Been having a yearning to go up and tour the warbird museum at Chino, and today got the chance to scratch that itch. Took Earl the Pearl up in Cardinal 217AF, since it had been a while. Did a downwind departure from Montgomery Field, and got Class B clearance from SoCal approach. Flight following up the 15, remaining east of the hang glider area at Lake Elsinore. Picked up the Paradise 052° radial outbound to take a lap in holding at CAZBY before shooting the ILS approach to Runway 26R. An interesting approach, since the holding fix is defined off a different NAVAID than the actual approach itself.
Turns out there’s a bit of discussion in the general aviation world about the wisdom of single pilot flight in instrument conditions. Having many hundreds of hours of single piloted flight in hard IFR flying one or another high performance jet, I initially thought it stuff and nonsense. But the machines I used to fly were optimized for the role, the training standard was very high and we stayed on the cutting edge of proficiency.
These days, not so much, and it was good to have Earl along.
Nothing to brag about, but I was on and on at decision height (I practiced the flight in X-Plane prior to going flying, usually do for an unfamiliar field). Resisted the natural tendency to bunt the nose a bit when I flared with maybe five more knots than I needed on the landing – have to avoid the dreaded Cardinal “crow hop.”
Progressive taxi (ground controller play-by-play) to Flo’s, an airport diner that is a delightfully unselfconscious throw back to the 70s. Ordered the fried chicken, which was only all right, but which came with a slice of garlic bread that was teh sex pretty darn good. My cardiologist, if I had one, would have blown a seal.
It gets dark at around 1645, and I’ve seen enough night flying to last me pretty much forever. Especially with all the cumulo granitus that’s in it. So we were unfortunately chased through the museum, one eye falling in love over and over again, the other watching with grim dissatisfaction as the sun streaked towards the western horizon like it had someplace else to be.
You’ve a right to roundly excoriate me for failing to bring my 35mm SLR, and the iPhone camera would never do them justice, those great, rough beasts that are parked in the museum. They’ve four (4) P-51s, which to my way of thinking is three more than anyone should have until there’s enough to go around. A lovely F4U Corsair (my first dream), a P-47, a P-38 and a nearly reconstructed B-17 out on the pavement, among others. Korean and Vietnam era jets too, which – classics though they might be – leave me strangely less moved than the radial engine set. The last flyable Zero with an original engine in it, I’m told. A Sherman tank. DC-3s and C-47s scattered hither and yon like afterthoughts. I could have spent hours, but time, tide and sunset wait for no man.
Met a man who had 35 missions in the ball turret of a B-17 in the Eighth Air Force. Purple heart and DFC. Bent by the years, but with a twinkle in his eye. I considered it an honor to share the same tarmac.
The Eighth Air Force lost more airmen in the European Theater of Operations than the US Marine Corps did in the entire war, said Earl. Who ought to know.
Honored indeed.
Got the Cardinal cranked up and we were on our merry, back to Montgomery just as the sun was winking on the horizon.
Would never in a thousand years drive to Chino. Thinking about maybe flying up there again next weekend.
It’s like that.
Jealous. Nuff said.
Ditto.
Next weekend please don’t forget the camera!
Add Santa Paula to your weekend jaunt list.
Up the beach down low under John Wayne, around the point at Torrance, VFR corridor over departure end of LAX, west to Malibu, hang a right before Pt. Magu.
Make it on the first Sunday of the month. An amazing collection of vintage aircraft, all being shown by the the folks that fly them.
Mostly taildraggers and round engines, BTW, since you seem to have acquired the taste. The people that fly them have tales to tell going back to B-25s and F4Us, DC-3s and Connies.
http://www.amszp.org/#firstsunday
Were the Mustangs all D models? I have always had a fondness for the extended range H models designed for use in the Pacific. The taller fin made them moke sharklike. I know thw Navy did not like the idea of the FJ Seahorse, but it was a cool idea. I have seen artists conceptions of one in late war allover Navy, and that was one sharp looking fighter.
They didn’t have any F6Fs?
Scott, I assume the obstacle was that the Mustang used an in-line engine, yes?
Oh, well, at least North American did better with the FJ-1; I suppose you could count that at a jet-powered Mustang variant.
It was quite irritating to discover that FJ Seahorse resulted in zero hits in Google. Not even a single published artist’s image.
If Lex keeps talking about air museums, I’ll have to drive up the road and visit Wright-Patterson again. Haven’t visited the National Museum in ages.
Yes, the BuAer did not like the idea of inlines for shipboard use, and, as the coolant for inlines used at the time was toxic, BuShips was not real thrilled with the idea of large amounts on board the carriers.
Artists conception of Seahorsehttp://www.mustang.gaetanmarie.com/articles/naval/naval.htm
at bottom of page:
Thanks for the link! New aviation history source are always appreciated.
I suspect the resistance was less to the coolant than to the idea of in-line engines in general, in terms of reliability. I note that the Navy developed no in-line aircraft after the late ’20s, and the USAAF developed no in-line bombers since, well, forever.
The radial engine was self-evidently more robust and reliable than in-line designs. I expect that the Navy preference for twin-engine jets comes from that institutional preference for reliability.
Note that virtually all of the late-war piston-engined designs for Great Britain, Germany, and Japan all focused more towards radial engines. In fact, Japan’s Kawasaki Ki-61 in-line design was converted to the radial-engine Ki-100, resulting in a superior aircraft.
