# When did you first become interested in Warbirds?



## Medvedya (Dec 23, 2004)

By request, everyone is invited to say what it was that first sparked their interest and enthusiasm for this subject - maybe though a relative, or proximity to a base, or even just randomly, tell us about it here!


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 23, 2004)

I've been interested in warbirds, both modern and vintage, for as long as I can remember. I think it started with my father, who has always had a keen interest in them also. We'd go to air shows and aviation museums whenever the opportunity presented itself. I still do, though dad can't get around like he used to. Shame.
Then there were the stories of my grandfather in the RCAF during the war. Only quite recently has he become more open about his experiences, with me.

Yeah, I've always been quite interested in the subject. (I guess that's why I joined the Navy!  Logical, no?  )


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 23, 2004)

Its the lancs fault, damn him and his drawings!


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## evangilder (Dec 23, 2004)

I don't know when it began actually. When I was 2, we moved to Dayton Ohio and I watched everything that went by in the sky. One of my earliest recollections was my father taking me to see the XB-70 Valyrie land for the last time at Wright Patterson. I spent alot of time at the museum there while I was growing up. I also visited Carrollon Park there, where the Wright brothers bicycle shop is. We later moved to Wisconsin and I visited the EAA there many times and went too the fly-in at Osh Kosh a number of times as a teenager.

I built alot of airplane models over the years, as I am sure we all did. I joined the Air Force right out of high school. I wanted to join the Army to fly helicopters, but my vision wasn't good enough. I didn't want to be cannon fodder, so I joined the Air Force. 

I was a "groupie" at the CAF for a number of years until about 4 years ago when my wife surprised me early for my birthday with a membership to the CAF. I've been volunteering there ever since and it has been wonderful! It is fun to have a passion like that and to belong to an organization that shares that passion is awesome. The things you see and the stories you hear are worth way more than the memberships dues cost every year.

I have been very fortunate to have seen and done everything that I have so far. Someday, I want to purchase a ride on a B-17. I am still waiting for my slot on the SNJ to open up so I can go up in that. Be warned, pictures will surely follow that!


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 23, 2004)

Cool 8) Hope you get your ride in a B-17. To be honest id like to go up in any warbird.


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## lesofprimus (Dec 23, 2004)

Several things molded my intrest in WWII Aviation... The main things were my Grandfather, who flew Corsairs with VMF-122, -112, and -214, and the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC...

My Grandfather was an inspiration, and a funny guy... Told alot of stories... Took me to alot of places.... My Dad also was a pilot also, and I went flying with him and Grandpa twice a month...

The first time I went to the Air and Space Museum, I was hooked.... Hearing the stories, meeting the pilots, and reading some books doesnt make it all click together until u actually can touch the planes.....

Then the Hook sets....

I began drawing WWII fighters when i was around 10 or so, and have now become pretty good at drawing them, as some here who have seen my work will attest....


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 23, 2004)

i've been interested for bit over a year now..........


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## plan_D (Dec 23, 2004)

When...well...I don't know...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 23, 2004)

it was a lancaser documentary that got me liking the lanc, just think, if it had been a B-17 or some other plane............


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## JCS (Dec 23, 2004)

My parents took me to my first airshow when I was about 5 or 6, we stayed and saw the whole show but the only part I really liked was the B-17s and B-25. Then I started watching all the WW2 documentaries and movies I could find and have been obsessed ever since.


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## wmaxt (Dec 23, 2004)

evangilder said:


> I don't know when it began actually. When I was 2, we moved to Dayton Ohio and I watched everything that went by in the sky. One of my earliest recollections was my father taking me to see the XB-70 Valyrie land for the last time at Wright Patterson. I spent alot of time at the museum there while I was growing up. I also visited Carrollon Park there, where the Wright brothers bicycle shop is. We later moved to Wisconsin and I visited the EAA there many times and went too the fly-in at Osh Kosh a number of times as a teenager.
> 
> I built alot of airplane models over the years, as I am sure we all did. I joined the Air Force right out of high school. I wanted to join the Army to fly helicopters, but my vision wasn't good enough. I didn't want to be cannon fodder, so I joined the Air Force.
> 
> ...



The group at Chino can set up rides for good prices - they fly a lot and many times just a contribution for gas will get a ride. It was possible for a ride in a B-25 for as little as $300. The museam at Santa Monica also sells rides the TF-51 was $1,050 last I saw (several years ago).


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## wmaxt (Dec 23, 2004)

I've been interested since I was old enough to see an airplane - my dad was Air Force - so that was young. I've been to air showes since I was 6mo. old. When I started working I was in construction management (big bridges and the like) I was able to both travel and visit many museams from Hartford, Conn. to Southern Cal. Including the SAC, the Dayton and the Smithsonium museams. If there was an airplane I found it. So. Cal was great airshows and museams all over Rialto, Chino, Santa Monica, Camarillo, March AFB, El Toro marine base, Edwards AFB, Long Beach, Ventura and a couple of others I can't place right now.


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## evangilder (Dec 24, 2004)

Cool, have you seen the museum where I volunteer in Camarillo? If it has been a few years, it has changed alot. We used to have a nose hangar and a small trailer for a museum. We now have 2 full hangars.

I know about the Chino rides. I am specifically interested in the B-17, but would probably take a crack at the B-25 (my cousin flew in the Doolittle Raid.). I am planning to go out to see the Planes of Fame Museum and Yanks Air Museum, both in Chino, next week.

By the way, Santa Monica closed a little over a year ago. They will reopen, but it will be much smaller.


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## Crippen (Dec 24, 2004)

*I have enjoyed reading all of the above.... keep um coming.
I have loved planes since I was young, it was my mum that got me interested, she use to make parts for the 'Lancaster MK1' during the war , she also told many stories of the Lancs and other planes, she was an excellent story teller.

Just like many others have said, I too love going to air shows and/or the odd fly pass ( we seem to get a fair few of those in this country).
After both my parents passed away, I got started on tracing my family tree and realised that there had been quite a number in the family who fought in WW2, I became just as interested in WW2 again asI did tracing the family tree. I am just drawn to 'warbirds' I think they are a work of art in every way, shape and form. But the Lancaster will always be my favourite and a tad special to me.

Well Les and Lancs....... where can I see these drawings then?*


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## lesofprimus (Dec 24, 2004)

Here are a few....


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 24, 2004)

Not too shabby!


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## lesofprimus (Dec 24, 2004)

TY....... I think.....


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## Crippen (Dec 24, 2004)

*hey Les I was very tempted to say did you do those in therapy  just to keep up our banter, but hey it's Christmas  
Not too shabby ( in the now famous words of 'The Nonskimmer')
My son is an artist, I couldn't draw to save my life..... though I might do one over the festive season.... just to give you a laugh  *
Hey it is 20:20 here ( unlike my vision....3rd Baileys) only a few hours to pressie time.... woohoo!


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## Medvedya (Dec 24, 2004)

Opening your presents at 12:01 a.m is against the rules! Shame on you!


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## Crippen (Dec 24, 2004)

*Sorry Med, wasn't me.... an older girl made me say it    I am a very good girl ( bet you have gathered that  )*


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 24, 2004)

lesofprimus said:


> TY....... I think.....



I meant I like 'em.


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Nice drawings les, I only seen the 190 one before 8) 

~You sent mine yet?


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 28, 2004)

here's a poor quality shot of my halibag, i took some shots of some other models but they didn't turn out very well..................


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

You have a digital camera now?


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## Medvedya (Dec 28, 2004)

That is really very good - you've got the early 'Manchester' style wavy camoflage spot on. I balked at doing that and just masked it up so it was just a straight line!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 28, 2004)

yes i'm rather proud of that model, and i should be, took me two months...........

and yes CC i do, i joined a military book club for xams and got it as a free gift, that's the size of the pics it takes and it's not that good but does the job...............


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Cool, its better than nothing 8)


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 28, 2004)

here's a nice shot of my room as well.............


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 28, 2004)

Clean that room, young man!!


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Bloody hell thats messy! mine is lovely and clean 8) First thing I did when I unwrapped my presents? Put them in their proper place, sit down and have some pringles!  I have a busy new year ahead of me, filled with the delights of building a Lancaster, Hurricane, Spitfire, Komet, Fiat G.50 and B-29


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 28, 2004)

ok i just realised there's what looks like a bra or underwear to the lower left of the treeon the blue thing, can i just point out it's not, it's a plastic bag................


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 28, 2004)

I never would've noticed if you hadn't pointed it out. Now, I have to wonder!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 28, 2004)

you can aslo see my inflatable vulcan in there as well................


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

You dont need to, he was bought a male thong and 2 bras for Christmas


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 28, 2004)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> here's a nice shot of my room as well.............



Bask in the greatness of mine, on my Nikon Coolpix 4100, photo taken at 4 megapixel* (it's another setting with higher quality over regular 4 megapixel)...


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Heres my room, both pictures taken with my phone from opposite sides of the room

And yes, that is me holding the light out of the way


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 28, 2004)

I likes the Mini caricature in the corner of the first pic...


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Ta, I didnt draw it, obviously. Theres loads of em on www.cartooncars.com


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 28, 2004)

I know, I've seen those in English auto mags...


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

What English 'auto mags' have you read then?


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 28, 2004)

Not many in a while, there was this one tuner car one (I used to be into those things, Euro cars are my thing now), and EVO - that's a GREAT mag!


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

I dont read tuner mags, i hate souped up motors...


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 28, 2004)

Me too, like I said - Euro cars are my thing now...


And I mean the stock kind, unless it's for club racing with uprated drivetrains and suspension, etc., but with a stocker motor...


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 28, 2004)

Me too...


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## lesofprimus (Dec 29, 2004)

Heres my Computer Room/Desk.....


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 29, 2004)

Speaking of Aircraft of the World...


Here's a feature on it...



(Note: there are something like five binders, I have all of them, each group (sixteen of these) covers a time period or area of interest...)


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Nice 8) I think I might have to buy some books on WW2 aircraft, I dont actually have any.


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## evangilder (Dec 29, 2004)

Be careful, once you start, it will continue to grow! I started with a few books and now have 2 shelves on my bookshelf on just WWII aviation! Another one or 2 on post war airplanes and aviation, and more on biographies and stories of veterans. It's like an addiction! I am strung out on non-fiction


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Im not gonna go that far  Just like an encyclopaedia on them...


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## Medvedya (Dec 29, 2004)

Here's the Med's lair - just in case you even give one!


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Brilliant! You can even swear at drunks as they walk past the window at night


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 29, 2004)

Or pee on 'em.


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Oh great ive done it now 

Nonskim, nobody wants to know about your secret Bondage career! :[email protected]


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 29, 2004)

Fine!


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

The lanc might be interested though, PM him.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 29, 2004)

trust me CC, once you start collecting the books, you wont stop, i haven't..................


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## Crippen (Dec 29, 2004)

*Dear Dog ( that should have said God.... but I thought it looked better so I left it).
Aren't mens desks tidy......I will put a pic of mine on, when I can fine the camera under all the crap. The rest of the house is tidy, but not the study....... I use the word 'study' loosely... the world and it's son uses the computer when they visit (we have a guest access now built in) and they seem to leave a piece of themselves behind. So it is more like a war zone. 

I bought 4 aircraft books today  , I sat on the floor of the shop with two guys ( who must have thought well if she sat there we might as well), it took me an hour and a quarter to decide on which to buy (I now wish I had bought the other two..... felt guilty at the time and stopped at four  ).
*


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## Medvedya (Dec 29, 2004)

I wouldn't go as far as saying my desk was tidy! 

I was expecting a jeering remark about the wanky printer we still have (it's being replaced with a laser)


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> trust me CC, once you start collecting the books, you wont stop, i haven't..................



I will...


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## Crippen (Dec 29, 2004)

*Trust me! you ain't seen my desk yet.... they will soon forget your wanky printer m8*


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

I recently tidied my desk, ah the joys of not having to look past a metre hugh pile of cds 

When my girlfriend goes off line ill unplug the camera and take a picture. 8)


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 29, 2004)

Medvedya said:


> I wouldn't go as far as saying my desk was tidy!
> 
> I was expecting a jeering remark about the wanky printer we still have (it's being replaced with a laser)




Mine sucks too, but I'm getting a Photo Printer/Scanner/Copier from HP soon, then I'll update those pics about WW2 aircraft I posted...


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 29, 2004)

Crippen said:


> *Trust me! you ain't seen my desk yet.... they will soon forget your wanky printer m8*




I like that word...


Wanky...



Is that a Mancs/Bristol word too?


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Ive never heard it


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 29, 2004)

Then it's obviously not "Corns/Walls," then is it?


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Corns/Walls?


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 29, 2004)

I was putting a twist on, "Mancs," leave me alone!


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## Crippen (Dec 29, 2004)

*GRG, I have just promised to be a good girl on another thread, so I shall let Med explain that one  *


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 29, 2004)

Bloody Cornwall...


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 30, 2004)

Heres my desk...note the guitar and IL2/PF layed out neatly...


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## evangilder (Dec 30, 2004)

My desk is a disaster area right now, but I can post some pics of one of my cases of aviation/military stuff. Or as my wife calls it "His case 'o crap" :0


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 30, 2004)

Nice, no P-38 though. This makes me angry


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## Nonskimmer (Dec 30, 2004)

Nice toys, evan.


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## evangilder (Dec 30, 2004)

Thanks guys. I actually have on the budget to get a P-38 in March. I will be getting that and probably one other, maybe 2 more. I have been wanting a P-38, but am gonig to have a heck of a time fitting it into the case. I guess it's time for another case! 8)


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 30, 2004)

2 cases O' Crap!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 30, 2004)

i really need more shelfs for my models


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## Crippen (Dec 30, 2004)

*CC very neat hun (Im having problems posting my pics, but will keep trying). 
Evan..... lovely toys.... oi don't cop out of the desk pic though mate.... mess or no mess!

Lancs, if you tidy your room a bit mate, you might find that you already have shelf space!   *


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 31, 2004)

Ill probably need more shelves, enough room for another 4 or 5 and then ill have to get more me thinks. Which is a worry cos I already have 7 models on the assembly line


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 31, 2004)

well i'm already out of room


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 31, 2004)

Hang some from the ceiling...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 31, 2004)

i like to make my models with the carrage down...............


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## lesofprimus (Dec 31, 2004)

I did when I was a kid.. i had like 8 of them hangin on fishing line.... Was freakin awesome.... I had a F-4 Phantom hanging and I also hung one of its Sidewinders as well, with cotton flames and smoke comin off it.. It was great....


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 31, 2004)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> i like to make my models with the carrage down...............



Hang the ones with fixed undercarriage, then they wont look so stupid...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Dec 31, 2004)

so let's see, that's the stuka and...err...........


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## cheddar cheese (Dec 31, 2004)

Ok then  Buy more fixed undercarriage!


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## Yeomanz (Dec 31, 2004)

My dad has always been interested in the whole of War , ships , war on the ground , planes , all sorts , i occationally played CFS2 CFS1 and FB , then got to know people like HS and joined the HG's and became really interested in WWII 8)


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## Crippen (Dec 31, 2004)

my desk....... with deck next to it, incase you want the odd vinyl playing.......she shall have music where ever she goes!





my room ..... see contrast 'tidy'


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## evangilder (Dec 31, 2004)

Alright, here is my messy desk. I do have a marble plaque that says "A cluttered desk is a sign of genius" just above my monitor. Guess that fits. We just recently finished some home improvement projects and I haven't gotten everything organized yet.


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## Yeomanz (Dec 31, 2004)

my desk is dead clean , well theres no room for mess really


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## lesofprimus (Dec 31, 2004)

Since we're all so interested in desks, Here are a couple I just took of mine.......


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## GermansRGeniuses (Dec 31, 2004)

My humble compy's abode...


I'm going to upgrade the printer, RAM, and possibly processor soon...


The internals are ok, the case is due to the fact that my mom didn't want to spring for anything more expensive than the basic (that one, it was $30) as she didn't see any real advantages with a more expensive case...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 1, 2005)

this's ours................


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## Yeomanz (Jan 1, 2005)

lesofprimus said:


> Since we're all so interested in desks, Here are a couple I just took of mine.......



heres a long shot , that desktop pic isnt a screenshot off B-17 is it ?????


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 1, 2005)

Yeomanz said:


> heres a long shot , that desktop pic isnt a screenshot off B-17 is it ?????



At this point, lanc snaps and goes on a killing spree!


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## lesofprimus (Jan 1, 2005)

I think he was referring to my Desktop.... And yes its a B-17 with a huge flak hole in the side......


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 1, 2005)

Yeah, I just reread the whole page.  
Still a bit foggy from the booze.


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 1, 2005)

Hey, I also noticed your 'crossing the line' certificate. All we get in the Canadian Navy is a wallet sized card!


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## lesofprimus (Jan 1, 2005)

Did u guys get humiliated and filthy and beat upon too?????

Its called The Shellback Initiation...... Thank God u only have to do it once......


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 1, 2005)

Yeah they take you onto the upper decks, strip you down to your shorts, make you eat some God awful concoction out of a big wash basin and then dunk you in it, make you "kiss the cod" (big smelly fish that's been rotting in the sun!), throw assorted crap all over you, and make you down some "pusser rum".

It all takes place in the presence of "King Neptune", who's usually the Cox'n (I think you guys call him the Master at Arms). Everyone is in goofy home-made costumes. It's a lot of fun!

At the end of it, you get your card. I'll try to get a pic of it up some time, if I ever get the camera out of the shop. It's not much to see.


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## lesofprimus (Jan 1, 2005)

I just hot done watching a show about The Pumpkin Regatta in Nova Scotia............. Funny watching those people tip over in em....

Yea ours is basically the same... King Neptune is the Fattest Shellback on board ship...... They make u eat a cherry outta his big fat hairy belly button....


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 1, 2005)

Typical lanc...Im guessing youve had that wallpaper for months...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 2, 2005)

HA!!! joke's on you, we haven't had this computer for months, but yes, i've had it since we got this computer


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 3, 2005)

I didnt say you had that computer for months...tell me where I said that...I said I bet its been your wallpaper for months, meaning it could spam across several different computers regardless...


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## Archangel (Jan 3, 2005)

i first got interested in them, when ive got my first book about them.. i was about 3 years then =)


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 3, 2005)

Cool 8)


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 4, 2005)

I first got interested when I first saw a program on the history channel about Greg Boyington. I also thought that the Corsairs they flew were beautiful. After that I started drawing them. Nothing to brag about though.


