-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery, Troisième partie: la vengeance!
- Thread starter SynixMan
- Start date
I think I probably posted these years ago, but worth another look after the above post. When I was a young LTJG flying A-7's, I approached my skipper about doing a formation photo op with an F4U. I told him I had connections due to having worked for Rudy Frasca in college, who was a member of the Warbirds of America, and owned several aircraft through the years, including an FM-2, P-40, and a Spitfire. The CO gave me the go ahead, and I got a hold of the guys at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and we set it all up. I contacted VA-45, the A-4 instrument RAG at the time and they sent along a TA-4 as a photo plane. The Kalamazoo guys also provided one of their T-28's as a photo plane. The wx wasn't great that day, but we still got some pics. The air museum at Kalamazoo used to have a large pic of the 3 plane hung by the front door.
Way cool. Those were the days. Would never happen that way today. Maybe one of you toung'uns could tells us what it would take to make this happen today.
More deadly, yes. More pretty, hell no! Attractive in a brutish way, sure. But IMHO, not pretty.
Uh huh, sure.
Granted these are a lot more formalized nowadays, for good reason, but they definitely still happen. These are just two of many recent pics of 'heritage flights'.
Well that was my point it is formalized and under strict regulation. Nothing like making a Couple of phone calls and running it by the skipper. Hell, there was no such thing as a formal DEMO PILOT.Uh huh, sure.
Granted these are a lot more formalized nowadays, for good reason, but they definitely still happen. These are just two of many recent pics of 'heritage flights'.
A follow-up on the circumstances surrounding the flight. When I first approached my skipper about the photo op, he thought it was a great idea, told me to start making the contacts, and he would get permission to conduct the rendezvous. The next day, he called me into his office and told me to just go for it. He basically said he'd worry about doing any rug dances after the fact. (No rug dances were ever necessary.)
We were required to have 8000 feet of available runway to operate A-7's. Kalamazoo, at the time, only had a little over 5000', so I looked for somewhere close by that had 8K' and GSE that could support our Corsair II and the TA-4. Ft. Wayne fit the bill because they had the runway and an Air Guard unit flying F-4's. The Kalamazoo guys and our Navy planes showed up at the guard unit (I'd neglected to get a PPR) on a Saturday when they were having some type of unannounced IG inspection. I ended up standing at attention in front of the unit CO, trying to explain that I had no written orders, that my CO just told me to go do it without swapping paint. After about 15 minutes of pleading and promising that we wouldn't interfere and all we needed was a huffer to get started, I was released. He even ended up letting us use a briefing room so we could actually brief the conduct of the "mission" with the Kalamazoo guys. The guard ground crews loved it, except for the fact that we leaked hydraulic fluid all over their spotless ramp.
We were required to have 8000 feet of available runway to operate A-7's. Kalamazoo, at the time, only had a little over 5000', so I looked for somewhere close by that had 8K' and GSE that could support our Corsair II and the TA-4. Ft. Wayne fit the bill because they had the runway and an Air Guard unit flying F-4's. The Kalamazoo guys and our Navy planes showed up at the guard unit (I'd neglected to get a PPR) on a Saturday when they were having some type of unannounced IG inspection. I ended up standing at attention in front of the unit CO, trying to explain that I had no written orders, that my CO just told me to go do it without swapping paint. After about 15 minutes of pleading and promising that we wouldn't interfere and all we needed was a huffer to get started, I was released. He even ended up letting us use a briefing room so we could actually brief the conduct of the "mission" with the Kalamazoo guys. The guard ground crews loved it, except for the fact that we leaked hydraulic fluid all over their spotless ramp.
I live in the Zoo these days, so naturally I'm a member of the Air Zoo.
I *think* that photo is now sitting in the entrance to the building on the flight line, where they do all of the restorations now.
I'll have to go look.
hlg6016
A/C Wings Here
Looks like a rear cockpit was cut into that Hellcat.Uh huh, sure.
Granted these are a lot more formalized nowadays, for good reason, but they definitely still happen. These are just two of many recent pics of 'heritage flights'.
Additional seats…there is an F4 Wildcat with a two seat modification that is amazing.
Maybe not… here are some pictures of the mod I mentioned.
The actual bird…
The First Class seating section behind and below the pilot!
Holy crap. Never would have imagined the interior was so roomy. Makes you wonder what was there in the production birds? Hard to believe it was just empty fuselage.