I’ll have to add Chino to the list of places to visit when I fly down your way in my new, to me, Beech Queen Air. I have to admit, single pilot IFR can be a challenge. I have not been IFR current for a year or more and need to brush up before taking a ride with an instructor. Do you like and recommend x-plane for practice approaches? I want to be up to speed before taking my friends and family on trips this winter.
Winter trips up our way could be, well… uh, “scary”!
The only way to visit air museums (six including Wright Pat). A copilot that loves airplanes is the only way to go.
I also had to race back to beat civil twilight today. I really need to get night current at this time of year.
“My cardiologist, if I had one, would have blown a seal.”
Didn’t know you could find a seal so far inland, strange life your imaginary medico must lead.
bwahahaha! Oldie but a goodie!
Lex and faithful readers all, you should truly do yourselves a favor and come to the Great Northwest, preferably during “clement” weather to see our very own MUSEUM OF FLIGHT. It’s practically on the downtown Seattle Boeing “campus” and has many aeronautic thrills! Please check it out here: http://www.museumofflight.org/
Yes winter flying up here in Wisconsin can be “Scary” That is one reason I bought a Queen Air. It’s certified for known ice and has a reputation for handeling it well. A buddy of mine flys a Queen Air on a part 135 cargo run from Wisconsin to minneapolis every day and has only had to turn back due to heavy ice one time in ten years. The fact that it has a working relief tube is just a bonus!
Les, you need to take a trip over the pond to Duxford, England. Old RAF base now housing a huge number of planes and things. They restore/rebuild there too. There use to be and may still be a twin seat Spitfire. The owner has a pilot that takes up paying guests for a ride. A waiting list.
Three yrs ago on a trip to England saw two 51′s perform and fly in too another old airfield. Grass strip still. First 51′s to be there since the war. One was a RedTail.
I’ll second Duxford, the Royal War Museum. The rebuilders’ hangars are open to visitors and the runway is always turning a few aircraft on the weekends–always.
I live a stone’s throw from the airport in Chino (which has TWO vintage aircraft museums) and would have made an extra effort to visit today had I known such august personages were in attendance. If not to purchase for them a fermented grain beverage in a frosty mug (that sort of thing doesn’t go well with the operation of advanced machinery such as an airplane), then to shake their hands and be able to tell the grandchildren that I had met them way back when.
If you are indeed returning to Chino in a week’s time, please give a head’s up because it would truly be an honor to shake your hand and say “Thanks” for the writing you share with us.
X-plane!
The occaisional open house at Edwards not withstanding, is the yearly airshow at Chino the best in SoCal?
I’ve had the privilege to visit Chino once so far and I’m still planning the return trip. Sadly, I’ll be going via road and not air, but it’s a four hour drive that’s worth making!
Corsair – one of the sexiest aircraft to ever grace the skies. IMHO.
Sounds like the perfect way for an adrenaline junkie to spend a Sunday.
“From my mother’s sleep I fell into the state,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.”
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell
after 20 plus years this poem still gives me chills. I don’t know how they went up day after day knowing what they faced. Every time I hear of an old (or new) vet like your weekend encounter I think ” better men than I…”
You have too much fun. Not fair. Closest we got is a T-6 in a hangar at JZI, which never flies.
If you are ever in the vicinty of Savannah, Georgia, there is a dandy Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, just off I-95, which is highly recommended. They are a little short on planes, but more than make up for it in overall coverage of the “Mighty Eighth.”
And, yes, the Eighth paid a terrible price in blood.
I went there in 2000. I can second the recommendation.
They have a B-47 on site, and I think they have others they intend to set up as well.
All y’all like have heard this, but here goes:
While the C-5 was turning over its engines, a female crewman gave the G.I.s on board the usual
information regarding seat belts, emergency exits, etc.
Finally, she said, ‘Now sit back and enjoy your trip while your captain, Judith Campbell, and crew
take you safely to Afghanistan ‘
An old MSgt. sitting in the eighth row thought to himself,
‘Did I hear her right? Is the captain a woman? ‘
When the attendant came by he said ‘Did I understand you right? Is the captain a woman?’
‘Yes,’! said the attendant, ‘In fact, this entire crew is female.’
‘My God,’ he said, ‘I wish I had two double scotch and sodas. I don’t know what to think with only women up there in the cockpit.’
‘That’s another thing, Sergeant,’ said the crew member,
‘We no longer call it the Cockpit’….
‘It’s The Box Office.’
A B-17 true story–from letters to the father of a friend of mine, Max Bishop*. Al Spindler’ was the ball turret gunner, and articles written in 1945. The pictures are authentic, for the most part, sent by Max along with the letters and articles. I added a few from the web to show the prisons, B-17s in flight, etc.
http://tinyurl.com/2y5m58
Something about reading it in their own informal words that makes it especially poignant.
*Max was the Varga Project Engineer, Lex. In the ‘small world’ category, he and your Barnstorming mechanic, Skip, shared an office at McDonell Douglas!
TS
Great read, thanks. Their writing style was so matter-of-fact, as if everyone had gone through the same trials.
Pictures! Need pictures!
Also, being that I now own mein</i) own Teutonic krad I wonder if the drive wouldn’t be wholly unsuitable to be conquered on two wheels?
Who knew that garlic bread would get you going?
And next weekend, take the camera.
Ask one of the staff to tell you the story of how they got the MiG-21 and why they got to keep it. Involves Chuck Yeager, Saudi royalty, and the State Department.