn’t see themselves as such, and I know you’ll agree, were were those dare-devils who flew the mail in the 20’s following railway tracks.

   And then of course there’s ...  LUCKY LINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   Of course, I’d admire the bravery of any man who did what he did.  BUT ... there’s a bonus isn’t there?  He was ONE OF US.
   He was by God, A YANK! An American! Makes one proud.

   Posted by peiper       07/17/2009  at  02:19 AM  



3. You guys should really visit the EAA fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin at the end of July every year. Although I imagine it will be reduced this year due to the economy, there are usually about 20,000 planes that fly in over the (I think) 9 days of the event. For that period Oshkosh becomes the busiest airport in the world.

   Dozens of old WWII bombers and fighters and the Confederate Air Force usually flys most of their operational birds in. 2 or 3 B-17’s, a dozen or so Mustangs, and so many others old and new I can not even guess. I’ve seen the CIA’s early ground attack platforms plus the Air Force generally makes an appearance. For anyone who loves planes it’s an amazing
   event. A few years ago the AF flew in a B-52, an F-117, and one of the SR-71’s on their last year of flying. Concorde has been there. Hundreds and hundreds of home-builts, Steermen, Jenny’s, Piper Cubs, and on and on.

   Posted by babylonandon       07/18/2009  at  09:02 PM  

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