..." just another airplane."

How sad for those people, living as they are with little knowledge and even less imagination. There is no such thing as "just another airplane"

Keep fighting the good fight, Bob. What you saw is special, no question about it.

 

Hell I've shushed people when a Stearman flew over, let alone a 17.
Ignoring that is like ignoring a Jag XKSS driving by a sidewalk cafe.

I would have been likewise baffled and pissed off, but what can you do....

 

Simply incorrect.
Just another airplane? That's the sound of thousands of men and women who built, maintained, flew, and died in 'just another airplane' so that we may be free.
That, is the sound of America's greatest generation.

 

Perhaps one. To stand and lookup into the skies over southern England and see the unmistakable planform and hear the Merlin of a Spitfire...

 

I'm at odds with you here Mr Parks.

I think the Merlin is the most evocative sound ever produced by man.

As a Brit it pain's me to say that it sounds better in the Mustang than it does in the Spitfire, ( save maybe the Griffon in the MK22), but in the Lanc it is just pure harmonics in action.

I love the B17, but there is just something about the Lancaster.

Don't feel bad about telling the guy to shut up...I dumped a girlfriend one time because she told me at an airshow that the BBMF was "just a bunch of old planes that no one cares about"
Never did find out how she got home from Duxford !!

 

This thread needs something...... oh yeah:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgpWuxYLhLU]B-17 bomber take off and fly by - TURN IT UP! - YouTube[/ame]

I'm sure you've seen it but if not check out Bomber Boys

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnzNJ-RXIi8]Bomber Boys - BBC Documentary. - YouTube[/ame]

Watched this last week with my dad, incredible stuff.
The part with the 90 yr old woman, who worked assembling Lancs in the War, showing them how to properly install a rivet is especially fantastic

 

I believe the B17 "909" is part of the Collings foundation...
Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

Thanks, Bob... for standing up for the fabulous B-17... it's the epitome of a WWII bomber.

Find a better punchbowl.


I'm not on the same page with the Lancaster, though... awkward tail, ungainly fuselege and it sounds like a group of Spits flying by... not like a proper bomber with big radials. (Yes, I know there was a Lancaster version with radials.)
Just my opinion.

 

Bob - clearly you're just hanging with the wrong crowd! If they don't invite you back, you'll be missing nothing!

 

Bob, in my opinion, you did the right thing. But, as tritone said, maybe you're just hanging with the wrong crowd.....

 

Im very lucky in the fact that I work for NASA at Ellington Field and I get to see the B-17 on a regular basis along with an A-4 F-4 and oh yea an ME262.

 

I flew to a little airport in Memphis, Olive Branch, last fall and when cleared by the tower on final I was mightily distracted by a B-17 holding short. After landing and getting to the ramp we were treated to it doing testing and flying the pattern. Most everyone on the ramp was spellbound.

 

interesting thread....perhaps a point of view issue..my uncle, a tailgunner that barely survived his missions over germany said if he never heard the sound of a b-17 again that would be just fine with him....i have friends and cohorts that say the same about hueys....i guess its a matter of perception. [my late father-in-law said pretty much the same thing about b-25s but i can't print the exact language here.]

 

I'm lucky enough to live not 40 miles from the Canadian war plane haratage museum in Hamilton Ontario Canada. Our house is right on the flight path of many of their warbirds. Including one of the 2 flying Lancaster bombers in the world.

The B-25 Mitchell buzzed the house this weekend a few times, but unfortunately I havn't seen the Lanc up this year. I know that Lanc is coming before I even see it. You cannot confuse the sound of those 4 engines with anything else..just a deep hair raising rumble, that gets louder as she approaches. Hell I run outa the house like a mad man, my wife thinks I'm weird!! Lol

 

I had just departed SSF heading east in the T-28, which has amazing vis, and was about to turn NW over the city when SAT ATC clears you.
"North American 8089H, turn to 300 direct Boerne Stage, and look out for the B-17 in your 10 o clock"

And there it was. Holy cow! Ladies and gents, while the B-17 is wonderful to see from the ground, I had NO idea how jaw-dropping glorious it looks from the air. We passed safely within a mile (I was higher) and it just brought a lump in my throat. She was magnificent as she flew over San Antonio back to SSF. A sight I will never forget.

 

Very cool... I was just in Boerne, one of my closest friends lives there.

Never flown into/out of Stinson, though.

We just had 'Aluminum Overcast' flying around Denver at low altitude for 4 days a couple weeks ago. Had a couple of Bob's "oh, it's just another airplane" moments from others as I paused to watch.

 

Maybe you should have requested permission to fly alongside for a little bit. After all, your aircraft shares the same powerplant.....

 

It's music to my ears as well, as is the occasional passing car or motorcycle that will have me pause a conversation.
I'm happy to share that punchbowl with you and ignore the infidels.