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 4, 2005)

By the way, I have a question. Who was the pilot of Shangri-la? Ive seen that all over the place, but I could never figure out the pilot.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2005)

The Jug Rules! said:


> I first got interested when I first saw a program on the history channel about Greg Boyington. I also thought that the Corsairs they flew were beautiful. After that I started drawing them. Nothing to brag about though.



Post em! 8)


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## plan_D (Jan 4, 2005)

I first got interested in them when I was sat on my toilet, have a ye olde dump, reading a magazine with naked women in it. Back in 1993, I believe April 16th. I thought to myself "World War 2 aircraft, now there's a thought" and I've been thinking that thought ever since.


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## Gnomey (Jan 4, 2005)

Not sure really, became interested in WW2 generally and then read Bader's biography and it sort of stemmed from there and I've been interested in them ever since.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2005)

plan_D said:


> I first got interested in them when I was sat on my toilet, have a ye olde dump, reading a magazine with naked women in it. Back in 1993, I believe April 16th. I thought to myself "World War 2 aircraft, now there's a thought" and I've been thinking that thought ever since.



Youre 17 right (or 18?) Meaning you would have been reading that mag at the age of 8/9! 

Since you have posted the real reason already, I have nothing to do but assume that you're completely pissed, and request that you stay away from me during this evening on the site for fear of completely spamming the forums again!


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## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 4, 2005)

The Jug Rules! said:


> By the way, I have a question. Who was the pilot of Shangri-la? Ive seen that all over the place, but I could never figure out the pilot.



It was Major Don S. Gentile. 8)


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2005)

Feeling a little smug, are we?


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## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 4, 2005)

Nah, I partially knew it, but to be sure I googled it...


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2005)

Anyone could do that


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## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 4, 2005)

But I had advance knowledge...


I typed in Don Gentile and it said he was the pilot of Shangri-La...


If I had typed Shangri-La, it would have taken longer...


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2005)

True 8)


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## lesofprimus (Jan 4, 2005)

I knew it was Don Gentile as soon as I saw the post.. Unfortunatly, I just saw it this second......


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## plan_D (Jan 5, 2005)

I could read at 8/9 just because it has naked women in it...

No, if I was really drunk I wouldn't have been that good at typing. Maybe I got someone else to type it? You will never know.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 5, 2005)

Damn


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 5, 2005)

you know we should try and get people interested at a younger age, make a childrens book "this is a messerschmitt, can you say messerschmitt??"


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## Nonskimmer (Jan 5, 2005)

They probably couldn't pronounce it , though!  
It'd come out more like MESESS-ESSER-SUMMIT, or something.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 5, 2005)

I can imagine the lanc trying to get his kids interested

Can you say "Boeing B-17 Flying Crap?" 

Can you say "Mk.II Lancaster with Bristol Hercules engines?"

It would be a nightmare


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 6, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> The Jug Rules! said:
> 
> 
> > I first got interested when I first saw a program on the history channel about Greg Boyington. I also thought that the Corsairs they flew were beautiful. After that I started drawing them. Nothing to brag about though.
> ...



No Way!  They stink!


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 6, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> Anyone could do that



 Why didn't I think of that???


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 6, 2005)

The Jug Rules! said:


> cheddar cheese said:
> 
> 
> > The Jug Rules! said:
> ...



DOnt care, Ill be the judge of that 8) My drawings, now they stink...


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## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

And, being a little late, here's my FILTHY desk.

The big picture, is big for a reason. The red circled picture, is what I do when I'm bored. (it's a plane) and the green bit, is what I do at work...when not working. They're all tied together. Oh, and can't forget the manly Thunderbirds cup.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

To hell thats your desk, theres no beer cans


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 7, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> The Jug Rules! said:
> 
> 
> > cheddar cheese said:
> ...




Anyway, I need to get my hands on a scanner!


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## The Jug Rules! (Jan 7, 2005)

Plan-d whats that on you computer?


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## Medvedya (Jan 7, 2005)

Looks like a garden gnome to me.....


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## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

On my computer screen is waiting for an online game of Blitzkrieg. And the garden gnome, is a farting gnome which I just use to hold the mouse lead. 

And I took that picture before I had been drinking, that's why there's no beer cans.


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Ah right.

BTW Jug, nice Siggy! 8)


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

I could take a picture now but I've only got advocaat (14%)


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Say what?  Or is that supposed to be Avocado...


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

No, it's Royal Dutch Advocaat.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Yes...


----------



## Medvedya (Jan 7, 2005)

Egg Nog.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Yum!


----------



## Nonskimmer (Jan 7, 2005)

Yuck!


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

I had to finish that last litre bottle off, for political reasons.


----------



## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 7, 2005)

plan_D said:


> And, being a little late, here's my FILTHY desk.
> 
> The big picture, is big for a reason. The red circled picture, is what I do when I'm bored. (it's a plane) and the green bit, is what I do at work...when not working. They're all tied together. Oh, and can't forget the manly Thunderbirds cup.




What is this? Censorship? *BY PLAN_D?!?!?!*


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

You mean that white bit? Yes, that was my brothers bank details. I didn't realise they were in the picture, so I got rid of them instead of taking another pic.


----------



## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 7, 2005)

Ah, understandable, then...


I thought it to be something more interesting, like plans to bring down the government and make all alchoholic drinks freeeeeeeeeee!


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Or his plans for the now defunct LEZI party...


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

If it were plans for that, you'd join in my quest GrG! I know you want free booze, as much as I do. 

I wish I hadn't told the truth now, I could have made it much more interesting. Is it too late?


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 7, 2005)

Nope, its never too late  Pretend you were drunk and had no idea what you was on about....


----------



## GermansRGeniuses (Jan 7, 2005)

Yes, I would!

I'd stow away on a BOAC/British Airways flight to London, and somehow find my way to South Yorks...

Cognac and Amarula for all!


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

See, GrG has the idea. 

Pretend I was drunk!?! Never. I'll just get drunk instead, there's Bacardi, beer, wine still left over from X-mas...mix it all together and BOOM I'll be dead...


----------



## plan_D (Jan 7, 2005)

It's my desk now, CC. Seeing as I am drinking the good ole Artois, I thought I'd post a pic. I only four cans left though.


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 8, 2005)




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## cheddar cheese (Jan 8, 2005)

That book of "Panzer Battles" looks like its been thrown at the screen in anger


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 8, 2005)

or the gnome was having a good read and dropped it.................


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## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

We'll say the gnome was reading it, it's more interesting. In reality though, I just chucked it to pick up my beer then thought what a perfect scene...and took a picture...then picked up the beer.


----------



## The Jug Rules! (Jan 10, 2005)

plan_D said:


> On my computer screen is waiting for an online game of Blitzkrieg. And the garden gnome, is a farting gnome which I just use to hold the mouse lead.
> 
> And I took that picture before I had been drinking, that's why there's no beer cans.



What's Blitzkrieg???


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

I dont know what the game is, but in WW2 is was the tactics used by the Germans to invade lots of countries in a short space of time...it means "Lightning war"


----------



## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

In it's most basic form, CC.  Although the term Blitzkrieg was coined by an American editorial in New York Times in 1941. 

Blitzkrieg is a World War 2 strategy game. Here's a screenshot. It only shows my infantry capturing a town (and a '88') but in the game you control artillery, armour, air and infantry.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

Ah, so its a sort of WW2 interpretation of the Command and conquer: Red alert series?


----------



## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

No. You don't get supplies, or collect supplies. You get given a certain amount of equipment and you have to do the mission with what you've got, or can capture. 
Your tanks run out of ammo, get imobilised, there's line of sights, it's quite realisitc.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

Cool, it looks fairly god. Might have to invest...


----------



## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

Notice in the screen, troops are coming both sides of the village. I completely surrounded it, and destroyed a lot of the German supply trucks trying to resupply the two StuGIIIs that were in there. 
I also got to capture the 88 which supplemented my two 40mm Bofors, for AA cover. And a lot of those craters were done by Wellingtons, but I lost all four of my Humber Mk. I armoured cars in doing the job. 

That's in France 1940.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

Cool 8)


----------



## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

Here's one from the Narvik mission, just at the start. I sent out a Hurricane to provide air cover, since you don't get any AA cannon. Just three 25 pdrs and 6 squads.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

Nice...why does it say Birch Tree at the bottom?


----------



## plan_D (Jan 10, 2005)

Because I had my cursor over a Birch tree, and it feels the need to inform you what everything is. If I had it over a man, it'd say British Lee-Enfield .303. Then have the armour values (for a man, 0) and penertration and damage values.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 10, 2005)

Ah right.


----------



## Crippen (Jan 13, 2005)

plan_D said:


> Because I had my cursor over a Birch tree, and it feels the need to inform you what everything is. If I had it over a man, it'd say British Lee-Enfield .303. Then have the armour values (for a man, 0) and penertration and damage values.


Boys explain to Cripps..... game?.... how, who, where, when, what, why!


----------



## plan_D (Jan 13, 2005)

My explanation is as follows..."Eh..."


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 13, 2005)

Black magic if you ask me...


----------



## Crippen (Jan 13, 2005)

plan_D said:


> Here's one from the Narvik mission, just at the start. I sent out a Hurricane to provide air cover, since you don't get any AA cannon. Just three 25 pdrs and 6 squads.


????? explain....what is unclear about that.... Real.... SIMs...Game.... what?.... I cannot know everything....though I know lots...... 
we use 3% of our brains....... I am trying hard to use the other 97%... but sometimes I need help.... THIS!!!! is one of those times...why dont you understand what I am asking????? ok CC you are on Milk....so you have a ickle excuse.... But PD?????? I ask you... get with my programme for dogs sake.


----------



## plan_D (Jan 13, 2005)

Eh? What? Where am I? Who are you? Why are you kicking me? Oh, I see...that's what that smell was...


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 13, 2005)

> ok CC you are on Milk....so you have a ickle excuse....



I only drink it for shaving purposes...Here Brodie!  (Brodie is my dog, BTW)


----------



## Medvedya (Jan 16, 2005)

Milk enhances beard growth?


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 16, 2005)

No..the idea is the dog licks the milk off and takes the hairs with it...


----------



## Nonskimmer (Jan 16, 2005)

Riiiiiight.


:-"


----------



## evangilder (Jan 16, 2005)

Ummm, okay.


----------



## Medvedya (Jan 16, 2005)

I see.......


(Cue ball of tumbleweed rolling across forum)


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 16, 2005)

that explains allot actually............


----------



## lesofprimus (Jan 16, 2005)

I bet.. Like why he always stinks of Dog when u get close to him????


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 16, 2005)

to say the least.............


----------



## lesofprimus (Jan 16, 2005)

Or the Most????


----------



## Napier Sabre (Mar 1, 2005)

If you want a true WW2 strategy game, look no further than Sudden Strike II, rate it higher than any other I've played.


----------



## trackend (Mar 3, 2005)

Sorry to be boring fellas  I just thought id say how I became interested in aircraft Before I left school I was in the ATC for a couple of years and got my first flight in a plane ( a little old chipmunk) I thought it was brilliant I even had a waggle of the stick I realized that I would never have the academic ability to be a flyer so after being a decorator and a printer the next time I flew was going on holiday with some mates in a Boeing 707 I ended up in the army for a few years etc etc even now flying although taken for granted by many people still has for me a fascination that has never really waned. I should have gone for Ground crew.


----------



## mosquitoman (Mar 3, 2005)

I'm not that sure when I was first interested, ages ago now. It was probably when I bought my first one or two models


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Mar 4, 2005)

for me it was really when i saw a documentary on the lancaster, hense my love of the plane, just think, if i'd have cought a different episode i could have fallen in love with any plane!!


----------



## mosquitoman (Mar 4, 2005)

The Fairey Battle Kicks Ass, I can just imagine it!


----------



## Medvedya (Mar 4, 2005)

Who says it doesn't? Well...In looks anyway.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Mar 4, 2005)

The Battle does look pretty damn good...

Imagine if he'd caught one about the F2A-3


----------



## trackend (Mar 4, 2005)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> for me it was really when i saw a documentary on the lancaster, hense my love of the plane, just think, if i'd have cought a different episode i could have fallen in love with any plane!!


Or the bake beans in the commercial break mine you in a fight either the beans or a lanc would put the wind up me.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Mar 4, 2005)




----------



## BombTaxi (Mar 5, 2005)

Ive always been into planes in general, ever since I can remember. I was an air cadet for 5 years, had a few flights in Bulldogs, I wanted to become an airline pilot after uni, but my eyesight is too poor.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Mar 5, 2005)

I know military pilots must have perfect vision, but aren't airline pilots allowed to wear corrective lenses?


----------



## BombTaxi (Mar 5, 2005)

They are (and I do), but there are certain criteria for astigmatism which I marginally fall outside of. Essentially, my corrected eyesight is good enogh, but the deformity of my eyes is too great (or at least, thats how my optometrist explained it!  )


----------



## trackend (Mar 5, 2005)

Bad luck Bomb sounds like apart from the bins you stood a good chance of getting some wings .


----------



## BombTaxi (Mar 5, 2005)

It was a bit of a blow, but Im now working on Plan B, which is roughly, get degree, get MA, get job, join TA 

(And I know they'll have me, I already applied once but decide to stay out till after uni!)


----------



## trackend (Mar 5, 2005)

No problem joining the TA a Friend at work has not long finished his tour in Iraq on patrol and he's push his forties which I thought was a bit old for front line duties


----------



## Crazy (Mar 6, 2005)

Became interested in warbirds at age 10, when I got the classic Red Baron II for my new computer 8) Good times...

As far as WWII-specific interest goes, the original Combat Flight Sim was what pulled me in


----------



## hellmaker (Mar 27, 2005)

Nice Pics Less...sorry...this is the first time i lay my eyes on them... I first becam interested with warbirds after I was taken in the air by a Zlin-526 prop plane... I loved it's saound, and the feeling it gave me... soo... which planes can outperform it? You guessed it... the ww2 warbirds... Thus... and eventually, after 6-7 years, I ended up here, a story with a happy ending.


----------



## Medvedya (Mar 27, 2005)

trackend said:


> No problem joining the TA a Friend at work has not long finished his tour in Iraq on patrol and he's push his forties which I thought was a bit old for front line duties



I think the British Army is desperado for any trained people they can get their hands on.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Mar 27, 2005)

I'm afraid they're not the only ones. It's our own damn fault though. 
But then, realistic long-term military planning has never been a Canadian hallmark.


----------



## Aggie08 (Apr 16, 2005)

My interest sparked somewhere around 5th grade, I'm probably not as old as you all seeing as someone saw the valkyrie land, that would have been the coolest thing ever. 5th grade for me was around 1996-97 I guess? Just started reading up on anything and everything, WW2 birds were always my favorite. I live in Dallas so I never saw anything except an occasion P-3 or C-130 go by. If one did I could tell you what it was by the sound, I love seeing military planes go over. I'm glad to have found a forum to talk about these things.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 16, 2005)

Think of this as a support group.


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Apr 16, 2005)

At about 4 or 5 years old, someone bought me a GI Joe in fighter pilots garb. Next thing I knew I had a F9F (to put GI joe in) and was bombing the "Briges at Toki Ri" behind my house.  By the time I was 15, I had about 150 models in my room.  

Today my wife tells people if she wants to get me to do a chore around the house, she puts a propeller on what she needs done!


----------



## mosquitoman (Apr 16, 2005)

150 models!!!
How'd you fit anything else in your room?


----------



## lesofprimus (Apr 16, 2005)

Maybe he had a big room??? 150 is probably a slight exaggeration, but even so, its still a crapload o' models.........

I had 15-20 or so hanging from my ceiling back in the late 70's / early 80's.....


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 16, 2005)

les! 
How've ya been, man?


----------



## lesofprimus (Apr 16, 2005)

Very busy with work..... Also hooked up with 2 old Teammates and been doin some crazy shizit.... Makin some $$$ on the side... SShhhh...........


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 16, 2005)

Legal, of course.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Apr 17, 2005)

Welcome back les! 8)


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Apr 17, 2005)

mosquitoman said:


> 150 models!!!
> How'd you fit anything else in your room?



YEP -150! AFTER THAT MY FOLKS TOLD ME NO MORE!  I started doing the normal thing one would do with excess models - lighting them on fire, putting firecrackers in them and blowing them up, throwing them off my roof, lighting them on fire, putting firecrackers in them and then throwing them at the neighbor, etc., etc., etc.  

Les- glad to meet you, I was an AD2


----------



## trackend (Apr 17, 2005)

Hi Fly, when I was a kid and we had too many models we used play a game where each throw of a dice starting at the back of the garden/yard you would move your model closer too the house one spot equaling 6 inches your opponant would sit by the back door with his air rifle and would take one shot then you would roll again. The winner would be (after taking it in turns with each others models and the rifle) the person whose plane got the closest to the ack ack and still had at least one wing on.


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Apr 17, 2005)

trackend said:


> Hi Fly, when I was a kid and we had too many models we used play a game where each throw of a dice starting at the back of the garden/yard you would move your model closer too the house one spot equaling 6 inches your opponant would sit by the back door with his air rifle and would take one shot then you would roll again. The winner would be (after taking it in turns with each others models and the rifle) the person whose plane got the closest to the ack ack and still had at least one wing on.



 *I LOVE IT - WE GOTTA PLAY SOMETIME * 

TRACK - I LIKE YOU, YOU'RE A SICK MAN!


----------



## trackend (Apr 17, 2005)

You ever played pugh sticks Fly?
Where I lived as a boy the ground was very heavy clay so we used to dig up a lump sort of base ball size then knead it same as for potting clay. Next you found yourself a really whippy stick (willow was best ) about 2 -3 ft long then you mould a marble sized ball on the end of your pugh stick, with a bit of practice you could send your clay blob well over 100 yards. We used to divide into 2 teams and have battles wanging these balls of clay at each other it was great fun unless you got hit in the face, bloody hell did it sting, what started out as an inch across ended up about 3 inch's by the time it had splattered against you. it was even worse if the guy had left any little bits of gravel in it.
The best shot I ever did was when I launched my pugh and instead of going in a nice curved arc it went up like a mortar bomb and sailed way over my enemies head. A good 2 hundred yards away a guy was bent over doing his gardening in shorts and it went whack straight on his bare back. He must have chased me for a bleeding mile before he gave up, but it was a terrific shot you could hear him squawk even from that distance. (happy days  )


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 17, 2005)

So...you're a sadistic bastard after all, eh?


