CAF open house near Atlanta | FerrariChat

CAF open house near Atlanta

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Gatorrari, Jun 1, 2022.

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  1. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    Jim Pernikoff
    #1 Gatorrari, Jun 1, 2022
    On Memorial Day Monday, the former Dixie Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, now renamed Airbase Georgia, hosted an open house of their facility at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, south of Atlanta, GA.

    Their collection is modest but has some significant aircraft. For instance, the P-51D "Red Nose" was actually the very first aircraft ever bought by the CAF! In 1957, the four founders of the organization paid the princely sum of $1500 for the Mustang. (Today it would be worth about 1000 times that!) Notice the pedal plane under the nose; the kids loved that!

    The P-63A is the last aircraft to be restored and is one of apparently 5 airworthy examples around, though I haven't seen it fly yet. It was retrofitted with the ventral fin usually seen on P-63C and D models.

    The SBD-5 is probably the flagship of the wing; it was the first Dauntless to be restored to flyable and is one of apparently 4 currently flyable. They took it on a test flight preparatory to it going to Reading (PA) this weekend for their annual World War II Weekend event.

    The FG-1D was also supposed to fly to Reading but they were still doing engine work on it.

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  2. Bob Parks

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    #2 Bob Parks, Jun 2, 2022
    When i was at Langley Field in 1945 the NACA was testing a P-63 with a two bladed prop. Didn't work because of the oscillation that wiggled the nose back and forth. Weird phenomenon that they couldn't figure out.
     
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  3. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 tazandjan, Jun 2, 2022
    Bob- Tips were likely supersonic.
     
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  4. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #4 Gatorrari, Jun 3, 2022
    The B-17G Texas Raiders from the CAF Gulf Coast Wing in Conroe, TX is visiting us this weekend for the second year in succession.

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  5. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #5 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Jun 6, 2022
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  6. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #6 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Jun 6, 2022
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  7. Bob Parks

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    #7 Bob Parks, Jun 6, 2022
    The nose wiggled from side to side at idle, also. Being at the end of a long shaft with no engine mass nearby could have had something to do with it.
     
  8. Extreme1

    Extreme1 Formula 3

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    #8 Extreme1, Jun 6, 2022
    There’s a P-51 on display at the Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA. You can ride in it for $2500 for 1 hour.

    Apparently it burns a crazy amount of fuel, so they have to charge that much.


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  9. Gatorrari

    Gatorrari F1 World Champ
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    #9 Gatorrari, Jun 6, 2022
    The CAF charges $2000 for the P-51 shown above, and I believe that's only for a 20-minute flight! They charge $1000 for a similar ride in the SBD Dauntless.

    (As one of the B-17 crewmen told me, last year their gas was $5 per gallon, this year it's up to $8!)
     
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