It's good to be Tom (Cruise that is)

[HercDriver]

They may be, but none of them are Bruce Dickinson.

In addition to being Iron Maiden's front man since 1982, he is a world-class fencer (foil) and "moonlights" as a 737-300, 737-700, and 757 first officer for Astraeus, a charter airline in the UK.

Ladies and gentlemen this is your first officer, Bruce Dickinson. We should be leveling off shortly at our cruising altititude of 36,000 feet and we've turned off the seatbelt sign, so feel free to move about the cabin. And thanks for flying Astraeus airlines; we know you could have chosen another airline to fly or you could have...



"Run to the hills...Run for your lives!!!!".

 

[BACONATOR]

There were actually a few TF-51 versions with dual controls and many surviving Mustangs have a second seat added. If you have a few thousand to blow, you can head to Kissimmee (just minutes south of Orlando near DisneyWorld) and get a nice ride there with Stallion 51 in their TF-51; one of a few operations that offer rides for a few pesos.

As a slight threadjack, how in the hell do you do what Dr William T. Busch did? How do you get to be a doc, after earning your wings and be a dual- designated flight surgeon and NA?? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to get a medical degree and all your flight ratings paid for and get to do both for the Navy.

 

[Stearmann4]

This may be a stupid Q, but aren't all P-51s single seaters?

As Joe said, there are true two-seat, dual control/instrumented TF-51s, with an enlarged canopy so you can sit upright. Most P-51s now days are unmodified, but have a second jump seat jammed in with no instruments, just a stick and rudder pedals. The back is very uncomfortable, and after about 1.5 (if you can believe it), I was ready to get out. I know, cry me a river...

If you're going to buy a 51 these days, there's only two places you can get the required dual if you don't have your own plane to train in; the first being Stallion 51 as mentioned, and the other is Dan Vance in CA. He's the son of Art Vance, Reno unlimited racer and checkpilot who was killed in 05' ferrying an F6F Hellcat through TN in bad WX.

 

[HeyJoe]

IIRC, John Travolta actually had to land his Gulfstream (or one of his jets) at Reagan at night, IMC, with total electrical failure. If true, then if he wasn't a good pilot, he'd be a dead one . . .

The Airport Manager at Reagan then was a reservist who drilled with us in Pentagon and he told us about it after it happened and you have it right...his Gulfstream suffered a total electrical failure and Travolta himself executed the proper lost comm approach and landing and did it perfectly.

 

[HeyJoe]

As a slight threadjack, how in the hell do you do what Dr William T. Busch did? How do you get to be a doc, after earning your wings and be a dual- designated flight surgeon and NA?? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to get a medical degree and all your flight ratings paid for and get to do both for the Navy.

Search...there is an ongoing thread on dual designated medical types (not just Flight Surgeons)

 

[Stearmann4]

I had an HGU-55 helmet built up by Flight Suits Ltd in El Cajon, CA around 99' and when I picked mine up, they were just finishing Cruise's custom helmet, painted traditional Pitts red with white stripes to match his S-2B. You'd think a guy like that would at least be able to keep the helmet from the movie and save a couple bucks right?

 

[whitesoxnation]

Its my understanding that people cringe when his Pitts comes in for landing in Santa Monica.

My instructor said the same thing. Travolta, Harrison Ford, and Kurt Russell are all GREAT pilots.

Ford's fleet:

De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S)
Aviat Husky A-1B
Cessna Citation CJ3
Beech Bonanza B36T3
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
1929 Waco Taperwing
Bell 407 (helo !!)

Previous aircraft:

Gulfstream II
Gulfstream IVSP
Pilatus PC-12

(from wikipedia)

Dennis Quaid is also a pilot. So is Clint Eastwood, Patrick Swayze, Kris Kristofferson, and Morgan Freeman

I couldn't find Russell or Quaid's fleets though, but I'm pretty sure Quaid does something with Citations b/c I remember watching a show about famous pilots on TV where he talked about flying 421's before Citations

Travolta's house

 

[theblakeness]

Ford's fleet:

De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S)
Aviat Husky A-1B
Cessna Citation CJ3
Beech Bonanza B36T3
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
1929 Waco Taperwing
Bell 407 (helo !!)

Previous aircraft:

Gulfstream II
Gulfstream IVSP
Pilatus PC-12

(from wikipedia)

Dennis Quaid is also a pilot. So is Clint Eastwood, Patrick Swayze, Kris Kristofferson, and Morgan Freeman

I couldn't find Russell or Quaid's fleets though, but I'm pretty sure Quaid does something with Citations b/c I remember watching a show about famous pilots on TV where he talked about flying 421's before Citations

Travolta's house

My instructor argues differently in regards to Dennis Quaid, but I digress. Still, he is no Tom Cruise who can only 3 point land his Pitts...Poorly.

 

[Herc_Dude]

The real sign that you have 'arrived' ... instead of a driveway, you have a taxiway ...

 

[TuxFlier]

Dennis Quaid is also a pilot. So is Clint Eastwood, Patrick Swayze, Kris Kristofferson, and Morgan Freeman

Looks like Morgan Freeman won't be flying anytime soon!
From this link:http://www.myflightblog.com/archives/cat_in_the_news.php


December 09, 2004
No more Flying Miss Daisy!

Morgan Freeman will need to return to driving Miss Daisy as his newly acquired pilot's license has been revoked by the FAA. The Oscar-nominated star who has spent the past few years chasing Ashley Judd in frighteningly similar films failed to observe landing regulations at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

During approach, pilots need to wait for approvals from air traffic controllers before descending. Freeman reportedly descended 2,000 feet without previous approvals and therefore violated FAA regulations.

An FAA official stated "Each airport has specific approach procedures that are published for that airport, and pilots are given directions by controllers as to what altitude to maintain."

Freeman made the following comments, "I'm being censored by the FAA, and they're going to ground me. The hardest thing about flying is holding altitude."

Many pilots on StudentPilot.com have blasted Freeman for not being able to maintain altitude. When I first learned to fly, managing altitude was tasking but over time became very manageable to the point where maintaining feet to an degree of accuracy of +/- 100 feet is not difficult. Though in Freeman's case the arrival procedures to a busy airport can be tricky for a new pilot.

 

[whitesoxnation]

My instructor argues differently in regards to Dennis Quaid, but I digress. Still, he is no Tom Cruise who can only 3 point land his Pitts...Poorly.

What'd he say about Quaid? (I saw this a few years ago so it could be outdated)

I saw it on this TV show where they had celebs and the planes they fly.

Some guy from Star Trek had a Sabreliner and a F-86

 

[theblakeness]

What'd he say about Quaid? (I saw this a few years ago so it could be outdated)

I saw it on this TV show where they had celebs and the planes they fly.

Some guy from Star Trek had a Sabreliner and a F-86

He didnt really have too much negative to say about Quaid other then that his wallet was getting ahead of his skills, and that he really didnt possess the natural touch that Ford and Travolta had.

The guy from Star Trek was Michael Dorn...He played Worf.


And as for Freeman..Holding altitude is a tough thing for new pilots to master sometimes, but 2,000 ft?!?!?!? He must have had a hard time seeing the altimeter with that giant nose on his face!

 

[Dawgfan]

They may be, but none of them are Bruce Dickinson.

Yes, the Bruce Dickinson.

 

[Pugs]

Yep, I saw Michael Dorn on TV showing off his planes, A T-39 with glass cockpit, An Ex-SAAF F-86 and a T-33.

 

[usmarinemike]

I had a good friend when I lived in PA who bought a HA-200 Saeta(sp?) from Michael Dorn. Apparently klingons have a flair for early jet powered warbirds.