Guess where I'll be next weekend...

[Ace-Garageguy]

[KWT]

sweet ride

[Xingu]

I just looked it up and it is at an airfield about 1½ hours away from me. It will be there until Monday. Now to convince my wife.

[cobraman]

That should be a good day !!  Have fun. Pics if you can would be nice.

[1930fordpickup]

That would be awesome. They fly out of Willow Run just west of Detroit sometimes. While at Dad's house they fly over several times a day when they are headed back to the airport. You can hear it from a long way out. Enjoy the ride Bill. 

[Lunajammer]

Here's a pic I took of it from my office a few years ago when it visited here. 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Enjoy the ride Bill. 

I probably won't go for a ride this time. Last time it was about $350 if I remember right, which is perfectly reasonable when you think of how much fuel she burns, how rare parts are, and how much work it takes to keep her flying.

The plan this time is to get to the airport close to dawn, and to try to get some nice pix. Maybe wait around to see and hear her light up and take off, then split.

There's a Ford Tri-Motor coming to the Gainseville Airport at the end of the month. Rides on her are only $75, so I'll probably do that one.  

EDIT: Just checked. This year it's $435 / $475 for the B-17 ride.

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bugger. Sunday's events have been canceled due to the approaching inclement weather associated with remnants of the tropical storm.

Smart call on the part of the organizers and aircraft owners. 

The weather radar late last night looked like we might escape most of the heavy rain, but this AM it looks to be coming straight for us. The forecasters did a good job.

Hope all the irreplaceable airplanes got taken out to safe areas.

Some of the pix of vintage aircraft destruction in Florida recently were heartbreaking if you love the old birds.

A B-25 Mitchell under lowering skies yesterday afternoon, below.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[crazyjim]

There's a Ford Tri-Motor coming to the Gainseville Airport at the end of the month. Florida?

[Ace-Garageguy]

There's a Ford Tri-Motor coming to the Gainseville Airport at the end of the month. Florida?

Sorry...Georgia.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Aluminum Overcast was still there when I arrived at PDK around 11:00, but all the little birds had already left.

The sun tried to break through for just a moment.

 

[10thumbs]

I once worked with a guy who was a tail gunner in a B-17 over Germany.  A real quiet type, and reserved man.  Upon being pressed, his stories were not so reserved.  He watched the results during daytime bombing raids.  Also stories of the many airmen who were shot down.  Very ugly.  Very high casualty rate.

But don't those motors starting up sound radical?  Love the sound!

[SSNJim]

Too bad it was cancelled. I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend watching the WWII Arsenal of Democracy Flyover in DC in 2015. It was an incredible day, watching different flights of almost all WWII aircraft pass 500-1000 feet overhead on the National Mall. I was able to go out to a smaller local airport that weekend where they had several aircraft including a P-51, B-17 (Fifi) and B-24 (Diamond Lil). You could take rides in them, so there were many takeoffs, landings and engine starts. It was an incredible weekend.

My wife's father was a B-24 bombardier in WWII who served in Italy. I never got the chance to meet him. He survived the war, but passed before my wife and I met.

I certainly hope you get another chance to see them.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Too bad it was cancelled. I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend watching the WWII Arsenal of Democracy Flyover in DC in 2015. It was an incredible day, watching different flights of almost all WWII aircraft pass 500-1000 feet overhead on the National Mall. I was able to go out to a smaller local airport that weekend where they had several aircraft including a P-51, B-17 (Fifi) and B-24 (Diamond Lil). You could take rides in them, so there were many takeoffs, landings and engine starts. It was an incredible weekend.

My wife's father was a B-24 bombardier in WWII who served in Italy. I never got the chance to meet him. He survived the war, but passed before my wife and I met.

I certainly hope you get another chance to see them.

Sounds like that was a great show, great weekend. I could listen to radial aircraft engines all day and all night.    An aviation company I worked with in Az. was located next to a firebomber base. The Canadair CL-215s they were flying are powered by two Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R2800s, the same basic engines that were in the F4U and P47. The high point of my day for quite a few months running was hearing those engines run-up.

I've been around warbirds off and on much of my life, from the time I was a little kid with my father. Not much recently though, but I was glad the owners of the little birds flew them out prior to the forecast storms...which largely failed to materialize. Past highpoints were a ride in a jumpseat in a P-51, and a longish ride in a B-17 several years back when she visited McCollum airport in Kennesaw. Some people I worked for for a while owned and flew a T6 (SNJ), and maintained an F4U Corsair. Sadly, the Corsair is no longer with us. They also brought in a Russian Yak-3 (looks kinda like a cross between a P51 and a Spitfire) disassembled, and sold her on prior to completion. She's flying somewhere in the States now though.

I believe Fifi is a B-29, and was the only one flying prior to the restoration of Doc, completed in 2016. There's a static-display 29 about 7 miles from me, at Lockheed.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[SSNJim]

You're right, Fifi was the B-29, Aluminum Overcast was the B-17, and Diamond Lil was the B-24. All were there.

Apparently, there were several WWII aircraft at Carroll County Regional Airport, MD today. http://www.carrollcountyairport.com/events.htm Interesting - a B-17, B-24, and B-25 were visiting. We were near there, but were too late to visit. Maybe I'm glad - 30 minute "flight training" in the TF-51D (2 seat  P-51) was $2200. Yikes!