I grew up in Reno, next to the Air Races. I got to go, every year, when I was a kid. Even out at the pylons, before they turned it into a money scam. It sounds ludicrous, but the races and F-14 demo's actually got commonplace for me. Had I known that the US F-14's were going to be decommissioned and destroyed, and the air-races were going to end, I would have absorbed every second of every race, and demo. I wish the Super Tomcat 21 and 22 could have been a cost effective and approved Sendoff for the Tomcat.
why for love of god did you add that annoying music while they were landing... would be great to hear them and the airshow announcer as he was giving some info...
The RF-101's were so fast, that McDonnell had to put a Forward are speed limit on them so that they didn't melt the windscreen in straight and level flight. But if you exceeded that they would have to chip you out of your canopy with hammers and chisels so you can get out of the cockpit
Did you know the 262 set an absolute speed record in 1943 at 604 miles an hour unbelievable it had only small numbers but still shot down more airplanes then all the p51s combined what a fantastic airplane and if you look at all our Jets today commuter Jets and airline Jets they copied the 262 and made them look a lot alike what a great airplane
My favorite WW2 fighters were the P38 and P47. The Mosquito was a fighter/light bomber but ti was a great aircraft too. It is fantastic to see them together.
Those Merlins made a Great sound . Nothing wrong with the Allisons but , hey . Would have been great to them Both come over Low and Full Tilt . 400 mph .
Think it was late '80 when the Canadian breweries went on strike and shut down beer availability in Canada (Molson?). The Canadians would fly in to McCord AFB and load up with cases and cases of exported Molson or other brews. The trip back was always low level to keep the cargo from rupturing. This was always hush-hush. If they only knew....
We could carry MANY cases of suds on the rotating armament door. We even had some luggage carriers made to fit the door so we could carry the booze internally. Usual problem on these 'mercy flights' was landing back home and some zealous Medicine Man would rotate the door without checking what was onboard. Many broken bottles, ruptured cans and ale flowing down the ramp.
Those two were heavily restricted on that burn maneuver(wheels down, air brakes deployed) What a ripoff to the crowd. I've seen those planes boogie out fast and loud 1st hand & up close. Voodoos are cool and were interceptors more than fighters. Those will do a vertical climb also-no problem. These guys are flying gingerly.
This is a wonderful story of your personal encounters with FiFi over the years! Beautifully done, and I hope I have a chance to see these aircraft one day. Here's to many more years!
About 15 years ago we were on holiday with my in-laws in North Yorkshire in a little village called Hutton-le-Hole when we heard a very distinctive sound. I thought it sounded like 2 Spitfires or, oddly, half a Lancaster. My Father-in-law, who served in the 50th Northumbrian Division from 1941 - 1946 recognised it. So did my Mother-in-law who served in AA batteries from 1943-1945. There at about 2,000 feet was a Mosquito. Fast forward 10 years and we were on holiday in Northumberland and renting a house very near the main East Coast rail line. I heard what l thought was a high speed diesel express train. Wrong! It was a P38 following the track at about 300 feet. Complete with D-Day stripes. Two twin engined aircraft of the same vintage, both with V12 engines yet they sounded so different. The memories will linger.
Both were made to solve a problem. P 38 was a long range escort fighter. The mosquito was a night fighter..pathfinder..bomber..when a 57mm cannon was added was a U-boat killer and finally a photo recon aircraft. But she could out run the German fighters and hold her own if needed. The mosi wasn't made to dog fighter but with such a high top speed it was difficult to engage.
The Mosquito's very first flying mission was photo- recon. No guns, no armor plating just speed and climb rate due to the two stage super-charger. It was intended to be a medium bomber. Once pilots got experience they pitched the idea of using them as bombers and night fighters but the things proved so adaptable to carrying huge weights and having a very resilient air-frame they ended up carrying huge bombs, a molin's 6lb auto cannon, clandestine radio spy operatives in it's belly over Scandinavia, chasing V1's, precision bombing of single targets. The dang thing just did every job assigned to it and continued raising the bar until war's end and then beyond as a fleet of surveying aircraft of the never before mapped, vast Canadian northern wilderness after the war.