----------



## trackend (Apr 17, 2005)

Arn't all kids Skim, don't tell me you never used to fry insects with a magnifiying glass or pull the legs off of crane flys. I had a school mate who used to stick drinking straws up frogs arses and inflate them.


----------



## Medvedya (Apr 17, 2005)

That reminds me of 'apple cricket'. Find the oldest, mushiest, maggoty old windfalls you can get your hands on - underarm chuck, and slosh it one with an old cricket bat! 

Hours of fun!


----------



## lesofprimus (Apr 17, 2005)

Sup to all the newbs....... Sorry I havent been round of late.... Not much spare time, although its slowin down some now........ Hoo Yah.

Skim...... Its best described as Quasi-Legal I suppose... But it sure is fun....

Sup CC.... Things ok in Cornish? Is it true that Camilla is the Duchess of Cornish?


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Apr 17, 2005)

EXCELLENT!


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 17, 2005)

trackend said:


> Arn't all kids Skim, don't tell me you never used to fry insects with a magnifiying glass or pull the legs off of crane flys. I had a school mate who used to stick drinking straws up frogs arses and inflate them.


I'd never hurt an innocent frog! 
Spiders are another matter, however.


----------



## cheddar cheese (Apr 17, 2005)

lesofprimus said:


> Sup to all the newbs....... Sorry I havent been round of late.... Not much spare time, although its slowin down some now........ Hoo Yah.
> 
> Skim...... Its best described as Quasi-Legal I suppose... But it sure is fun....
> 
> Sup CC.... Things ok in Cornish? Is it true that Camilla is the Duchess of Cornish?



Things are never ok in Cornwall...Yeah its true. I couldnt care less to be honest though.


----------



## trackend (Apr 17, 2005)

Welcome back Les.


----------



## Medvedya (Apr 18, 2005)

Nonskimmer said:


> trackend said:
> 
> 
> > Arn't all kids Skim, don't tell me you never used to fry insects with a magnifiying glass or pull the legs off of crane flys. I had a school mate who used to stick drinking straws up frogs arses and inflate them.
> ...



I bet you've all poured salt on a slug at one time though! 

BWAHAHAHAH!


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 18, 2005)

But of course. 
Leeches were fun to tortu...that is, experiment on too.


----------



## Medvedya (Apr 18, 2005)

Purely in the name of valid scientific research naturally!


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 18, 2005)

Sure, whatever sounds good!


----------



## Crippen (May 5, 2005)

I Couldn't let this day go past, especially because I named my dughter after this woman, so I have nipped on to leave you this bit of information:
 
It was 75 years ago today that the iconic Amy Johnson set off from Croydon in a Gypsy Moth to be the first woman to fly solo to Australia. 
8)

Also, incase anyone wants to read the following (paste from the site):
Time to remember what our ancestors did for us...
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of WWII on May 8th, Genes Reunited is placing wartime stories collected from members on the site. You’ll be shocked and moved by these real-life accounts from ordinary people. Look out for the poppy on the homepage over the next few weeks. If you have wartime stories or photos you’d like to share, please email[email protected]
You can get onto Genesreunited via 'Friends Reunited'. Genes is also the best place to trace your family tree (should you want to).

Hugs to all Cripps.


----------



## plan_D (May 5, 2005)

VE-Day is strange because it wasn't actually one day, it was three. May 7th through May 9th was the ending of the war, with the cease of hostilities on the Western front, the signing of surrender to the Western forces, the cease of hostilities on the Eastern front and signing of peace for the East. Russia celebrates it every year on May 9th.


----------



## Medvedya (May 5, 2005)

And of course it wasn't over, over until August.


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (May 6, 2005)

but of course the fighting didn't finish as soon as the surrender was signed, small conflicts went on for weeks..........


----------



## HealzDevo (May 24, 2005)

Yes, the Japanese were still fighting in small pockets of resistence. The last one I think was found in the 1950s. I read somewhere but think it could be a joke that the sole defender of that area surrendered, and couldn't believe the date when he heard it. Talk about a long war.


----------



## trackend (May 24, 2005)

This was the last one Healzdevo I remember it being in the papers 
Hiroo Onoda was the last Japanese soldier to surrender, finally packing it in in 1974. Attempts were made to persuade Hiroo to surrender, including appeals from relatives. It took his former commanding officer to convince Hiroo the war was over. He had been holding out Lubang Island in the Phillipines for 29 years.


----------



## FLYBOYJ (May 24, 2005)

trackend said:


> This was the last one Healzdevo I remember it being in the papers
> Hiroo Onoda was the last Japanese soldier to surrender, finally packing it in in 1974. Attempts were made to persuade Hiroo to surrender, including appeals from relatives. It took his former commanding officer to convince Hiroo the war was over. He had been holding out Lubang Island in the Phillipines for 29 years.



Apparently the inhabitants of that island were pissed because he was treated like a hero when he arrived in Japan. Apparently he was blamed for the murder of a half dozen people in those 29 years. I seen him on a documentary, personally I think he acted like an arrogant twit. The documentary was a few years old, would of loved to see him in a boxing match with Joe Foss!


----------



## plan_D (May 28, 2005)

Forget the last being 1974, try 2005...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050528/ap_on_re_as/philippines_lost_soldiers


----------



## evangilder (May 28, 2005)

Amazing!


----------



## FLYBOYJ (May 28, 2005)

plan_D said:


> Forget the last being 1974, try 2005...
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050528/ap_on_re_as/philippines_lost_soldiers



Yep - saw that yesterday, I guess there's 2 more out there!


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (May 28, 2005)

that would truely be amazing.........


----------



## Pisis (May 28, 2005)

My "workstation"


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (May 28, 2005)

and you didn't even have the decency to have our site on the screen when you took the pic........


----------



## trackend (May 28, 2005)

plan_D said:


> Forget the last being 1974, try 2005...
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050528/ap_on_re_as/philippines_lost_soldiers


That just shows the sort of fanaticism that the allied troops had to face let the silly bastards die where they are.


----------



## FLYBOYJ (May 28, 2005)

trackend said:


> That just shows the sort of fanaticism that the allied troops had to face let the silly bastards die where they are.


----------



## plan_D (May 29, 2005)

I was talking to my dad yesterday about my Grandad who fought with the Chindits in Burma and we got on to language because my Grandad knew bits and pieces from loads of lanuages, as it was the most multi-national force in British history. I asked my dad if he'd known Japanese and apparently my dad asked him that when he was younger and my grandad replied "Why would we need to know Japanese? We didn't tell them to get out of the hole or put their hands up, we just threw a grenade down the hole and shot the bastard"


----------



## Nonskimmer (May 29, 2005)




----------



## FLYBOYJ (May 29, 2005)




----------



## cheddar cheese (May 29, 2005)

Haha


----------



## P38 Pilot (Jul 21, 2005)




----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 21, 2005)

hahaha 

there, i out did CC, my work here is done........


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jul 21, 2005)

Dont make me do an insane outdoing.


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 21, 2005)

dear god please no!!


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jul 21, 2005)

We want you, We want you, We want you as a NEW RECRUIT


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Jul 21, 2005)

cheddar cheese said:


> We want you, We want you, We want you as a NEW RECRUIT


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jul 21, 2005)

2312 Tavistock sqn. Join now!


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jul 21, 2005)




----------



## cheddar cheese (Jul 21, 2005)

You got it Flyboy! 8)


----------



## Pisis (Aug 13, 2005)

"Was ist denn los da? Hat ich etwas verpasst?"

-Oblt. Heisse Scheisse, JG/101 "Nachtkopflingskrimmern"


----------



## Medvedya (Aug 13, 2005)

Well, apart from being able to sail the seven seas, you can put your mind at ease as well. Sound just your sort of thing C.C!


----------



## cheddar cheese (Aug 22, 2005)

> Sound just your sort of thing C.C



I never knew you could speak Caveman?


----------



## Holmes (Sep 7, 2005)

I'm interesting in warbirsds since I was a spermatozoon. With billions of cons on my six, I outmanevered all of them, reached the target and dropped the load!


----------



## Pisis (Oct 17, 2005)

well, all of us


----------



## The Jug Rules! (Nov 10, 2005)

Wow! Ive been gone forever, and this forum was here long before I left

Anyone know how to get this darn siggy to work???


----------



## Pisis (Nov 10, 2005)

The Jug Rules! said:


> Anyone know how to get this darn siggy to work???



It's working for me...


----------



## Gnomey (Nov 10, 2005)

Pisis said:


> The Jug Rules! said:
> 
> 
> > Anyone know how to get this darn siggy to work???
> ...


I see it as well...


----------



## The Jug Rules! (Nov 11, 2005)

Oh,  I could only see the url I had typed in...now it works


----------



## mosquitoman (Nov 11, 2005)

Nice one! Pity about the writing all over it


----------



## Gnomey (Nov 11, 2005)

mosquitoman said:


> Nice one! Pity about the writing all over it


Yes it does spoil it... Nice sig otherwise Jug!


----------



## cheddar cheese (Nov 13, 2005)

There are some programs out there that remove watermarks....I dont know of any though...


----------



## The Jug Rules! (Jan 4, 2006)

Why do they even HAVE water marks?


----------



## cheddar cheese (Jan 4, 2006)

To stop people stealing them and claiming them for their own.


----------



## Chris_G (Jan 4, 2006)

Well to start with it was just aircraft, living close to Cranfield Airfield and occasionally getting the Vintage Aircraft Team fly over. Then i went to my first show there in 1987. Despite the Tornado and even Concorde turning up the two things that stuck in my mind were the Harvard Formation Team and the Vulcan. My next show turned out to be in 1992 at Shuttleworth. The rest is history......... 8) 8) 8)


----------



## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 5, 2006)

just considder yourself lucky you're close to so many airshows..........


----------



## Chris_G (Jan 5, 2006)

That should be 'was' close to so many shows, now i'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. Still every so often the RAF decide to buzz the house at 250 ft ish.


----------



## syscom3 (Jan 5, 2006)

Save your money for the Chino Airshow in May 2006.


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## Glider (Jan 5, 2006)

When did I start. The earliest I can remember is having a childs book on aircraft, the type that had a picture of the plane its speed and the engines. I noticed that one of the slower ones had two engines and the faster plane one. I asked my Dad why and he didn't know. A number of my toys were metal aircraft. This was before we moved from Liverpool so I must have been six at the time.
I did a lot of Wargames from about nine years old and the ones I like most were aviation or Naval wargames. When I was 14 with an older member of the wargames club we wrote a set of WW2 Naval rules. Everything grew from there.


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## syscom3 (Jan 5, 2006)

I remember getting interested in warbirds when I was growing up in Minnesota (in the 1960's), under the flight path of one of the main runways at Mpls/St Paul airport.

There was a USAF/USN joint reserve airbase there, and I would watch C-119's and PV-2's taking off and coming in to land.

One day I bought a PBY Catalina model ( I think it was when Revell still made thhose fine 1/32 scale models) and my next door neighbor told me he was a pilot of one of them in the Pacific during WW2. I thought that was so cool, especially when he told me he was still a pilot in the Naval Reserve and would on occasion fly one of those PV2's over our neighborhood.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 8, 2006)

For me it was being around Aviation my whole life. My dad flew Hueys and he would take me work with him and from then one I knew I wanted to fly and be around aviation. I started studying planes and then with my love of WW2 history naturally it carried over to Warbirds. I remember being 5 and my dad taking me to museums over here in Germany with the Luftwaffe aircraft and me touching the wing of the Bf-109G-6 and going "WOW!"


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 8, 2006)

is that why you like the -109 so much?


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## pbfoot (Jan 8, 2006)

I think I became interested in aviation as kind of a genetic defect through my Dad who was one of the first 6 fitter riggers used in the BCATP and because of him always look up at the sound of any aircraft though i tend not to look at helicopters as they are little to prevalent around here unless they have that heavy military sound my first airshow i saw the Golden Hawks with the Canadair F86 Sabres


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 8, 2006)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> is that why you like the -109 so much?



That has part to do with it, being it was the first WW2 aircraft that I ever saw. Mostly though because I like the design of it. I like the way it was shaped and the Luftwaffe camo on it.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 9, 2006)

fair enough, the main reason i like the lanc is because i saw a documentary on it when i used to think planes were cool but didn't know anything about them, if it was a B-17 documentary i proberly would've like the B-17 like i like the lanc


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 9, 2006)

Fair eneogh...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 9, 2006)

let's just thank good it wasn't a B-10 documentary


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 9, 2006)

Or a Breda Ba-88 documentary...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 9, 2006)

why would anyone make a doccumantary on that hunk o' junk?


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 9, 2006)

Ummmm about it being a hunk of junk?  There must be someone out there that thinks that plane is the best thing since sliced bread


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 9, 2006)

yeah- you...........


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## cheddar cheese (Jan 9, 2006)

No  Looks? Sure, its a pretty plane. Performance? Id rather have a squadron of paper planes


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 12, 2006)

I wish the documentary that Lanc had see was about a French bomber!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 12, 2006)

i think my fortunate timing showed impeccable taste!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 12, 2006)

I dont.


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## Ball Turret Gunner (Feb 9, 2006)

I am new here and like this forum.

When I first became interested in War birds was when I saw my first WWII movie when I was a youngster. The first WWII movie I can recall watching was: The Longest Day.


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## FLYBOYJ (Feb 9, 2006)

Welcome Duke!


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## evangilder (Feb 9, 2006)

Welcome aboard. That is a great WWII film!


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## Gnomey (Feb 9, 2006)

Yes the Longest Day is one of the best. Welcome!


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## Twitch (Feb 10, 2006)

I've always been into aircraft since I was a little kid. My Dad was a fighter pilot in WW 2. But I guess in about 1958 I began collecting books on the era and that was the turning point. 8)


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## evangilder (Feb 10, 2006)

What did your dad fly?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 10, 2006)

The Longest Day is one of the best movies of all times in my opinion.


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## Twitch (Feb 11, 2006)

My Dad just got into P-51s at the end of hostilities.....


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## evangilder (Feb 11, 2006)

Pretty cool. ETO?


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## Ball Turret Gunner (Feb 17, 2006)

Thank you Gentlemen for ther nice welcomes. And The Duke rules.


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## trackend (Feb 17, 2006)

Hi BTG 
hope you have some fun and read some interesting posts

Impressive Twitch as Evan said what theater did he serve in and where was your dad based? If it was in the uk im in the southeast so may have some local info for you.


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## loomaluftwaffe (Feb 25, 2006)

My grandfather(1915-1988) was one of the First airliner pilots in the DC-3, then became a transport pilot, but i only really knew something about warbirds 4 yrs after he died B( 

what really got me in was that they just looked cool, aircraft are some of the most beautiful things that exist in the world


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## Henk (Feb 26, 2006)

My interest started when I bought the Take Off serious of magazines that showed the Bf-109, Fw-190, Spitfire, Hurricane and Me-262 and started to get interested in WW2 aircraft. 

Henk


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## MacArther (Mar 16, 2006)

I became interested in WW2 in general (especially the planes and other technical things) when I visited my grandpa the first time. He was in the US Navy on a Cruiser that served in the Medderteranean as well as supported the D-Day landings with bombardment. He still has the wake-up times drilled into him, so he woke me up the first time I was at his house, BEFORE SUNRISE! He then proceeded to walk me through his personal collection of World War Two items. One of my favorites was a Luger that he got from a US service man when he was off-loading supplies in a Medditeranean port. Another good item was the map of the invasion beaches that and the various points to be shelled. The map also showed other things, but I'm gonna take up too much space describing all of them. Finally, he has all the older books on vehicles, battles, and personel that I could ever want. The last time I was there (late last year) my parents practically had to pry us apart because we were discussing so much World War Two stuff and didn't want to stop. To top it off, I had a relative on the battleship in Battle Ship Cove (New England) that was either the first or last to be hit by a Kamakaze in World War Two.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 26, 2006)

I have allways been interested in WW2 and Aviation. So I just combined the two together and well here I am...


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## Vassili Zaitzev (May 2, 2006)

Back in middle I really got into the second World War. I was browsing for websites to discuss WW2 months ago and bam, here I am.


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## Desert Fox (Jun 17, 2006)

I was given a book all about fighter aircraft (in general), and my passion grew from there. I always had a soft spot for those lovable piston engine fighters though.


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## Hot Space (Aug 5, 2006)

I'm planning to get interested next tuesday, but I might be busy, so I might put it off until friday - depends if the socks are dry yet


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Aug 6, 2006)

he's back!


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## Hot Space (Aug 6, 2006)

I've got a front, a side and even a bottom as well


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## lesofprimus (Aug 6, 2006)

So whens the next campaign comin out Space???


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## Hot Space (Aug 6, 2006)

I've started a Mossie one using the Finland Map m8, but I haven't had the time to finish it yet boo-hoo


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## Bf109_g (Aug 14, 2006)

Hi all.

Me, well...

Find out two years ago that my deceased great-uncle flew Lancasters during WW2, from February to July 1943.Also, going to Warbirds Over Wanaka (2004)
and seeing the fully restored Messerschmitt 109 in all its glory!!

That's all folks.

James.


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## Crippen (Aug 25, 2006)

mmmmmmmmmmm a Lancaster fan, join the club,m aint she a beaut. Always good to hear, a lancs lover.
Funny how seing a restored plane has an effect on you, when I saw the Wellington a couple of months ago, has made me mor interested in her.


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## pbfoot (Aug 25, 2006)

Crippen said:


> mmmmmmmmmmm a Lancaster fan, join the club,m aint she a beaut. Always good to hear, a lancs lover.
> Funny how seing a restored plane has an effect on you, when I saw the Wellington a couple of months ago, has made me mor interested in her.


I.m curious about the Wellington any info or link that would be something to see


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Aug 26, 2006)

it's only the skeleton........


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## Allison Johnson (Aug 31, 2006)

I became interested when I was a child. My father was in the Army but we lived in married quarters on a lot of RAF airfields and when my father retired from the Army we settled in Dishforth North Yorkshire which has a very large ex WWII airbase. I often used to watch the RAF and the the Army Air Corp flying around and when my father passed away he was laid to rest in the cemetry in Dishforth. In that cemetry there are rows of RCAF airmen and after paying my respects to my father I used to walk down the rows and read all the headstones and what struck me was the ages. I kept wondering who they were so far away from home and what they did so I did a little reading. That's where it all started from and the rest is history.

