Welcome Neil! For a maiden topic, you did splendidly and honor my conference with your wisdom. This is gonna be a big favorite of mine! Terry, we need a conference with Neil for its flight commander!!!

Blush*blush*blush

Since the Shuttle just landed, this bit of information might be of interest: When the shuttle comes in for a landing, it does so at a 22% descent angle. Normal commercial aircraft descend at a 2% descent angle. It also enters the Earth's atmosphere going Mach 25

...so much for the hood ornament.

this'll be neat! will need to do some rummaging for cool wallpaper for your new conference, neil! *HUGS*

Thanks Wolfmeister! Glad to have you here!

Neil, Wolfie can even help create custom buttons for your conference. (Think we have him snowed sufficiently yet? He has plenty of the real stuff on the ground where he lives!) I have loads of horizonta bar options but she can also custom make them, too.

*blush*

Poor Neil is doing the same trip we all did when you discover someone actually posts in somrthing you have created... He definitely needs a conference. Last plane I flew in was an L 1011 to Calidornia.

i couldn't even tell you the last plane i flew in...i think it was delta with 9 seats across (to germany)

Wolfie!!! I thought you HAD to pass air recon stuff. *gasp*

*lol* not in my field of work *grin* i have flown in a C-5 and a KC-10....

I feel I should take a moment here to introduce myself, and say why I've created this topic. I've had a love affair with flying and airplanes since I was little; my Dad served in the RCAF during the Second World War as an airframe mechanic with a BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Plan) unit during the war, and then worked on Avro Lancaster bombers with another squadron post-war. He had a great love for airplanes, and he naturally transferred that passion and enthusiasm to me. Throughout my childhood (and even to this day), many of my birthday and Christmas presents consisted of Dinky-toy airplanes, plastic model kits, books, and posters of aircraft--I'm happily obsessed with them and make no apologies about it. Though I hesitate to use the word "expert", I am quite skilled at aircraft identification. I am also an avid aviation historian, focusing on the WW2 period, and am a member of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, as well as Warbirds Worldwide, although my membership in either is not currently active. I'm also a dedicated aviation photographer, photographing local airshows, airdisplays, and aircraft whenever I get the chance. And I still dabble with platic model airplanes when time and money permit. Why did I create this topic? Personally, I see life as an adventure, and flying is one of the most amazing parts of it. This topic is created for anyone out there who can't help but look up when an airplane flies overhead, regardless if it's a Cessna 150 or a 747; this is for anyone who has fallen in love with old biplanes after taking a hop in the front pit of a Stearman, Waco, or Tiger Moth, and for anyone who feel's a thrill go up their spine when they hear a P-51D Mustang's Merlin engine in full, glorious song at an airshow, or loves the friendly, nostalgic rumble of a DC-3's twin Pratt & Whitney radial's as they go over on a winter night hauling cargo to who-knows-where; for those of us who would almost be ready to trade in our grandmothers for a ride on the Shuttle or a flight with the Blue Angels; for everyone of us, all of us, who are still really just kid's inside and dream of flying, or has fulfilled those dreams and made flying their life and passion...

So, to get things started, here are My Top Ten Favourite Aircraft: 1. North American P-51D Mustang 2. Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX 3. De Havilland Mosquito 4. Ryan ST-A -- the prettiest airplane ever to have flown 5. North Anerican AT-6 Texan -- a ball of fun to fly! 6. Globe Temco Swift -- the MGB of General Aviation airplanes 7. Apollo-Saturn V -- not an airplane, I know, but has a more magnificent rocket or flying machine ever been built? 8. Douglas DC-3 -- the airplane that changed the world 9. Canadair CF-86 Mk. 6 Sabre Jet 10. Avro Lancaster -- my Dad's favourite, and one I helped to put back in the air

Sounds like you have tastes similar to mine. And are you also a pilot? You mentioned that the AT6 was fun to fly... *green with envy* Wolfie, just watching a C5 take off is a exercise in epathetic ooching. It looks like it'll never get airborne. What does it feel like from the inside?

