Congratulations, Mike. I have enjoyed each and every one of your videos. Your stories and insights are just captivating and your love of aviation clearly comes through every time. Thank you!
As the saying goes....there are no coincidences, only God remaining anonymous. Great stories and congrats on the 15 thousand subscribers....on to 50 thousand.
Mike sometimes the "coincidence" in life makes you feel like you're in the Twilight Zone. I'm not a pilot (sadly) but I've been to many airshows and aviation museums. Years ago I visited The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler Ga. When I first entered I told the docent that I knew a B-17 pilot in Scranton PA who had been my Sunday school teacher. That pilot was Mr James Seamans and enough time had passed that he was able to talk about the good experiences he had. Well, the docent I was speaking to at the museum actually KNEW HIM! Mr Seamans was a pilot in The Bloody 100th Bomb Group and I guess that there were not many veterans of that Group left so i suppose it shouldn't have surprised me? He has "Gone West" since then... Around 1990 I was training to be an A&P mechanic. I worked on campus and my boss was a former Dallas Police Officer who was on duty the day Pres. Kennedy was shot. That's not part of the coincidence. Mr Galloway later became a pilot and sometimes still flew Corporate Jets. On summer break from college I went to Atlantic Aviation in New Castle Delaware to ask about a temporary job. In the waiting area I struck up a conversation with a pilot and when I mentioned the Texas city where the University is located, he said "I know a pilot from around there...". He named my boss, Mr Galloway! What were the odds? Just two examples among many.
Congratulations, Mike! Here is another coincidence: Two decades years ago, I was flying for a regional airline in Norway, my home country. In 2008, the company ceased operations. I moved to South East Asia and worked as instructor for several companies. Some months ago, I started flying for a new airline company in West Africa. Last week, while I was sitting in the cockpit and preparing for a flight, one of my former colleagues from Norway passed by and recognized me. He was flying for an other airline company based at the same airport I was based!
“What are the odds?” Probably better than you think. Aviation is a very tightly knit group. My dad taught me to fly in a Cessna 140 and I soloed on my 16th birthday. While stationed at Ft. Sill, Okla I went to the airport where he learned to fly and saw a photo of my dad and his instructor along with the man who taught his instructor to fly - Orville Wright! I tried to buy that photo but the owner wouldn’t sell. I often met pilots I’d heard stories about through the years. I’m also a rotor head as well as airplane pilot. Favorite airplane is the Beech 18 but flying with my airline captain son in a Cessna 310 to go see a new grandson has to be one of my favorite memories. Thank you for the trip down memory lane. Always remember to keep your takeoff and landings in a one to one ratio.
Well deserved congratulations from one of your 15000 subscribers. Thank you for all of this wonderful information. I learn something new every time I celebrate aviation with you.
Great stories, Mike! Seeing the T-33As brought back my own memories of working on them as an avionics tech in the USAF, at Tyndall AFB, Fl. in the late 1970s. Later, around 1984, I was in my second hitch in the Navy. Homeported in NorVa, but sent to a techschool in Mare Island, Cal., I got to fly as a paying passenger in sailplanes. I wanted to get the sailplane license but wasn't there long enough for that. It was great fun though!
Hey Mike , I enjoyed all of your stories and can say they bring me back to similar stories in my own life , same time frame , I'm glad I watched . Thanks so much.
Sir, you have no idea how your video brings back so many memories. To start with, back in the early 60's in my home country of Iran. I had so many flights in Blanik L-13. Also In that time periso I watched this helicopter show on TV. It was a joy to watch. I've been in the USA for forty six years now. I have asked a lot of people in the USA if they can remember that helicopter show, but no one can remember that. Until now since you mentioned a TV show called whirlybirds. Sure enough that's the show I was looking for all these years. Is this a coincidence or what!!!! Please take care and keep up the good work.
It still stuns me that I used to stare at the Aurora Aero Commander Box art on my brothers wall and now here we are. That Rockwell in the nose hypnotized me.
Here’s another coincidence... my Dad took me out to Zahn’s when I was 5 years old. There’s a 8 mm film somewhere of me doing a walk around of that same helicopter! Fully enjoyed the video.
