Vintage Aircraft

Neat! Thanks for posting. I have never been, but have always wanted to go. Did you hear that a B-17 crashed about 2 weeks ago? Sadly, a few people taking the ride of a lifetime perished with her. As the years pile up on the old airframes, I have now nixed trying to take a ride on one, not looking to take any extra chances besides doing what I have to do now.

 

I like to attend the annual Fly-In event at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, FL. There are quite a few World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War-era aircraft that participate.

 

Nice. I visited War Eagles outside of El Paso a few weeks ago, an amazing collection.

 

I had the opportunity to see the last operating F-105 Thunderchief at an air show a number of years ago. I do not think there any left that are still able to fly. Fantastic airframe.

 

Really? I live just up the road in Zephyrhills. Man, I've got to go, when is it held?

 

Yeah, that was a neat plane. Before the F-4 Phantom I believe it was the Vietnam workhorse aircraft. The F-4 was my plane, I was in Avionics.

 

March 31 - April 5, 2020.

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Great, thank you. I will most definitely be going. I just love to see the old warbirds. Once I was out in California making a delivery near an airport and as I drove near the airfield, there was a guy taking his P-51 out of the hanger and getting ready for a flight. I stopped to watch him prepare and then stayed for the takeoff. It was a 2 seater and I found out that he took people up for rides - it was like $2500.00 a pop. Man, would I have loved to do that!

 

Have you ever been to Fantasy of Flight in Polk City? It has an impressive aircraft museum that's open most weekends. On some weekends they have bi-plane rides. It's not a long drive from Zephyrhills. It's 10 minutes from my house. I love the place.

 

There is a air museum near here that has an aircraft that I don't believe any of you whould have liked to fly in. It is a piloted version of the German V1 flying bomb. They used it as Kamikazi aircraft. I remember these V1 aircraft whan I was a child in the war. Near the end of the war they flew over every day. They were only dangerous to you when the engine stopped. I was once watching one with my mum and my youger sister and the engine cut out right over our house. We dived into our shelter but we never heard the band. I assume that it ran out of fuel and glided on somewhere.

Home - A WebsiteBuilder Website Lashenden air warfare museum.

 

My Sunday School leader was in the Air Force and had been involved with the March Air Force Base museum, and so I had a very special time touring the collection with him. He had been a C-135 cargo pilot, and so he took me inside the plane (a KC-135) and let me sit in the cockpit. On the same day, we also entered a B-52. Amazing how small the cockpit was for such a huge plan. And the little windowless electroics bay, called the "glory hole" because so many get air sick in it, was a added treat. Near the end of the day we viewed a refurbished P-38.

Last item, Mira Mar Air Show had V-22, F-22, and F35 put on demonstrations. They can really fly!

 

We often get spitfires flying over. You can usually tell the Merlin engine. They often attend air shows in the sumer.

 

The KC-135 and the B-52 aircraft were the first planes I worked on. The 135 made so much noise (it was the military version of the Boeing 707) and the B-52 looked like it would never get off the ground. Then for me it was on to another base where I worked on the venerable C-130. Finally, I ended up in Okinawa with the F-4 Phantom. I loved the varied work experience I had during my 4 years in the USAF.

 

I was a crew member on the RC-135 Rivet Joint variant. I mostly flew out of Offut, Mildenhall, and Kadena, although I also flew missions from Clark and Elmendorf.

 

Great, what was your position/duty? I was stationed at Kadena for 18 months starting in late 1976 and then went TDY from there to Korea. I got to Clark when I was with the 7th ACCS, (Airborne command post in C-130's out of Keesler). My first posting out of tech school was U-Tapao in 1975.

 

I was a 207X1, Morse Systems Operator. I went to tech school at Keesler. I served two years at RAF Chicksands in England and then went on airborne duty. Same job, just at 35,000 ft.

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Yeah, that's right, good ole Keesler. Now what did they call your school there - ditty dot school? Now that is something that would be a hard thing for me to grasp - I admire you for being able to do it. That's where I went too, for basic electronics and 328X0, Radio/Nav.

As a truck driver right now my usual run is Dallas to Florida and I ride right by the place all the time on I-10 and see the "Keesler" sign. Ah, the memories of my time there in 1974 and 1975.