Official Aviation Enthusiasts Thread

[kestrel74]

cool ( short field ) video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEkXoTfrCJA

[Eye Candy]

I think this guy must have flown in Vietnam. He is pure nuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40_M...eature=related

[ZAMMY1]

i quit flying when i retired in '91.
sold my c-150 with 150hp and stol kit. the most fun bird i've owned.
i've owned a bunch of c-150s, a couple of ercoupes, (totally redid one and made it full ifr, (say your type again?), never realized how many #6 screws in one...) owned a pa28-180, a c-170B.
got my commercial and instrument. total time, somewhere over 2,000 hrs.
enough multi to get my rating but too lazy to finish.
the only turbine time is on the bike in my sig. i probably couldn't pass the third class medical nowadays.

i envy the high performance flying some do for a living but i've also had a bit of corporate pilot work and that's just WORK.
those people earn their keep.
it's a neat bunch on l-talk.
sam

[kestrel74]

Originally Posted by Eye Candy

I think this guy must have flown in Vietnam. He is pure nuts.

COOL video !!!!!!!!!! I've done some similar stuff ( about a zillion years ago )

[BrendanDolan]

I have my commerical single, multi and instrument airplane ratings, but I've been busy selling VW's and Lotuses to pay back college. Embry Riddle wasn't cheap, and F/O's get paid beans.

I keep busy flying to visit my parents and family, and generally fly out to AZ now and again to visit my old college friends. I've actually pondered getting into aircraft sales, as it would keep me around aircraft, and hopefully put more coin in my pocket than flying for a regional would.

[PT17FLYER]

I inherited the aviation bug from my father (WWII naval aviator - PBY's & Corsairs). As an airport brat, growing up I was under the impression that pretty much everyone had an airplane. Currently own the Stearman and a late model Beech Travelair. Over the years, I have flown all over the country and the Bahamas, but arguably the best trip was back in 2000 with my dad. Coast to coast and back in the Stearman, with no means of electronic navigation. Two hour legs (three hour total fuel capacity), all by pilotage and ded-reckoning. What an adventure!! For anyone interested in this kind of flying, my friend Alan Lopez wrote "Biplane Odyssey" detailing his exploits flying his Stearman via ded-reckoning to all of the states in the continental US and the Canadian provinces. Much more of a pilot's book than "Flight of the Cannibal Queen" by Steven Coontz (spelling?). Wishing blue skies and tail winds to all on this board.

[MikeAR303]

Originally Posted by kestrel74

Yep, Lotus is the Pitts.

My friends Pitts which he had to sell earlier this year

Such an incredible machine...

[zOOmz]

I used to love to fly. I grew up around friend's parents who owned small planes and we flew with them often. One friend had a biplane and use to take my brother and me up and scare the crap out of us doing rolls and stuff. Then when I was going to school in Wisconsin, I learned how to fly when one of our friends would shuttle me back and forth between school breaks, and let me fly the plane, mostly following the Mississippi.

I would have loved to have been a jet pilot, and have flown in some awesome military jets, but due to a middle ear injury in the late 70s, I now get very sick when I flyin anything small. Now the only place that I fly is in my dreams. darn..

But I am an enthusiast. Love the P38 and similar planes a lot. The F14 Tomcat is a favorite of mine also.

[LUKN4UBL]

I blew the money I was saving for my MBA to get my Helicopter Pilot's License in L.A. As soon as I put the money down, I got transfer orders to move back to DC. So I ended up accelerating the flight training to 3 days a week in the early morning before work. I ended up getting my ticket only 3 hours over the FAA minimum. All those years of playing flight sims when I was a kid paid off. When I was back two years later I got my turbine endorsement in the Bell 206B.

About three years ago I picked up a 1986 Rotorway Exec helicopter kit on ebay in pristine, unassembled condition. I was about a month and a half away from spinning blades on it (and a lot of money to spend because I still needed some instrumentation, avionics and radios) when someone made a ridiculous offer to me and I sold it. I'm hoping some day to be able to get a Robinson R22 or if something goes really right, an R44. I've also been tempted to do a JetExec turbine conversion or the new Rotorway A600 Talon. I learned a lot building the Exec, plus I got a chance to tear into the engine to do some safety improvements (dual electronic ignition). I haven't heard if she is airborne yet.

[sonza68]

Not a pilot myself, but I've spent a lot of time around them, both in school and at work. The closest I get to flying is sim testing in our domes.


F/A-18E/F

[codymac]

Caught this the other evening on Dogfights - a clip of Don Bryan talking about shaking off a Bf-109 in his P-51.