There are so many great airplanes out there that my Top Ten is actually a fairly fluid thing, and is prone to some change, but the first five are pretty fixed. No, I'm not a pilot, despite trying desparately to become one. I was in the midst of flight training for my Private Pilot's Licence, when the medico's at Transport Canada decided that they didn't have enough info about a rare genetic disorder I suffer from, so they denied me my medical. I'm hoping to improve that situation sometime in the future to the point that they'll at least let me fly ultralights--I absolutely HATE being stuck on the ground! And yes, the T-6 is a ball of fun to fly as I had an opportunity to try it out before being grounded; the controls on the Six are very light (lighter than some of the fighters like the Mustang and Corsair, so I've been told), nicely balanced and quite responsive, and the joystick on the Texan seems to fall into the hand much more naturally that those dinky little yokes on a Cessna 152. If I could own a Warbird, the T-6 would be on my very short list as it looks, smells, sounds, and flies like the Heavy Iron, and you can take a friend along to enjoy the fun!!!

You will fly! I know you will. That much passion for airplanes has got to be rewarded in private license if not the governement's.

OK, YAPP IS DOING ODD THINGS AGAIN - WILL DELETE THE OUT OF SEQUENCE DOUBLE POSTS....

ok, the two duplicated messages have been deleted ... wouldn't you know it was something useless by me?!

well, in a C-5, the passenger seats are backwards compared to a conventional plane. when i came back from the desert, i really didn't care one way or the other. i was asleep! but, i will say that it was better than the KC10--more legroom, not as cold. and you wanna talk about empathetic ooching, you should watch a B-52. i don't know how those things fly!

Yup - wings flex Seriously! Um..have watched U2's do touches and goes. The sound like nothing else in the air when the fly.

I've attended many airshows over the years, and seeing the B-52 was always an awe-inspiring experience. With those long swept wings carrying eight smokey turbofans, and sounding like an entire airport taking off at once, the BUFF always impressed the hell out of me. The first time it showed up at the Hamilton show, just after a new 8000' runway had been installed, the '52 driver made several very low passes about 150 yards from where I stood as I helped put up snow fencing along the planned crowdline. As the '52 passed by, you could almost feel the air itself trying to get of the way of the big plane. After he landed and taxied to his static display spot, you could see that the outrigger landing gear out near the drooping wingtips was dangling far out over the grass on either side of the concrete. To see the hulking beast, a plane most likely older than me at that time in the late 1980's, was like staring at some prehistoric sky-beast from some bizarre Tolkien-esque fantasy. It was, and is, an imposingly ma nificent aircraft.

and it still out bomb modern aircraft!! those things can really move when the need arises!!

yepper--they didn't take them into Desert Storm for nothing. I'm just glad they were never used for their original purpose, or you and I and all the rest of us wouldn't be around to admire the ol' BUFF. I still enjoy seeing the ersatz B-52 segments in Stanley Kubrick's film, Dr. Strangelove.

