Good times, and bad times…
At places like this…
Not so good in places like this…
But I don’t regret it at all… I would do it over in a heartbeat.
But I sure would have liked a quieter work area… 92dB at the station for 12 hours at a time gets old (and deef too)…
Please say a prayer for those who were on the B-17 909 when it crashed yesterday. A huge loss in so many ways. May those who died rest in peace.
Thanks again for your service and time. Yes, it was sad to hear of the B-17 accident.
Hey Old NFO;
I miss those days also, wish I could go back in time. Back then it was part of being part of something and doing really important stuff or stuff that matters. Hard to find that feeling now. Also very sad to hear of that B-17, only a few left out of the thousands that used to thunder across the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
jrg- Thanks
Bob- Now I believe we are down to 8 flyable in the world… sigh
It’s a lucky man that can say:
“But I don’t regret it at all… I would do it over in a heartbeat.”
Gods be with the poor souls on that warbird, sounded like a bad end.
B-17. A reminder of the perils faced by WWII aviators.
Heath- And I would. And yes, may they rest in peace.
WSF- Amen.
Just a little something about WHY “909” crashed. ALL of the Collings foundation aircraft are used as money makers for the tax free foundation. “909” made several flights a day. EVERY DAY.(7000 to 10000Hrs a year EVERY year) With a minimum 12 to 20 paying tourist on it. At 1000$ per. All day. Every Day. All of the foundation (tax free) aircraft are used in this way. The foundation makes Millions of tax free dollars every month; and fly’s those 80 year old airframes to death. The B-17G they were flying was in need of a major overhaul that it was never going to get. The day it crashed BOTH starboard engine’s were acting up. They had pulled the superchargers long ago. That airframe should have been red lined five years ago. But as long as you can make more than 2 million tax free dollars a month per bomber…. Look for the B-24J to have a wing spar failure next. All it does is pony rides. ALL DAY. Every day. The B-24A is even worse. The wing spars in it are so used up it should no longer be flying at all. But it will give pony rides until it dies. Do a little digging. “The Foundation” IS NOT what people think it is. P.S. I wonder why Anderson is only taking cash in advance to work on Collings foundation engines?— Now you know WHY the USAF won’t sell them an F-105. Or anything else if they can help it. The Navy Brass thinks even less of them. Maybe they have good reasons for that.
Some of the best things to hear while on TDY, are “no available quarters, you have to stay off base”. And then, “you will need a rental car too”.
I belong to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum up in Hamilton, Ontario. They have one of only two flying Lancs in the world, and they sell seats. BUT they only fly a certain number of passenger seats per year, and once they sell the seats that’s it. OTOH a seat on their Lanc was $2500 back in 2011 when I bought the wife one, so they don’t have to sell too many of them, heh, heh. And they are a non-profit operation.
But oh my, hearing four sync’d Merlins going about 100 feet off the ground as it passes overhead on take-off…
I did a walk through of 909 last summer. I could not afford to take flight in it though. I have always been fascinated by B-17s (Too Much Twelve O’Clock High (TV Show as a kid). But is was a beautiful war bird. i am very sad to learn it was the one that crashed.
The per diem thing reminded me of all the out of town and
out of state jobs I did as a Millwright. Most of these were
12 hour days at 6 or 7 days a week, sometimes for a month.
After each shift, we set new records for alcohol consumption.
It was our way of winding down from some of the most grueling
physical labor you could imagine!