Way Off Topic

TNmike

I know this post is way off topic of BGE's and cooking but this is the Off Topic forum. Wife and I attended an Air Show today. It was held on the old site of an Army B17 Bomber training base during WWII (1942-1945), located only 20 miles from where we live. All of the acres and acres of concrete are still there. The Air Show was almost all vintage WWII aircraft with only a couple of newer civilian aircraft. The highlight was was a WWII B17 bomber, the "Yankee Lady",one of only a few that are still air worthy today. You could actually pay and get to take a ride on her during the 2 day air show. Here are a couple of pictures. The pictures don't show up as good here with the reduced size as my originals. I think I took almost 300 pics of the planes on the ground and in the air. There were a couple of P-51 fighters and others also. Really an amazing to see these vintage planes and pilots preform. Hope you enjoy. Mike

The Yankee Lady getting ready to take off on a tour ride.



An in air pass with bomb doors open and fake smoke from one engine.





Another in air pass but tilted so we could see the top side from the ground.

[Deleted User]

That Flying Fortress is a sweet ride.... I saw Bob Hoover at an airshow in his P51 many, many years ago. I remember him doing a low fly-by of the field at 350MPH with that Merlin wide open... it's an impressive machine.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

beautiful plane.

i went up in this bad boy, a couple years ago. after wheels up, you are free to walk about the plane, go to the rear gunner and bombardier positions even, top turret, etc. everything but the ball turret.

our only safety warning was that in walking thru the bomb bay while balancing on the 4" wide keel, with no handrails other than the bomb racks, that we should be mindful not to step off the keel. the bomb bay doors are breakwaway, and if we'd stepped on them or fell off the balancing beam, we'd've fallen right thru


you can see in that pic that the keel is at the bottom, with the doors just open enough to see the two bomb racks spaced maybe five feet apart. and the bomb racks are about four feet from each end too. i think there was a cable strung along them as a hand hold. other than that, that was the only way to get from front to back of the plane

i have a soft spot for the B-17, but went up in the 24 in memory of a friend of mine who was a navigator

the B-17


and B-25


the guy who was the navigator told me that the silver planes (like the one in your pic) came at the end of the war. they stopped painting them because it saved a few hundred pounds, and i think the camo benefit proved negligible.

i asked him how he had made it 37 missions, and he said that the newer silver planes were given to the new crews (hence, less experienced) . once the luftwaffe clued into that, he said that he (often the lead plane) would watch the bandits fly right by the older more experienced painted planes and single out the unpainted. >shudder

Fidel

With your grace and balance in similar unsteady situations I would have been a little concerned that you might fall through, especially if a larger plane had passed by within a hundred meters or so. Even if warned repeatedly by the other passengers in the plane to hang on.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

I would say that if the warning came from the rear of the plane, while I was trying to repeatedly cast a crank bait close to a bridge piling without actually hitting it, I might not've heard or registered the warning.

But your point is taken.

In my defense, the captain of the plane probably would not have let me board after consuming numerous adults beverages, nor woulda let me continue to consume while in the air. ...and prolly woulda come rushing out of concern to help me back in the boat/plane rather than pointing n laffing. >sniff

RRP

you mean my problem earlier this month wasn't coons after all?

Little Steven

Likely about as much concern as he would have shown in an instance where you might have slipped due to your extremely effeminate footwear losing your ability to support your end of the cooling vessel containing said beverages. Hypothetically speaking,of course.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

making fun of a man thongs ain't cool. if you had said that to my face i would have hit you with my purse

Little Steven

Hypothetically speaking, if the aforementioned captain had known you were wearing a thong, the accidental acceleration that happened once may not have been dealt with so quickly.

TNmike

I've never met any of you in person but any of you in a thong just doesn't seem to fit in my profile. Just for the L of it I'll post a couple more pics of the vintage aircraft. I was really like a kid at this show. Mike

TNmike

A couple more pics but no thong comments allowed!! :blink:



P-51 fighter





A thong would be fine with this one.





One more, I've only got about 300.

TNmike

Forgot this one B17 Yankee Lady bomber with P51 fighter escort on a fly by. Mike

Little Steven

Mike,

I am really sorry for the hijack but I was confronted When I was in high school, I copied a collection, via film, of an incredible collection of warplanes dating back to WW1 that a teacher of mine had. Somehow over the years I have lost the prints I made for myself.

Steve

Fidel

You know what, I made a comment in this thread that has somehow disappeared.

Can anyone explain how that happened? I didn't break any forum rules, did I?

TNmike

Steve, no problem and no hijack!! I'm one of those that enjoy the friendly posts, comments, jabs, and etc. amongst the long time and often posters. Well there may be an exception. Mike

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i think you used the word "affable".

actually, i meant that as a joke (reporting it on the feedback forum). you threw out a few vocab words there and i thought it would be interesting to see if people would buy that they were actually profane.

maybe (to be fair) they simply took me at my word and deleted your post. all i can say is i HOPE that's what happened, because it wasn't profane at all.

as for me, gee, i can never remember if it is "thongs" or "tongs". whichever it was, they were uncomfortable :laugh:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

just to completely hijack this thread (sorry TNmike), i just want to add that the jets were laughable tonight.

always a dangerous game when the pats and jets play (they meet next week), but after all that big talk all offseason, the jets really scrood the pooch tonight. go pats.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

P-51 looks fantastic.

there's an outfit in florida that will take you up in a P-51 trainer (original, not retrofit) and aside from take-off and landing, they'll let you (try to) put it thru its paces. if you have any experience flying, they'll sit back and walk you thru loops, immelmann's, etc.

if you don't hurl all over the canopy.

i have been keeping their reply email in my in-box for about 5 years. it's pricey....

here's a link.
>>Stallion 51 Mustang Flights



.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

looks like you have a nice fast camera and lens. zoomed in on them and you still stopped the props. great pic.

Spring Chicken

Way COOL...

Thanks

Spring "Flight As A Feather" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

ranger ray

i took a ride in a B17 last year,,,,one of the coolest things i have ever done.... i admire the courage of those young men who risked everything for our freedom! ray

ranger ray

wow! that's a tid bit knowledge that i never heard before.... i have two old pals ....one was a B17 pilot the other was a mustang pilot.... i love hearing their stories...rr