Django, I've been following progress on WIX and was glad to see a Hamber contributing. Cool that you were able to "cross the lines" and help. Can't wait to see your work unveiled. The B-24 Joe is not currently airworthy and has not flown in many years (10?) and would require a significant amount of work to get it safely in the air. Witchcraft = Dragon & His Tail = All American....all the same bird, they just give it a fresh paint scheme when it's time for a paint job. Gives a renewed interest in seeing (and paying for) the plane.
My dad would have loved to see the B-24 fly. It is what he flew during the big one. Hell, I'd love to see one fly which I have never had the chance to see.
The new 12,000 pound fighter was the P-47. It was the only production fighter of the war to get a turbo. P-38 also used a turbo.
My Dad was in the Eighth and flew B-17's. For his last Father's Day I bought him a ride in a 25----------So cool. The pilot had to stand up to hold the stick back when landing.The "Hot Rod" bomber of it's time. Cars ain't crap compared to aircraft.There is a " Planes of Fame " museum out here in so cal that would make you cream your Levi's.When he passed we had a 38 do a fly over---it sent chills down my spine.Pure Hot Rod!!!
Scanners down so no pics but www.fantasyofflight.com has a B 24 but it hasn't flown for a few years. A lot of freshen up work on it in the last year so it may be close. The only pic with the tail # I can't see the begining but is 50551 so I'm guessing first # would be 4. Here's the specs from there site. Iirc this is an unrestored example that came from S. America. http://www.fantasyofflight.com/aircraftpages/b24.htm Located about 20 miles from Disneyworld this is the largest private collection in the world of mostly airworthy planes. bombers include B 17,23,24,25,26,and 29 although the 29's in pieces. The Short Sunderland flying boat is the last airworthy 4 engine flying boat in the world. Has a Lancaster too but its in containers. Not to be missed if your in central Fla. Oh wait, I forgot there's another B24 here restored but just the fuselage from the wing forward and its sticking out of the wall of his Tiki Bar...
The P-38 was also effective in Europe although North Africa was really it's time to star. By the time of D-Day the Lightening was also used as a photo-recon plane. In the European theater it was effective enough the Germans called it the "fork tailed devil". Joe
The plane was awesome. A shame that so many guys died trying to fly the 38. It was " bitchey" and a handfull. Nothing, NOTHING sounds as bad as a 38.Whoops, I think I just solid myself.
Yeah I agree. A P-51 sounds awesome because of the high-performance V-12 but a P-38? Now there's two V-12s singing at full song from one airplane. One of them used to fly in the Unlimited class during the Reno Air Races. Too cool. Joe
My favorite P-38 story is of a pilot flying along and one of the motors quits. So he cuts it off. Just then the other one quits and he flips it over and bails out. As he's falling away, looking up at the old bird on it's back, he realizes...he shut down the wrong motor!... As for B-25s...the 'J' is ok, but the 'H' with a 75mm cannon really got the job done.
old pappy gunn wasn't too thrilled with the 75 later on, he actually replaced them with a couple of 50s. those 75s rattled all sorts of shit loose! read in "flying buccaneers" about shooting a japanese cargo plane trying to take off or land with that 75... ever see a clay pigeon take a direct hit from a shotgun and turn to dust? i like the 25s... almost bought a most likely junk engine for one, but it was in canada. if it were any closer, i'd have it to look at... i've got two favorite 38 stories. in one, the fella complained that his relief tube didn't have good suction and he ended up going all over himself when he had to answer the call... the tube exited the bottom of the plane with a small reverse mounted scoop to creat suction... his crew chief made the scoop bigger to help the problem, and it damned near sucked something else out of the plane... the other story told of a fella that got some nasty flak real quick, rolled the plane upside down to bail out but was very low, chute opens and he hits thr ground at the head of a GI chow line. grabbed a kit and had some breakfast. oh, and charles lindbergh had one or two kills as a civilian working for lockheed in the pacific theater. his job was to teach fuel conservation tips and he talked his way into some combat missions!
