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Any pilot hambers here?

Discussion in 'The Antiquated' started by 1950Gasser, Mar 3, 2012.

  1. DD COOPMAN
    Joined: Jul 25, 2009
    Posts: 1,122

    DD COOPMAN
    Member

    damagedduck...My sentiments, exactly...my idea also, of a REAL airplane from the era when I grew-up as a kid roaming the hangars throughout the '50s. The pictured aircraft is a Cessna T-50, also known as a UC-78, AT-8 and AT-17s in military guise. They were also known by some other than complimentary nicknames such as "Bamboo Bomber", "Useless 78", "Double-breasted Cub" and a few others. For anyone old enough to remember, one of these was the star in the early Sky King series on Saturday morning TV in the '50s. Probably less than 25 in airworthy condition today, of just over 5,000 built. Nature was unkind to the wood-construction wings, plus they were a dime a dozen after the war. They generally got pushed behind the hangar when needing money infusions to keep them in the air, where they usually rotted to the ground. The one in my avatar IS NOT my airplane. Your son DJ has exceptional taste! DD
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2012
  2. Bud Reynolds
    Joined: Oct 12, 2011
    Posts: 69

    Bud Reynolds
    Member

    [​IMG]
    I have a 1968 Piper Arrow that I haven’t flown for a while. I need to get back in to it. A friend and I flew it from WV to the Grand Canyon and back in 1990. We were both VFR pilots.
    [​IMG]

    I gave this `46 Aeronca Champ to my son if he would restore it. It is almost done. Going back all original with a wooden prop, 65 HP Continental. A great little airplane and I don't need a current medical to fly it.

    I tried posting more pictures of the Champ but couldn't get it to work.
    Bud Reynolds.<O:p
     
  3. Was flying one of these for the Army and Army Guard when I retired 20 years ago. ( C-12F) Started flying in Alaska in March 64, right after the "Big Shake"!! Still go up to fly "Floats" each summer. Was dual rated in the Army and flew for them 26 years, biggest Chopper I flew was a CH 54 B.
     
  4. Fly Turbine Otters too, and the old 1340 radial ones. "You aint a real pilot till youve flown ROUND POWER"!!
     
  5. RopeSeals???
    Joined: Jul 2, 2007
    Posts: 444

    RopeSeals???
    Member

    I started by hanging out at the local airport...

    As suggested, the EAA Young Eagles is a great starting point. I used to be active in this years ago and it's a great program for ages 8 to 17. http://www.youngeagles.org/

    Both of you can join the local EAA Chapter in your area. http://www.eaa.org/chapters/

    Both of you can also join the Civil Air Patrol. http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/
     

  6. In the good old days you could be the kid who was always hanging around the airport doing anything to get a ride. Washing airplanes, helping push them around or just standing there with a "Can I fly with you" look on your face long enough until they said sure, come on. Nowadays you have to pass through some type of security to even get close to the ramp. My advise is the same as learning about cars. Go to a small airport, get to know the pilots and just be a good kid. I started by collecting enough coke cans to get a 15 minute ride in a C-150 once a week, forty six years later still at it, commercial single-multi engine land inst. The avatar in question is a Cessna T-50 better known as the Bamboo Bomber, also Songbird #1
    __________________
    I've learned that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. Andy Rooney
     
  7. Smilin Jack
    Joined: Nov 8, 2010
    Posts: 465

    Smilin Jack
    Member

    helicopter! Favorite is the old 269 Hughes
     
  8. CANS01
    Joined: Jul 28, 2009
    Posts: 80

    CANS01
    Member
    from Illinois

    Always wanted to... I've spent enough money on cars to have gotten it.
    Although I have two friends who have their lic. In the early 90s one of my friends was a freight dog and every now and then I would go along on the never ending bender of on demand freight runs in a Beech 18 much like the photo except no windows for passengers. Was set to up haul freight. Those two twin radials were hard on the ears but man did they sound sweet. Of course it didn't take long to convince me that the planes from that era were not built for two 6'4" guys to sit comfortably in. Of all the small planes I have been in the Cherokee 140 had lots of leg room from what I recall. Most cramped one was on an old tail dragger training plane one seat in front of the other.... flying along the interstate in a slight headwind and cars were going faster. But from what I recall that plane is now hanging from the rafters of an outdoor chain store. Cabella's (I think). Cool thing is my office is adjacent to Frasca Field in Urbana, Illinois where you get to see the war birds brought out on good weather days.
     

