The for aircraft enthusiasts megathread. For all of us who are just plane crazy.

#41
DO-335 Arrow 1.jpg 800px-Douglas_B-26K_Counter_Invader_USAF.jpg A couple of my favorites; Dornier DO-335 Pfeile (Arrow), reputed to be the fastest propeller-driven plane in WWII. On a ferry flight to an airfield in France (to ship it to the US), it beat it's P-51 Mustang escorts by over half an hour (and, fighter pilots being fighter pilots, you know they were racing). The other one is a Douglas B-26K Invader. Originally an A-20 Havoc, the Air force re-labeled them when they got rid of the original B-26s after WWII - the Martin Marauders. The K's were On Mark Corp. rebuilds of the original A-20s, and set up for counter-insurgency missions in Viet Nam. My father did all the logistics to round them up; send them to On Mark; and then ship them to Viet Nam. He wanted very badly to go with them, since he had been an aerial gunner in WWII, and they were looking for people with experience in planes like this. My mother told him very firmly that "They don't need over aged gunners with 2 broken legs"; and that was the end of that...:)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: murphy and 99Z3
#44
Basshappi said:
F4U Corsair
Click to expand...
I saw this one at KBBP a while back. They were restoring it and pulled it out to run a test of some sort.

IMG_2162.JPG
IMG_2160.JPG
IMG_2161.JPG
IMG_2164.JPG
IMG_2166.JPG
IMG_2163.JPG
IMG_2165.JPG



Thought it was a few months ago but the date of the pic says almost 2 years ago. I checked to see if I posted it in the other The Aviation Enthusiasts Thread! from a couple of years ago and then saw it's 5 years old. Time must be an aviation enthusiast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: murphy
#46
Basshappi said:
My father was a pilot. I spent a good chunk of my childhood flying around in aircraft of all kinds.
Favorite I would love to fly:
F4U Corsair
Vought_F4U_Corsair_%28USMC%29.jpg


Favorites I have been in:
Beech Bonanza 35 V-Tail
V-tail+Bonanza.jpg


Bell 47
Bell+47+helicopter+%25284%2529.jpg
Click to expand...

I've always heard the V tail Bonanza refered to as the doctor killer. Apparently a lot of doctors with very little flight experience have met their demise in the Bonanza.
When we moved back to rucker when my dad retired and started his second career as a DAC rewriting the instrument training program, the H13 (bell 47) was such a common sight you eventually came to not see or hear them unless they were in distress or pulled too much pitch and started popping the rotor blades. These days the primary trainer is some vedsion of the jet ranger.
I also spent a lot of time in aircraft, obtaining my single engine license at age 16. I then spent my late terns and in to my 20's in the USMC where i continued riding around in a bevy of private, commercial, and military aircraft. My hands down favorite thing was NOE training, running full throttle a few feet above the trees/ground at night in full blackout then hit the ground and out as the chopper lifted off before you got more than a step or two away. Seriously rush inducing. One of the few things in my life that could produce an adrenaline hangover.
 
#53
RustyAxe said:
...It wasn't the aircraft that killed them docs.
Click to expand...
Point of fact, there were AD's issued for the ruddervator (V-tail) 'Forked-Tail Doctor-Lawyer Killer' Bonanzas to reinforce the empennage. As I recall, there were torsional forces at work that exceeded the original design safety margins. And yes, these tended to occur in turbulence a prudent pilot would avoid, and airspeeds also best left for more skilled operators. In my conversations with GA pilots, there tend to be two camps - one says the aircraft were perfect and the pilots incompetent. The other says the pilots were as skilled as any in the marketing demographic and the aircraft were structurally flawed for their reasonably foreseeable operators. I think the reality is somewhere in between - but now that all the (surviving) V-tails have been retrofitted with reinforcing kits, you don't hear much about inflight structural failure any more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RustyAxe
#54
Many of my family have been pilots, myself excluded, which I've always rather regretted.
My father had his pilots license by the age of 15 and went on to fly F4 Phantoms in the USMC. Afterwards he did all sorts of piloting jobs eventually becoming an ATC operator.
One of his uncles was a pilot in the USN during WWII but I don't know what he flew. He is responsible for my father becoming enamored with aviation.
My mother's uncle flew for both the USN and the AAC, he flew Wildcats in WWII in both theaters as well as P47s, F4Us and the F6. He told me that the Corsair was best on land bases because landing them on a carrier was "a supreme pain in the ass".
 
  • Like
Reactions: 99Z3
#55
Semper Fi!
Basshappi said:
Many of my family have been pilots, myself excluded, which I've always rather regretted.
My father had his pilots license by the age of 15 and went on to fly F4 Phantoms in the USMC. Afterwards he did all sorts of piloting jobs eventually becoming an ATC operator.
One of his uncles was a pilot in the USN during WWII but I don't know what he flew. He is responsible for my father becoming enamored with aviation.
My mother's uncle flew for both the USN and the AAC, he flew Wildcats in WWII in both theaters as well as P47s, F4Us and the F6. He told me that the Corsair was best on land bases because landing them on a carrier was "a supreme pain in the ass".
Click to expand...
 
#56
Never tire of seeing old beauties out doing there thing.

This one does the island hopper thing from Boston to Cape Cod in the summer. It was heading to Miami for the winter. A German film crew was on board. They had paid $5k to ride along. Pilot said that paid for the gas. It took 300 gallons while I was standing there. Mine took 24.

IMG_0146.JPG


This little honey was all dressed up with no where to go.

IMG_0149.JPG


This was supposed to be a panoramic shot to show the smoke effect from the wildfires on the left. Then the prop thing happened.

IMG_0145.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: 99Z3
#58
nutdog said:
I think so, it says albatros on the side but hard to see in the photo.
Click to expand...
Same thing, Albatros L-39. They were made in Czechoslovakia as a military trainer. You can buy a pretty nice used one for for around $250K or so. (That's very cheap for a jet). The problem is it eats about $1200 an hour in fuel so you probably won't be able to fly it much.

07-l-39-switzerland.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back