High level passes. I saw the best P-38 show in Abottsford, 1968 I think, when the late Chuck Lyford flew Larry Blumer's P-38 there. His event started at 12k north of the field in a dive toward the show line. Before he got there, he shut both engines off and made a dead stick pass at 250-300 mph and not very high. All you could hear was the sound of the airflow on the airplane. He did a loop and one more silent high speed pass and then into a 45 deg turn away from the show line, pulled up into a slow roll and started both engines as he finished. A wide circle to the north and a landing in front of the crowd. A year later, Bob Hoover did the engine out routine in his Shrike. I can't imagine the fight in which Blumer shot down 5 FW190's in 10 minutes and then on the way home destroyed a train. Blumer and his squadron were involved in the biggest dog fight of the war where there were 75 airplanes in it. The two P-38 squadrons wiped out one entire German squadron and severely depleted the other .
I think the best "show" I saw at Oshkosh '83 was put on by a Flying Tigers stretched DC-8 that had flown in during the morning to make a delivery. After taking off, instead of just leaving, he got permission to do a circuit of the field and do a low-level, high-speed pass down runway 18! This still had the original JT3D engines so it was LOUD and got everyone's attention!
I remember when I was a kid Flying Tigers used to fly 2 shifts of 8 DC8's into ORD every night along with a couple of 747's. Here are a few pictures I took on the Tigers ramp. They let me out on the ramp just to take pictures The good old days. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent! Yes a Swing Tail CL-44. The company I worked for (Wrangler) bought them from Tigers Image Unavailable, Please Login
Beautiful airplane. Used to see them flying around here in the 60's and earlier. And DC-4's with the Merlins.
Thats what we used them for. We took large rolls of denim from Cone Mills in Greensboro to the Wrangler factories in Puerto Rico, and brought finished jeans back to Greensboro. It started with this Connie and grew from there. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bob, a guy named Jack Conroy took a CL-44 and made it into a Guppy. It was custom made to haul the Rolls Royce engines for the L1011 from Rolls in England to the Lockheed factory in California. Thats a very long trip at 305 Knots!
With a stop in MIA where that picture was taken. MIA had to be the best airport in the world back from 1960-1990. It's still good but not as good as before when aircraft didn't have the range they do now. Plus the central and south American operators had old and colorful airliners. MIA was also the major mtx base. Now they have moved alot of the mtx off shore. Notice the door open on the Connie.
And in those days, there was a marvelous parking area along the outside perimeter road on the south side, right next to the 836 expressway. Great place for plane watching!
After attending a hobby convention in Madison, I drove up to Oshkosh for Sunday and Monday. The only airplanes from this photo that were there then were the Hurricane and the Spitfire IX in front of it. I wanted to stay three days (like I did the last time I was there, in 1983!), but I couldn't find lodging that didn't cost an arm and a leg. So I missed some good airplanes, but I still enjoyed the time I was there. I even got to do something I'd never done before: sit in a P-51! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mon. July 22 Fatal plane crash near Oshkosh EAA AirVenture; two confirmed dead https://www.wisn.com/article/oshkosh-eaa-plane-crash-two-dead/61666746 Authorities identify two dead ..... https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/authorities-identify-two-dead-after-plane-crash-near-eaa-in-oshkosh-both-from-out-of-state/ .
I miss being there with my T-28…14-ship fly-by was kinda fun!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login edit: I had to work this year. Bummer