Favorite P38 story from one of my winter residents of his only action against the enemy. While still stateside and on a training mission with a wingman they spot a Japanese balloon and are given permission to go after it. They finally ran out of power to climb and were still way out of range so they decided that the last one back on the ground would be buying drinks that night. Now we know that the 38 had a problem in dives that would basically break them up in flight. That these two jokers ever made it back in one piece was amazing to me.
Django WOW! Congrats to you! Pretty satisfying Huh? I have to agree that the mechanical sound of the RR merlin sounds like mechanical joy and there not much that matches it's fame. The sound of a radial engined hellcat or bearcat "starting" is one of my favorite things to look forward to when I go up to Oshkosh. P.S. I get my first b-17 ride May 5th In aurora Ill. when i get to go see The b-17 Liberty Belle. I finished the artwork on the jacket for one of the main pilots who fly it. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=15471019&uid=1621165 An image based off original jacket artwork , done for the pilot. Jerome
A lot of the Cheaters are, but I have small matter to attend to in regards to my second child being born sometime in the next 7 -10 days. So I gotta stay close to home. Who knows ,well see how the little lady feels. Some of my extra parts will be there for sure. Jerome
I love warbirds, always have. Built hundreds of models as a kid, read tons of books. If you are in So Cal and dig the big iron, mark your calendars. http://www.planesoffame.org/ Word is they will have 3 P-38s flying! My knees are gettin' weak just thinkin' about it.
To my "favorite Yankee friend".....Yes, we did meet up with the Austin bunch and made the drive down there. The day was beautiful( in sharp contrast to Sat, when we put on the Burnet Airsho)....after hanging out for a while, and saying what a nice day to be flying, drove back to LV and got the Stearman and flew back down there....of course all of the car folks were gone ....so no rides for them, but had a full day of mechanical toys !.... Here's some shots of Norm bundled up going there, Steve in the Waco Kid, Ryan in his new A-V8(nice) and some more misc shots. Skot
That orange '32 5w rules... Old School Texas hot rod... Lots of shots of it that I am saving for a special occassion...
Just sittin in my office readin this thread when I look out the window at my 39 pontiac,and what do I see right over head......A B-24 libarator & a B-17 flying over Tucson low and slow.. NOW I wonder where they are going????
Wow, thanks for the compliment Ryan....every time I get in it, it is a special occasion .....I have had a LOT of fun in that 'ol hot rod. Skot
You guy need to check out the craftsmanship going into this one http://www.ezellaviation.com/p38.htm. By the way, it's owned by Red Bull. Along with some other incredible aircraft.
That is Lefty Gardner's old P38. I saw it down in SA in a hangar after a forced landing(engine fire as I remember). Ladd did a good job of saving it from even more damage. I was down there looking at another project at the time and can remember the sadness of seeing this grand ol bird "broken in the back of the hangar". Thanks for the update. They are doing a beautiful restoration !!! Skot
Hey there. Long time listener, first time caller. I've been reading the Jalopy Journal for some time but this thread finally got me to register for the HAMB. Pleasure to be here. I really love these old warbirds. I grew up in Helotes, TX, and used to volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol out of Boerne Stage Airfield in Boerne, TX. There's a real nice bunch of folks flying out of there including a handful of warbirds. There's was a hangar with 2 T-6s and behind it there was literally a junkyard of warbird airframes of various types. Even more than I love these old piston-engined warbirds though, there's a certain charm to the 1950s jet age that's hard to beat. It seems like the last true era of we-can-do-anything America. F-80s, F-86s. Howard Hughes made a great picture with John Wayne and Janet Leigh in 1958 called Jet Pilot. It's an anti-communist propaganda film with Janet Leigh as a sexy Russian pilot. Well worth your time if you like these machines, and who doesn't like Janet Leigh?
This guy is not exaggerating. After you do Don Garlits , head over to Fantasy of Flight. The B-17 walk through, the view of the engine shop, the tour of the storage warehouses, its all amazing.....
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