Congrats on the 15k.... but I think one or two zero's are missing!! They will soon happen. Sorry to hear you lost your dad so young, but he had a wonderful impact on your life. I am pretty sure I flew a 'Clothesline 2000' in rural Australia in the 1970's and 1980's... but I bent one of the blades!!! Parents were NOT impressed! LOL Once again, a great video. I'd love to see a small video on just how you painted the metal/chrome/steel skin of aircraft. I can do it in photoshop now, but that is not real painting... I grew up wondering, and still wondering, just how the heck did you (and the model box artists) do it with normal paints on canvas etc and it looks so real?
Great episode, Mike. The coinidences with the photos DO seem outside the realm of probability but the personal connections...not really that rare. During my 30 years as a corporate and charter pilot, I was frequently reminded of just how small a community aviation really is, when I ran into friends at FBOs all over the US, Canada and Mexico.
Congratulations Mike on so many wonderful experiences! You are definitely someone who has been in the right place, at the right time, throughout your whole life. Truly amazing!
What a great series of stories! Not only are they great aviation stories, but they also all happened through out your life! I wonder what other amazing aviation stories are waiting to happen to you.
Love the story on the EAL DC-7B. Nice photos of it courtesy of your dad! I was lucky to fly once on a Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing. My uncle Frank owned a large farm just north of Gilberts, IL. Across the road from his farm lived Chad Kopple, a United Airlines pilot who had a large home, aircraft hanger and runway on his property. One of his planes was a red Beechcraft Staggerwing with black lightning stripes (N4607N) . On a hot, summer day in 1982 or '83 my younger brother and I visited my uncle's farm in my 1953 Hudson Wasp sedan. My brother and I then drove over in the vintage Hudson to visit the Mr. Kopple's home to see the Staggerwing he owned (it was parked out front by his house). Mr. Kopple was outside with other visitors when I drove up. He was delighted to see the dark green Wasp as we were to see his 1944 built red Staggerwing. Then my brother boldly and excitedly asked, "Could we get a flight in the Staggerwing?" At first the UAL pilot was a little reluctant as he mentioned some minor issue with the radial engine. But then he said, "OK, let's go!" I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat and my brother and I were treated to a short ten minute, flight pattern loop. Thankfully I had my 35 MM camera with me and got some terrific shots of the Staggerwing inside and out.
Congrats on 15k subscribers. I started watching your channel because of Max. I really enjoy your stories and historical videos. Thanks for sharing Mike! Happy days and model on! 😎
On 17 December 1993, when the first B-2 arrived at Whiteman AFB, I packed up my camera and hightailed it down there to catch a look. On the flight line, there were two crowds: one about 100-feet away, down by a B-52, and the other down by the concession stands another few hundred feet away. So, I stood in the large gap between them, so I would get a clear view when the plane landed. The B-2 arrived, taxied up the line, then turned left and PARKED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!! That great black bat stood there howling at flight idle, nose-to-nose with me. The pilot then revved up the engines, and rolled down to the other end of the runway. I felt like the luckiest boy at the fair. I love it when the Universe grins, and puts you in the right place at the right time.
When you mentioned Island Helicopters you brought back memories of my days as a reporter for the Long Island Commercial Review. I did several stories about Fred Fine and his inauguration of commuter service from near Roosevelt Field to NYC using a Sikorsky S-61 in the early 1970s.
Wow. As a 4 or 5 year old I badly wanted a model of a Sky King 310B, so my mother took me to the hobby shop to buy one. They didn’t have one, but they had an Aurora Aero Commander, the box of which you showed in this video. I remember it because it was my first model and I studied that box for hours. I built it under my mother’s supervision, not knowing it was her first model as well. We lost one of the propellor retention washers somewhere in the late 50’s shag carpet and I was crushed since it would now be a single prop plane. But Ma whipped out the vacuum cleaner, vacuumed the carpet, and we retrieved the washer from the dust bin. I kept that model for many years. Speaking of single prop Aero Commanders, when the AC was being certified the FAA was wringing their hands over single engine performance so the company removed a prop on the prototype, lashed it to the floor of the cabin, and flew non stop from the factory in Bethany, OK to Washington DC. Certification was awarded shortly thereafter. I would have had an authentic model even if we had not found that washer.
Great stories! I feel that was the golden age of aviation. I remember flying into Zahn’s as a teenager to go to the 1964 Worlds Fair in Flushing in a Cherokee 160. Thanks😉
I remember "Whirlybirds" I loved the show because of helicopters. When I joined the Navy (every Navy movie I watched as a kid) I became an Aviation Electrician's Mate, when I finished school on my "onion skin" I requested helicopters & got assigned to HM-14. My dreams came true. Life was great back then.