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  9. Kan Kustom
    Joined: Jul 20, 2009
    Posts: 2,739

    Kan Kustom
    Member

    Piper Cherokee Cruiser and Robinson R22 Helicopter. Hot Rod pilots have AIR SUPERIORITY !!!!!!
     
  10. Hi !

    Have got a few hundreds of flying hours but never completed my licence... for many reasons....

    here an overview with some cool vintage machines I flew (sorry, I took pictures from the web cause I don't have here at the office).:cool:

    I have work for a while with a friend who restore wintage pre-war planes. Here you can find his web page with many amazing projects :rolleyes:: http://classiqueaeroservice.free.fr/
     

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  11. HellRaiser
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,241

    HellRaiser
    Member
    from Podunk, NE

    This was my UC-78. en-route to Merced Calif, 1991, to the antique/home built fly-in held each June.

    . View attachment BambooBomber.bmp

    It was a hoot to fly. Two Jake 245's, burning 12 to 13 gal per side. Also using a gallon of oil each engine, from a 5 gallon oil tank.

    Using the wobble pump under the pilot seat to pump up fuel pressure, then using the primer to prime the engine. Carb heat cold, mixture full on, prop's back, throttle cracked, start engine turning, then switch on the points ignition. After caughing a few times, and smoking up the area, (I used to say I was doing mosquito control:)) After it started on the ignition side, then turned on the other which was a mag. After running on both the ig and mags, then the prop would be moved to full fine pitch. NOTE: the ignition side of the two would take 57 Plymouth points. I'll never forget that.

    The twin Cessna got it's nick name "BambooBomber" because of the rib stiching of the wings. When a person looked out over the wings it looked like bamboo sticks under the fabric.

    There was a lot of room inside that ole bird. A person sitting in the back seat, with his legs stretched full out in front of himself, he still couldn't touch the front seats.

    The book said it would do 175 balls out, and cruise at about 150. I could do 150, but I doubt it would ever do 175. On one engine...well... it would fly on one engine to the site of the crash.

    The original in 1939 came with big ole wooden fix pitched propellers, Later on they got Hamilton Standard 2-B-20 non feathering metal propellers, which helped.

    Flying one was as a lot of the old addages said. It was nothing more than a big ole two engine Cub. It was very easy to fly. I could see why it made for a such a advance trainer, training for the B-17 or the B-24 bombers. (More on those later). Making a turn, it was turn the control wheel, then a person could almost count....1...2...3...turn. It took a while for the the plane to respond to the movement of the control wheel. Nothing happened very fast in it.

    Inside the sound was actually pretty quiet, since the engines were out side of the cabin, and the exhaust exited to the outside of the engine, away from the cabin.

    But, Boy Oh Howdy, the sound of a Jake engine idling, standing outside of the plane and hearing it. I think only a Flathead engine with a cam has the same sound.

    One of the other things that would make a person stop and listen, was the landing gear..It was a electric motor, turning a bicycle chain to raise or lower the gear. Listening to that chain growling especially coming up....Is the chain going to break or not!!!

    Stopping that big ole bird was good for about one or two times of using the brakes. They were expander tubes. or inner tubes to you car types. After using them for a coupe of pumps, then they would really fade. Another pecularity of those brakes was, some models of the plane came out with vegetable oil for use in the brake lines, instead of brake fluid as we know it. Mine had the vegetable oil lines. Later I converted it over to regular brake fluid. That was a chore because all the seals now had to be changed to be compatable to the brake fluid, Or in airplanes cases...5606 oil.

    For you other twin engine drivers, if you haven't had the opportunity to fly a twin engine tail dragger, then you, you don't really know why you were taught to make a turn on the ground by leading the engine, outside of the turn. A person also learned real fast of why to lock the tail wheel before take off.

    Of all the airplanes I owned over the years, the ole Twin Cessna was a fun one. At least I can say I did own one and flew one. But as said by DD, there were over 5200 made, but now there are only about 400 still on the FAA books, and of those only about 25 are still airworthy.

    Once upon a time, I had one of those 25.


    HellRaiser
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2012
    41 GMC K-18 likes this.
  12. HellRaiser
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,241

    HellRaiser
    Member
    from Podunk, NE

    Your'e right Davy once you've flown round, you don't ever want to go back.

