The warbird approach is so much easier/better if you've got the knots to qualify to use it. Fisk always feels like your just waiting for a midair to occur.
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Random Griz Aviation Musings
- Thread starter Griz882
- Start date
Even your carbon monoxide scratch-and-sniff is fresh! Nice aircraft.
Now, since I’m retired from uniformed service and no longer earn a heartfelt “Thank you for you4 service” I have decided that military members and those affiliated, like @ChuckMK23, should now thank me for my tax contributions. “Thank you for your contribution.” Proud to be twice the patriot!
Oddly redundant since the G1000 suite contains a cabin CO detector and annunciator. But CAP insists on a old school one as well, replaced annually.
First time of several while a civilian to Osh Kosh was when my roommate & I took our boss's C-170 there during our college years in the early '70's. " I remember the non-stop radio transmissions going something like this, "Blue & white Cessna, follow the red & white Cherokee …….. Bonanza, keep your speed up & plan to touch down at midfield and roll to the end. Luscomb, touch down at the numbers & exit left into the grass as soon as you can." Later, took A-4's there a couple of times while in the Navy. Much easier.
It is a thing of beauty. Just Git-er-dun. I felt challanged, never unsafe. Takeoffs are equally cool. Both sides of the runway simultaneously. Flagman waving you when to roll. He sets your interval by sound and time rarely turning around to see where the previous departure is on the runway.
skybert
Skybert
Last year when I flew it, was the worst I’ve ever experienced
Brings back so many good memories, CAP in NJ and FL.
I was happy to see CAP Cadets working the static aircraft displays at the JB MDL Airshow last month.
They are a great example of and for our next generations' leaders.
The last time I took a -60 into Sun 'n Fun, they told me to plan on the helicopter arrival. I wasn't super excited about that and I had planned for the Warbird Arrival, but made the effort to go over there and at least look at it. The scene below us always made me think of the Simpsons when Lisa gets high and goes into a Beatles cartoon, with every kind of helicopter-like contraption flitting about.
I opted to not go down there, where I was sure we'd either hit another aircraft or blow at least one away. As we moved back over the runway at altitude, a B-17 was lumbering along underneath us doing a fly-by. I asked Tower for the Warbird Arrival and stated it was too risky for the helo arrival. The guy in the Tower (who was from Jax TRACON, as I learned later) told me something along the lines that there wasn't much time and the field was about to close for the airshow (we still had 15 minutes). I took this to mean I wasn't fast enough for the arrival in his mind. I then said, "The B-17 is still in the pattern and I can guarantee I'm faster than it is."
It was clear the Tower was a bit overwhelmed, as comms were breaking down fast (I confirmed we were on the bottom antenna) and then he told me to "just auto straight down." Sigh. I also learned later that because this guy was from Jax, he "knew" how helicopters flew, since "the -60s would come over to KJAX all the time."
I ended up doing some half-assed auto that I would never do again and we side stepped to the taxiway to shut down and get towed, but what a circus.
Looks like still a few T-34C are in active service - this example from a recent Navy PA photo showing orientation flight with USNA Mids during CORTRAMID at NAS Oceana... BUNO 164160 seems to be a rebuilt airframe regenerated from AMARC. Likely a "frankenship" from other T-34C major airframe components in storage at AMARC.
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SFWSL has a handful of them (as seen above).Looks like still a few T-34C are in active service - this example from a recent Navy PA photo showing orientation flight with USNA Mids during CORTRAMID at NAS Oceana... BUNO 164160 seems to be a rebuilt airframe regenerated from AMARC. Likely a "frankenship" from other T-34C major airframe components in storage at AMARC.
Seems like a pretty good deal.
I remember we were flying from Beeville to Key West for a CQ det, and were going to overnight at Pcola. Center was driving us past Pensacola at altitude and was going to let us down on the other side. I was leading a flight of four, and could look down and see the field from 40K feet. I suggested to Center that maybe we could just cancel and proceed VFR direct after a hasty descent. They basically cleared us from 40k’(quiet evening) and told us to switch tower passing 18K. I’d been slowing down while chattering, until we were hanging on the blades (T2s). When cleared, it was like a scene from one of those WWII movies where the divebombers roll in on the Jap carriers, boards out. Had to throw in an extra 360 to bleed off altitude, basically staying within the fence line of the airfield it felt like. Got an early initial, broke at the numbers, and rolled off the taxi way and into the parking spot at base ops, having not touched the throttles since 40K’. One for the log book!
I was the CNARF A-4 NATOPS Evaluator, assigned to COMFLELOGSUPWING at NAS Dallas, back when the wing had cognizance over the two reserve VFC squadrons along with the C-9 squadrons. We’d just had a change of command and I’d worked out a deal for VFC-13 to drop off a TA-4 in Dallas, since they had a rep there for the COC, that I could use to drop the C-9 evaluator off at Alameda so he could give some checks to the C-9 outfit there, and I would proceed down to Miramar to give some checks to -13. It was Osh Kosh weekend so we went there first before proceeding west. I’d hoped to one-leg it from Osh Kosh to Alameda, but checking the wx enroute, decided we’d be skosh on fuel, especially with the forecast fog. Overhead Ellsworth AFB, I changed my destination to that location and center cleared us for a similar descent. My C-9 cohort in back was flying and asked if he could roll inverted and pull straight down, since he’d been an E-2 pogue in the fleet and had never done that. I said sure. Talked him through it and as we were going straight down I told him to just roll to the nearest horizon and pull up. Looking at the AJB-3 donut, he couldn’t figure out which way to pull, so I asked him for control, popped the boards, and pulled. We bottomed out at 1500’ AGL lined up with the runway, and entered the break. He just about passed out from the g’s. We had a good laugh on the ground.
It may be one of the re-winged airframes from Beeville. I've mentioned this before, but Sikorsky had (has?) a facility at Beeville where they did a lot of work on -60s (the majority of which weren't domestic). They were also contracted in 2008-ish to rebuild the complete wing assembly for the T-34s. I *think* they were destined for Corpus, since the Whiting birds that still had life left in them were slated to go to Corpus, as well. They had half an apron and half a hangar's worth of complete wings scattered about at the facility where the artisans were working on them.
Fun fact: generally when a T-34 would over-G "a little" it wouldn't really be an issue, but the "bigger" over-Gs would click over the counter in some part of the airframe depending on the manuever (think rolling pullout) and quite often it was one of the wings that would register the recorded over-G.
164160 is a weird number as that would be ~1990 or 91, assuming it was a normally issued BUNO, which is long after the T-34s were made. Obviously they recycled the number, but I wonder why that number. Presumably the data plate would still be a 160xxx or 161xxx number.
I'm up in Northern Michigan this week. One leg IFR to the Fighting Irish of SBN, then confronted with a wall of thunderstorms. 1500' AGL VFR was the solution - true to my Helo roots.Hooked around the northern end of the storms.
USCG Helo dudes out of DTW up here giving orientation rides to the CAP Cadets! Fun times!
USCG Helo dudes out of DTW up here giving orientation rides to the CAP Cadets! Fun times!