AIR SHOW MEMORIES: Best Aerobatic Team: I know some of my countrymen will want to string me up for this, but my favourite military aerobatic team isn't the Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds; it's the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, esp, when they were flying McDonnell-Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. What forever won me over to them was a manuver involving two A-4's: as one a/c approached from stage right in "dirty" configuration (gear, flaps, & hook down and flying a slow landing approach), the second aircraft was coming from the right in a parallel course going full-tilt boogie. Just as the second fast aircraft overtook the slower one, both aircraft pitched up into full, round loops. The dirty aircraft kept it's loop tight due to it's lower airspeed, while the second made a big soaring loop. But the really neat thing was they maintained the exact same position relative to one another as they went around their respective circles, and arrived at the bottom of their loops at the same time before neatly snapping away into sharp diverging turns. I wa seriously wowed. My second favourite team is the Italian Frecce Tricolori (Tri-coloured Arrows); their displays have tremendous style and pinache, and they're a thoroughly professional bunch of guys. The best civilian aerobatic team, hands down, are the Northern Lights. They are just plain fun, and the team is made up primarily of Canadian ex-Snowbird pilots. Favourite solo performers are Patty Wagstaff and Oscar Boesch, who can make a sailplane flight a true thing of beauty. Funniest Air Show Moment: The Truly Stealthy F-117 At the Hamilton Airshow in 1994, the weather was just left of dismal. Rain and low ceilings had plagued the show all weekend, and little if anything, got off the ground. By Sunday we were all desparate for something to happen, collectively projecting our wills at the clouds trying to burn them off, but to no avail. Then it was annonunced that the fabled Lockheed F-117 Stealth Fighter was inbound to the show, and was going to attempt a low pass over the field. That brightened our sagging spirits immensely, and all of us among the "Camera Crazies" pulled out our trusty Nikon's, Canon's, and Pentax's with the hopes of capturing the infamous Nighthawk on film. Even the show's commentator's had brightened up, and were happily rattling off the plane's vital statistics over the PA. Then, we could hear the approach of jet engines, and the announcer's gleefully proclaimed the Stealth's arrival. We stood, watched, and listened as the plane sailed overhead, completely lost to us by cloud. The whole area fell silent a we die-hard airplane fantics stood there looking up into the murk, and then at each other. Then the irony of what had just happened fell on us like a ton of bricks; the Stealth had finally lived up to it's name and had been "truly invisible" and we fell into side-splitting spasms of laughter. The show was a write-off, but that one moment of absurdity relieved a weekend of disappointment and tension. It still brings a smile to me as I write this... Most Memorable: The Big Bomber Formation Seeing an Avro Lancaster, a B-24 Liberator, two B-17's, and a B-29 all flying together. The noise of all those big piston engines working in close harmony was an experience unto itself... The De Havilland Mosquito Kermit Weeks brought his Mossie to Hamilton a couple of times. So sleek, so rare--a truly memorable airplane. The Worst Memory: Witnessing the fatal crash of an RAF Nimrod ASW aircraft into Lake Ontario at the Toronto International Airshow. Watching an aircraft dive into the earth is something I hope none of you witness. The awful, sick feeling of loss and helpless is overwhelming. I never want to see it happen again...

=Sorry to follow such so splendid a post as the one above with this, but it IS seasonal and perhaps appropriate...

That is an incredible picture! It's like a big fluffy egg.

Yup, and the pilot has his very own little one, too. Wonder why!

Hi guys. I'm no aerodynamicist, but I think I can explain the the small vapor cloud over the cockpit canopy, and the overall image in general. When an aircraft passes through Mach 1 (the speed of sound which is roughly 740 mph at sea level), acoustic and aerodynamic pressure waves form on every surface of the aircraft that is heading into the air in the direction of flight. The thing to remember is that these pressure, or shockwaves, are simply highly compressed currents of air being deflected off of the aircraft as it passes through the air, and it's the aircraft moving through the air so rapidly that compresses the air around it. As these regions of air on the aircraft's leading edges are dramatically compressed, it leaves larger areas of air over the portions of the airplane that are farther back from the leading edge (eg. areas over the middle of the wings and fuselage) in a region of lower air pressure. This sudden pressure change causes the temperature of the air in the areas of lower pressure to drop dramatically, making any water vapor in the air in that pocket of low air pressure to suddenly condense into a small, visible localized cloud of water vapour. These dramatic supersonic effects can only be seen when the aircraft involved is travelling at supersonic speeds through very humid air, such as found over costal regions, or in warm, humid weather further inland. But you needn't wait for a supersonic attack jet like an F/A-18 Hornet to see a such effects; watching large airliner's taking off from an airport on a hot, muggy or rainy day can produce a similar phenomenon. As an airplane wing moves through the air, it generates areas of low air pressure relative to the surrounding air, so again, water vapor trapped in the regions of low pressure condense out into visible clouds of water vapor, and you can see dramatic sheets of cloud-like vapor streaming off the top of the wing as the plane climbs out. As for the tiny cloud over the canopy, there would have been a shockwave streaming off the top of the canopy's leading edge, trapping air farther back in a low pressure zone, which condensed out the existing water vapor, producing the little cloud. The photo is not only remarkable for it's sheer drama, but also in it's clear demonstration of physics and aerodynamics. I'd like to thank my lady love, MarciaH, for graciously posting this pic; thanks Sweetie!