    . Picture or Video 002.jpg


    This was flying the Collings Foundation B-24. You'll notice (some of you guys) that this was with the older paint scheme. When it had the red markings on the engines. (Boy I was a whole lot younger back then)

    The B-17 and the P2V was when I was in the tankers flying fires. That was fun back in the day. Fly the 17 some of the time, but work on it all the time. It took a lot a maintence to keep it flying.

    . Picture or Video 003.jpg Picture or Video 004.jpg





    The 17 is now restored back to it's WW II glory, and it's now in McMinnville Or at the Evergreen Aviation museum. Also, this is the same 17, that was in the movie Goldfinger, The one that made the pick up of the guy on the ground, using the pick up harness

    The picture of the P2 was during our practice demonstration for the Forrest Service. That had to be done once a year.


    And lastly, this of me with a Beaver...No not that kind of Beaver, a airplane Beaver. This was on my way up to a place near Hudson Bay.

    . Picture or Video 005.jpg




    So as Davy said, I too like big round engine airplanes.


    HellRaiser
    .
     
  13. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    Quite a colorful, and enviable, history you have there, HELLRAISER! Your description of starting the Jakes was certainly on the mark. I had a Cessna 195 with a 300 Jake and nothing, nothing compares with the sensual pleasure I got from bringing that engine to life. The whine of the starter turning it over, the first coughs of a cylinder or two, then three, etc and the belch o's smoke (an occasionally a flame or two out the pipe) then the rhythmic sound of the idle..........it was (is) absolutely wonderful!

    Congratulations on a life well lived!


    Ray
     
  14. HellRaiser
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,241

    HellRaiser
    Member
    from Podunk, NE

    Here's one for some of you Whipper Snappers.

    DSC00023.jpg



    There are vintage cars, vintage airplanes and there are this. A Air Boy radio from before there was VOR's.

    This was a portable, battery operated for airplanes that did not have electrical systems. It operated on the A N range. The large tuning knob would be tuned to receive a tower,. The smaller at the top would be tuned to either receive the A N range or the marker beacons. Want to fly instruments in one of the old birds, Needle, Ball and Airspeed, operated by a vacuum horn on the side of the plane????? Or you could always throw the cat up in the air.....Remember how to do that one?????

    (You throw the cat up in the air. A cat always lands on it's feet, so that would tell you what end's up:eek:)

    In the back of this box is the antenna which usually was attached to the outside top of the cabin, back to the top of the vertical stabalizer for better reception. You could listen, but you couldn't talk. That's why the old airplanes had the large numbers on the top and bottom of the wings. So when you were close to the airfield, the tower told you something. you raised your wing so the tower operator could see your number, and know that you heard what he told you.

    I've also got one of those old Narco VHT 2's. The one with the whistle stop tuning. I know, I know...before most you's time. The ole Stinson I had, had one in it...WOW!!!! I could finally talk to someone....I think I had five crystals in it. The ole 121.5, and 122.8 for sure. I think one of the others was 122.9 and the others I can't remember.

    But, to the original "Are there any pilot hambers here?" Yep, there are quite a few here. Go fast machines, that make loud noises go hand in hand.

    All of this is sort of like comparing the Model T's to flying.

    Some where I'll have to find a picture or two of the Cassutt racer I built. It started out as a Cassutt anyway, but looked like an abortion after I got thru modifying it. but went like a bat out of Hell.

    Building cars, building airplanes....Hmmmm....I've never owned a train:(, not counting the Lionel I had as a kid.


    When I grow up I want to be........:)


    HellRaiser
     
  15. [​IMG]


    Spotter to Air Boss, I've seemed to have lost visual with the P-3.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2012
  16. HellRaiser
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 1,241

    HellRaiser
    Member
    from Podunk, NE

    The spotter's were just that. They'd fly patrol and look for smoke. Back then...The Fire Boss was either up high so he could direct the whole thing. The lead plane, usually a Aero Commander or Beech Baron would lead in, unless you had an Initial Attack card.

    In some of the fires, with the Initial Attack card, you could take the tanker in, and the Fire Boss could remain on the ground, and tell you where he wanted it dropped.

    The fire season would start down here in the lower 48,, sometimes about this time of the year, March. Then move north as the summer progressed. It was usually over by the end of September.

    Fires in Arkansas were hard to put out, because of the years of build up of the pine needles. They would smolder underneath even after getting dropped on, on the top side. That's when the Hot Shots on the ground would have to go in.


