[Milsurplus] Collings Foundation, my experience was good

[Boeing377]

My experience with the Collings folks was good. They brought their B 17 and B 24 to the World Free Fall Convention at Quincy Illinois about 11 years ago. I paid $350 to jump from the B 17, a favorite WW 2 plane. Right before boarding one of the Collings folks said the FAA was in the process of shutting down B 24 jumps and if I wanted to jump a B 24 this next load was probably my last chance ever. I switched and jumped from the B 24, making sure I was the last man out, exiting through the bomb bay. I may have been the last person to parachute from a B 24. As far as I know they never dropped parachutists from the B 24 again although they do still haul jumpers in the B 17. The B 24 and B 17 flew in formation for the skydiver drops and as I exited the B 24,  I flipped over on my back to watch the last of the human bombs dropping from the B 17. It was an unforgettable sight.

After we boarded the B 24, I was all over the radio gear which included a nice looking BC 375 and BC 348, but they were just inoperative display items, nothing was plugged into them. Our co-pilot was a lot more visually appealing than the wrinkle finish mil surplus boxes. She was a gorgeous blonde Swedish model dressed in tight shorts and a T-shirt who later married the B 24 skipper (a Collings kid). I don't think you'll find many pilots like her flying four engine recip arcraft.

I talked to one of the maintenance crew about plans for getting the radios operating and they said there weren't any immediate plans to do that. They wanted the plane's interior to look authentic but that was about as far as it went. I'd have liked to see operational original radio gear but it's their plane and they get to set their restoration priorities. At least they had some authentic radios installed and thats a lot better than having nothing. They went to great pains to craft good looking dummy machine guns, ammo belts, ammo boxes, etc etc. They were friendly and cordial, without exception. 

It was loud inside during our climb to jump altitude. It made me wonder how WW2 radio ops heard weak sigs using chamois cushioned headphones that really didn't have a great ear seal to shut out engine and wind noise. 

73 
Mark
AFsixIM




On Oct 19, 2011, at 6:20 PM, J. Forster wrote:
>
>> The Collins Foundation had no interest in radio or RADAR gear a? 
>> decade ago.... Glorified truck and bus drivers, IMO.
>
>I was on one of their airport to airport trips a few years ago.? When? 
>we landed, there was an old tottery gentleman peering around the fence? 
>at the gate. Turned out he'd flown the B-17's in theater as a "kid"? 
>and was thrilled nearly to tears to get an impromptu tour of the thing.
>
>The Collings folks are not all bad all the time.
>
>Roy
>
>Roy Morgan
>k1lky at earthlink.net
>K1LKY Since 1958 - Keep 'em Glowing