War Birds and Air Shows..

Some appear to be old Lockheed Constellations that were later used by TWA with thier passenger planes after Howard Hughes bought the company.
 
Thanks for that Ken.

I live about 40 miles from Chino and been to the airport many times watching the restoration of the last
flying Martin B-26 Marauder, the bomber I flew in the "big war". It doesn't get the recognition that the B-17 and B-25
do, but it was a helluva lot faster; actually a kind of fighter-bomber. I flew it in the ETO.

Good pictures of the show.
 

Falcon said:
Thanks for that Ken.

I live about 40 miles from Chino and been to the airport many times watching the restoration of the last
flying Martin B-26 Marauder, the bomber I flew in the "big war". It doesn't get the recognition that the B-17 and B-25
do, but it was a helluva lot faster; actually a kind of fighter-bomber. I flew it in the ETO.

Good pictures of the show.
Click to expand...


I would like have had an opportunity to fly a plane with an open cockpit, meaning no bonnet or canopy. That's one of the things that I would still like to do, if ever given the chance. On the planes that you flew during the war, did you ever have to parachute out? I remember when I was in the Marines and was at Lejeune for advanced training, we jumped twice; once at 7000 ft and once at 9000 ft. Or, at least, that's what they told us. I always wondered what it would have been like to have been ejected from an F-4 Phantom. I used to watch the guys pilots go through some of their maneuvers. I wanted to fly really bad during Vietnam, but was never accepted. I think I would have rather been in a jet flying sorties and firing missiles and dropping bombs, instead of on the ground.

One of the men that flew with us at United-Continental was in the U.S. Marines and he flew the Phantom. He told us one time that he had to eject over the ocean. I asked him what was that like. He said it was a good thing that they have oxygen on because he could feel his chest and insides sort of wanting to collapse. He said it is really weird being ejected and just could not explain it. He was telling us that one of his fellow officers died during being ejected because he panicked and took off his mask and released his harness.
 
Oldman, A lot of people ask me that (If we had to practice "Hitting the silk", "Punching Out" etc.

The answer is; A big fat NO ! They had too much invested in us for that. They did, however, tell us HOW to do it.

Aim for the wing ( But you'll probably never hit it.); and keep your ankles crossed, especially at night. in case you might straddle a fence upon landing...,..to save the 'Family Jewels'.

The most fun I had flying was in primary flight training where we flew the open cockpit PT-19 Fairchild with an
inverted 6 cyl engine and a wooden prop. I once did 5 loops in a row without stopping showing off to new cadets coming in.....Idiot that I was.
 
Falcon said:
Oldman, A lot of people ask me that (If we had to practice "Hitting the silk", "Punching Out" etc.

The answer is; A big fat NO ! They had too much invested in us for that. They did, however, tell us HOW to do it.

Aim for the wing ( But you'll probably never hit it.); and keep your ankles crossed, especially at night. in case you might straddle a fence upon landing...,..to save the 'Family Jewels'.

The most fun I had flying was in primary flight training where we flew the open cockpit PT-19 Fairchild with an
inverted 6 cyl engine and a wooden prop. I once did 5 loops in a row without stopping showing off to new cadets coming in.....Idiot that I was.
Click to expand...

You may have saved the family jewels, but wouldn't you break your legs? Either way, something's going to hurt like crazy. I looked at the PT-19 on Google and it looks like they have a fixed landing gear. Lot of drag, yes? But I would like to experience the openness. I am flying next week. I am renting a small corporate jet. It is a Learjet 24. I have to do so many takeoffs and landings to maintain my license. I don't know why I bother. I am not going back to work. I am only renting it for a half hour. It is getting expensive. I'm glad the price of aviation fuel has come down to affordable prices. I also just enjoy flying. My Grandson is going along up for a quick cruise across the county.
 
Fairchild PT-19..........This picture almost looks like it is 3-D. Just look at it at and it almost seems to come alive.


92188.jpg
 
I'm amazed how many of those I have seen, "in the flesh", while they were still operational.

I must be older than I thought!

I've actually worked on some of them, including US types like the C47 and the PBY.

When I think that one of my jobs was taking a hammer and an axe to half a dozen perfectly airworthy Mosquitoes and then burning them...........!
 

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