Ali


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## Allison Johnson (Aug 31, 2006)

Hot Space said:


> I'm planning to get interested next tuesday, but I might be busy, so I might put it off until friday - depends if the socks are dry yet




I must down to the sea again to the lonely sea and the sky,
I've left my socks and knicks down there I hope that they are dry.

Ali   

Credits to John Masefield and Sea Fever (sort of  )


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## Erich (Sep 1, 2006)

well I must have been out to lunch when this thread was started ............

due to an uncle a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force out of Wiesbaden, Germany had close ties with several of the big shot Luftwaffe aces, Hartmann, Rall, Galland, the Count, etc. discovered that I had 2 cousins serving in the Luftwaffe, one a night fighter ace and the other a young day fighter pilot, both killed during the war. Geez this was way back in 1960, maybe earlier ....

~ E ~ ♪ ♫


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 1, 2006)

Damn Old Timer!


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## oldmadbadger (Sep 1, 2006)

Warbirds ? I think they're great, I have all their albums !!!

I have my own page on myspace !!!

I love anything by European techno artists !!!

I am due to be comitted any day now !!!


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## Hot Space (Sep 1, 2006)

Allison Johnson said:


> I must down to the sea again to the lonely sea and the sky,
> I've left my socks and knicks down there I hope that they are dry.
> 
> Ali
> ...



LOL


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## CrazyElf (Sep 2, 2006)

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/of...u-first-become-interested-warbirds-534-6.html

wow , i've found my post here from almost two years ago  


and also , what happened to Crippen , i remember there was 'something' going on with either her and CC or her and HS ?


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## Hot Space (Sep 2, 2006)

Nah, nothing to do with me m8 as far as I know.


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## cheddar cheese (Sep 2, 2006)

WTF, nothing going on with her and anyone else here  (Except maybe lanc...  )


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Sep 2, 2006)

Crippen still comes on here from time to time, but me and her speak a lot on MSN and we've become good friends


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## CrazyElf (Sep 2, 2006)

ah right ,cool


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 3, 2006)

oldmadbadger said:


> Warbirds ? I think they're great, I have all their albums !!!
> 
> I have my own page on myspace !!!
> 
> ...



What the hell are you talking about?


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## Allison Johnson (Sep 3, 2006)

oldmadbadger said:


> Warbirds ? I think they're great, I have all their albums !!!
> 
> I have my own page on myspace !!!
> 
> ...


Just keep taking the pills till they arrive OK!   

Ali


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## Allison Johnson (Sep 3, 2006)

cheddar cheese said:


> WTF, nothing going on with her and anyone else here  (Except maybe lanc...  )


Pulled too many G's under canopy.
Wanna see me in a skin tight, black and shiney suit with tight straps around my body? You do? I'm the one on the left. 


Ali


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 3, 2006)

Cool looks like that was fun.


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## Erich (Sep 3, 2006)

I hate flying ....... puke ! Allison looks like a hoot

you'd probably look better in black spandex on a bike moving at 35mph 

long live cycling !

E ~


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 3, 2006)

How can you hate flying?!!!!

I love it and it is the one thing that I will miss about the military. Oh well atleast I can fly as a civilian as well.


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## Erich (Sep 3, 2006)

Chris yes I know talking with the vets and other "flying" members of the familie they have all said " are you weird or what ? !"

sorry but flying makes me up-chuck

E and here I am interested in WW 2 aerial combat from both sides ......... oh my


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## evangilder (Sep 5, 2006)

It's funny, I have a few fellow aviation photography friends that either don't fly for the same reason as Erich, or they have no interest in flying, just taking pictures of others doing it. Not me, I love flying, talking about it and taking pictures of it!


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## FLYBOYJ (Sep 6, 2006)

*Who said they hate flying?!?!? AHHHHHHHHH I'm Hyperventilating!!!!!!!*


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## Erich (Sep 6, 2006)

Erich hangs his head in shame ...........

have a German friend who is a missionary aviation pilot; flies a very fast and powerful twin engine craft. Is serving over on Yap island, brought the thing over about 12 years ago for an overhaul in the states and came to Oregon. Took 7 of us up for a fast flight over the Cascades and un-beknownst to me flew around Mt Mcloughlin at 9400 feet and then south towards Crater lake, well the guy got a bug in his ear and dove the thing down towards the lake and pulled it up hard and out over one of the many ridges surrounding the lake .......... pass me the barf bag, everyone laughed, my son, wife and close German friends, all giddy with delight, all I could do was shrink back in the padded seat looking down and moaning, and I have been this way ever since, even on a short flight from north Cali to southern Cali. Pass me the dramamine please ........


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## FLYBOYJ (Sep 6, 2006)

No sweat Erich - when I first started flying I almost had to give it up due to some minor inner ear damage. I'd puke worse than Karen Carpenter!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 6, 2006)

FLYBOYJ said:


> *Who said they hate flying?!?!? AHHHHHHHHH I'm Hyperventilating!!!!!!!*



I know!!!

The only thing better than flying would to be having sex while flying the aircraft.

You know what is the only thing better than that?

Having sex with 2 lovely ladies while flying the aircraft!


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## davparlr (Sep 6, 2006)

My first memory of aircaft occurred in my back yard as I ran from the terrible noise of Navy SNJs darting overhead. As I grew up, there were, of course, the Blue Angels flying low over my house as they landed (F9F, F11F, F4U, A4, F-18). Air show after air show, Navy Blimps, PBYs, F8Fs, P-51s, and every Navy plane. I got every plastic model I could get my hands on (did anyone get the landing gear to work on an Aurora F8U?). Library books on all aircraft were well worn. I was destined for Navy life, it seemed. A visit by the Navy recruiter, at college got me a ride on a T-34 and a trip for a flight physical to New Orleans (on a R5D). So I bit. In the mean time, the AF visited and I submitted an application to AF pilot training. Low and behold, the Navy flight surgeon failed to sign my physical. By the time I took it again the AF had called. Only five days to reply. A couple of weeks later, the Navy informed me that I was accepted into Navy pilot training, too late. So I was off on trip of my dreams with the AF and spent about 37 years in the aerospace business. What a ride.


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## Allison Johnson (Sep 6, 2006)

davparlr said:


> My first memory of aircaft occurred in my back yard as I ran from the terrible noise of Navy SNJs darting overhead. As I grew up, there were, of course, the Blue Angels flying low over my house as they landed (F9F, F11F, F4U, A4, F-18). Air show after air show, Navy Blimps, PBYs, F8Fs, P-51s, and every Navy plane. I got every plastic model I could get my hands on (did anyone get the landing gear to work on an Aurora F8U?). Library books on all aircraft were well worn. I was destined for Navy life, it seemed. A visit by the Navy recruiter, at college got me a ride on a T-34 and a trip for a flight physical to New Orleans (on a R5D). So I bit. In the mean time, the AF visited and I submitted an application to AF pilot training. Low and behold, the Navy flight surgeon failed to sign my physical. By the time I took it again the AF had called. Only five days to reply. A couple of weeks later, the Navy informed me that I was accepted into Navy pilot training, too late. So I was off on trip of my dreams with the AF and spent about 37 years in the aerospace business. What a ride.


British Navy screw up too. My brother joined the Navy as a Radio Operator and then applied for a tech course and they said (after testing) that he didn't have any aptitude for electronics. He left the Navy and did a BSc in Control Electronics and Cybernetics and got a first. Did not go back in with a commission as he had sampled civvy street and didn't want to go back. 

Ali


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## Allison Johnson (Sep 6, 2006)

evangilder said:


> It's funny, I have a few fellow aviation photography friends that either don't fly for the same reason as Erich, or they have no interest in flying, just taking pictures of others doing it. Not me, I love flying, talking about it and taking pictures of it!


It's not that I hate flying, it's the landing I hate which is why I skydive.  

Ali


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 7, 2006)

Why jump out a perfectly good flying plane though...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Sep 7, 2006)

it does look a lot of fun i'd like to have a go one day...........


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## cheddar cheese (Sep 7, 2006)

Nahh I wouldnt jump outta a plane unless I had to...


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## evangilder (Sep 8, 2006)

I'm with Chris on this one. Unless a wing is falling off, or the plane is engulfed in flames, my happy *** is staying in the fuselage.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Sep 8, 2006)

but it must be such a thrill.........


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 8, 2006)

So is flying...


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## cheddar cheese (Sep 8, 2006)

Whats the point in jumping out a plane for the hell of it...Id rather fall through the air at high speed and then pull up and do it all over again...Then, when the airframe gets overstressed and falls apart, you bail out and get the parachute experience. Thats the way


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## evangilder (Sep 9, 2006)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> So is flying...



Especially if you are landing with me in a stiff crosswind!  Perfect for you adrenaline junkies.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 10, 2006)




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## ndicki (Oct 3, 2006)

My father was a Bomber pilot in the RAF during the War - three times he brought an aircraft down on fire, and three times they asked him why he hadn't bailed out. The answer was simple - why abandon a perfectly good aircraft just because of a bit of smoke?

And just to prove the point, all three were repaired, and flew again.

Others were not. On the green visa waiver form we used to have to fill in in order to visit the USA, one of the questions was "Did you in any way contribute to the Nazi war-effort during the Second World War?" (or some such idiotic question)

His answer was "Yes".

The Border Policeman spotted this at passport control, and asked him, with the degree of intelligent humour that only US Border Policeman have, " Sir, could you explain this, please?"

You should have seen his eyes when my father replied cooly, " Certainly, Officer: I crashed three RAF aircraft."

With a father like that, how could I NOT have got into aircraft?


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 22, 2006)

My Grandpa was A Spitfire Mechanic during the second World War, he had flat feet so he couldnt go overseas.


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## lesofprimus (Oct 22, 2006)

As someone who has skydived for 20 years, with several combat and HALO jumps under his belt, I can tell u that I'd rather jump out of a perfectly good airplane as opposed to driving on the same road with some of these inbread hillbilliy retards down here in Mississippi...

And theres nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like a controlled fall through the earths atmosphere at 115 mph...


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## ndicki (Oct 22, 2006)

I can think of easier ways to sh*t myself with fright!


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## lesofprimus (Oct 22, 2006)

The hard part for most of us in the Teams was our first night jump at Benning...

THAT was scarier than meeting the advance troopers of the Republican Guard...


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## FLYBOYJ (Oct 22, 2006)

While I agree with Les all the way, jumping from an aircraft (if I had a parachute) would be the last thing I would prefer to do. Unless I see the structure coming apart or the aircraft totally on fire I'd stay with it as long as I know that I could put her down somewhere if I lost power. It's one thing to jump out as a skydiver, it's another thing to egress in an emergency from the cockpit or any portion of an aircraft not necessarily designed to accommodate a jumper. Although we hear stories about how easy it is (was) to get out of say a P-51 or FW-190, it's still a risky endeavor no matter what the circumstances are. 

In the L-29, unless we're doing aerobatics, I never put on the parachute...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Oct 22, 2006)

whilst i can understand why some people would be nervous i'd absolutely love to skydive it looks like a LOT of fun!


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## lesofprimus (Oct 22, 2006)

It is a tremendous amount of fun Lanc, and if u ever get the chance, go do a tandem jump, where u freefall strapped to an instructor...

U'll like that alot...


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 22, 2006)

lesofprimus said:


> As someone who has skydived for 20 years, with several combat and HALO jumps under his belt, I can tell u that I'd rather jump out of a perfectly good airplane as opposed to driving on the same road with some of these inbread hillbilliy retards down here in Mississippi...
> 
> And theres nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like a controlled fall through the earths atmosphere at 115 mph...



Ive jumped out of plenty of Griffins in my day with a parachute, but those werent exactly rugged whirleys, but i never wanted to think of a Halo jump, crazy **** i must say


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## R-2800 (Oct 23, 2006)

i first got into it around 5th grade when my grandma told me about my grandpa and how he was in the CBI crewing a C-109 over the hump


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Oct 23, 2006)

> if u ever get the chance, go do a tandem jump, where u freefall strapped to an instructor...
> 
> U'll like that alot...



what's this les, you being subtle?


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## cheddar cheese (Oct 23, 2006)

lanc, you'd like it more if you were strapped to a sheep...That way you can say you went down on a sheep and have an alibi for the meaning....


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Oct 23, 2006)

why would i say that anyway


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## lesofprimus (Oct 23, 2006)

Nope, no subtle words there... I was being sincere...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Oct 24, 2006)

wow les i'm touched... this's a new feeling from you


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 24, 2006)

You make it sound like he fondled you.....yeeesh


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Oct 25, 2006)

What do you wish he would fondle you? Are you jealous?


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## Matt308 (Oct 25, 2006)




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## spitfire101 (Oct 26, 2006)

nice drawings


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 26, 2006)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> What do you wish he would fondle you? Are you jealous?



Maybe whats youre point?


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## Emac44 (Oct 26, 2006)

Ok when did i become interested in War Birds. easy. grew up on RAAF bases as a kid. Father was Lancaster Gunner as you know because i have told you so many times. by this time you maybe thinking by god that man is so proud of his father. wonder where you got that idea haha. Any way it wasn't just Lancasters but everything that flew and mounted a gun a bomb or was just a reccy military aircraft. from every period in the last 100 years. aircraft from WW1 and 2 and in between war years. Korean Malayan Vietnam Borneo Desert Storm Europe Japan Pacific you name it and i will have a look at it. Especially where Aussie British and other Commonwealth airforces flew and served and of course our US allies military aircraft. but also soviet aircraft in same before mentioned periods also german italian and french. hell just a warbird fan and simple as that, by the way stop fondling each other. here to talk about aeroplanes there are other avenues to talk about fondling in yahoo chatrooms where you can fondle to your hearts contend hahaha


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Oct 27, 2006)

Emac44 said:


> by the way stop fondling each other. here to talk about aeroplanes there are other avenues to talk about fondling in yahoo chatrooms where you can fondle to your hearts contend hahaha



By the way, we mostly do talk about aircraft here. This place is a very laid back place though and we stray from the topic every once in a while and joke around. As a moderator here I say there is nothing wrong with that. The threads allways find there way back on topic.

Dont like it, too bad...


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## Matt308 (Oct 27, 2006)

Tough response, Adler. He was just playin'. We love everyone her Emac. We even tolerate folks from Brisbane. Well...some of us do.


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 27, 2006)

Hes a straight laced German what can you do


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## Emac44 (Oct 28, 2006)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> By the way, we mostly do talk about aircraft here. This place is a very laid back place though and we stray from the topic every once in a while and joke around. As a moderator here I say there is nothing wrong with that. The threads allways find there way back on topic.
> 
> Dont like it, too bad...



I see Adler has lack of humour must be the tuetonic in him hahaha


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## Emac44 (Oct 28, 2006)

Matt308 said:


> Tough response, Adler. He was just playin'. We love everyone her Emac. We even tolerate folks from Brisbane. Well...some of us do.



Nothing wrong with Brisbane. its in Queensland not Victoria and definitely no where South of Canada


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## Emac44 (Oct 28, 2006)

Emac44 said:


> Nothing wrong with Brisbane. its in Queensland not Victoria and definitely no where South of Canada



Oh by the way found this today. of a 75 Squadron RAAF? Mirage. Whats for Dinner Mum. Photo taken in 1972 for Christmas celebrations at one of the Messes. Can't remember which one


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## Emac44 (Oct 28, 2006)

Emac44 said:


> Oh by the way found this today. of a 75 Squadron RAAF? Mirage. Whats for Dinner Mum. Photo taken in 1972 for Christmas celebrations at one of the Messes. Can't remember which one



Also entrance to the Hatches Matches and Dispatches wing. More hatches then matches and dispatches according to the bottom photograph


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## 102first_hussars (Oct 28, 2006)

Yeesh a french aircraft, boys what were you guys thinking


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## lesofprimus (Oct 28, 2006)

Thinking about the Baked Pumpkin and the Minted Peas Im sure...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Oct 28, 2006)

Emac44 said:


> I see Adler has lack of humour must be the tuetonic in him hahaha



No I have a sense of humor just fine, just dont like new people here making comments about the forum like that before they know the forum.


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## lesofprimus (Oct 28, 2006)

Have to agree with Adler here... This place has its own personality, and until u adjust to it, u should keep ur fat yap shut and have fun...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Oct 28, 2006)

Great minds think alike.


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## Henk (Nov 4, 2006)

Oh sh*t another one will be added to les collection of meatballs kicked off.


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## corsairfreak (Jan 16, 2007)

For me, it started at a very early age. I was born in 1970, and as a child growing up in the '70's, I remember watching Baa Baa Black Sheep with my parents. Then I saw the movie Midway on T.V. There were some other movies about the air war in Europe that I saw as well, such as '12 o'clock high'. 

I also remember my parents building one of the 1/32 scale Revell F4U-1A Corsairs back then, and they hung it up in my room when it was done. Between that, and Baa Baa Black Sheep, is likely why the Corsair has been my favorite plane ever since. 

That, and my dad had a collection of books on WWII aircraft, and before I learned to read I'd go through them looking at all the pictures. 

I've been an avid scale modeler since about 1986, and I have just over 150 built model planes in 1/48 scale, most of which are WWII subjects. Of that number, about 30 are F4U Corsairs. But I build subjects from all theaters, although my favorite subjects to build have to do with naval aviation from all countries in WWII.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Jan 17, 2007)

if memory serves me correctly the grandfather (  ) of our very own les was a blacksheep............


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## TsgtE662 (Feb 4, 2007)

I've been interested in warbirds and military history since my childhood. I have been reading books on WWII and other eras since Elementary school days. I'd always go to the library in school and check out every book I could to read. I have over 500 books so far filling 4 book shelves in our computer room/office.


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## joebong (Feb 12, 2007)

lesofprimus said:


> Have to agree with Adler here... This place has its own personality, and until u adjust to it, u should keep ur fat yap shut and have fun...


My attempt at yuks, (See,8th A.F. one man out."stories") was firmly and sans fanfare halted, granted my humour is a tad off kilter. I respect this forum and those who contribute. At 47yrs I fancied myself a bit the sage at WWII aviation, but these guys are serious, huge stores of data, minutia and anecdotes. So I contribute when I can, avoid arguments (I'd lose most of them anyway.) and learn something from this unique coalition of A.C.fans.
My interest in WWII avi began in 65, my older brother built a revell Dambuster and a P40 etc. Then a kid named Jesse moved next door, so reading and model building was how we became pals, he and I built a couple of Revell flying tigers and went tearing down the street, chopping up any imaginary zeros in our path. Its only gotten worse since then.


