#1831793 - 01/27/2312:46 AMRe: Maid in the Shade
[Re: Wish]
MooseboyMooseboy
That's "MR. Asshole" to you, buddy!
Loquacious Planeteer
Registered: 04/24/99
Posts: 37212
Loc: Black Mountain Hills of Dakota
Oh man!!!!! I'm jealous as hell.
My Dad flew a B-25 Mitchell in the South Pacific in WWII. And to be really precise, since he was a Marine, they called them the PBJ's.
When I finally saw one in real life, I asked my Dad, "Is that a half-scale mockup?" and he said, "Nope. That's how small they are"
My respect for my Dad, which was already huge, grew another three sizes that day. To get into a tiny bomber like that, fly over the ocean and drop bombs while being constantly shot at, was more than my safe little existence could handle.
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Registered: 07/11/01
Posts: 29762
Loc: Westborough, MA, USA
We gave my dad a ride on a B-17 for his birthday one year. He was a kid during the war and he had always loved that plane. It is one of the only times I ever saw him cry, he was so happy about that gift.
He was a radio operator during the Korean War and they let him sit at the radio operator's spot and "send messages" using the Morse code setup. He taught other operators Morse code in the Army and he used to just .. .tap stuff out for fun all the time.
And I thought his head was going to split in two when he finished his ride, he was smiling so big.
Have a great, great time.
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Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
Registered: 07/11/01
Posts: 29762
Loc: Westborough, MA, USA
That is AWESOME Jim! Can't wait to see.
When we took my dad on his flight I could not believe the sound of those four engines on that B-17. Holy cannoli.
_________________________ The internet, and the whole technology sector on which it floats, feels like a giant organ for bullshittery—for upscaling human access to speech and for amplifying lies. - Ian Bogost
Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
Nice! Thanks for sharing. Those are excellent shots you took. I feel like I have a sense of what that was like. I would absolutely love a shot at that.
Any idea when that particular plane last saw service?
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"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there."
Registered: 09/09/00
Posts: 11748
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
Quote:
Our particular B-25J Maid In The Shade served her wartime duty with the 319th Bomb Group, 437th Squadron at Serragia Airbase, Corsica. There it was assigned Battle Number 18. The plane flew 15 combat missions over Italy and Yugoslavia between November 4 and December 31, 1944. The majority of the targets were railroad bridges.
Registered: 09/09/00
Posts: 11748
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
Originally Posted By: Wish
Stearman flight canceled today due to windy conditions.
Boo.
I rescheduled the flight on the Stearman biplane and took it yesterday.
The flight was awesome.
It was about a half hour in the air, altitude around 1000-1500 feet, and about 90 mph.
I was in the front cockpit, with the pilot behind. I had my own set of controls, and the pilot and I could communicate via headphones and mics. He let me test out the stick and foot pedals on the ground while we were waiting in line to take off, to see how it controlled the flight surfaces.
The pilot asked how my stomach was and if I wanted to do any maneuvers, or just a smooth flight. I was like hell yeah, let’s do some stuff. Once up in the air he did a few things - wing wave, some sharp turns, figure 8 turns. He did a stall, where he pulled back on the throttle and when the airspeed went down to about 50 mph, the plane shook a bit and then just dropped….lol. Throttle up and we were back in business. And he also did a zero gravity drop, where he climbed and then put it into a steep drop. I came out of my seat…haha. Thanks goodness for my seatbelt.
Then he let me fly the plane….I wasn’t expecting that. He turned control over to me and guided me through some soft left and right turns, and then a ninety degree turn. That was really cool. He said I did well.
Here is a crappy video. I was mostly enjoying being in the moment, so I don’t have any video of any maneuvers, or me flying. I had concerns about losing my phone in the airstream, so I was using two hands….my damn finger is in one shot….d'oh! There are some pics and then a little video.
