• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Not my son, but proud of him anyways.

Share this page

Mickey, After a few rides in my Stearman that wouldn't bother you anymore. :thumbsup2:
My Stearman.jpg
 
Mickey Richaud said:
It was a great day, perfect for getting some good shots. As we got near the balloons, Glenn said to reach up and open my window for less obstruction of the pictures. I did so, and then picked up the camera, pivoted sideways to take the pictures, and then completely froze up - was terrified. Glenn said, "Are you OK?"
Click to expand...
That wouldn't bother me, plenty of time at the open doors of helicopters like UH-1's OH-10's, HH-53's... it only occurs if I'm on my own feet near the edge of anything higher than two stories. First ride in an aircraft was as a pre-teen, dad's friend had a 172 and took us up. No issue. Later, as a budding press photog, the owner of the paper wanted some aerial shots of a steel plant, he had his Private ticket and we took off in a 150 with the right door removed so I could get better shots. again, no problem. And never been airsick in any of the hops.

Mickey Richaud said:
I don't do roller coasters, either...
Click to expand...

Roller coasters and other "thrill rides" are off my menu as well, but not out of acrophobic concerns, just that I don't have trust in the things. And I know what four-G feels like and most of the "rides" don't come close to it, either.
 
Mickey Richaud said:
One more bit of evidence we're kin, Bubba - exactly the same here!
Click to expand...
Then we must be triplets - I'm not worried about heights when I'm in an airplane, but knees go wobbly on a high ladder. When I was at Horseshoe Bend (Page, AZ) to photograph that scene, there were some people there either sitting right on the edge, or very close. To take my picture, I got as close to the edge as I could without the knees going out, which was no closer than about 5 feet.

But there was one young girl sitting, literally on the edge of a cliff, and what I guessed was a family, all sitting on a rock outcropping overhanging a cliff. In both cases, I was very nervous just watching them!

Horseshoe_Girl_Ledge-1.jpg


Horseshoe_People_Ledge-1.jpg



There is NO way you would have caught me in either of those two locations!

By the way, here's the picture of Horseshoe.

Horseshoe for CC_LUM1 small.jpeg
 
I flew a Grumman Tiger many years ago. No doors, only a bubble canopy. One nice day I slid back the canopy and flew in the open air.
 
Basil said:
Then we must be triplets - I'm not worried about heights when I'm in an airplane, but knees go wobbly on a high ladder. When I was at Horseshoe Bend (Page, AZ) to photograph that scene, there were some people there either sitting right on the edge, or very close. To take my picture, I got as close to the edge as I could without the knees going out, which was no closer than about 5 feet.

But there was one young girl sitting, literally on the edge of a cliff, and what I guessed was a family, all sitting on a rock outcropping overhanging a cliff. In both cases, I was very nervous just watching them!

View attachment 79707

View attachment 79709


There is NO way you would have caught me in either of those two locations!

By the way, here's the picture of Horseshoe.

View attachment 79711
Click to expand...

Nice pics, Boss!

But I get the heeby-jeebies just LOOKING at people doing stuff like that!
 
Gliderman8 said:
I flew a Grumman Tiger many years ago. No doors, only a bubble canopy. One nice day I slid back the canopy and flew in the open air.
Click to expand...

At about age 18 I got a ride in the back seat of an open-cockpit Citabria. Multiple barrel rolls while aimed at the setting sun. Plane belonged to a commercial pilot. Quite the ride.
 
DrEntropy said:
At about age 18 I got a ride in the back seat of an open-cockpit Citabria. Multiple barrel rolls while aimed at the setting sun. Plane belonged to a commercial pilot. Quite the ride.
Click to expand...
Oh wow a Citabria!.... one of my favorites. I bet that was fun.
 
Gliderman8 said:
Oh wow a Citabria!.... one of my favorites. I bet that was fun.
Click to expand...
An eye-opener!

A later ride, Ubon Thailand in the back seat of an F-4. Unbeknownst to me the pilot was informed this was to be my first hop in one, we flew photo-chase on a finger-four bomb run.

On the way RTB he remarked: "This your first F-4 ride?" Knowing full well it was.
Me: "Yes,Sir."
Him: "Ever do this?" As he barrel rolled the plane a couple times.
Me: "Yes, Sir."
Him: "How 'bout this?" as he yanked vertical. A few G's pushed my Nikon into my, umm... lap.
Me: "Yes, Sr, but not quite as abrupt."
Him: "You feelin' okay? Not light-headed?"
Me: "No problem Sir, fine. Got wrung out in a Citabria a few years ago."
Him: "well, you're no fun!"

Never forget his name and call sign. Captain Tally. Call sign: Whacker! :ROFLMAO:
 
Closest I ever got to an open cockpit ride was standing up at the radio operator's position on a B17 with the gunnery hatch open - the plane stopped at about shouder height so it was open air from neck up at around 3000 feet and 150 knots. I have pictures taken by someone else on the plane.
 
A friend had an Ercoupe, wanted to know if I would like to ride along from Omaha to Kansas City, I said sure. At the airport he asked “would you mind flying with the canopy down”. I took one wiff of the moth balls and replied, “that’s the only way I’ll ride in that thing for two hours.
 
Dee said:
A friend had an Ercoupe, wanted to know if I would like to ride along from Omaha to Kansas City, I said sure. At the airport he asked “would you mind flying with the canopy down”. I took one wiff of the moth balls and replied, “that’s the only way I’ll ride in that thing for two hours.
Click to expand...

Thom - lucky guy to experience an Ercoupe. They're rare as hen's teeth now. Quite a design from the 1930s, very difficult to spin or stall, and would almost land itself.

 
Not at all a fan of heights but love a helicopter with open doors - somehow the motion is completely different. Will do a few tame rollercoasters - but took me quite a while to figure out that my main issue with coasters is (I think) inner ear related, I come off one and feel woozy for quite some time after.

Ercoupe's have always fascinated me. One for sale here: > AIRCRAFT. AIRCOUPE | Other | Ottawa | Kijiji <

1657842813258.png
 
JP - thanks for posting that. Wish I had $37K lying around!

A friend of mine is a retired American Airlines pilot. Retired after 30 years - started flying in the USN, then moved to American Airlines in 1954 with DC-6s, and retired as a 747 pilot. Great guy.

He's terrified of heights!
 
Back
Top