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#51
06-19-2009, 10:44 AM
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Peter,
If you want to use the proper quote fucntion, click on the quote button in the bottom right hand corner in any post you want to quote then you don't have to worry about copying and pasting, and then bolding it or if you want to, you can use [ quote ] [ /quote ] around anyting you want to quote Rick
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"Rock is Dead, Long Live Paper and Scissors" International Paper Model Convention Blog http://paperdakar.blogspot.com/ "The weak point of the modern car is the squidgy organic bit behind the wheel." Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear's Race to Oslo 
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#52
06-19-2009, 10:47 AM
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The only thing that ruined the day was the sight of a burnt out husk of a lightning and the three pristine Vulcan's and two Victors waiting to join it in the scrap yard used for fire training.
Phil this would have broken my heart... especially the Victors one of Handley Page's finest roll outs, a marvelous aircraft in all areas, and one hell of a sexy looking bird for sure !
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#53
06-19-2009, 10:50 AM
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#54
06-19-2009, 11:34 AM
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One of the best things that happened to me during my Air Force career happened during a tour I was giving of Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. It centered around the F-15 Eagle. At the time, I would have an Air Force bus waiting for anyone who wanted the tour to get on at one of the gates. At 1 pm, I would then show up and start the tour.
One of the places we went to during the tour was the maintenance hangar for the F-15. Since we didn't "always" have an F-15 in hangar, the maintenance folks would tow one in off the line for my tour. I would give the people a quick rundown of the capabilities of the aircraft and then let them get up close and personal with the bird. However, if the aircraft came in off the line, it meant it hadn't been sanitized (sensitive equipment covered or removed) and I wasn't allowed to show them the cockpit. On this one particular tour, the aircraft was a line bird and no cockpit viewing allowed. After I gave my little talk of the "greatest fighter ever developed," I was approached by a young women with a German accent. She asked me if it was possible for her grandfather to see the cockpit. I then explained to her why I couldn't and she understood and then said, "My grandfather was the first trained mechanic on the Me-262 during the war and was really interested in what the new cockpits look like." I asked her to wait a moment and went over to the maintenance control office and told the captain there the story and asked if it was possible to allow the grandfather access to the cockpit. I told him I'd take care of it if he would authorize it. Instead, he got on the phone and within five minutes, there were three pilots pushing a stand to the cockpit area. Not only was the grandfather allowed to see the cockpit, he was able to sit in it and had the pilots there to answer all his questions. And of course, with his granddaughter translating everything, he answered all of Eagle Driver's questions regarding the early jet. When we finished in the hangar, the woman came over with her grandfather, who took my hand and in formal German, with tears in his eyes, thanked me...not translation needed. That happened one other time to me. It was in Berlin, and I was standing just off a platform overlooking the east side of Checkpoint Charlie. As I stood there taking in as much as I could, an elderly German walked up to me, took my hand, and with tears in his eyes, thanked me over and over, then walked off. That 1977 incident was the reason I made the Air Force a career. I vowed I wouldn't leave the service until "The Wall" came down. I retired a little more than two years after it fell in November 1989.
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Ashrunner "If you don't know what a lahar is, don't get in its way!" My Designs -- My Photography
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#55
06-19-2009, 01:39 PM
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Another great story Ashrunner and very touching.I find it uplifting when I hear of the kindness showed to the veterans and for the Grandfather to have the chance to answer the questions of the younger pilots was I'm sure as much of a thrill as the cockpit tour.I remember at the dedication of the US Museum at Duxford seeing a B17 tail gunner standing by the rear guns of the Fortress there and although I could see him right in front of me I knew he was 30,000ft and 60 years away.
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#56
06-19-2009, 01:44 PM
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Both the F-14 and 15 are great aircraft, but the best of all time? It brings to mind the old question of who would win in a dogfight, a Spitfire or P-51, with superb manouverability, against an F-14 or 15 with raw power? Best wishes Mick
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#57
06-19-2009, 03:25 PM
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Ashrunner, that's a great story and like Phil says very touching ! I'm sure you have many more to tell us, and we're all wanting to read them.. one thing ! please try to describe the way your voice sounds so that we can put that to your avatar and imagine you reading them to us
 Strange request but please try :D
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#58
06-20-2009, 02:25 AM
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Peter I would have no idea of how to describe my voice other than rough, with a bit of softness when I want to sound nice 8v) I was once told my voice would be a perfect radio voice, if that's any help. There was another time while giving a tour to a school from the interior part of Alaska, when I thought I might have screwed my career. I took the kids and the two teachers around various parts of the base, and then headed over to the hangar for the F-15 display. It was a clean bird, so the students were having fun talking to the pilot and sitting in the cockpit. I was back out of the way, keeping an eye on everyone, drifting around to answer questions. At one point, the teachers approached me and asked a couple of questions about performance and then walked over to the afterburner near where we were and started talking. I couldn't help hear their conversation and realized it was in Russian. Now this was 1984, and Soviet Union was still staring us down at the time. So, I walked over to the teachers and casually asked, "Excuse me, but are you speaking Russian?" The woman teacher looked at me and said, "Yes...we are from the Russian Mission school." I began thinking..."Oh no...Russians?" and hoping no one else would notice. As my mind raced to figure things out, I mentioned that I always wanted to learn Russian and asked if that was a course the school offered. It was explained to me that the town of Russian Mission is an old Russian settlement where the townsfolk still speak Russian, but also American. Everyone in the town spoke two languages. It was at that point I was able to put the name of the town and the language I heard together. So, while the students enjoyed the F-15 static display, I was given a quick course in Russian. Sadly, I have forgotten most of it, along with most of my Italian, Danish, Tagalog, Inuit and German. But for a few moments in Alaska in 1984, I thought I might have been instrumental in passing on information to our then enemy. 8v)
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Ashrunner "If you don't know what a lahar is, don't get in its way!" My Designs -- My Photography
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#59
06-20-2009, 11:13 AM
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Thanks for the voice description, and yes it did help ! so much so that i was well relaxed reading your brilliant story
I would have been seriously worried too my friend... Imagine if they we're spying  you'd have given them a real amount of quality information without knowing it - i wouldn't have wanted your job explaining that one, but thankfully for you it all turned out well 
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#60
06-23-2009, 02:02 PM
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Hi all just found this on You Tube. This was filmed just up the road from me at Rochester Airport. I got to speak to the MAPS guys as they were restoring this but missed out on sitting in the cockpit like my smug former friend did:D. YouTube - MARK HANNA_FIRST FLIGHT OF SPITFIRE PL965_1992
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