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## lesofprimus (Feb 12, 2007)

corsairfreak said:


> For me, it started at a very early age. I was born in 1970, and as a child growing up in the '70's, I remember watching Baa Baa Black Sheep with my parents





Lanc said:


> if memory serves me correctly the grandfather ( ) of our very own les was a blacksheep.


That is infact correct Oh Master of the Eweish... Bill Case, 3rd highest scoring Black Sheep with 8 kills....


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## Erich (Feb 12, 2007)

joebong I am the SAGE !! ............ let's not forget that ok




and with that I can pretty much say what I want here ........... yeah right

after todays work in the trees I feel like a war-bird or is that a war-turd ?





thus I have spoken . . . ...........


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## lesofprimus (Feb 12, 2007)

So sayeth the Sheppard, so sayeth the Flock...


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## riseofnations (Feb 13, 2007)

Most machines from the period interest me eg, aircraft, tanks old steam enginges etc., i like the noise, colours and my dad was interested in the stuff. Then i learned my grandad was in the RNZAF and so ive been told time and again that he was supposibly the last guy to fly out of Singapore before the Japs overan it.

By the way if anyone could please vote for my web site at the netguide awards it would be most appreciated. International voters are allowed and the instructions for voting is on my Famous Conflicts homepage. cheers


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## Heinz (Mar 10, 2007)

I like mechanical things I have to admit. Cars, trains, aeroplanes, tanks, ships you name it ill have read about it.

Warbirds probably from a spitfire kit my old man bought me and built. 

My Dads father was in the British 8th Army with Monty and my other grandfather was in RAAF.

So I guess thats helped my interest grow


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## renrich (Apr 9, 2007)

I had an interest in WW2 aircraft during the war because I was barely old enough to be aware of some of the types in magazines and newspapers. I really started getting interested in 1955 while working at Temco Aircraft at the same time I was in college. Temco was next door to Vought and there were some F4Us still around on the flight line and I would go out and look at them during lunch time. Also, when I was in high school we used to spend a good bit of time on Padre Island near a Navy aerial gunnery range. Watching those TBMs, Hellcats, Corsairs and Bearcats dive in on the targets was a real thrill.


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## lesofprimus (Apr 9, 2007)

Is the Corsair, the first bird u came in contact with, ur favorite fighter??? Just curious...


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## Civettone (Apr 9, 2007)

I know exactly how that happened with me. The kids next door got some cool posters from aircraft (I especially remember the F-14 and F-4G). They also knew a bit about them, though looking back they knew nothing. Just the stuff that kids now: how fast it was and how many bombs it could carry. But I was impressed and interested.
Then a couple of years later (must have been 13 or so) I saw an ad for an aircraft cards collection. Each month you would receive 60 cards with a picture of an aircraft on one side and information about it on the other side. So I asked my mom if I could get it and then month by month the collection grew until there were about a thousand of them. In the beginning I kinda played with them. Would put my favorite ones on the table which represented my country and would take others to attack it, and then my air force would defend and naturally shoot down the enemy. Later on I took it to another level and started writing down complete OOBs per year. So gradually it became more serious. But I think it took me till I was 18 and I got internet connection before I really started to learn and look beyond the specifications of an aircraft. Up till then the fastest was also the best fighter, and the bomber with the most bombs the best bomber.
And yet I could name the maximum speed of every aircraft of that collection. Something I'm no longer capable of. As Lennon used to say "That's the bargain with it ya know".

Kris


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## Njaco (Apr 10, 2007)

From my dad. He was a former Air Force pilot (short time in the 50s being medical discharge) and he loved building models. I started modelling and it went from there. Didn't hurt that we were also living near the flight path of a local rinky- airport. I remember how excited my dad and I were to see a flight of three P-51s go overhead.

Still modelling, still interested and trying to pass it on to my kids.


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## trackend (Apr 10, 2007)

My mother told me of my Uncle ( a ww2 Wellington pilot ) and how he had died after only a few missions upon returning from training in Canada so it sort grew from there.


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## lesofprimus (Apr 10, 2007)

Several things molded my intrest in WWII Aviation... The main things were my Grandfather, who flew Corsairs with VMF-122, -112, and -214, and the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC...

My Grandfather was an inspiration, and a funny guy... Told alot of stories... Took me to alot of places.... My Dad also was a pilot also, and I went flying with him and Grandpa twice a month...

The first time I went to the Air and Space Museum, I was hooked.... Hearing the stories, meeting the pilots, and reading some books doesnt make it all click together until u actually can touch the planes.....

Then the Hook sets....


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## renrich (Apr 10, 2007)

lesofprimus, I got a book sometime during WW2 and I remember only two pictures(these were color paintings) one was a Wildcat pursuing a Zero in a dive and the other was a Corsair against a background of clouds. The Corsair was the XF4U and was silver with yellow wings. I got hooked on the Corsair and have read everything I can get my hands on about it.


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## renrich (Apr 10, 2007)

I was in a Piper Tomahawk on the taxiway at Addison airport in about 1980 when looking to my left I saw an F4U that looked factory fresh taking off. I almost ran off the taxiway. LTV had just finished completely renovating one and I believe this was that plane, piloted by,I believe, Paul Thayer, the CEO of LTV, a former Navy and Vought test pilot. I taxied down to the run up area turned into the wind and did my runup check list and called the tower to say I was ready for the active runway. They called back and said to hold as a Corsair was doing a fly by. I looked to my right and here came this big blue F4U about 50 ft off the deck going like the dickens right down the center of the runway. After he was gone I pulled out and took off and felt very insignificant. Unfortunately, in a few months this same plane had an engine failure, crashed and Thayer was lucky to get away with no serious injuries. Thayer had a run of bad luck as he was later convicted of insider trading and spent a year or so in a federal prison.


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## Eighthaf (Apr 11, 2007)

My cousins, who had the coolest models. The TV show 12 O'Clock high, as well. That's what got me started, what kept me around was that I'd found I have a real interest both in the machines and in the history they created. 

Pretty geeky; I was maybe six when the bug bit, and you're practically begging to get beat up if you dare to breathe a word of what you do in your spare time (like reading books about air battles). 

I didn't care, and I've never lost interest.


Eighth


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## Lucky13 (Apr 19, 2007)

HI group!
I built my first model with my ol' man back in the day when you could buy the Matchbox 1/32 SBD Dauntless, never looked back. I'm also interested in WWI, Korean and Vietnam airwar.


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## Maharg (Apr 20, 2007)

When did you first become interested in Warbirds? 

This is a realy difficult question Medvedya, I can't remember ever not being interested in warbirds. When I was about 5 my Dad built me a model of a Fokker D.VII and from them on I have been building models and collecting info on WW1 ,WW2 and Korean War aircraft. 
If I could have a wish granted, it would be to fly one of the WW2 fighter aircraft.


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## Kilroy (May 2, 2007)

Let's see now HMM!, me and some freind's were playing baseball up in the field up the street from my house when i was about 12/13 yr's old that was in like 63 when out of no where a jet fighter did a high speed low level pass over the field we were playing on, From that moment up until i started wearing glasses i knew what i wanted from life. To be a fighter pilot, but they require 20/20 vision, so that killed that idea


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## spit_ace'43 (May 3, 2007)

I've always wanted to be a pilot. When people asked me what I wanted to be, I simply said, "I wanna fly stuff" That turned into flying Search and rescue for the Coast guard and then now that I'm in High School it's "I'm gonna fly the baddest **** in the sky; and I'm going to shoot some motherf*ckers down while I'm at it" Naturally I picked up WWII history because of the historical importance and the intensity of dogfights.


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## Sgt. Pappy (May 6, 2007)

Initially it was all about the F-16's and F-15's that the guys on TV wouldn't shut up about. After a while, in grade 7, my WWII-obsessed buddy wouldn't shut up about Messerschmitt 109 this, Me-262 that. He got me interested in the WWII era, saying how intense the air battles were - no computers, comp.-guided missles, laser-aimed weapons, or extremely high speeds that would send the skin on your face packing.

Instead it was 109's in low-level dogfights at treetop level, Spitfires lifting off from grass fields, rittled with bomb-holes and firey wrecks, B-25's almost falling off carrier decks and Corsairs moving dirt. 

Like Spit_Ace 43, I, too felt like being a pilot. Instead, I chose to be a mechanic and now i work at a museum, restoring Merlins. And after years of my previously-gr.7 friend talking about the Messerschmitt 109, I got interested in its prime rival - the Supermarine Spitfire. Ever since then, I don't think anything other than the F4U Cosair has ever been so close to my interest. But even with the Corsair in mind, the Spitfire's still my fave.


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## Trautloft (Jun 10, 2007)

as a child i been interested in zoology and ww2.
later,around the age of 14, i developed a particular interest in ww2 war machines, mostly planes and panzers. once i bought a book : all aircraft of ww2 , and from that time on...


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## Jackson (Jun 10, 2007)

before I was born


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## eagle1 (Jun 11, 2007)

Hi everybody out there,
Well my first experience at 13 years old was at my nearby airfield at Archerfield aerodrome in Brisbane Queensland Australia. I became good mates with a school friend and his father was in the chain of command of the RAAF base adjoining this airfield which happened to be the original base for Qantas Airlines in Australia.I can still remember the painted over sign on the hanger where the the faded name appeared.That was in the middle 1950's. We used to play in an old Avro Anson alongside the hanger and I was desperate to fly. I visited the RAAF base across Beatty road that was closed off with gates and were opened to allow the few remaining Lancaster bombers and a Mustang P51, in mint condition, owned by a lucky member at the base. My friend and I played amongst the Lancasters that flew occasionally from here although all of the weapons were removed we enjoyed moving around inside the hangers and sitting in all the gun turrets sitting on the ground about the pristine aircraft.
After meeting many flyer's in the local club I finally got to fly in an old Cessna with one of the pilots (I must admit I forged my mums letter approving it and I guessed he already knew that because the writing in the letter was pretty basic,but I guess the nagging over many months got to him) Never the less it was fantastic and had my family been in a better financial situation I would have continued my dream to fly. My father was a Rolls Royce engineer during WW2 and serviced the British fighters at Dyce and the MT B's on the River Clyde in Scotland. In those days 1949-50 I played among the many abandoned MT B's and rescue craft at the Holy Loch,the old MTB and sub base of WW2 later to become the American Polaris missile submarine base Subron 14. I was invited to visit by the members of the base on my first return home to my place of birth,and that was one the highlights of our visit. I got to tour the dry dock from a distance and that was as close as I got,incredible the size off those subs,props as tall as a 2 story building!
My father had such an affinity for the Merlin whenever he heard the sound from nearby Archerfield aerodrome(someone there had a spitty or a hurricane) he would stiffen and look to the skies.
He ended his days and died on duty as an aircraft engineer for The Department of Civil Aviation here in Brisbane on 8th March 1960 aged 63, 2 years from retirement from a life of devotion to his trade. This brave man was also a rifleman at the Somme,France in WW1 and almost mortally wounded in his return from battle, injuries he received would haunt his health for the rest of his life. During his stint at Clydebank shipping yards during WW2 he escaped injury twice during the bombing raids. 
I have never forgotten the the sound of that Merlin and nearly visited a couple of airfields in England during my first time back home in 1989,unfortunately the storm of the century then put paid to that! just driving down from Scotland to England on that February was so dangerous,we booked into a Granada just as they announced that trucks were being blown off the Severn bridge!
I really have appreciated your web site and your members photos with their aircraft. The quality of the photos are first class,what a great idea.
One day maybe I will get to fly in a Spitfire and experience the exhilaration of such a flight and experience what my dad carried on about! that was the only conversation about both world wars he would be animated about aside of the 
different sound of a Benz 601,he always wanted to see one up close!

cheers


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## Cota1992 (Jun 19, 2007)

I always was interested in war movies and I had surgery at the age of 8 that laid me up for several months and I started reading everything I could get my hands on which included lots of WWII picture books from the library, remember those red and black cold war era childrens books on the military? 
Anyway, my Dad was a trucker and about 1978 one of his stops was the late great Areo Publishers in San Diego and my Dad said something to the guy in the shipping department about how his son would go crazy in that place and the next thing my Dad knew he had half the cab in his truck full of boxes of factory defect books (Bent covers, page missing here or there, ink bleeds, etc but all very readable) for free and a invite to take as many as he could when ever he delivered there as they were just going to go to be shredded anyway.
My Dad comes home and just starts hauling in boxes from the car and I can't even believe my eyes when I open them up...books and more books!Everything from fighter sqaudron historys to books on Tiger tanks!
My Dad made several other trips to the publishers coming back with a few boxes each time, until they got new shipping guy and the supply was cut off. By then I had a full bookshlef and a few years of reading.
I still remember the first book I read almost straight out of the box the first day was the Checker Tail Clan...

The passion has come and gone since but never totally left me...
Art


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## Cota1992 (Jun 19, 2007)

Eagle 1, that's a great story!
Funny how we both are into this from our Dads in different ways.
Art


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## twobit01 (Jun 19, 2007)

I started liking warbirds at about age 13 after seeing Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV. Those Corsairs just made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. me and Dad watched it every week. I especially liked the episode with the P-38's in it. I also met and spoke with Greg Boyington for a long time at an airshow where he was appearing. He was fascinating to speak with, and from then on I was hooked. It started with WW2 planes, but moved on to all of them later.


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## blu3y4 (Jun 22, 2007)

since i was about 6........only 9 years ago


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## otftch (Jun 22, 2007)

From my Dad also.He was in the Navy and stationed aboard various carriers.He would bring me photos and we got to go aboard ship when he came home.I was in many Navy aircraft with him.I remember as a kid(I don't know how old but before six) sitting in the radio compartment of an S2F and being cramped. I wonder now how a grown man could work there for hours.
Ed


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## Screaming Eagle (Jun 25, 2007)

I have always been interested in warfare and what the ANZACs did for us and when I went to a nearby airshow when I was in the scouts it kindled my interest in military aircarft. just being around those planes made me want to learn more about them. I then bought a P-51 Mustang model (Mark IV I think), the P-51D being my favourite plane of WW2 and then bought a book on the different planes of WW2. Also I love the Helicopter warfare from Vietnam as well. I am currently building a P-51C Mustang model and hopefully will have pics up soon


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## Heinz (Jun 28, 2007)

Cota1992 said:


> I always was interested in war movies and I had surgery at the age of 8 that laid me up for several months and I started reading everything I could get my hands on which included lots of WWII picture books from the library, remember those red and black cold war era childrens books on the military?
> Anyway, my Dad was a trucker and about 1978 one of his stops was the late great Areo Publishers in San Diego and my Dad said something to the guy in the shipping department about how his son would go crazy in that place and the next thing my Dad knew he had half the cab in his truck full of boxes of factory defect books (Bent covers, page missing here or there, ink bleeds, etc but all very readable) for free and a invite to take as many as he could when ever he delivered there as they were just going to go to be shredded anyway.
> My Dad comes home and just starts hauling in boxes from the car and I can't even believe my eyes when I open them up...books and more books!Everything from fighter sqaudron historys to books on Tiger tanks!
> My Dad made several other trips to the publishers coming back with a few boxes each time, until they got new shipping guy and the supply was cut off. By then I had a full bookshlef and a few years of reading.
> ...



thats a fantastic story, almost a dream 

Ah books I spend hours re reading mine.......


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## ToughOmbre (Jun 28, 2007)

September, 1952. Got interested in Warbirds and WW II watching "Victory At Sea" with my dad; one of my earliest memories from childhood. A few years later saw "Wing and a Prayer" and "The Purple Heart" and I was hooked.


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## RAGMAN (Jun 29, 2007)

I was 5 years old when Black Sheep Squadron was on.Also the Waltons had a radio program that had Stuka sirens going.My brother also had those old comics of World War 2...cool reading,for a kid at six...


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## Screaming Eagle (Jun 29, 2007)

i have some of the old 'commando' war stories in pictures comics. they are great. the re-published ersions in the newsagents are nearly $5 for 1 comic! still I go to the flea markets where I can still pick up a whole heap up cheap. Also, just yesterday I picked up a new book about the commando forces of WW2 at half price, bargain!


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## YakFlyer (Jul 2, 2007)

Fantastic drawings, I am in awe! 
Good stories, always great to read about people like me! 

I sat in the Spitfire when I was 6, no one in my family flew but there was some kind of ignition there and then. That is all I have ever known. My first warbird flight was in a Stearman in '99, a few months later, I did my first solo the day after my 16th. two years later, my PPL, 2 more years my CPL, then my aerobatic rating, 18 months of competing at the junior levels, late last year I soloed the Yak 52, 90 sorties to date or so. I now fly at Intermediate level, and do a good number of figures from the advanced catalogue, although there is a long, long way to go before I can fly that level proficiently. Just about to jump into a Pitts S2 for a job which will be more relevant experience, maybe a chance to have a crack at advanced down the track.

I just love old aircraft, I remember filming the Nanchangs and Yaks praticing on good friday, for the 2000 airshow at Wanaka, I had barely done 10 hours, now, I am amongst those very pilots, some of the greatest characters, and most interesting people I have ever met, and have learn't so much from. 
I sat in the Spitfire, the same one, yet again, at Wanaka in '04, having been chatting with Lee Proudfoot, who was very obliging in letting me climb back in after those years, I was 6, in 1989, when I first climbed up, now, in '04, I was 21, how much I had changed, but not the plan...


YakFlyer


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## Dolpho (Jul 27, 2007)

I´m interested in warbirds, because my father was first working on Ju 88 in greece ( 43-44 ) and in April 45 at Lechfeld ( EJG 2 ) on Me 262. He was responsible for the weapons including bombs on both types. A cousin of my grandfather was the youngest weaponsgeneral of the Luftwaffe ( Eichenlaub mit Schwertern und Brillanten ). The last reason is, the pistonfighters are the last, the jetfighters ( Me 262 ) are the beginning of a new type of warbirds.


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## model299 (Jul 31, 2007)

When I was a young kid, I hung out in the Westport library in Kansas City, Mo. I stumbled across a book of WW2 aircraft, and was immediately smitten. I thought these were some of the most bueatiful, sensuous machines I'd ever seen. I've been hooked ever since.


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## ccheese (Jul 31, 2007)

I grew up a stone's throw from Glenn L. Martin's Middle River aircraft plant,
in Maryland, in the 1940's. I use to ride my bike down to their plant and
watch airplanes all day long. I was there in 1944 when they were testing 
Bf-109's and FW-190's against some of our aircraft. I also saw a PBM
coming in for a landing in Middle River and dig a wing into the water. The
plane cart-wheeled for two hundred yards. As a youngster my ambition 
was to be a test pilot for Glen L. Martin. 