Wow, memories of Mitchel Field! I lived right across the street from it, off of Hempstead Turnpike, in Uniondale. Got to see lots of planes, C-119's, F-80's, C-124 Globemaster's. Aviation Day was a special time. Little did I know that one day I would be an Engineer with Fairchild Republic. Thanks Mike.
Thanks for sharing some pretty amazing coincidences Mike. I wonder if I'll ever bump into my instructor someday 🤔? Years ago I used to rent and fly a beat up old Cesena 150 out of Sunshine Aero, Crestview FL. I even took my girlfriend/wife up in it a few times. Twenty years later, I went up to the local highschool to pick my oldest son's friend up from tennis practice and what do I see behind the school? The very same Cessna, in pieces. At that time the school had an aero program and the Cessna had been given to the school for the mechanics class. I have a 1/48 scale Cessna 150 model kit to build and I will be painting and marking it just like the one I used to fly! N704VR! Keep up the great stories Mike, I really enjoy them as well as the great art and photos.
Thanks for your take on being a kid aviation fan! Reminds me of what it was when I was a kid growing up in New Jersey. My father would take me to Linden and Newark Airports to watch the planes coming and going. But I really enjoyed going to McGuire Air Force Base for their air shows. I now do the same thing for my grandkids. They are bigger aviation fans than I was, thanks to your videos they can name any aircraft they see! I now live a few miles from Lakehurst Naval Air Station and enjoy hearing and seeing aircraft flying by.
Absolutely fascinating - yet again. Many thanks for these videos Mike - they're unique and utterly captivating. I'm not an aviator unfortunately, just someone who's fascinated by and with aircraft and aviation in general.
Thank you Mr. Machat, I enjoyed all of you fantastic videos , as a native Long Islander you brought back many many memories of my life. I spent most of my life in aviation, only regret is I never got to get my pilots lic. As a A&P mechanic I worked on many many aircraft, and later became an inspector on the A10 at Fairchild Republic. Then later at Northrop on the B2 program, then as a manufacturing engineer. Watching your videos gave back so many great memories. Thank you for you great work, please keep going.
You've had a great career in aviation. I have my own cool connections from my family and myself. My dad owned N18777 and growing up I thought everyone's family had more than one airplane, so him having the Staggerwing wasn't a big deal...until years later I would understand how amazing that aircraft is. I'm really enjoying your videos. I'll share one connection I have with aviation history you will appreciate. Since you have a good connection and history with the XB-70 there was a flight surgeon on that program named Col. Burt Puskas. My mother, a retired USAF/CANG flight & hospital nurse, began her career as an industrial nurse at North American Aviation. She met Col. Burt Puskas while working there. He would be my first flight surgeon while I was working on my PPL. In the last chapter of Bob Hoover's book there is note of Mr. Hoover's friend and flight surgeon-Col. Burt Puskas. I had no idea about this while Col. Puskas was my flight surgeon. He was from a special breed of Americans.
I loved Sky king. I had a Whirleybird helicopter too. Saw the actual Whirlwind and crew in Latham,, Ny What a thrill.. All this and our models too. I do miss those times of the 50s and 60s. You would have made great friend and playmate when we were young!
Thanks again for another wonderful video and fascinating subject. I love the channel and am a proud subscriber! History and art done right transcends generations sir. And you sure are excellent at both! Again I can't say enough good things about the channel! Always a pleasure to watch. When I was 5 or 6 my dad used to take me to a small municipal airport to look at the planes. Back then you could just walk around and look at stuff, in the hangars too! He used to lift me up to look inside the cockpits. What a wonderful memory. Thanks so much for that! Anyway as always God bless you and yours and thanks again for all you do! Take care always! 👍😊
A friend of mine Garrett Brandt used to tell stories of Zahns airport when we were hanging out in Sonoma CA. He was really into the history of the planes and people around small airports. Great to see your references to Zahns here.
The A/C I recall most fondly was a 1965 Cessna 150, Nxx10S . We called her ''One Zero Sugar'' -- she did have a sweet forgiving nature. I built up some solo hours in her. Coolest feature was a manual handle on the flaps -- like an MG parking brake. With a stout pull you could get 40* instantly. Great for STOL approaches. White with Red trim lines. Red letters. Tall squarish tail compared to leaned-back tail on the brand new 1969 C-150, Seven Five One. This was at Angels Aviation on the East side of Van Nuys.
