a little off-topic, but

T

tom1948

Senior Member
I just had to drag my old butt outside and was treated to a blast from the past; a Lockheed loadstar heading south and a Beechcraft 18 headed north. How often do you see that nowadays? God, I love the sound of those radial engines!
 
If you like the sounds of a radial engine you need to take a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor. Had a chance to ride in one about 4 years ago and it's as good as it gets for any Ford guy. Best money I ever spent on a plane ticket.
 
TJ said:
If you like the sounds of a radial engine you need to take a ride in a Ford Tri-Motor. Had a chance to ride in one about 4 years ago and it's as good as it gets for any Ford guy. Best money I ever spent on a plane ticket.
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I totally agree. They used to come to Marathon every year, and I booked a flight about 7 years ago. The best $80 I ever spent. I just checked their (EAA) website and there's good news/bad news. The adult tickets are still only $99 but they don't have any scheduled flights listed. I think time may have finally caught up with them.

https://www.eaa.org/flight-experiences/fly-the-ford-eaa-ford-tri-motor-airplane-tour
 
Someone has a Beech 18 that resides at the St Simons Island airport. No mistaking the sound of the twin radials when she takes to the air!
 
Tom (TJ), when our RG hosted a WNM at Coeur d'Alene we had the Evergreen Trimotor come over and people could pay for rides. I had a ride on it, was like a Harley with wings! Don't know who owns the plane now. They gave us a certificate stating we flew on the same airplane that was the first airliner to go across the US and on that first flight both Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindberg were passengers.
 
I went for a flight in the B29 last year, first flight of the day so they spent time warming the engines and oil before taxing out, then run the engines up.
got the best videos and pics ever.
Lawrie
 
Lawrie, there are only 2 29s flying, FIFI and DOC, which was it? Really cool for you, I went on the EAA Aluminum Overcast B-17 years ago, pretty fun!
 
As a young A&P, I rebuilt radials and test ran them. We used NOS ww2 parts! From a Canadian warehouse-1977. Newc
 
I live in a residential airpark, we have a 3000 ft runway. We were having our summer neighborhood get together and invited the crew of one of the Commemorative Air Forces WWII bombers that was on display that week at our Municipal Airport, to join us. We assumed they'd drive up with their ground support suburban. Instead,....... we ended up with this gorgeous Mitchell B-25 in our back yards!
 

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deuce_roadster said:
Tom (TJ), when our RG hosted a WNM at Coeur d'Alene we had the Evergreen Trimotor come over and people could pay for rides. I had a ride on it, was like a Harley with wings! Don't know who owns the plane now. They gave us a certificate stating we flew on the same airplane that was the first airliner to go across the US and on that first flight both Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindberg were passengers.
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Mike I went to Couer d'Alene and missed getting on the plane. It was always on my bucket list and when they came to the Napa Airport about 4 years ago there was no way I was going to miss this one.. All the passengers were people from my V-8 RG. Even got a photo of my '41 pickup parked under the wing. Crossed it off my bucket list!
 
The b29 was FIFI, we had also been on the B17 that operated from willow run a few years back.
On the B29 the guy asked us if we wanted ear plugs, I told him I didn't come all the way from Australia to hear a muffled B29 and wanted the full effect,I got some great videos .
Lawrie
 
Worked on a Beach 18 for one day delivering news papers from Mimi to Kewest. after we took off one engine was throttked back untill we landed. This went on till we got to Keywest. Pilot said something was worng with it but he didn't hav the mony to fix it..
G
 
Last January I was on the mainland installing some cabinetry in a new home a friend was building. This friend is a pilot interested in vintage planes and after breakfast I asked him If anyone has replicated the Spirit of St Louis. Turns out a guy about 5 miles from him had done just that. Was a Sunday morning we went to Home Depot for supplies and about half way down the Cook Rd in Burlington he signaled a left turn into a driveway of an older ranch home with a long, low chicken coop out back. Fred stopped at the house and the gal who answered the door said John was working, because he always was. Fred had met John on several occasions and they had discussed the sale of a 3 place Piper Cub John was restoring. I was totally unprepared for the next 90 minutes where John showed us the original wing rib forms attained from a museum in SanDiego from the shop that built the original Spirit. As a bonus, John was born and raised on Lopez Island, a neighboring island and we knew many of the same characters. John built his Spirit replica as closeto original as is possible. The Smithsonian gave him 24 hours for photos, borascope etc while it was lowered to the ground. Some of you aircraft guys know all about this endeavor, but others will enjoy reading about the journey, which includes John discovering a pair of pliers under the wicker pilot's seat against the fabric of the fuselage. Best Sunday morning ever.
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr...com/sosl/RK=2/RS=G8hsR01lALU_EIAFUJOJ43idj.4-
 
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I got to fly on the B-17 Nine-O-Nine a few years back. The flight went right over my home. It was an experience I'll never forget. The sound of those radials!!!
Sadly, it crashed 12 days later.
 
At the Ford Motor Company Hangar at the old Ford Airport in Lansing, Illinois (KIGQ) with the Ford Tri Motor and my 1937 Ford. For once an era car with an era airplane. I was a member of the CAF and EAA for years. The EAA would fly this bird to our field once in a while.
 

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Newc said:
As a young A&P, I rebuilt radials and test ran them. We used NOS ww2 parts! From a Canadian warehouse-1977. Newc
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1965-1967 I worked on the flight deck of the USS Lexington CVS-16, got to hear a lot of radials. I guess that's where my love affair with them began, T-28s, S-2s, A-1s. The jets, not so much, my ears still ring to this day.
 
A few years ago, a pair of B-17s were based in Hagerstown for an air show in Northern Virginia. They were practicing and flew over our town, I heard the sound and ran outside to see them. They weren't real low, but it was spectacular!
 
I can't beat those great stories, but can offer my own story that brings a tear to the eye... As a kid in my San Francisco backyard in early 1945, I looked up to the fly-over of a squadron of P38's returning to Alameda. It seemed as if the whole sky was filled with P38's. I've never forgotten the sight and sound of that event, and think of it every time I see a flock of geese fly over!
 
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