Charles


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## goat (Aug 26, 2007)

Our local airport was an Army Air Corps advanced training field in WW2. My nephew and I used to go exploring the woods around the airport when we were young, just a lot of old foundations and such. We liked to go dig the .50 caliber bullets out of the berm at the local police firing range which was where the gunsites on the fighters were bore-sighted. My Dad's cousin was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 with 3 confirmed kills and 2 probables. He told me about trying to track an Me262 with the ball turret, but it was too fast and the gunsight couldn't keep up! After I was married I found out my wife's dad was a tailgunner on a B-24 and flew on the Ploesti raid. I can't find much info on the wartime air field but, what I can find points to P-39's and P-51's being based here in WW2.


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## Konigstiger205 (Aug 26, 2007)

Well I always was interested in WW2 and one day while I was searching for pictures of WW2 planes I when found Warbird...my grandfather was an aircraft mechanic and that's pretty much everything...but the site is definitely the best I know and I know this sounds cheesy but I'm proud to be a member because there are a lot of great guys around here


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## d_bader (Aug 29, 2007)

My Dad used to make kits when he was a lad, so thought I might be interested. We did our first joint one when I was 5 and I did my first solo one when I was about 8. Since then I ahve been amking them for the past 8 years.......

It was the kits that got me interested. I researched planes and got fascinated firstly about WW2 planes and then about WW2 in general. For a 16 year old, my room looks odd. I have about 10 posters of WW2 planes and many airfix on the ceiling. All my books are WW2 linked. I live WW2 everything, in particular planes and am lucky enough to have parents willing to go to museums even on holiday. I have been to Duxford twice and many others. Tangmere near Chichester is good. Not big at all but it is really friendly and feels very homely with people pffering to give you tours and make cups of tea etc.


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## wingnuts (Aug 30, 2007)

I've been interested in aircraft since I was a kid in the 50s.... as most kids in the UK were then. I became an aircraft apprentice at Blackburns and then joined the RAF, I've been in the avaition industry, mainly military apart from a couple of years in general aviation and airlines. Done a lot on C130s... still doing it now for the RAAF. Also do ground handling for RAAF F/A18As and Hawks when the come to Melbourne for displays etc.

I also have my own graphics business, besides commercial stuff and I do t-shirt and hat designs for the RAAF Museum and other aviation organisations. my speciality is cartoons and caricatures.


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## Instal (Oct 16, 2007)

My dad was a communications officer in the RAF and had a reciever in his radio room that was out of a Lancaster. He would let me play with the dials etc and when I was old enough to understand he told me about what he did in WW2. I think I was hooked soon after that. I drew planes and made models and grew more and more enamoured with the Spitfire in particular. We would go to the Airforce club of Windsor and when ever the discussion turned to the Spit the upwelling of emotion from these guys was overwhelming. That is probably what hooked me.


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## Civettone (Oct 16, 2007)

Cool! Must have been great to have seen the Spitfire operational 


Kris


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## prang (Oct 20, 2007)

Sometime in the late sixties when I was very young 6, 7? my father would fly about the Washington state area from little airport to airport. On one flight we dropped into this field in the middle of nowhere with one heck of a good diner surrounded by little brightly colored planes. I had finished my burger and fries quickly because of all the smoke and noise and begged him to allow me to go out on the deck to enjoy the sunny day, promising I’d stay put and not climb on the planes. 

While on the deck, playing dog fight with what I today think was a yellow plastic Vautour and blue FJ Fury, there was this odd pulsing, whooshing, sort of wine circling the field that I instantly realized was some new sort of plane I’d never heard before; not some turbine job, something else very odd. I strained my eyes scanning the area but it always seemed to be behind me when suddenly this sleek, dark green, odd but exquisitely shaped plane shot down the runway at very high speed. 

I knew the plane was old, not being a jet and in somewhat of a state of disrepair but was still mesmerized by it as it circled again then landed. To my delight it veered off the runway approaching the diner’s deck eventually parking just about even with my nose a few feet away. I can still remember the pilot was grinning ear to ear. Hell, I can even remember the smells of the diner, the avgas, grass, oil… 
When he got out and gave me the ok to come near, I about leapt at the plane. I eventually begged him to let me sit in the cockpit but my dad came out and scolded me as I was climbing up the ladder. Later that day, on the way home, I saw that plane blast past us in the distance with Mt. Rainier as its back drop. 

The plane was a P-38. It has a very distinctive sound if you’ve ever heard it. Ever since, I’ve had a passion for anything about war birds.


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## ppopsie (Oct 20, 2007)

I don't know when and why I started to like the airplanes but I have been toying plastic model airplanes since I was just a small kid. 

I kept on airplane modeling up to becoming nineteen when I started flying in gliders just by chance. A few years later I found mself flying a Cessna, to learn how to fly the airplanes at Chino airport, California where seeing and listening to the warbirds' noises were the just normal things. Since then I got be very good at doing things like landing a Piper Super Cub in 20kts crosswind!

Now I am back on the firm ground and fully enjoying everything about the aviation.


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## DBII (Oct 20, 2007)

My father grew up by an AF base in the 40's. His uncle flew with the 13th AF in B25s. When I was young, he would take me to watch the commerical planes. Other familes went hunting or watched sports, we would chase warbirds. I was line up to fly Harriers for the Corps but dummy ended up being color blind. Red/Green was the only color I passed.

My father is almost 71 and every year we still make at lease 3 shows. We finaly made it to Dayton and then drove over to Thunder Over Michigan. It was a trip that we talked about doing for 30 years. It was the best time we ever had together. 

DBII


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## DBII (Oct 20, 2007)

Wingnut, I love the Zero.

DBII


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## wingnuts (Oct 23, 2007)

Thank you DBII


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## majorwoody10 (Oct 23, 2007)

..me too wingnut great zeke ! ...i was mabey two or three years old rideing in a train somewhere through germany or western europe in the early 50s (i was a us army brat toddler) we passed a high dirt berm of what i now realize was the edge or end of an airfeild ,and pushed off the very steep end of the feild were 2 or 3 derelict prop fighter planes , spits or mabey typhoons ,sewage and slime camo and great british roundels , the angle was such that i was looking straight into the cockpits , the airstrip being high above the rr tracks and completely invisible ..this prolly sounds weird but even then i felt those roundels ment something to me though i was a baby in daipers 
..when i was five ,i told a girl i was sweet on that " i was going to be a pilot " while we watched contrails high over fort sill oklahoma ..she was not impressed and told me she also was going to be a pilot ...i then assured her that girls could not be pilots .
....at age nine i witnessed a korean pilot stuff his t33 through the roof of a distant factory near taegu s.k. ..i asked my dad why he didnt jump out ,he told me korean pilots were not permitted to jump out of expensive american jets ..later that year i watched dawn patrol with errol flynn on afbc on our small black and white tv with my dad ,thats when i decided i was going to be a fighter pilot ,
...by 5th grade i was creastfallen to discover that the usaf did not accept candidates who were nearsighted and required rather thick lenses to see a classroom chalkboard .
...in my mid twenties i did manage become a hang glider then later a private pilot and proud half owner of a 76 piper warrior , this aquisition did help me to win the hand of my lovely wife who when seeing all those cockpit dials and gauges was convinced i was a genious as well as a wealthy dare devil aviator ...alas her opinion some 25 years later is that im not actually competant to operate anything more complicated than a wheelbarrow .
..and many hundreds of hours of flying ww2 combat flight sims online with thousands of white knuckle , butt scrunching virtual dogfights under my belt.... has convinced me that if i were real life a stick and rudder gunslinger of ww2 era fighters , i would have been one of those unfortunate newbies that was killed on his first or second combat mission ..a natural , i am not ...but i still love prop fighter planes ...


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## wingnuts (Oct 25, 2007)

Glad you also liked the Zeke too Major ... always one been one of my favourites. Here's another.... most of the pilots who flew the RAF fighters in WW2 would have trained on one in one of these.... still plenty around, see them regularly flying over my place from RAAF Point Cook.. site of the RAAF Museum here in Melbourne.

DH82 Tigermoth


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## majorwoody10 (Oct 26, 2007)

man...i want a tiger moth from santa this year ..ive been extra good too...


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## Messy1 (Dec 6, 2007)

I have been interested in planes of all types since I was a little kid. I remember when we would drive my dad up to Fort Dodge, Iowa for summer camp in the Iowa National guard. I remember going back to pick him up, and he was usually getting off of a C130 I believe. 
I also am sad to say that I really got interested in warplanes ever since I saw Top Gun and Iron Eagle when I was little. Wanted to be a fighter pilot, and a astronaut. Since then it has all been down hill!!!!!


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## Pflueger (Dec 7, 2007)

Believe it or not my early interest was probably most piqued by me dear ol' mother. She was/continues to be big WW2 buff and had me and my 2 brothers very much into military history by the time we took our first steps. Mom is a big "Duke" (John Wayne) fan, so gotta admit to watching "The Flying Tigers" and the "Flying Leathernecks" over 100 times by the time I was 12. Despite her love of the Duke classics the lady does know her stuff.

Also mus admit to watching other old cornball standards like "Mosquito Squadron" (my personal favorite), "Twelve O-Clock High," "The Dam Busters," "Operation Crossbow," etc at every opportunity (still watch'um as a matter of fact). Anybody ever do a poll of best/worst WW2 films?


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## Messy1 (Dec 7, 2007)

I was a huge fan of the old war movies. I do like most of the John Wayne war movies! For me though it is hard to beat Saving Private Ryan, although I think Band Of Brothers is my all time favorite.
Another favorite of mine is Kelly's Heroes with Clint Eastwood. Still a war movie, but kind of a humorous one! 
The title escapes me right now, but the one where John Way Played Spig Weed is another favorite of mine.


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## Pflueger (Dec 7, 2007)

Yep, "Saving Private Ryan" is pretty decent for newby. "Kelly's Heros" is entertaining - love the Don Rickles character, Odd-Ball (isn't this the Donald Sutherland character?) kinda gives me the creeps though.

Speaking of the Duke, I must also add "Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Fighting Seabees" (excuse spelling) to favorites list. The scene at the end of "Sands" where Sgt Striker bites the bullet still makes me weep like a baby.


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## Marcel (Dec 7, 2007)

Pflueger said:


> Anybody ever do a poll of best/worst WW2 films?


Yep, there's a thread somwhere about best WWII movies.


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## ThunderThud (Dec 8, 2007)

I think I was 5 0r 6 years old and i used to watch shows like Combat and 12 o'clock high! and Gommer Pile!I used to drive with my family past GRUMMAN AND REPUBLIC and see all the planes take off! I used to listen to the radio and hear about the B-52 that went down in Vietnam. and watch the war on the news! Then i saw a model case at a library and joined a model club( Long Island Scale Modlers), thats were I met Gebreski By this time I was 11.


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## helmitsmit (Dec 9, 2007)

I became interested in Aircraft when my late granddad told me stories about his time as a sheetmetal worker for the RAF. He work on the desert air filters for Spitfires and mosquitos. I still have both as my favourites today. I also like the sound of the Merlin so that helps!


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## Elvis (Dec 15, 2007)

I think I first became interested when I ran across some old pics my Dad took back in the 40's.
I'd ask him what this plane was and what that plane was and he'd start spinning the stories.
Great fun when you're like 4-5 years old.



Elvis


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## milford maniac (Dec 19, 2007)

I first became interested in warbirds as little boy in the early 1960’s when my father told me of his exploits as a tail end Charlie in Wellingtons during World War 2. I use to a little lad go off to a local toy shop and buy a model aircraft take it home and my older brother would make it without asking me and go off to work. I am interested more in combat aircraft of the Second World War era than any other era; but I do confess that the quantum leap in design in performances of the 1950’s when Greta Britain still had a mighty aircraft industry is also of interest to me. 

As a small boy on holiday in Cornwall I was fascinated by the Avro Shackleton, RAF St. Mawgan was close by and the roar of the engines as the aircraft were climbing was tremendous.

My personal favourites of the world war 2 era are the Vickers Wellington; because of my father, the Hurricane in all it’s marks, the Kittyhawk, Hawker Typhoon, Me 262, the P51 and Ju 87.


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## 'Lil'tyger (Dec 19, 2007)

MY DAD LIKES WW2 AIR CRAFT I GAUSS HE GOT ME IN TO IT THIS PAST YEAR HE TOOK ME TO DAYTON OH. TO THE WRIGHT AIR BASE/MUSEUM.PRETTY COOL .THEN MY UNCLE FLEW ME TO OSHKOSH WI.AIRVENTURE 07..THAT WAS REAL COOL

DUDE THOSE ARE REALLY GREAT DRAWINGS KEEP IT UP


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## wingnuts (Dec 19, 2007)

Milf said: "As a small boy on holiday in Cornwall I was fascinated by the Avro Shackleton, RAF St. Mawgan was close by and the roar of the engines as the aircraft were climbing was tremendous."

Milf, I spent most of the time between 1965 and 1970 on Shackletons, not at St Mawgan but at Kinloss, Khormaksar (Aden) and Ballykelly.

The last flying Mk2 (AEW2) Shackleton is currntly in the US and will be, relocated to the Pima Museum in Tuscon, Arizona. It's flying days will be over. 

There is still one Mk3 flying in South Africa


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## wingnuts (Dec 19, 2007)

There are some good videos of Shackletons on Youtube... I can't put the links up right now as I can't access Youtube while i'm at work.


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## Elvis (Dec 22, 2007)

'Lil'tyger said:


> DUDE THOSE ARE REALLY GREAT DRAWINGS KEEP IT UP


DUDE, NO NEED TO YELL.
We can read you just fine, even when the caps are off.


Elvis


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## therritn (Dec 28, 2007)

My interest in warbirds started in 1976 (when I was 7 going on 8) when Baa Baa Black Sheep (later renamed Black Sheep Squadron) first premiered on TV. Then a month later one of my friends gave me a model plane for my eighth birthday. Since that time my interest in warbirds has never diminished, and my favorite warbird of all time still is the F4U Corsair.


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## Catch22 (Jan 1, 2008)

I can't really tell you when I first became interested in Warbirds. My dad gained a love of the Corsair and WW2 from the same show therritn! He built me a Corsair model when I was born, and we have tons of books, so for as long as I can remember I've been interested.


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## GreyWolf (Jan 1, 2008)

Well I got into aviation at a very young age. my fasination started with drawing byplanes of the first world war and going to airshows with my dad. the drive to see more and more lead me to photography and started learning as much as I could. now I work as an aviation tech. but I do love to get as much aviation history as I can and do alot of art and photography editting to feed my love for it all. 

Salute Wolf


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## Nostalgair (Jan 7, 2008)

Hi all,

I've loved warbirds for as long as I can remember also.

My father was a fighter pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force and flew 201 missions in Korea. His favourite aircraft was the Mustang and I must admit to sharing his admiration. He continued to fly them in the 1960s in civil life, towing targets for the military. As a child I would sit in these iconic aeroplanes living out daydreams and 'checking my six'.

I've been a warbird fan ever since.

Cheers

Owen


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## Hollywood (Jan 13, 2008)

My Dad flew B-29's in the 20th AAF 313 wing 505th group 484th squad from Tinian North field which at the time was the worlds largest.......
So as far back as I can remember there was a balsa model of his plane "Lil Spook" #84-06 sitting on his Dresser in Mom and Dads bedroom that he built from scratch and he has an album of photos which I've posted a few here so it was natural I became a Warbird "nut"......

P.S. Guess which plane got my vote for the Top Heavy Bomber hahahahaha...
It was an obvious choice anyway........

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


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## claidemore (Jan 18, 2008)

My interest started when I was about 12 years old after reading a book about the different WWII fighters. Like any kid, I daydreamed about flying them,and chose which one I would like to fly. I remember falling in love with the Spitfire, thinking the Yaks were pretty cool looking, but chosing the P51 as my mount of choice because that particular book listed it as the fastest. 

My interest was re-kindled as an adult when I was introduced to WWII combat flight sims. Since then I've become a more serious student, attended a few air shows, checked out museums and read a lot of books, including some rather boring techinical ones. 

I used to say that there was only 4 things worth talking about in any detail, women, horses, hunting, and fighting. Now theres 5 things.


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## Evil_Merlin (Feb 6, 2008)

When I was walking with my dad in Vermont in the early 70's and found the wreck of a P-51 that crashed up there years ago. It was stripped to the bone, but you could still see what she was. 

My dad was a crew chief on F-100's from the late 50's till his retirement in the late 60's. He really helped me foster the idea that anyone could fly and if I wanted to do it, I could.

I was only 4 or 5 years old, but that image of the aluminum bird stuck in my mind forever.

I built all the plastic models I could, read even more books, studied WW2 in detail in high school, minored in Military Aviation History in college and did my thesis on the impact of the Fw 190 Dora and Ta-152H/C on aircraft combat during the 1940s.

In my early highschool years, I rode my bike nearly every day after school during the spring, and every day during the summer and made friends with all the pilots, washing planes, cleaning hangars and such. Soon one thing lead to another and I was flying with the guys, learning by doing, I did ground school, got my medical and just kept flying.

And thats me. Now since I cannot afford a real warbird, as much as I'd like to! And in New England no one really restores them, I do the next best thing, I build large scale RC models. Mostly German and Russian, and boy do I have fun researching, contacting old factories, pilots and digging into any data I can.


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## pbfoot (Feb 6, 2008)

claidemore said:


> My interest started when I was about 12 years old after reading a book about the different WWII fighters. Like any kid, I daydreamed about flying them,and chose which one I would like to fly. I remember falling in love with the Spitfire, thinking the Yaks were pretty cool looking, but chosing the P51 as my mount of choice because that particular book listed it as the fastest.
> 
> My interest was re-kindled as an adult when I was introduced to WWII combat flight sims. Since then I've become a more serious student, attended a few air shows, checked out museums and read a lot of books, including some rather boring techinical ones.
> 
> I used to say that there was only 4 things worth talking about in any detail, women, horses, hunting, and fighting. Now theres 5 things.


have you seen the Hampden they are restoring out there and you have Y2K spit resto at Comox?


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## Rook58 (May 21, 2008)

Can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated with all things military in general and warplanes specifically - I was drawing pictures of WW2 aircraft a lot in grade school and read everything I could find about air combat in WW1 (also drew about a million pictures of Snoopy and his bullet-riddled doghouse...)


