The Aviators Thread

Tony C.
Posts
7,980
Likes
27,939
While admittedly not in John Travolta's league, I do happen to own a rather nice DC-7C... 😀

SAB2.webp
 
DoctorEvil
Posts
1,637
Likes
3,205
SpeedyPhill SpeedyPhill
#Tintin Gloster Meteor NF12
.
RAF_.webp
Tintin was one of my favourite comic book characters when I was a child. Can't recall which book this was in though.
 
Duracuir1
Posts
3,027
Likes
32,042
Anyone need airplane seats? Bidding is at $3 with 20 minutes to go.

They don’t look like first class seats.

🤣

IMG_2272.webp IMG_2271.webp
 
Felix_La_PuBelle
Posts
235
Likes
1,113
I was an aviation buff as a kid. I took a special interest in WWII planes and built plenty of Testors and other plastic models.

In 1990 when the Memphis Belle film came out I was obsessed. I had it on VHS and watched it over and over until the tape wore out.

I was recently in Palm Spings on a family trip and went to the Palm Springs Air Musium. Given its relatively modest size it packs an incredible bang for the buck and has an unbelievably eclectic mix of aircraft.

Toward the end of our visit I entered the last hangar. Without any clue what I was walking into, I saw this:
IMG_2590.webp


I definitely froze for a moment. This is not THE Memphis Belle, but it is the B-17 that was used in the film. Which ironically makes it the Memphis Belle I idolized from my youth.

It is normally housed at the National Warplane Museum in New York, but was on loan to the Palm Springs museum for restoration. I assume that, because the Palm Springs museum does restoration work, they have the opportunity to host a lot of really interesting aircraft. Walt Disney’s Gulfstream I is also currently there undergoing restoration.

It was a pleasant and nostalgic day for me at the museum.
IMG_2591.webp IMG_2593.webp IMG_2597.webp IMG_2598.webp IMG_2601.webp IMG_2600.webp
 
Trev
Posts
2,343
Likes
3,040
Have you guys seen this video circulating reddit and other places? A320 taking off with plenty of snow (and some ice?) still on the wings. Having grown up in a cold climate, I've never seen takeoffs like this. I'd be spooked!

 
Duracuir1
Posts
3,027
Likes
32,042
Trev Trev
Have you guys seen this video circulating reddit and other places? A320 taking off with plenty of snow (and some ice?) still on the wings. Having grown up in a cold climate, I've never seen takeoffs like this. I'd be spooked!

Pretty common here around the Great Lakes. Some days I have to shovel my driveway three times. By the time I finish shovelling I could start all over.

But the airport continues to operate.

I only got stuck once, in Winnipeg, on a Super Bowl Sunday and I missed the game.

We kept going through de-icing but there were so many delays that by the time we were close to the front of the take off line the de-icing process had to be repeated.

The wing in the video above looks better than what I recall from my Winnipeg adventure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow
 
Emeister
Posts
968
Likes
1,727
Prompted by the two post above I remembered seeing this Sabre at Amberley on an open day which must have been around the time of this article (2003).

https://www.3sqnraafasn.net/subpages/Pietsch.htm

Sabre 962.webp


I can clearly remember the cut in the tail but had forgotten that this was the aftermath of the cockpit canopy and helmet strike!
The cut on the nose was pretty tasty too.
 
Canuck
Posts
15,188
Likes
44,618
I recall, decades ago when the Canadian Lancaster bomber was in Calgary for several days. I had an opportunity to speak with the pilot during the event. He was the chief test pilot for the (then) Canadian Pacific Airlines. Fascinating

At the time, a prominent lawyer (Milt Harradence) in Calgary owned an F-86 Sabre, and a Mustang fighter plane. When the Lancaster departed heading north to Edmonton after the visit here, the plane was accompanied by the Sabre and the Mustang. I have forgotten how it might have been possible for the Lancaster to fly fast enough and the Sabre slow enough for this to be possible.

https://www.warplane.com/aircraft/collection/details.aspx?aircraftId=4

IMG_3532.webp
 
JimInOz
Posts
17,465
Likes
36,611
Emeister Emeister
Prompted by the two post above I remembered seeing this Sabre at Amberley on an open day which must have been around the time of this article (2003).

https://www.3sqnraafasn.net/subpages/Pietsch.htm

Sabre 962.webp


I can clearly remember the cut in the tail but had forgotten that this was the aftermath of the cockpit canopy and helmet strike!
The cut on the nose was pretty tasty too.
When I was at Willytown as a younger airman, we (No 2OCU) shared the hangar with the last of the 5OTU Sabres.

It was always interesting to watch them start up, they didn't use electrical or airstart carts, but had an internal starter powered by AVPIN (Isopropyl Nitrate).

If the pilot got it right, it was fine, the engine started and everyone relaxed.

If he fluffed it and the turbine didn't spin up there was AVPIN bleeding all over the pad, much walking backwards by the troops and huge BCF fire extinguisher carts being readied at the "Lock'n'load" condition.
 
6 More Posts...
Sign up or log in to reply...