[SADXA] Gonna take a sentimental journey

[MikeZW0LTL at aol.com]

Years ago, at EAA Oshkosh, B-29 Fifi  had a radio problem just before  the 
afternoon air show. Collins had donated sdome radios so they came to our  
booth, and Joe Dominquez and I went down there and found a bad PTT switch, got 
 them going and got a ride!
Mmike
 
 
In a message dated 4/10/2016 2:31:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
wes_n7ws at triconet.org writes:

HI  Jim,

That is by chance the one!

The flight was a ball.  The  WX here cooperated; we were up in the clear 
but 
could see some rain in the  distance.  We were aft of the bomb bays next to 
the 
side gun mounts  and got to hang out the ports once airborne.  We had first 
class  
seating for take off and landing; flat on the deck below the  guns:-)

I did meet and talk to some WWII vets, one flew in B-24s and  two of them 
were 
gunners in B-17s, one up, one down, 32 and 35 missions  over Germany 
respectively. These guys are exceptional and very sharp for  90+.  One of 
them 
drove himself to the event.

There was also a  P-51 two-seater there that one guy spent $2,220 to ride 
in for 
a half  hour.  He was a pilot and got to take the controls and get some 
flight  
time in his log.  I'm not, but I was still tempted, but figured it  would 
be a 
waste by not being a pilot.  The only things I've ever  been in control of 
are 
some old Taylorcrafts and a Grob Twin  sailplane.

Congrats on the work on the old  warbirds.

Wes

On 4/10/2016 9:10 AM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>  Hey Wes:
>
>     Would that by chance be  'Witchcraft' of the Collings Foundation?
>
>     I  have been in that one, but not flown in it.
>
>      A few years ago they were up here, and one year i got a ride on the 
B-17  
> after helping them with minor restoration work on their radio  position.
>
>     Also did some similar on their  B25.
>
>     And another group had the B29 Fifi  here, and I opted for a (very 
> expensive) ride in that one. But it was  worth it.
>
>     The best reward, however, came  from an old WW2 B25 veteran who came 
thru 
> the plane just after I had  secured a genuine WW2 J36 hand key to the 
desk. I 
> had done a fair  amount of research and located what I hoped for was 
exactly 
> the  correct model of key for that airplane.
>
>     I  asked him if he recalled how the radio position appeared in his 
day, and  
> if the key was 'right'.
>
>     After a  pause, he said: "That is exactly what we had."
>
>   The rides were all fun, but seeing the misty eyes of all the Old  Timer 
> Vets that came through, remembering their friends lost in  combat so many 
years 
> ago, brought real value to these flying museum  pieces. I am glad i have 
had 
> the good fortune to have been in all 3  of those, and to have been able 
to make 
> even a small contribution to  keeping them acccurate.
>
>  Jim
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 4/10/2016 5:36  AM, Wes wrote:
>> I know there are a lot of airplane buffs in the  club so this might be 
of 
>> interest.
>>
>>  Sometime around 1940 or early 1941 my parents left Tucson and moved to 
San  
>> Diego, where I was born just before the outbreak of WWII. My dad  had a 
job as 
>> a machinist at Consolidated Aircraft Co, the  designer/builder of the 
B-24 
>> bomber. At the conclusion of the  war, the job was gone and we moved 
back to 
>> Tucson, where I have  lived since then.
>>
>> Barring unforeseen events, tomorrow  Annette and I will fly in the last 
>> airworthy B-24. Although my  dad did learn to fly light planes in 1946 
at the 
>> Benson airport,  I'm pretty sure he never got to fly in one of the 
planes like 
>> he  helped build. (This one was actually built in Ft.  Worth)
>>
>> Sorry, no /AM operation
>> Wes   N7WS
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