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## Concorde247 (May 31, 2008)

Its difficult for me to say exactly when i started my interest in aviation, but I was still a kid at primary school, I made lots of models of all types, then at a later age, went on to all the flight sims for the PC. I go to the RAF museum at Hendon a lot, and have been to the imperial war museum at lambeth, my library of books fills several bookcases, as do my DVD's Videos. I used to repair micrographics equipment at the PRO in kew where i was able to see all the squadron order of battle books as well as the combat reports. My interests are mostly around WWI WW2. I have done a bit of flying myself as I used to go paragliding on the southdowns near brighton, it was the cheapest form of flying that i could afford - but as it is dependent on the weather conditions we were grounded a great many days spent a fortune in the amusement arcades on brighton pier!!

The interest in aviation is still as strong as ever even at the age of 42! and although my "new" job is shift work, i still love my Dvd's books on my rest days...

One thing i must do every year is to go to the Flying Legends Airshow at Duxford take the time off specifically for it!! for me its a definite MUST


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## Njaco (May 31, 2008)

That does sound like a must, Concorde! I would bring a sleeping bag and never leave!


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## Old Wizard (May 31, 2008)

When I was a kid during WWII they used to sell this flavored wax as replacement chewing gum [it turned to crumbs after a couple of minutes of chewing]. Each pack had a photo or drawing of the various WWII aircraft. I got to walk through a Lancaster in a dark hanger which was very exciting. Then I saw a Mosquito doing high speed passes over a lake in Regina and blowing up spray!
That plane crashed in Calgary killing the crew. Then came Air Cadets and flights in various aircraft.


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## quayhog (Jun 14, 2008)

I grew up around it. My dad was a Naval Aviator. He was at Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal (VCS-6, SOC's fron New Orleans). During `44 he was a pilot flying PV-1s (VB-144) out of Tarawa. During the 1950's he flew 
P2Vs and other large aircraft. He retired in 62. 

I remember his aviator friends and their stories. Their names and deeds are still ingrained into my memory.

My dad also taught me to fly and I still work in aviation management. The love of old aircraft hasn't left after 55 years.


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## Canberra Man (Jun 20, 2008)

My interest developed in 1951 when I finished my tech training in the RAF and was posted to 617 Squadron at RAF Binbrook. At that time they were flying the Avro Lincoln, the Lancasters big brother, fifteen feet more wing and bigger Merlins. They were fair to work on except for a battery change. Four 12volt 40ah batteries connected series parallel to give 24v at 80ah. They were situated in front of the main spar and after disconnecting, had to be moved one at a time, over the main spar, over the secondary spar, slide under the mid upper turret, down a two foot step (end of bomb bay) Then past flare chutes and flare racks to the rear entrance, then a six foot ladder to ground level. The same had to be done in reverse with new batteries! We had one electrician who was a gorilla of a man, each battery had a long webbing strap and he used to hang all four batteries round his neck and do it in one!!! Nobody on the sqaudron argued with that man. I think, even the CO kept clear of him!! 

Ken


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## runningdog (Jun 22, 2008)

Easy to explain. A kid, living in London, is told war is coming, his Dad is in the RAF, ergo, he's a pilot. He wasn't, he was a airframe mechanic, by the time I found out it was too late, I was hooked.
Yes, I was evacuated, nothing happened, so they brought me back..........


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## Bigxiko (Jun 25, 2008)

I always liked planes, when i was little and i saw one flying i loved
then, when i was about 14 years old, a collection of warbirds of the second world war started i decided in a glimpse to do it
from that base i developed my taste for the war in general
and that's how i've started my taste for warbirds


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## hunter0f2 (Jun 25, 2008)

My father was in RAF---I grew up with them!!


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## cougar32d (Jun 25, 2008)

My grandfather took me to my first airshow when i was about 2, and my father was a aviation crewman of sorts in the army. Been hooked ever since.


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## JugBR (Jun 26, 2008)

when i was 12/13 years old, there was a collection of magazines called "top gun", with profiles, pictures histories, posters and configs about the wwII and modern planes.

i became a great fan of the jugs, mustangs, gustavs, doras, spitfires, yaks, etc...


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## Thunderhawk88 (Jun 27, 2008)

As a kid I used to watch planes fly into Logan in Boston, and now and then my Dad would take me by the airport. I loved seeing the sparkling F-86, neatly parked in a row.
Then around 10y/o I bought a copy of GOD IS MY CO-PILOT by Col. Robert L. Scott. That did it, I started making models, was aircrew in the Marine Corps.....never out-grew it!


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## Oreo (Jul 18, 2008)

As a Generation Xer, I wasn't much interested in planes until My dad and uncles were watching a documentary about the Ploiesti raids in the room I was trying to do something else in, about age 11 or 12. I glanced up just in time to see a closeup shot of a squadron of P-38's peeling off to divebomb the refinery. As the first plane banked toward the camera, the sun glinted off its wings, and the incredible symmetry and novelty of the Lightning's airframe shape instantly snapped my attention and I instantly said inside, "Oy! They made a plane that looked like that? You mean, not all planes are just variations of the same old theme?" And I hated to admit it, even to myself, but I had just fallen in love with aircraft. Being already somewhat familiar with the history of the war, I became within one year a "teenage encyclopedia of World War II aviation." I could still give you approximate top speed and armament figures for practically any WWII warplane, common or obscure, off the top of my head to this day. For most of them, I remember even more details, like service ceiling, bomb load, number produced, and approximate wingspan.


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## Ki-43-I Hayabusa (Jul 19, 2008)

When i was a kid, my dad build Japanese WWII Ships in Scale 1/700, and i loved those tiny Airplanes. From this moment on, i gathered all about WWII-A/Cs, but especially about Japanese Navy and Army Airplanes. Later, i worked together with a man which grandpa was a great ace in the Luftwaffe (Adolf Dickfeld, 132 Victories).
Now, i`ve got a 14 year old son and infected him with this virus, too. But he loves more the Luftwaffe A/Cs, because there are much more cooler as the Japanese, American and British planes


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## Ameed122 (Jul 21, 2008)

History channel - Dogfights Episodes made me like the WarBirds.
I don't know why, but it's really interesting


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## Amsel (Jul 27, 2008)

A grandfather of mine worked on Corsairs in the Marine Corps pacific theater so that must have sparked my interest.I also remember having a book or two about Spitfires when I was a small boy.


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## Phil Robins (Aug 4, 2008)

I built dozens of war birds as a kid in the 1950's and early 60's and hung them from my bedroom ceiling. P40 was my favorite (loved the shark teeth). Those memories had alot to do with my volunteering to fly the T-28 instead of the turbo prop T-34 in Naval flight school. There is just something about walking "under" the wing on pre-flight and then watching the smoke belch on start up on those 9 jugs!


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## evangilder (Aug 4, 2008)

I got my first time up in a T-28 back in June and what a rush! Nothing quite like them, Phil. What's not to love about that brute of an airplane.


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## javlin (Sep 2, 2008)

I became interested because I grew up in the 60's with all those WWII movies going on and great plastic models .Then my father served in the Army Air Corps on a B17 as a radio operator.The best that I could determine was that he belonged to the 92nd BG/325sq that basically that went OTU once they hit England.


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## lm2f (Sep 12, 2008)

I immediately became obsessed when I saw the movie "pearl harbor" when I was six.


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## B-17engineer (Sep 13, 2008)

This......but this is when I was younger a lot younger


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## Junkers88A1 (Oct 22, 2008)

since i am brand new here on this site ( just a couple of hrs old ) i thought i would write a few words here..i grew up with my father as a F-86F pilot and then a pilot in SAS Airline.. so i kinda learned to walk with Aircrafts but what really kickstarted it was when i saw the tv series "well meet again " in the 70`s and since then my dream was to fly a B-17 ( which i finally got to do back in 2006 when i helped with the final restoration of Liberty Belle in Douglas/Georgia and then took part in the ferryflight to new Orleans..a dream come true )


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## runningdog (Oct 31, 2008)

Me dad joined the RAF in 1937, by the time I knew what the RAF was we were at war and I was hooked. As a youngster I always thought that as he was in the air force he was a pilot, he wasn't, he was groundcrew, most of the war he worked on bombers guns, Heyfords, Whitleys, Halifax and Lancasters. I watched the air war over London and worried whenever I saw a plane in trouble. Still do...........


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## AMCKen (Jan 22, 2009)

Mom was in the civilian Ground Observer Corps in the 50s. She had a book of aircraft photos for identification. Looked through that for hours. Then in the early 60s the local airshow had a P-40 and a P-51. I'm reasonably sure this:
Kittyhawk I AK905 - CF-OGZ on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
is the P-40. I've narrowed the P-51 down to 3 -
44-73877 44-74435 or 44-74446.
Built many, many models - been to Reno 10 times - Abbotsford twice - Moose Jaw races the one time, etc.,


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## fly boy (Jan 30, 2009)

my grand dad was a radio op on a b-17g


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## fly boy (Jan 30, 2009)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> I know!!!
> 
> The only thing better than flying would to be having sex while flying the aircraft.
> 
> ...



thats the mile high club alder


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## Bill G. (Jan 30, 2009)

What got me started?

I met a new kid to my Junior High School. He built WWII models. I wanted to learn. My first set was a Revell Battle of Britain set. I still have them. 

Then I wanted to learn more about the history of the planes I built models of. Then I learned of more planes I wanted to model. On and on and on and continues to this day.

I grew up with the Vietnam Air War. I wasn't impressed at first. I wrongly thought that missiles ended dog fighting. But I have learned.

Then I went into the Active Air Force in 1971. That was still during the Hay Day of the Century Series.

A bit later I subscribed to Air Classics.

That is the sum of how I got interested.

I have been in many War Birds. I have ridden in a PT-17. WOW! And a ride in a Blackhawk around Camp Victory outside of Baghdad, Iraq with full "battle rattle".

I have ridden in many USAF birds during my military service.

T-29, KC-135A, C-5, C-141, T-39, C-9, C-130.

Many memories.

Bill G.


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## gijive (Jan 30, 2009)

I watched those magnificent men in their flying machines
in the 60's and later The Battle of Britain in the 70's, when I was old enough and it came on the telly, made Airfix kits from age 9. My Granny bought me my first one and I later joined the ATC 1528 Torquay sqd. Flown Chipmonk and Stampe. I have a photo somewhere that needs scanning! Should have joined the RAF but did not.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 30, 2009)

fly boy said:


> thats the mile high club alder



Really? Can you tell me more about it? I am intrigued...


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## ToughOmbre (Jan 30, 2009)

fly boy said:


> thats the mile high club alder





DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Really? Can you tell me more about it? I am intrigued...



          

TO


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## fly boy (Jan 30, 2009)

uhh i might but all i know is that is a club is if you have sex over 35,000 feet in the air


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jan 31, 2009)

fly boy said:


> uhh i might but all i know is that is a club is if you have sex over 35,000 feet in the air



Does it have to be 35,000ft?


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## Captain Dunsel (Jan 31, 2009)

35,000 feet? Wouldn't that make it the 7-mile-high club?

CD


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Jan 31, 2009)

Yeah! I thought you only had to be 5280 feet off the ground to join that club.


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## Catch22 (Feb 1, 2009)

Looks like you've got yourself a new quote there Adler.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 1, 2009)

If I can ever get around to making that thread!


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## Sweb (Feb 5, 2009)

As far back as I can remember. My Pop was a B-17 driver in WWII, flew P-47N's after and RF-51's in Korea. But, I don't think my interest is anything I can attribute to him alone. It was just in me and being the son of a man who was intimately tied to it was a real boost.


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## proton45 (Feb 5, 2009)

My Dad told me story's of flying gliders as a young man in Japan during the war...and I had an uncle who was with the 14th Air Force in China (I don't remember what he did), and one of my Great Uncles developed photo recon equipment out of Dayton OH during WW2 and the "Cold War", and my dentist flew fighters in the Pacific somewhere...and their was an airfield near my home in NJ that had Mustangs flying out of it (I'd love to know why), so it was always around me as a child.


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## Clay_Allison (Feb 8, 2009)

I've always been a little interested, I knew about what you'd get out of the Encyclopedia Britannica about each major aircraft type.

It was only last year that I began to research obsessively.


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## mikamee14 (Apr 6, 2009)

nice


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## mikamee14 (Apr 6, 2009)

I always used to build paper air planes and got into aviation then I saw a show about those five avengers that were lost in the bermuda triangle. Then I looked some up and I was hooked.


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## kthomps (Apr 11, 2009)

New t the Forum Here:
Live in London Ontario and 1st came interested in WWII warbirds after going to the Hamilton Warplane Heritage museum. Have now become addicted to the sweet sound of Merlins or Allisons. Not a Pilot myself but wish I was.
I do see they have a place in Kissimee where without prior experience one can get to handle the stick of a P-51 Crazy Horse...but costs 3,000 USD 
I think I will settle for a ride in a Harvard near home here in Tilsonburg


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## Girard (May 2, 2009)

Hey new here  
I first took a little interest in Warbirds years ago back at school while doing a project on the battle of Britain lol. But i didnt really became that interested until i saw a few of them for real for the first time flying at a free airshow over Southampton Water where i live. From that day i was hooked and even went out and got my first ever airfix model the very next day


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## ralphwiggum (May 10, 2009)

When I was about 8 yrs old my dad, (Who was an artilleryman in WW2in Europe) told me that the term Luftwaffe meant Germany's airforce. I was enthralled! He told me about B-17's etc 
I read all about the Flying Tigers,etc I also saw my first WW2 airwar movie
"God is my co-pilot" I was absolutely crazy about it! 
My favorite plane became the B17 I also read the Comic book series "Johnny 
Cloud Navajo Ace" Looking back, It's kind've amusing how the German pilots were portrayed as evil nazis and how Johnny cloud often shot down FW's and 
109's with his pistol It was a fun time!


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## barney (May 24, 2009)

My father served in WWII in the ETO as an aircraft mechanic. My mother says he was a flight engineer but he mustered out as a corporal – there’s maybe a story there. He came home with an arm load of aircraft maintenance manuals. I read the one for the P-51 until the pages fell out. But what hooked me first were the aircraft identification manuals he brought back. 

My father passed away when I was nine so I never got to discuss with him his doings in the war. I do remember asking one day what he learned from the war and his reply was, “Never volunteer for anything.”


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## evangilder (May 25, 2009)

barney said:


> My father passed away when I was nine so I never got to discuss with him his doings in the war. I do remember asking one day what he learned from the war and his reply was, “Never volunteer for anything.”



It's nice to see that some things haven't changed.


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## airboiy (May 26, 2009)

I first became interested in warbirds when my dad managed to 'persuade' a friend to give me a ride in his refurbished Me-262. Ever since then, I have loved warbirds and their clean lines and unmatched grace.


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## otftch (May 26, 2009)

Dad was in the Navy.I've always been around aircraft.I don't ever remember not wanting to learn more about them.
Ed


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## Amsel (May 26, 2009)

airboiy said:


> I first became interested in warbirds when my dad managed to 'persuade' a friend to give me a ride in his refurbished Me-262. Ever since then, I have loved warbirds and their clean lines and unmatched grace.


What a treat that would be.


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## fly boy (May 26, 2009)

Aaron Brooks Wolters said:


> Yeah! I thought you only had to be 5280 feet off the ground to join that club.



i an't remember that well all i know is you have to have sex around a mile in the air in a plane


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## airboiy (May 26, 2009)

Amsel said:


> What a treat that would be.



Yeah it was after I got over the euphoria of the experience


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 26, 2009)

airboiy said:


> I first became interested in warbirds when my dad managed to 'persuade' a friend to give me a ride in his refurbished Me-262. Ever since then, I have loved warbirds and their clean lines and unmatched grace.



Which "refurbished" Me 262 would this be? When?

There are only 2 flyable Me 262s and they are reproductions built by Legend Flyers. They did not fly for the first time until recently... 

One of them is located here in Germany, the other in the United States. They are of course building more at the moment.

So please fill us in which aircraft you flew in...


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## Coors9 (May 26, 2009)

I was about 5 or 6 and saw my first Matchbox kit.....Warbirds are something....I don't know, Just deep in my soul.


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## pbfoot (May 26, 2009)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Which "refurbished" Me 262 would this be? When?
> 
> There are only 2 flyable Me 262s and they are reproductions built by Legend Flyers. They did not fly for the first time until recently...
> 
> ...


I saw him Chris when I was flying in formation with them in my Arado 234


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 26, 2009)

pbfoot said:


> I saw him Chris when I was flying in formation with them in my Arado 234



I missed it! That must have been when I was taking my personal Space Shuttle out for spin.


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## Coors9 (May 26, 2009)

It'd be real funny if he proves you guys wrong.....lol


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## Njaco (May 26, 2009)

Chris, you beat me to it. I hadn't gotten past flyboy's post. I was still deciphering.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 26, 2009)

Coors9 said:


> It'd be real funny if he proves you guys wrong.....lol



Highly doubt it, since there are only two flying and they are not "refurbished". They are reproductions. One based here in Germany and one in the United States. One is a two seater and one is convertable between a two seater and one seat varient.

They are currently building more however. There are to be 5 built all together.

Since they only started taking up people for joy rides late last year or early this year, I seriously doubt it...

Here is the web page for the team that has been building them. They are also restoring original Me 262s for static displays in museums and building reproduction static display. Only 5 will be built for flight however.

http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html


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## Coors9 (May 26, 2009)

Yea, i watched some vid on them a while back. Diff engines if i remember. they look real sweet.


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## ortonablue (May 26, 2009)

When I was 8-9 yrs old I would doodle WWII fighter planes on my books. I guess this is when I first became interested in warbirds. Later when I was older and read more into Canadians in WWII, I discovered how many perished in Lancasters bombers, even when they knew how bad the odds were for a successful return. makes me proud.


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## r2800doublewasp (May 27, 2009)

I just started getting in to warbirds after the Collings Foundation flew in to Moffet and when my uncle let me fly in their B-17 as my 12th birthday present two years ago.


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## airboiy (May 27, 2009)

No, you're wrong-my dad's friend has a -262 that he rebuilt in his spare time. His father had brought it home after the war (don't ask me how, 'cause I don't know) and kept it in the barn. He let it rot until he asked his son to rebuild it.


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

airboy, not to be disrespectful, but that would be the find of the century. I don't know of any Me 262s that flew in private ventures until the recent new ones. If true that would be a hellava story!


