Aircraft

[Texas Lawdog]

Leo, That looks like a lot of fun on a Saturday morning. I love the smell of flapjacks in the morning and eating a big stack of them.

[Texas Lawdog]

They've got a big shindig at Meacham Field this weekend. Lots of Warbirds on display, period correct military vehicles on display, and lots of reenactors in uniforms. I'll be there for awhile, but I know it will be hot on the tarmack. Lots of liquids to be drank to keep hydrated.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

They've got a big shindig at Meacham Field this weekend. Lots of Warbirds on display, period correct military vehicles on display, and lots of reenactors in uniforms. I'll be there for awhile, but I know it will be hot on the tarmack.   Lots of liquids to be drank to keep hydrated.

Right you are, Lil' Bro. Jimmy!  The tarmac can get to smokin' in the sun.

Enjoy some of the sights for me too, OK?  I'm visiting Mother & Sister in Oregon and ALL of us wish we could go around we could go to a good Air Show or even a museum 'cause this is the side of my family that is HIGHLY motivated and interested in aircraft related to WWII - my Mother operated a Link Trainer during the War to teach Phase 1 Flight Training.  After she & my Father, the Navy pilot, separated she married Bud, who was a B-24G nose-turret gunner.  We all like the sights, sounds, & smells of a flight line or a museum display or air show!

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[Texas Lawdog]

SHB, I made a command decision not to go over there today when I found out the high for today is 108. This diabetes really saps me in the heat.  It's just too hot.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Totally understandable.  Don't do anything that makes simple breathing a chore - at least if you can help it!

Last week in Indy it got to a high of 105.  And it was only around 65% relative humid-idity.  108 sounds downright unpleasant!
 

[Texas Lawdog]

I have not received any e-mails from the Vintage Flight Museum concerning the open-house at Meacham Field on Sat. I hope it was successful and they had a good turnout. It was just too hot for me to be outside for any length of time.

[Arcey]

If y'all haven't already, take a look at the Google home page.

[Texas Lawdog]

Arcey, If that plane was painted White, It would look sorta like the plane that Will Rogers and Wiley Post died in about 1931.

[Texas Lawdog]

I got an e-mail from the B-29/B-24 squadron. "FIFI" is up at OSHKOSH for the EAA fly in. If you folks have the time, drop by and see the only flying B-29 in existence. I donated the Texas flag that she is flying.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Some of the EAA planes are flying over the house.

Slim

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Some of the EAA planes are flying over the house.

Slim

CoOL!

It IS about that time of year.  Oshkosh is on my Bucket List.

[Texas Lawdog]

I wish that I had the money to travel around with the CAF aircraft. I can only do it locally.

[Silver Creek Slim]

CoOL!

It IS about that time of year.  Oshkosh is on my Bucket List.

You are very welcome to stay here.

My parents went to EAA on Friday. They had a good time after the sticker shock wore off. $41 per person.  It was Veteran's day so Dad got $10 off. They said Fifi was there.

Slim

[Texas Lawdog]

Slim,  "FIFI" is always a featured aircraft at Oskosh because it is the only flying B-29 in existence. I get daily e-mails from the squadron because I am a member of the B-29/B-24 squadron. I am hoping to go up there with the squadron next year.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

You are very welcome to stay here.

My parents went to EAA on Friday. They had a good time after the sticker shock wore off. $41 per person.   It was Veteran's day so Dad got $10 off. They said Fifi was there.

Slim

Thanks, pard!

Slim,  "FIFI" is always a featured aircraft at Oskosh because it is the only flying B-29 in existence. I get daily e-mails from the squadron because I am a member of the B-29/B-24 squadron. I am hoping to go up there with the squadron next year.

I didn't know what (besides being the last/ONLY B-29) Fifi was famous for.  Fifi (perhaps the actual plane or the named bird) was the Commander's aircraft that was the 1st B-29 to fly onto either the newly captured airfield on Iwo or the Marianas when the B-29s first flew onto their Pacific island homes before beginning the massive bombing campaign against Japan that culminated with Hiroshima & Nagasaki.

I saw a film clip of Fifi landing on one of the Military specials.  It was (if I remember) on the show about B-29s as part of the series titled "Great Planes."

[Texas Lawdog]

They have a special guest with them up there. They have the pilot that flew "FIFI" out of China Lake in 1971, when she was first aquired by the CAF.

[Four-Eyed Buck]

First time I saw her was in the mid '80's when she visited here

[Texas Lawdog]

Several years ago, I was sitting in Charlotte Airport with a prisoner, waiting to return to D/FW. I noticed "FIFI" come in on final approach. They landed and taxied past our terminal. The Texas flag and the CAF flags were sticking out the cockpit windows. It made me proud to be a Col. in the CAF.

[Major E A Sterner]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obcrX9K66Dw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I first saw Fifi at an old Confederate Air Force show in 1976.  The Great Lakes Branch of the CAF had finally acquired a flyable warbird, one of the old C-45s, which is a Twin Beech (IF I remember right) used as a spotter and a twin engine trainer, as well as a liaison aircraft.  The whole rest of the CAF flew up here to Indiana to celebrate, AND to celebrate the Bi-Centennial.  Fifi was the star of the show.  I didn't get to go very close to her, but I was right under the end of the runway when she took off and circled several times.  I had to leave so I wasn't able to see her land but it was a glorious sight.  If I remember, it was one of the 1st fly-ins she'd attended after getting certified for flight and display.

What a magnificent aircraft!