Aircraft pics

[PeteLeathersac]

Amazing stuff...love those Warbirds too!.

Anyone else catch the story in this months 'Air Classics' or 'Warbirds' or whatever mag it was of American Thomas W. Kendall and his family's 'vacation' trip to Saudi-Arabia in his converted Catalina back in the early 60's?.
The whole story appeared in LIFE magazine back then but here's a link below w/ a brief outline of the story...pretty chilling tale also the pics of what's still left there are something too!.

http://uk.geocities.com/kendo1938/catalina.htm

~ Pete

[SS427]

I have that magazine and it was a truly amazing story. Unbelievable that no one was killed with as much lead that was thrown at them. It is also amazing that the airplane has stayed there all these years and relatively intact.
Rick

[427TJ]

Yeah, I read that! Just a little vacation jaunt through the Middle East with the family in dad's WWII PBY-5A flying boat and the bastards start shooting at them! I suppose that was pretty naive of them, even in 1960, to go meandering through that part of the world.

[427TJ]

Changing the subject here. One of my favorite photos of the Thunderbirds: two F-105B Thunderchiefs cavort over their home base at Nellis AFB, NV in early 1964. Those were the days when jets had great names: Thunderchief, Sabre, Voodoo, Delta Dagger and Delta Dart, Starfighter, etc.



The T-birds only flew a few shows in the "Thud" before one crashed at Hamilton AFB north of San Francisco in May '64. The Thud had to be heavily modified for the Thunderbirds maneuvers and one of them broke apart during the arrival show at Hamilton and the pilot was killed.

[nuch_ss396]

Bill,

Makes you wonder why the Air Force would modify a
THUD for acrobatic service. Not my first choice

Didn't the Thunderbirds use F-100 Super Sabres for a while?

Steve

[SS427]

Yes they did. See attached.
Rick

[PeteLeathersac]

I don't know much on the US aerobatic teams but do remember the forerunners to the Canadian Snowbirds group used the older F86 Sabres...the GoldenBirds or whatever they were called?.

An F-86 sits on a cement stand near our local zoo here in Peterboro' Canada also I looked and saw the F-80 Silver Star is still there on it's post in Collingwood as I went through last weekend..

There's still quite a few old aircraft stuck on posts here in Canada, mostly ex-RCAF jets left but I expect they'll soon start disappearing too as the Stormbird groups get going more and resto costs seem more feasible compared to the escalating values of prop-job airframes and parts?.

They pulled the Lancaster off it's Toronto waterfront post after 40 or so years a couple years back and it's being put through a resto although I believe to be a Museum display w/ an operating engine or more...similar to the Canadian Halifax that was completed as a static display piece here a year or so ago?.

Back to the aerobatic teams, what's the other US group called...the Blue Angels?. Here in Canada a 'Blue Angel' always referred to something completely different! .

~ Pete

[1967 Impala]

"don't know much on the US aerobatic teams but do remember the forerunners to the Canadian Snowbirds group used the older F86 Sabres...the GoldenBirds or whatever they were called?."


The Goldenhawks

[1967 Impala]

just as a triva question does anyone know where this pic was taken?

[ANDY M]

Somewhere near Niagra Falls?
BTW Say a prayer for the fallen Blue Angel who died at the Cherry Point Marine Air Station in South Carolina today.
Too early to say why he crashed.