I've got a crazy aviation story about my dad and Bulgarian father in law. They were both pilots and growing up my dad used to tell me stories about the run ins they had with some crazy mig 21s from Bulgaria when he was flying out of Turkey. Most of the details are classified still but it was pilots sparing having fun for the most part. But they had a few very good pilots in Bulgaria. Anyway fast forward 5-6 years and the cold war is over and while at Maxwell afb my dad hears some guy with an accent talking about playing with F16s in mig21s and stopped dead in his tracks. He interrupts and said you know that story might be classified and the guys response was it's not for me and they began talking. So Rado my now father in law introduced himself and explained he was there for what he called SOS aka squadron officer school that is geared at teaching allies to work together. They then had a beer and said goodbye....... That is until when meeting my girlfriends parents in Bulgaria 10-15 years later he gave me a look and asked if my dad's a military pilot. When I said yes he started laughing,poured a drink and told me how they met and flew against each other etc. Needless to say everyone at the table was in shock. Now the best part was our wedding wasn't far from his retirement and she convinced me to have our wedding in BG although I didn't mind they had a surprise for my dad and I. As a wedding gift he managed to take us up in the last 2 seater mig 21 that they had and we both had the time of our lives. I'm not exactly sure how he managed it but it was worth it.
@@celebratingaviationwithmik9782 it's funny how small the world is at times and there's a bit more to it I left out for brevity. It's such a crazy story that we convinced Rado to write about it and we've collected pics and things from my dad's career along with his and put them together. We're not sure what will come of it,but he's also a historian and taught history. He's had a few things published in Bulgarian but is hesitant about his English,so who knows. But we'll eventually share it somehow even if it's just a video with clips and photos.
@@southjerseysound7340 Now that’s a story! I’d love to see anything like that your family would care to share. Hope I run accross it sometime. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for another great story Mike! I grew up just south of MacArthur and it was amazing all of the places a kid on a bike could get to on that airport in the 60s and be welcomed. In high school I took lessons at Mid-Island Air Service. What a great place to grow up that area was. One nit - the airport is in Islip Township, not Islip. It is part of Bohemia just across Vets Highway to the south. The north end is stradled by Ronkonkoma.
Mac Arthur area was also great for plane spotting :) Airliners inbound to JFK overhead in trail that you could count in a line from horizon to horizon as they made their way in. BTW- The old CV 880 that used to be there in the grass at L I Mac was once Jefferson Starships jet. Saw it there when I was student training at American Flyers in 1983.
Another great video, Mike! I got to fly from Opa Locka to Oshkosh in 2010 in N836D, the Eastern DC-7B restored by the Historical Flight Foundation. I had been an airline brat, my Dad flew for United and I had spent many happy hours on DC-6s and DC-7s, so I jumped at the chance for the 2010 flight. My wife came along also. For me, it was reliving my childhood, but for my wife it was 5-1/2 hours of noise and vibration! What can I say? She's a jet kid!
@2:07 While everyone else is congratulating Mike on 15k subscribers I just want to congratulate him on that amazing head of hair in that picture. As someone going bald in their late 30s I am thoroughly jealous!
Congrats and you truly deserve it. And it's only the beginning. Wishing you continued success as we all learn so much from your fine channel. We appreciate you very much Mr M. God Bless :)
Another great story! Have you done a story on the history of sea planes, with their obvious benefit over land planes with no airports vs water everywhere, and the beautiful flying boats taking passengers to exotic places all over the world?
Congratulations on 15K subscribers Mr. Machat. Thank you for telling this interesting stories. They really do mean something special to you. Thanks for another walk down memory lane with those pictures of those aircraft. There is something magical about those old prop planes and the first jets. Loved the mention of your Clothesline 2,000; it brings a big smile. Take care sir.
Mike I absolutely love this one and hope you do more like it. These stories exemplify that we truly live in a small world. Fantastic photos and narration as always. When I was in my single digits, I got to see many of those same aircraft types at the Mitchel AFB open house shows, as well as many other USAF, USN and USCG aircraft types. It was truly heaven to be on Long Island at that time if you were an aviation enthusiast. And, a big congratulations on 15 thousand subs. Keep up the outstanding work.
