Hey Sarge! Look at this!

[waaytoomuchintothis]

[TsgtRet]

Thanks! Sounds like a neat airshow. That's a D model F-4, belongs to the Collings Foundation (http://www.collingsfoundation.org/), to my knowledge the only one in civilian hands. (You can tell it's a "D" because of the extra bump on the bottom of the lower nose radome) Wish I could have been there. I worked F-4Cs, Es and RF-4Cs when I was in....nothing like the sound of a Phantom (heavy sigh) :( . Very cool pics, too. A "B" or "C" P-51 is a rare sight!

The Collings folks have a ton of flying museum pieces including B-17, B-24, the F-4, an F-100 and even an ME-262! And they have a vehicle collection as well! Sports cars, sprint cars, military....even have Al Capone's Caddy!

[Pappy]

Nice F4!

I've flown in two P51's, an H model and a D model. The H model is the last one built before the war ended, it was never certified and flew as an experimental airplane.

[dw5555]

262......... Awesome.. :D

Dave

[dreinecke]

Ah, many a fond memory of these flying over my head at Ramstein AFB!

[frank9129]

They made the best sound, when they came in low and slow.
Napalm in the morning. You never forget it.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Those two shots came from the Collings Foundation website. Supposedly the F-4 was here, but I'm sure I would have known the sound if it flew over me for the same reason you would have.

But those big, fat radial engines on the B-17, B-24 and the AT-6 were so clear that I was outside looking up more than a minute before they were visible. The B-25 is so unique, I knew what it was before I ever saw it. The loudest piston engined plane ever built in the US. Incredible. Once you ever got close to one when revved up, you will always know that sound.

A few years back, the AT-6s that were converted to look like Zeros and Zekes for Tora! Tora! Tora! flew over us. It was the third time I'd seen them. I saw them in Louisville KY, and in Texas. If October is warm we can set chairs in the yard, sip beverages and enjoy the show as they all go by. My commentary on each aircraft gets longer every time the make a pass, according to my wife. My sons make a point of calling at the end of October each year to remind her that they weren't here to hear my chronicling of WWII warbirds. Nyah... I only do it once a year, after all. Of course, I do speak forth about wooden ships and the glory days of sail sometimes, too...

[TsgtRet]

When I was in I kind of shied away from airshows and open houses....after all I got to see them everyday. Lately, I've had the urge to start watching some again.

My best "airshow memory" is from when I was about 10, my Dad was stationed at Glenview Naval Air Station, North of Chicago. There was some kind of big thing going on at Chicago and both the Blue Angels (Grumman Tigers) and the Thunderbirds (F-100s) operated out of our base for the show. My Dad took my brother and I down to base ops to watch them come in. The Blues came in first did a little show and landed.....then the Thunderbirds came in over Base Ops , low level, 6 ship diamond and as they passed over they dropped their flaps so we were looking right up the tailpipes and they lit the afterburners.....shook every window on base and at that moment I think is when the Navy lost out to the Air Force in my mind. :mrgreen:

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I remember when the Blue Angles went to the Grummans. I would have flipped over F-100s no matter what else was happening. Real soft spot there. That may have been my first model airplane. That or an F-86.

When I was a boy, working as a beach lifeguard at a hotel in Biloxi, I saw the first F-101s taking off from Keesler. I thought I was seeing it wrong. Almost no wing! As they banked out over the Gulf, I watched them with binoculars from my tower, completely amazed. I imagine you ran into them before they were gone.

[TsgtRet]

[sixtiesracer]

I would really like to see a ME- 262 in flight.My two boys and I went to an air show at the Manchester Airport as we were driving there a Mig-15 flew by in front of us My Son in a startled voice........."Daddy,that's a Russian Jet"!!!I had to quietly reassure him that it was part of the air show and there was nothing to worry about.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

That may have been the same one I saw at Oshkosh in 1991. There can't be many of them flying. This one was in private hands, the usual "flying museum" documentation, like almost all the antiques and warbirds there. I couldn't believe how small that little hot rod is. I had to have a scaffolding set up to work on our Merlin in the P-51, but I was looking down at the Mig as I walked by.

[TsgtRet]

[Pappy]

Should read "Damaged, Used Mig Parts". :banana-dance:

[waaytoomuchintothis]

The best part is the Converse Chuck Taylor high top shoes. I like a warrior with a sense of whimsy.