Here are some great aviation links: The grandaddy of all great aviation enthusisast's organizations, the Experimantal Aircraft Association: http://www.eaa.org/ The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum; my personal aviation touchstone: http://www.warplane.com/ If you're a die-hard P-51 Mustang fanatic, here are a couple sites you'll love: http://www.mustangops.com/ http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/ Want to fly a P-51? Here's how... http://www.stallion51.com/ Want to keep abreast of the UK Warbird Scene? Here's a good source... http://www.duxford.org/ and another..., http://www.warbirdsworldwide.com/ For those itinerant modellers out there like me who can't stop drooling over photos of much better models than our own, here's more punishment... http://www.hyperscale.com/ and finally for tonight, a link to the fabled Avro CF-105 Arrow, a great airplane that was thoughtlessly destroyed by politics... http://www.angelfire.com/ab/avroarrow/noframes.html There's much more to come folks, so stay tuned...

Neil, You should have been a teacher. How lucidly you explained the concept. HOw easy to see what was forming that private little poof over the pilot even before you got to it. Thank you for clarifying the mystery without losing any of the magic! If there is a steamier pklace on earth than here it probably doesnot nave planes on a regular basis. I have seen the effect you mention on takeoff from both inside the plane and outside so frequently that I had forgotten all about it. Those URLs you posted are splendid. More pictures to follow, and soon I will have you posting your own! Next is that spenndid little Ryan you like so much.

that picture is awesome! it was sent to me at work and i guess it made the rounds to others as well. there was another picture with it but i've since deleted it. thanks for the explanation!!

Wolfie, send them to me from now on. Please!!! Really curious about the other picture...

(marcia, i think i deleted it from my drive at work....i'll let you know next week!)

Ok, Wolfie, thanks!

Just figured out how to post images! Ha-ha! Now I can get to work!

Here's another pic for you Mustang fans, courtesy of the Smithsonian Air & Space/Jeff Ethell's pirep's page:

Oh Neil!!! Lovely stuff!

As the wife of a retired air traffic controler I am glad to see this site. I don't see any mention of the C-47. The warhorse. Some of them are still flying in places like the bush in Alaska because they are so dependable and can land where other can't. I really knew when the shuttle was back. It hit the earth's atmosphere over our house. It sounds like someone fire off two cannons in rapid succession when that happens. I'm glad they don't land late at night. I can watch the launches too just down at the end of the street. I like the night launches best. It lights up the sky like a sunrise and reflects in the lake. really beautiful.

Give us time - Neil is still learning how to post images... The C-47 was our intrastate highway for many years after I got here in Hawaii - they still fly and I can hear them even in my sleep. Love walking uphill to my seat!!! Neil, Lucy is a great friend of mine and therefore a great friend of yours by adoption. Bet SHE knows some stories!

Speaking of the next shuttle launch (and I am SO envious!) it is the early morning of the 19th, so be prepared to watch NASA tv!

Sorry 'bout the broken links; still learning the ropes on posting images. This and the previous two posts will be deleted when I find out how to do that; and I will hunt down a good useable pic of a Dakota.

Have you ever been to the Aviation Museum in Kissimmee, Florida or the yearly show in Lakeland?

