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a chuckle for the flyboys in the crowd!

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bugimike said:
looks like fun!
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazyeyes.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
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Oh, it <u>is</u>, Mike! That was in an FA-18, but I've had just as much fun in other aircraft types.
I'm sure Doc will weigh in on this one too.
Jeff
 
See *that* type of flying would give me a headache in no time flat.

~THIS~ is more my speed!

(the plane with the cutout sides and single wing is an Aeronca C3)
 
I love the Brunner, that is a classic! There are a couple of ex-Pratt guys down here that periodically cruise the beaches in a couple of old classics, I am not knowledgable enough to ID them, but occasionally they even put on a little mock dog-fight exhibition... WAY COOL!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
Outstanding. On the first pull you can see the condensed air comin' off the tips... neat. That "Steve" fella must have been on his first go in a performance aircraft. He missed most of the fun with the Immelmann! ...at least he kept his lunch where it belongs. I was almost gruntin' ~for~ 'im in that turn with th' burners lit. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

I think the Brunner is the ride wot would cause me to pass out...

from boredom. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
Ah yes, it reminds me of some of the things I did when I had this. Like a dummy, I sold it, intending to buy something better and have yet to find anything that I like to fly more. Oh well, hind sight is 20/20.
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The first 'plane I worked on after A&P school was an Ag Stearman. The owner/pilot and I changed the oil, timed the mags (he had them way out of time trying to do it himself), and some other stuff.

He flight tested the mag timing while I filled the nurse truck with water from a creek. I saw him dip below the roofs of houses in the little town next to the strip. A State Policeman met the pilot as he landed. Someone had complained about him flying down Main Street!

At the end of the day, The pilot told me, "Now wash the whole airplane." An Ag Stearman gets really dirty, what with the corn tassles in the gear, oil, and pesticide caked on!

He gave me $25 and lunch. I thought I had made out quite well. I was covered with oil and pesticide. My clothes smelled so bad from pesticide, I had to put them in the hall.

Thanks for the memories!
 
I used to take my 2 boys up in it, setting them on my lap with the belt across both of us. They couldn't get enough of it. My youngest son now works for American Airlines. That's how much of an impression it made on him. I started to teach my wife to fly in it, as she fell in love with the aircraft also. Every pilot should, at least once in his or her lifetime, take a ride in a Stearman. I did once, and then bought the aircraft, as I loved it so much. The wind in your face, the smell of av gas and oil,(a fragrance you'll never forget), the drone of the radial engine and being wrapped around by one of the strongest airplanes ever built, Ah, what a feeling. D-mn, I gotta get off this subject or I'll be spending more money than I care too. Who got me on this subject anyway? Bugimike did! Oh well, it brought back some wonderful memories. Thanks anyway Mike. PJ
 
PAUL161 said:
I used to take my 2 boys up in it, setting them on my lap with the belt across both of us. They couldn't get enough of it. My youngest son now works for American Airlines. That's how much of an impression it made on him.
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I had a student who, as a little girl, watched The Flying Nun program on TV. Inspired by Sally Field's flying, she put on a long dress and a big hat and jumped off the barn roof. She survived the landing and went on to a career in Wall Street. She bought a 210, a WACO, and a Cub, then quit Wall Street to get her A&P.

Now she works for Jet Blue.

You never know what inspires children to do when they grow up.
 
bugeye58, in 1976 working as a line mech. at newark airport they had a big picture on the wall of some planes, i asked an old timer what type aircraft are those. he said stearman the picture was taken in a field that latter became the airport, there where enough of them to fill the deck of a modern aircraft carrier, in his youth the old timer had bought one for $100.00 serviced and flyable as surplus. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif
 
I remember them being sold for $750.00 each and you could buy as many as you wanted. Problem was, very few people had any money back then. If you made $5,000.00 a year, you were rich! A good one today will probably bring around $100,000.00, and that is strictly a stock version. So many were used in the agriculture industry as dusters and sprayers, (I did that for three years), you have to be very careful of what you buy. Stearmans have a tubular frame and chemicals can destroy the tubing from the inside out. Kinda like a MGB! When this happens, a hard landing on the tail wheel can break it loose. A lot of folks got shafted when they paid a high dollar for what they thought was a restored aircraft and found out later they had to have the frame redone. A very expensive endeavor. PJ
 
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