CLASSIC AIRPLANES pt.1

[BoldHighlander]

Today I went to our local airport to see the "Sentimental Journey", a WWII era B-17 bomber that was paying our town a weekend visit to the Heritage Flight Museum. I have often enjoyed Cessna152towser's photos of airplanes (etc), so I wanted to return the favor and took along the digital camera. Alex, these are for you!

**NOTE**
No kilts so I'm posting in the off-topic section....

About 15 years ago I took my son Patrick (then 10 yrs old) to see the "Sentimental Journey". So all these years later I took my 10 yr old daughter Shannon to see the old girl. Unfortunately we got there too late to do an on board tour, but we got there as she was firing up her engines:




Here was a P-51D Mustang, "Cadillac of the skys"!
They were getting ready to take her & an AT-6 up as chase planes:


The North American AT-6 ("Texan") advanced trainer was one of the most widely used aircraft in history. Most AAF fighter pilots trained in AT-6s prior to graduation from flying school. Many of the "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" pilots in the Battle of Britain trained in Canada in "Harvards," the British version of the AT-6. To comply with neutrality laws, U.S. built Harvards were flown north to the border and were pushed across:






The "Sentimental Journey" taxiing out to the runway:

[BoldHighlander]

Firing up the AT-6 & P-51, and getting ready to taxi out:




If you look close you will note they have converted this P-51 into a two seater:


aahhh....nothing like the sound of a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine!


The "old" passing the "new"......I'll take the old girl any day!


A Boeing PT-13 Stearman "Kaydet".
The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 of which at least 9,783 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s as a military trainer aircraft. Stearman became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman or Kaydet, it served as a Primary trainer for the USAAF, as a basic trainer for the USN (as the NS & N2S), and with the RCAF as the Kaydet throughout World War II.


My daughter with a Cessna 0-1/L-19 Birddog.
The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog was a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all metal fixed wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army since the U.S. Army Air Forces separated from the Army in 1947, becoming its own branch of service, the U.S. Air Force. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries.


Okay tv fans: here is a Bell 47 helicopter. You'll recognize this old whirly-bird from the M.A.S.H. tv series.

[BoldHighlander]

aahh...one of my favorite "newer" planes, the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.
The Douglas A-1 (formerly AD) Skyraider was an American single-seat attack bomber of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. A propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, nicknamed the "Spad" during the Vietnam War, a throwback from the WWI French pursuit plane. The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career well into the space age, and inspired a straight-winged, slow-flying, jet-powered successor which is still in front line service today, the A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog) -- another one of my favorites

It was operated by the United States Navy (USN), the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF), and also saw service with the British Royal Navy, the French Air Force, and the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam (VNAF), among others.


And all you movie fans will remember Danny Glover flying one of these in "BAT 21", the Cessna 0-2 Skymaster.
The O-2 Skymaster (also known as the "Oscar Deuce" or "The Duck") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster. The United States Air Force commissioned Cessna to build a military variant to replace the O-1 Bird Dog in 1966.


Here's the cockpit of a stationery WWII flight trainer/simulator. Sorry, I can't recall what its called (the L-?).


My daughter posing next to it to give it scale:


Well, that's about it for this round. I hope you all enjoyed them.

The Heritage Flight Museum has a number of aircraft in hangers near-by & they alternate the displays. All their planes are operational, and they take the WWII fighters up every weekend during the summer months (I live nearby & see them often in flight).

Next month (Sept 11th & 12th) the museum will be hosting the Warbird Weekend, and will have warbirds from all over flying in & out. I'm planning a return visit, with my camera!

[The Wizard of BC]

The little blue and yellow training device is called "The Link Trainer". Less affectionately known as "The Blue Meany".
It was used to teach instrument flying.
You got locked into it and sealed so it was totally dark with only your instruments lighted.
You were supposed to fly a course using only flight instruments while your instructor followed your progress on a small map platform which had a little remotely controlled car which represented your "aircraft".

The Link Trainer was invented, developed and manufactured by Edwin Link. The same man who invented the diving bell.

[BoldHighlander]

Thanks!

The little blue and yellow training device is called "The Link Trainer". Less affectionately known as "The Blue Meany".
It was used to teach instrument flying.
You got locked into it and sealed so it was totally dark with only your instruments lighted.
You were supposed to fly a course using only flight instruments while your instructor followed your progress on a small map platform which had a little remotely controlled car which represented your "aircraft".

The Link Trainer was invented, developed and manufactured by Edwin Link. The same man who invented the diving bell.

[McMurdo]

Great photos, when Alex was up here in Toronto we took him to the Canadian Warplanes Museum where he was able to take a flight in a Boeing PT 27 Stearman here is the thread on that.

[Rex_Tremende]

The little blue and yellow training device is called "The Link Trainer". Less affectionately known as "The Blue Meany".
It was used to teach instrument flying.

It's so tiny! It looks like it should run on quarters.

Neat photos - thanks for posting.

Regards,
Rex.

[cessna152towser]

Wow these pics are fabulous.
The Link trainer brought back lots of memories. We had one of those in our Air Training Corps squadron hut and it was on this that I had my earliest flying lessons as a teenager. If you lost control and got into a spin it would topple to about 45 degrees then go round and round. The instructor would leave you spinning until you were really dizzy then he would switch it off from the outside. You very quickly learned how to fly instruments without becoming disorientated, I am sure the lessons I learned there have saved my life at least once when I have been up there solo in cloud in a real aircraft.
I was also especially interested in the Texan. My dad serviced those while he was with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War 2 and post war his younger cousin flew solo in the Texan (or Harvard as we call it over here) before going on to become a flight engineer on bombers.

[KFCarter]

Fantastic shots, all of them, and especially of the "Sentimental Journey." Can't get enough of those old warbirds!

Our local Mighty 8th Museum is currently restoring a B-17 (http://www.mightyeighth.org/b17_restoration.htm) to be named the "City of Savannah" after the 5000th airplane that was processed through Hunter Army Airfield during WWII.

If any of you are ever in the area, you might want to visit to the Mighty 8th Museum, just outside of Savannah off of I-95 in Pooler, GA.

[Zardoz]

great photos!