'Fraid not Lucy, though I hope to sometime, and I'd love to see Kermit Weeks' "Fantasy of Flight Museum" at Polk City (I was lucky enough to see him fly his De Havilland Mosquito at a couple of airshows before he grounded it at Oshkosh). The one thing I'd like to do at Kisimmee is to take a hop in Stallion-51 Corp's two-seat P-51D Mustang--I'd almost sell off my relatives to do that!!!

Is the Lakeland Show the Valiant Air Command Airshow, or EAA's Sun 'n Fun?

Nope Neil, it won't post for some reason...how odd...

Thanks Marci, that's what I was trying for. This image comes from The DC-3 Aviation Museum (http://www.centercomp.com/dc3/) and is copyrighted by the DC-3 Aviation Museum and the Danish Dakota Friends

*Whew* Finally!!!

AIR FORCE ONE

I LOVE that pic Marci: thank you!!! I wonder what kind of tip vortices those things generate?

Texas Tornadoes???!!!

I LOVE that pic Marci: thank you!!! I wonder what kind of tip vortices those things generate?

For those of you not familiar with some of the aircraft on my Top Ten List, here is an illustrated version of it; and as pics of the P-51D Mustang and DC-3 have already been posted, I've added a couple more from my long list of Favourites: 1) Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX --image copyright The Spitfire Shop 2) De Havilland Mosquito B.35 --image courtesy Aero Space Museum Assoc. of Calgary/copyright Jim Koepnick 3) Ryan ST-R (Ryan ST-A replica) --image courtesy Moravia Inc. 4) McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk --image courtesy A-4 Skyhawk Association/copyright Planeworks 5) North American AT-6/SNJ Texan --image courtesy National Warplane Museum 6) De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth --image courtesy Scot Penna 7) Globe Temco GC-1B Swift --image courtesy Globe Temco Swift Home Page/copyright Brian Silcox 8) Apollo-Saturn V --image courtesy The Project Apollo Archive 9) Canadair CF-86 Mk.6 (CL-13B) Sabre Jet --image courtesy Canadian Department of National Defence 10) Avro Lancaster Mk. B.X --image courtesy Canadian Department of National Defence ...more to come!

Here's a pic of the Hawker FB.11 Sea Fury; the ultimate piston-engined fighter: --photo copyright Gordon Bains, "Silvered Wings" Airlife Publishing, UK

What a great image!!! I always wonder where the photographer was in shots like this. Wish it came with sound!

Lakeland's is the Sun & Fun. Great photos.

Here's a photo of a Convair 990, Marci. It was not a commercial success like the Boeing 707 or McDonnell-Douglas DC-8 as it was a smaller aircraft and had shorter range: --image courtesy of the Convair 990 Homepage

Been on that lovely sleek plane - very comfortable and a bit more plush than the others in the size range. Thank Dear - very nice, indeed.

Here are a couple of nice pics I found of the A-4 Skyhawk, these one's belonging to the Royal New Zealand Air Force: --images courtesy the RNZAF Photo Gallery

You are right - I'm gonna ask Terry if there is any way to post sound files which will not destroy our bandwidth or take too long to download. These pictures are magificent but mute. They need sound!!!

Here's a beautiful picture of a modified T-6 Texan known as a "Super 6". I will be making a post shortly giving my impressions of flying one of my all time favourite airplanes, the AT-6.

It's really cute - love shiney planes! But, the Ryan you named after me is still my favorite! Having hever heard a Ryan, my pride of place is a P-51 Mustang. If they were men, I'd be doomed!

I would like to be over in Tampa next week to see the flyovers. I don't think I could take the crowds though.