[MikeAR303]

A cousin of mine was a fighter pilot for the Navy when I was young (I think he started flying for the navy when I was around 5 years old). I had always been into flying, but got even more into it because I kind of looked up to my cousin at the time, and he happened to be flying military jets.

Spent a lot of years when I was younger reading/studying/etc everything I could about aviation, and spending lots of time with flight sims. I was about to start working towards my PPL about 4 years ago, then got distracted and started skydiving instead. Skydiving has given me the opportunity to spend a lot of right seat time in various aircraft, though I rarely land with them

Here I am 4 years after the beginning of my skydiving distraction with close to 1000 skydives logged and a bunch of BASE jumps (lost my log book). Still looking to get into flying more in the near future, but we'll see how it goes. For now, I fly when given the opportunity, and fly my body in freefall and my canopy after I deploy on every skydive.

Crash landing when I had around 200 skydives:


Retired:


More pictures:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...%202006/68.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...g/IMG_3185.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...rious/door.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...Club/carve.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18.../exit_shot.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...kdive1_web.jpg

[MikeAR303]

...and some video of a couple skydives and one BASE jump:

[Eye Candy]

Found this on the Van's Air Force site. It is truly amazing what is going on in the experimental market regarding avionics.

Check out this Odyssey EFIS unit that lists at $6000. http://www.mglavionics.co.za/ Click on the Odyssey EFIS tab on the left. There was a prototype at Oshkosh that had spectacular graphics.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by MikeAR303

Retired:

Great pic...my new desktop background

[Eye Candy]

http://www.eaa.org/spiritmovie/

This is a 17 minute promotional video for Oshkosh. It is narrated by Harrison Ford. Next best thing to actually going there.

My friend Jeff Deaton got the Lindy award this year for his 1954 Bonanza. He is in the video 5 times.

[kestrel74]

Originally Posted by Eye Candy

http://www.eaa.org/spiritmovie/

This is a 17 minute promotional video for Oshkosh. It is narrated by Harrison Ford. Next best thing to actually going there.

My friend Jeff Deaton got the Lindy award this year for his 1954 Bonanza. He is in the video 5 times.

If you ever get a chance to go to the EAA museum; It's the BEST I've seen. ( and I've been to most of them ! )

MikeAR: IF I ever had to skydive; I'd be into BASE. I used to fly off cliffs and buildings in my foot launched hang glider.

[azskycop]

Just found this thread and it's perfect timing because I'm a clipped wing aviator right now. Had a minor tail rotor strike the other day and now I have to wait for a check-ride before getting signed-off again. Oshkosh video was great and for those who wonder what I do for a living just look at 1:25 minutes into the video. It's not me but one of mine, sitting in the governmental "Black Helicopter". I had the opportunity once, many years ago, to go to Oshkosh. Wish I could go every year but it falls on my daughter's birthday .

As far as my aviation career I learned to fly 20 years ago complements of the U.S. Army's helicopter flight school. Flew Blackhawks in Operation Desert Storm for the 101st and now I fly for Homeland Security rounding up illegal aliens and drug smugglers on a daily basis. I was doing just that when I had the tail rotor-strike but Uncle Sam does not like it when I bend his airplane .

I owned a Cherokee 140 after I got out of the Army and have to say my best flight was taking a vacation to Solvang, California. Landing just after watching the Sunset and proposed to my wife that weekend. It was very memorable.

I had to sell the plane when I was told I had Cancer, lost my medical, and was given a 50/50 chance of living over the next 6 months. That was six weeks into my marriage and I did not want to stick my new wife, soon to be possible widow, with a plane she knew nothing about. That was 15 years ago now and I'm still kicking .

Anyway I have been interested in building or owning another airplane for many years. Wish I had the time but more so the money, would have to sell the Lotus and that would not be fun. For now I guess I'll enjoy the flying while my favorite Uncle pays the bill .

[2006PolarBlueElise]

Grew up flying. Was a college professor by trade, but on the side my father was a pilot, flight instructor, and avation writer. He authored numerous articles and several books on flying including 1) How to Teach Flying 2) The Annotated FAA Practical Test Standards- Single-Engine and Multiple Engine Land 3) Passing Your Biennial Flight Review.
We owned a series of small planes including among them a Stinson Voyager, a Piper Cub, a Cessna 180 and a Cherokee 235. Flew all over the east coast mostly: from Maine down to Florida and even further down to the Bahamas. Lots of great memories... and a few scary ones as well... like flying in the middle of thunder and lightning storms with zero visability... only the instruments (and an experienced pilot) to guide us into a safe landing. He retired after 60 years of flying! Unimaginable isn't it?! Not one crash or damage done to any plane! Unfortunately, it's too expensive for me to carry on the tradition.

[xtn]

fun day...