    HellRaiser
     
  17. DD COOPMAN
    Joined: Jul 25, 2009
    Posts: 1,122

    DD COOPMAN
    Member

    Yup, ol' Hellraiser has certainly been "around the patch" a time or three, in GRAND STYLE! DD
     
  18. Yes indeed, Hellraiser lived my childhood dream. I still have some of the old A/N navigation charts my dad had and I remember him explaining how to fly them. Now I just plug information into the GPS, set the auto pilot and a couple of hours later remind myself to flare.
     
  19. propwash
    Joined: Jul 25, 2005
    Posts: 3,857

    propwash
    Member
    from Las Vegas

    C-185 on amphibs. SEL, MEL, SES, MES (not current with the MES)
     
  20. rustednutz
    Joined: Nov 20, 2010
    Posts: 1,580

    rustednutz
    Member
    from tulsa, ok

    I was raised an "Airport Kid". My dad always had several planes either flying or rebuilding them. All I ever though about was airplanes and we would spend Sunday after church hanging out at the hanger with friends & family, cookin' burgers & dogs on the charcoal grill. Then maybe dad would take one of us kids for a flight. Problem was the local drag racers had permission to use the runway for a drag strip. We would taxi down to the runway and wait in line with the drag cars to takeoff. The racers would give us dirty looks as they cleared out of the way for us. That's when I saw my first "slingshot dragster" smokin' his tires the whole length of the strip. That opened my eyes to hot rods as well as airplanes. I owned a Beech Musketeer in the late seventies until my three kids got too big to fit in the back seat, then sold it to a friend and haven't owned one since. I haven't flown in years but looking at the light sport pilot planes now just to get back up there again.
     
  21. 36tbird
    Joined: Feb 1, 2005
    Posts: 1,142

    36tbird
    Member

    Ex Navy, F-8's, F-14's and A-4's adversary training. Flew for a major domestic airline but currently out on disability. Owned a TaylorCraft BC-12D for a bit. That 65 HP kicked my butt when I was first trying to learn tail dragging.
     
  22. spot
    Joined: Jun 10, 2009
    Posts: 212

    spot
    Member
    from usa

    Got my private in 97. Flew a lot when I live in Oregon. Lost interest once I move back east. Too much air traffic and in and around Atlanta for me to have any fun. Still love aviation and will alway sit in the right seat anytime someone asks.
     
  23. Had a 1940 T-Craft for a couple of years, my son soloed in it. Fun airplane. Flying an F-8, last of the "gun fighters", had to be fun 36tbird!
     
  24. MrFalcon62
    Joined: Sep 9, 2010
    Posts: 249

    MrFalcon62
    Member

    I'm better than a pilot...I'm a Crew Chief on the B-ONE!
     

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  25. mctommy
    Joined: Aug 7, 2008
    Posts: 299

    mctommy
    Member
    from sweden

    You guys are goin to laugh.....

    Weedhopper 1983, pic. taken at Occotillo wells outside of San Diego some years ago....
    This is right after soloing, thats why my Tshirt is flapping, my teacher Duke Prichard had just cut loose the backpiece of the shirt as a ritual :)

    Only real pilots drink Henry Weinhardts.........
     

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    Last edited: Mar 6, 2012
  26. THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER
    Joined: Jun 6, 2007
    Posts: 5,369

    THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER
    Member
    from FRENCHTOWN

    I have always been enamored of all things mechanical, including hot rods and airplanes. So I recently got a chance to fly in this 1946 Luscombe:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Wish she was mine...
     
  27. Wasn't that a Cessna 320 in Sky King?
     
  28. Mnhotrodbuilder
    Joined: Jul 12, 2010
    Posts: 1,140

    Mnhotrodbuilder
    Member
    from Afton, MN

    I'm not I manned pilot, I just fly UAVs.
     
  29. Kona Cruisers
    Joined: Feb 4, 2007
    Posts: 1,078

    Kona Cruisers
    Member

    PA-11. (its my dads. MY dream would be to own a Beaver on floats one day)

    Im going for float certification this summer if the $$ allows.

    Also, I think its manditory to have a pilots license in the state of Alaska. (highest per capita private pilots in the world)
     
  30. RopeSeals???
    Joined: Jul 2, 2007
    Posts: 444

    RopeSeals???
    Member

    How did you get into that? Military Service?
     

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