Hi guys! I felt it was time for some unabashed Canadian flag waving, and being a frosty-butt Canuck myself, what would be more appropo?!? Like the USAF�s �Thunderbirds�, the USN�s �Blue Angels�, and the RAF�s �Red Arrows�, Canada too has had a long tradition of aerobatic demonstration teams, from pre-WW2 to today�s CAF 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, �The Snowbirds�; so here is a short photo essay on some of the better known military aerobatic teams in Canada that some of you may be unfamiliar with: �The Goldilocks� operated out of what is currently CFB Moose Jaw in the early 1960�s, flying Havard Mk. IV�s (AT-6 Texans licence-built here): --the Goldilocks were made up of a group RCAF flight instructors whose intent was to parody the then well known RCAF jet display team, �The Goldenhawks�, and to demonstrate the rather unorthodox flying styles of their students The Goldenhawks were Canada�s Flight Demonstration Team in the 1960�s, flying the superb Canadair CF-86 Sabre Jet, which gives me an excuse to post more pics of my all-time favourite jet fighter! The Goldenhawks were formed in 1959, the golden anniversary of the First Powered Flight in Canada, and were finally disbanded in 1964. The Golden Centenairres performed across Canada during 1967, Canada�s confederation centennial year (anybody here go to Expo 67 in Montreal?), flying Canadair CT-114 �Tutor� jet trainers: Finally, today�s 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, �The Snowbirds� continue to perform across Canada, stll flying the now venerable Tutor, but still wow the crowds across North America:

That really takes skill. I don't know if this is Superbowl week or U.S. Airforce week in Tampa. They have opened McDill to the public. They have 18 different planes on display. F16 simulaters for the kids to get a feel of how it feels to fly a jet. Saturday at the Gasperilla parade they will have flyovers with fighters, bombers, and flyinging tanker. Sunday at the game the Thunderbirds will flyover followed by a Stealth Bomber. Ten years ago when Tampa had the Super Bowl Mcdill was locked down. It was a launching place for the planes going to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. I was sitting here praying for my son who was there.

Hi Lucy! I remember exactly where I was when I heard that the first strikes were being launched into Iraq that January night--I was browsing through the magazine racks at Lichtman's bookstore (now defunct), which had the store stereo system tuned to CBC Radio for classical music when the announcer broke in with the bulletin. I then hurried over to a nearby department store to the TV department to find people already crowded around the sets 3 & 4 deep watching the news of the war; and later I remember when the Iraq's launched missles into Israel and I was worried that the conflict might spread in size and effect--it was a worrisome time for everyone. I hope your son returned safe. I don't want to turn this site into a showcase for only military aircraft, as there are many wonderful civil types too, and I have several favourites in this area as well, especially aircraft that would be considered antiques today. For example... The Stinson Reliant SR-9, a radial-engined, high-wing, cabin monoplane of the 1930's that was as finely appointed as a Packard or Dusenberg automobile. And the Lockheed Electra 10... ..the Learjet of it's day

Not your average P-3 Orion I know and love as a Lockheed Electra... Great images, Neil. What a pleasure to wander amongst the clouds with you...!

Here's a contemporary of the Lockheed-10 Electra, the Beech D-18 Twin Beech, also known as the Twin Texan, Double-breasted Cub, Wichita Wobbler, and Bug-Smasher. In military parlance, it was the C-45 Expeditor, and a glass-nosed version, the AT-11 Kansan, trained bombadier's for the USAAF during WW2. Many of them went on to form the backbones of corporate business aviation departments, smaller regional feeder airlines, and courier services. Twin Beeches still fly today, but many more are slowly disappearing into the earth from whence they came; still, there's rarely a nicer sight in the air than that of a gleaming, polished, natural-metal Twin Beech with it's trusty Pratt & Whitney radials drumming out a tune from days gone by...

These planes are stunning. When they get to the geriatric stage they are sent to Hawaii to do air tours. I promised to take what an elderly Twin Beech looks like now! Again, Mahalo!

Neil, thanks for the session of Canadian flag-waving. Besides, I thought that the Royal Candian Air Force was legendary.

The RACF IS legendary as are the fine men whose uniform they wear. Bows to Neil with rapture - man in uniform is totally irresisible!