That Whirlybird model was pretty cool, had one myself. Interesting story. Just a small ps. My dad worked for Revell in the 50's and 60's until they closed the art department in Culver City on Glencoe Ave. My dad and his partner opened their own business Graphic Adevertising Design, in Inglewood, They did the instruction sheets for Revell for years, both working at the factory and afterward. Dad did aa number of Box tops also.
another trip down memory lane. i loved sky king and the whirley birds tv shows. it so awesome you have access to all these photos you show . did you ever fly gliders up here in Tehachapi when you were at Edwards?
Greetings: Former East Meadow resident from April 1956 thru 1969 (Apollo11 & Woodstock summer). Watched Mitchell Field C-119 boxcars overhead. My family home adjacent to both Meadowbrook Hospital (nee Nassau County medical center) and the County Jail and jail farm and the hospital's water treatment facility. Between that facility and my back yard was the "right of way" for the "Central Railroad of Long Island" built by some guy named Stewart who built Garden City and had his own brickworks in Bethpage near where it crossed the LIRR main line to Lake Ronkonkoma. That included the extension that now allows Hicksville to Montauk travel. For my family, Zorn's was a chicken take-out place on Hempstead tpke (route 25). Our family had a long time family friend's dad that worked there, too. I miss Lafayette Electronics store in Syossit and their dream-book catalogs. Before I forget, I have a few DVDs of "Whirlybirds" episodes that I somehow accumulated and are eager to dispose of. BTW: That show was based out of an airfield near Sylmar not far from me in Sun Valley (near Whiteman airfield). From your channel I gather you now are a SoCal resident yourself. I am a retired Hollywood video engineer that started as a student in East Meadow schools filling out the required federal aid forms for the many local aerospace companies in the area. I built a kit tube radio in wood/metal shop in my junior high school that was demolished to make room for a new housing development behind Great Eastern Mills (i think) near Newbridge Road (rte 106). After dropping out of the University of Oklahoma in 1970, I wound up driving taxis in Manhattan and studying Broadcast Electronics via correspondence course since I always had the electronics bug. I wound up with a roommate who's dad owned an electronics company in Plainview. My Electronics training had me working at the repair dept. of a store in Jamaica Queens. I spent too much time on each repair so they tried to cut me back. So I asked about his dad's work. I went to work there in 1974 after quitting work with Kodak where I worked fixing photo-finishing equipment. Seniority determined that I would not get trained on the new computer controlled equipment, so that made me switch jobs. BTW: WBAI-FM motivated me to dream of being their engineer, hence the Broadcast training. The Plainview job had me doing some drafting work and equipment inspections on video character generators. I became part of their field engineering dept. I got to do a lot of over the phone repairs and then equipment setup upon delivery of equipment. Lots of flying, made me feel important/successful. An upgrade job taking more than a week had me in LA for a week, so I looked to find work with a customer ABC. Found it, but my existing job talked me into being based in LA. After a year the travel was getting to be too much, so I found work with another customer that only lasted 17 years. I used the internet to find the former local Long Island airfields (there were many). Okay, just realized where I was, so how to safely send you some DVDs, etc?
Fabulous story and great comment, thanks James! That sure explains Stewart Avenue south of the old Mitchel Field. I flew at Zahn's Airport in the late-1960s - now plowed under as the Babylon Business Park on New Highway south of Republic and across the Southern State. and yes, I'd be thrilled to have those Whirlybird DVDs, thanks ever so much! Please email: mikemachat@gmail.com for mailing address, and I'll be glad to reimburse the postage. Thanks again!
I enjoyed the episode very much, Mike! I've got a question for you, but first, some background. I'm 70 years old, and I grew up in the 50's and 60's living just a couple of blocks south of Santa Monica Airport. Learned a lot about planes there, riding my bike over to the airport starting round the age of 8 or 9. I used to see M.A.T.S. C-124'S and C-133's fly in there for whatever they would fly in to the factory for. My question involves an incident that occurred Some time between 1958 and 1960 or so. One of the C-124's was making the usual approach from the east, and somehow got too low, and the left main gear hit the embankment off the east end of the runway, and it sheared off. The plane skidded down the runway and came to a stop without further issues. It was repaired there at the airport, and made a normal take-off a couple of weeks later. I have been unable to find any record of this incident in any sort of airplane accident registry. Might be because there was no one killed and maybe not even any injuries. Do you have any suggestions for finding something on this?
I am glad you appreciate these coincidences and presented them to us as you did. I don’t hold with fatalism. My thought is that such coincidences or connections are signs that we are on the right path and possibly have been guided by good spirits. Beautiful video.