Study: Penguins Do Not Topple Watching Aircraft LONDON (Reuters) - Do penguins topple over when they peer into the sky watching planes and helicopters fly over? Finally, a full blown scientific study has come up with the answer. They may waddle away in fright but they do NOT lose their balance and topple over. Rumors of falling penguins have abounded since British plane and helicopter pilots returning from the 1982 Falklands War claimed their flights had toppled the earth-bound birds. To settle the issue, a favorite of cartoonists and penguin jokes, environmental research scientist Richard Stone spent five weeks watching helicopters fly over two King Penguin colonies in the Antarctic, studying their effect on more than 1,000 birds. "We saw birds moving away from the noise (of helicopters and planes)," he said. "Not a single bird fell over after 17 flights." "As it (the helicopter) approached, the birds went quiet," he said. "They didn't appear to turn around and look." Some birds waddled away from the helicopters. Others became quiet. A few minutes later, they waddled back. "We don't know if it's the noise or the visual aspect -- whether it looks like a potential predator," Stone said.

Ode To The P-38 Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal, and Madeleine Carroll is too, But you'll find if you query, a different theory amongst any bomber crew For the loveliest thing of which one could sing (this side of the pearly gates) Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set - But an escort of P-38s. Yes, in the days that have passed, when the tables were massed with glasses of scotch and champagne, It's quite true that the sight was a thing of delight us, intent on feeling no pain. But no longer the same, nowadays is this game When we head north for Messina Straits Take the sparkling wine-every time, just make mine an escort of P-38s. Byron, Shelley and Keats ran a dozen dead heats Describing the views from the hills, of the valleys in May when the winds gently sway In the air it's a different story; We sweat out our track through the fighters and flak We're willing to split up the glory Well, they wouldn't reject us, so heaven protect us and, until all this shooting abates, Give us courage to fight 'em - one other small item - an escort of P-38s. --Pvt. L.S.C, From POW camp at Ploesti

Wow, Marci what a great post! Thank you so much! The '38 was an incredible airplane. Originally designed as a high-altitude interceptor, it served in several roles during the War, including ground-attack, bomber escort, photo-reconnaisance, pathfinding, and radar-guided nightfighter. The Lightning was the only US fighter to be in production before the beginning of the War and on the last day of it. It was the first USAAF fighter to fly over Berlin on escort duty, although it's overall success in the ETO was mixed due to problems with the engine's turbo-superchargers and lack of an adequate cockpit heater for flying at altitude, but it proved to be a superb long-range fighter in the South Pacific. P-38's are very rare as Warbirds go; only six are currently flying in the world.

Chuckle. I heard about the penguin thing on a local science show. Another myth brought down to Earth...

I understood they liked to watch baseball games and stood along the third base line to do so! Smart Birds, indeed!

Since our worth creator is busy and I am using up a lot of his time talking, he showed this to me. Ever want to fly a MiG??? http://www.incredible-adventures.com/migs/faq.html

He is worthy. His worth, incalcuable to me!

And, if you are so rich you can buy out Bill Gates, here are some suggested ways to spend your excess: http://www.incredible-adventures.com/

These are from our over-worked and flu-fighting Neil for your aesthetic enjoyment: WHY YOU NEED AN AIRPLANE Richard Bach "A Gift of Wings"

"If you do not yet fly, perhaps you've felt that spirit of flight when you suddenly realize that you are the only one in the street who looks up to watch an airplane fly overhead, the only one who slows and sometimes even stops at an airport to watch the little iron birds come down to earth and to lift off again into thin air. If you act this way, it's possible that in flight you'll find much to learn of yourself and of the path of your life on this planet." Richard Bach "A Gift of Wings"

"Flight, to you, is a required essential tool in your mission of becoming a human being." Richard Bach "A Gift of Wings"

Now, for Neil's second wish from the Bottle Genie: (I want one too - or share his!) http://www-aero.meche.rpi.edu/Curriculum/TAVD/