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## ToughOmbre (May 27, 2009)

airboiy said:


> No, you're wrong-my dad's friend has a -262 that he rebuilt in his spare time. His father had brought it home after the war (don't ask me how, 'cause I don't know) and kept it in the barn. He let it rot until he asked his son to rebuild it.



Not sure if a ME-262 would fit in a GI issue duffel bag. 

TO


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## airboiy (May 27, 2009)

ToughOmbre said:


> Not sure if a ME-262 would fit in a GI issue duffel bag.
> 
> TO





that's not what I meant...
I wasn't talking about the actual thing...it was a model of the Me-262 with a model of me in it. Sorry, I should've made that clear...   ...my bad... 

Please forgive me if I offended anyone...I'm still learning online manners...


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## Njaco (May 27, 2009)

whew! No prob, just when you say something like that here, we believe it to be the real thing.


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## airboiy (May 27, 2009)

Njaco said:


> whew! No prob, just when you say something like that here, we believe it to be the real thing.



Sorry! 
BTW, the story is B.S., but I couldn't help but put it there-it just seemed cool! But his father DID ask him to build a flying model of a -262 for his birthday, as he thought it just looked real good.

Again, sorry for the communication problem.

[whispering](But this proves that I did fly in one-even though i was a model!)


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## wheelsup_cavu (May 27, 2009)

I became interested in Warbirds while watching F-4's flying low by our house and taking off from our local airport.
Seeing the aircraft take off in pairs was something I will never forget.

This was in the early 1970's while Vietnam was still ongoing.


Wheelsup


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 27, 2009)

Lets see here, you say this:



airboiy said:


> No, you're wrong-my dad's friend has a -262 that he rebuilt in his spare time. His father had brought it home after the war (don't ask me how, 'cause I don't know) and kept it in the barn. He let it rot until he asked his son to rebuild it.



And then you say this:



airboiy said:


> that's not what I meant...
> I wasn't talking about the actual thing...it was a model of the Me-262 with a model of me in it. Sorry, I should've made that clear... ...my bad...
> 
> Please forgive me if I offended anyone...I'm still learning online manners...



And then you say this:



airboiy said:


> Sorry!
> BTW, the story is B.S., but I couldn't help but put it there-it just seemed cool! But his father DID ask him to build a flying model of a -262 for his birthday, as he thought it just looked real good.
> 
> Again, sorry for the communication problem.
> ...



Kid, quit bullshitting, bullshitters...

As for learning online manners. Here is your first lesson.

1. Do not lie, especially on a forum where people know what they are talking about. You will only get burned in the end because you lose your credibility.

You do not have to lie to be a part of this forum. Everyone here knows you are not telling the truth. Quit while you are ahead. There is a lot to learn on this site, and making a fool of yourself does not help.


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## Matt308 (May 28, 2009)

B17engineer at least had the cajones to admit it and apologize.

Shall we just start over airboiy? What got you interested in WWII aircraft?


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## ccheese (May 29, 2009)

My boy... you have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar ! One lie leads to another, which leads to another.....
fess up and get it over with....

Charles


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## airboiy (May 29, 2009)

Alright...

My dad's friend had built an Me-262 that was made of paper and was powered by a rubber band/propeller. It was my birthday present when I was 5 and he had made a small paper model of me in the cockpit. Being youg, I thought it was the coolest thing around! The next day, however, it was destroyed when I fell on it. That's the truth.

Sorry about the B.S., but I only wanted to seem as cool as you guys, ya know? You all seem to be awsome in that you have all these great experiences, something I'll probably never be able to do...especially because of school, work, family, and that underestimated thing, life.


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## lesofprimus (May 29, 2009)

And how old are u exactly???


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## airboiy (May 29, 2009)

18. I'm a freshman in college.


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## lesofprimus (May 29, 2009)

And ur Mommy and Daddy didnt teach u how to behave and properly interact with human beings in public??? Do u lie to all ur "college" buddies about who u are and what u've done in ur life????


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## Catch22 (May 29, 2009)

There's no reason to BS this stuff on this site. 3/4 of us haven't had the experiences of flying in a warbird or something similar (myself included), but nobody cares. It's not about what you've done, and what you've seen, it's about your love of warbirds and history. It's not really a big deal, but you don't need to pretend to be a contributing member here.


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## ToughOmbre (May 29, 2009)

airboiy said:


> 18. I'm a freshman in college.



Your profile says otherwise.....

Occupation 
none yet-im only 14 1/2



TO


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## Njaco (May 29, 2009)

Airboiy, I would suggest a major cleaning up with the facts - this ain't a kiddie website that laughs at that stuff. Alot of members do serious research and can't have someone BSing everything they say. As in life, it'll get ya nowehere except 3 hots and a cot with a nice orange jumpsuit.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 29, 2009)

airboiy said:


> Alright...
> 
> My dad's friend had built an Me-262 that was made of paper and was powered by a rubber band/propeller. It was my birthday present when I was 5 and he had made a small paper model of me in the cockpit. Being youg, I thought it was the coolest thing around! The next day, however, it was destroyed when I fell on it. That's the truth.
> 
> Sorry about the B.S., but I only wanted to seem as cool as you guys, ya know? You all seem to be awsome in that you have all these great experiences, something I'll probably never be able to do...especially because of school, work, family, and that underestimated thing, life.



There is no reason to be that way. No one here will think you are "uncool" because of any of this.

Just quit lying and tell the truth. If you do such things, no one will have a problem with you.

By the way, you forgot that your Profile states that you are 14 and it has been one year, so that makes you 15. So we know that you are not a freshman in college. This is directly from your profile:






You do not need to pretend to be something that you are not. In fact other than being annoying it is rather uncool. It does the complete opposite of what you want it to do. If you want to be accepted on this forum, be yourself! Stop acting like a turd and lying. You will be accepted and you will learn lots of cool things.


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## diddyriddick (May 29, 2009)

Dad was from the "greatest generation." He was an airplane mechanic, and worked on all kinds of different planes. Had uncles who flew b-17s and B-26s. So I was exposed early on. Really getting back into it now, and having fun.


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## evangilder (May 29, 2009)

Since you seem to have a problem with truth in your postings, I am going to give you one warning, airboiy. Straighten up and stop posting lies, or you will be out of here. This is not a kiddie playground and bullshit doesn't sit well here. 

You don't have real-world experiences? Who cares! This is a place to discuss and learn, not practice lying. Members here who share "cool experiences" here as you call them, are doing it for others to learn from.

Straighten up and fly right, or you will be banned.


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## Matt308 (May 29, 2009)

[silent sounds of crickets]


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## imalko (May 29, 2009)

There's one Serbian saying: "U laži su kratke noge!" meaning something like "You won't get far by lying!" 
(Not word to word translation but that's the meaning.)

Anyway to return to topic... I'm not sure I could pinpoint one moment or event that made me interested in warbirds. I was always interested in history and interest in WW2 and aircrafts (primarily from WW2 period and later to aircrafts in general) came gradually over the years. Growing up near a military air base (Batajnica Air Base is 10 km away from my town), my father serving in Air Force as assistant avio mechanics on Mi-8 helicopters, my grandfather's stories about the time of occupation in WW2 - it's all pieces of the puzzle I guess. Then ,when I was around 5 years old there was an Airshow at Batajnica, where they allowed children to take a close look to the aircrafts and I was seated to the cockpit of MiG-21. (Maybe that was a turning point for me, but I can't be sure because of my young age at the time).

One thing I can say for sure - over the years my interest in aviation has only increased and now I found this forum as another source of fascinating info on the subject...

*Edit:* I never flown in a WW2 Warbird and, actually, apart from the static examples in a museum I never even saw warbird in flight. (I mean in live anyway.) But this doesn't mean I never will.


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## Waynos (May 29, 2009)

I haven't posted in this thread yet so I will now, and hope that Airboi takes the hint.

I have never flown in a Warbird, unless the Auster my dad took me up in (as a paying passenger, not a pilot) when I was 8 in 1973 was Army Surplus. 

That year coincided with me being bought, out of the blue and at the same time, a Revell Me 262, Matchbox Spitfire IX and Matchbox Boeing P-12E, all 1/72 scale. There and then a flame was lit which has never gone out.


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## Matt308 (May 29, 2009)

Great stories guys. Funny how models can inspire the flame.


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## barney (May 30, 2009)

Catch22 said:


> There's no reason to BS this stuff on this site. 3/4 of us haven't had the experiences of flying in a warbird or something similar (myself included), but nobody cares.



I flew in a L-16 once, our Civil Air Patrol unit had it. Does that count as a warbird? I was given the controls for a few minutes. It was a sweet flying little bird.


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## Raptorman (May 30, 2009)

Been interested in Warbirds since I was knee high to a grasshopper. My dad was always building models in the basement and I just followed what my dad did. So I guess I have always had an interest. Some of my most memorable air show moments involve warbirds. As far as flying one, have never had the chance. The closet I have come is flying in the back seat of a F-16. (Incentive flight DCANG) Got about 20 minutes or so of stick time, pulled the 9G turn and pilot even did a little ACM with a F-15 that was giving a ride like mine. He hunted us and then we hunted him. Even though it was an hour it seemed to fly by. No pun intended.



airboiy said:


> Alright...
> 
> My dad's friend had built an Me-262 that was made of paper and was powered by a rubber band/propeller. It was my birthday present when I was 5 and he had made a small paper model of me in the cockpit. Being youg, I thought it was the coolest thing around! The next day, however, it was destroyed when I fell on it. That's the truth.
> 
> Sorry about the B.S., but I only wanted to seem as cool as you guys, ya know? You all seem to be awsome in that you have all these great experiences, something I'll probably never be able to do...especially because of school, work, family, and that underestimated thing, life.


When I was finishing up college I worked in a service(gas) station. The older guys had all these great stories about what they did and it seemed so cool. I could not think of one story to tell. Well, years later I can tell you I have stories that are much better then some of the ones they told. Some of them even involve my time at the service station. Don't worry, you're stories will come. You have to live you life to get them and whether you are 14 or 18 or even 20 chances are you haven't had the experience to have good stories. Be patient and they will come. You won't even realize it until one day your telling one and it dawns on you. In the meantime just enjoy the stories others tell.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 30, 2009)

Raptorman said:


> When I was finishing up college I worked in a service(gas) station. The older guys had all these great stories about what they did and it seemed so cool. I could not think of one story to tell. Well, years later I can tell you I have stories that are much better then some of the ones they told. Some of them even involve my time at the service station. Don't worry, you're stories will come. You have to live you life to get them and whether you are 14 or 18 or even 20 chances are you haven't had the experience to have good stories. Be patient and they will come. You won't even realize it until one day your telling one and it dawns on you. In the meantime just enjoy the stories others tell.



Well said...


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## Matt308 (May 30, 2009)

fly boy said:


> i an't remember that well all i know is you have to have sex around a mile in the air in a plane


.


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## Njaco (May 31, 2009)

you're killing me Matt!!!!!!!!!


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## GCvanderL (Jun 9, 2009)

Hey all, new to the forum, so I guess I'll start with this thread. I was 7 yrs old when pops took me to the local airshow. Prior to this day, the extent of my aviation knowledge was that those big slow planes were used to travel to far away places. Just as we arrived, I heard a deafening noise overhead. I stuck my head out the window and looked up in time to see an F-16 in a high speed, low pass. I was elated to say the least because it was the first time I had seen such a thing. I guess that was the moment I got bitten by the aviation bug. I knew right then what I wanted to be when I grow up, and for the next two decades I spent my time reading, learning, breathing everything aviation, flying, and military aircraft. Somewhere during that time, I developed an interest in WWII, and naturally, I was drawn to the air war aspect of it. There's just something about the history of WWII aviation that mesmerizes me. I love learning about the battles, personal air combat accounts, the wide variety of aircraft designs from different nations, the fighter and bomber groups involved, and the personalities of the men and women in them who fought for their country. It was the last time in a massive scale that groups were allowed to paint their aircraft with distinctive paint schemes, and the last time pilots were allowed to personalize their own bird with colorful artwork, which I always thought was one of things that defined the combat pilots of that era.


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## Amsel (Jun 9, 2009)

Hello and welcome. Great first post.


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## Njaco (Jun 10, 2009)

Welcome to the forum GC!


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## wheelsup_cavu (Jun 10, 2009)

Nice intro GC.
Welcome to the forum. 8)


Wheelsup


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## BikerBabe (Jun 10, 2009)

I can't exactly pinpoint the exact time that I became interested in warbirds, but I must've been around 8-12 years old, or something like that.
That's when I got my very first modelling kit - I can't remember the exact model, but it had a strange kinda double-tail compared with the other model kits that mom let me choose from at the toy store, and I clearly remember the swastika on the side of the tail, so it must've been a german WW2-one. 
Anyway, I think my next model was a Supermarine Spitfire, and from then on I was hooked.
I went to a model building class with my then best buddy in 8. or 9th grade, and I've been building plane models now and then ever since.
I've been into the WW2 warbirds since that first plane, and right now I'm digging under my bed to find the book that my best buddy gave me, a very in-depth, thorough book about the various Spitfire models.
Also won an online auction (QXL - the danish equivalent of eBay, and just as "dangerous" to your wallet...  )) recently, and got me a book about the various british planes of WW2. Yay! )
Am also on the lookout at the local flea markets, as you can get used english-language books fairly cheaply those places - many danish ppl won't bother reading english-language books, since it's easier for them to read danish books, so used books are sold at a very reasonable price. My luck. 

And yes, I know that it's an unusual hobby for a woman, but then again: I've never really been into the cooking/cleaning/housewife-thing, as I think that meddling with bikes, planes, fishing, photography and other such things are a _helluva _lot more fun.


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## snafud1 (Jun 12, 2009)

Can't believe I didn't post on this one. For me ,6th grade. For some reason I was looking through the encyclopedias my parents had (can't remember what for now, something in the A's though) and came to pics of WW1 planes. i thought , "Those are cool.". Two pages later were pics of a/c in the ETO and the next page was pics of a/c in the PTO. At that point it was "WOW, THOSE ARE REALLY COOL!". Been hooked ever since.


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## RabidAlien (Jun 12, 2009)

Welcome aboard, GC! Feel free to drop by the Basic - Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums Basics thread and introduce yourself!


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## Von Frag (Jun 12, 2009)

For me it was stories my father told me about his service and the planes he encountered. Corsairs, he was at Pelilieu when they were napalming the hills next to the airfield with their landing gear still down. On another island he was a beach sentry one night when a Kate flew down the length of the beach at treetop level, circled and dropped its fish in the surf. He said they probably went back and told their superiors they sank a carrier. I think what got me most interested in WWII aviation was a painting by Tom Lea, called Fighter In The Sky. This painting is set as my wallpaper. It was in a two book volume about WWII written by Winston Churchill, and I used to look at them constantly even before I could read. Much abused they are still at my parents house.

Tom Lea Works


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## GCvanderL (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the welcome! Can't wait to learn more from everyone here.


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## Marcel (Jun 19, 2009)

GCvanderL said:


> Thanks everyone for the welcome! Can't wait to learn more from everyone here.



Hi GC. "Van der" sounds Dutch?


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## TenGunTerror (Jun 26, 2009)

My Grandfather was a Korean War veteran and always had an interest in WW2. I got a book about WW2 aircraft when I was eight so I had an interest in the aircraft. Sadly though, he died when I was in second grade...the next year we were going to buy him a ticket to fly in a B-17...


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## snafud1 (Jun 26, 2009)

Sorry about the loss of your grandfather. He was a hero as all vets are. Hope you enjoy yourself here on the forums.


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## warhawk71 (Jun 27, 2009)

Although my grandfather was in WW2 and my step Dad was in Vietnam its hard to say what sparked my interests in planes. The earliest that I can remember was building and playing with snap tite models. Sptitfire, P-51 Mustang and of course the P-40 B Flying Tigers. I used to take them in the car with me and would roll down the windows and pretend they were flying.


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## 5bR6897 (Jun 29, 2009)

I recall as a small boy that my father used to spend more time with his eyes looking skyward than in any other direction. He was fascinated with aircraft of all types but specifically those of WWII heritage. And, in the early 50's there were still a reasonable number around. He could identify anything! His first real job was with the old Douglas Aircraft Company in Toronto.

He used to tell stories of his and his brother's early training in the RCAF. His brother was killed in a mid air in 1943 and dad, being the sole surviving family member was washed out at his mother's request. I don't think he ever forgave her.

His father was an aerial gunner in the first war, in a british pusher type. Received wounds that would shorten his life. So, my interest is now in the 3rd generation. When I lived in Texas, I had the good fortune to fly two Commemorative Airaircraft on a few occasions, one being a PV-2 Harpoon by the name of Fat Cat II and the other a PBJ known as Devil Dog, my current avatar. I've had the bug myself for over 50 years now. I thoroughly enjoy building accurate representative models, but that can't even compare to actually getting to work on and crew in the real thing! 

For some reason, my interest never bridged the gap to modern jet military aircraft. Call me old school if you will, but if it doesn't have a prop, then your just along for the ride !

Chris


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## Pong (Jul 14, 2009)

When I got my first BF-109 model at nine. After that I just studied all types of WW2 planes. My grandpa wasn't an airman, though he was a radioman in the Phil. Army and he trained in New Jersey in the mid fifties as well as Korea. 

There was time when I was in school in a field trip that they took us to Nichols (Now Villamor) Airbase in Pasay City. I remember a PAF F-86 Sabre there, but I didn't see the P-51. *Sigh*


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## danjama (Jul 14, 2009)

My interest in warbirds is due to a combination of people i think.

When i was very young, about 6/7, i lived in a block of flats, and the father of one of my best friends was ex-RAF. He used to build my friend models and hang them from the ceiling, then we would drag them down and play air wars! haha i still remember a Bf109 he made, and he painted some cotton wool like flames and stuck it to the plane so it looked like it had been attacked. I can still see it now. I reckon this is where it all started. I also remember this friend introducing me to Memphis Belle, one of my favourite films of all time.

Then an uncle of mine realised my interest, and arranged for an airshow visit to Duxford, with the whole family. Now i was about eight. One of my first airshow memories is an Avro Vulcan roaring over us, and making me cry lol i have the picture it always brings a smile to my face. The same uncle was also very interested in WW1 and WW2 so every time i visited we would watch the discovery channel and his videos on all sorts, from the sinking of the Bismarck to the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. He really got me stuck into this whole era of warbirds, after my early interest.

My mum also had a big part in fueling my interest. We used to visit the Royal Tournament at Earls Court London every year, and i remember speaking with RAF pilots, and really wishing i could do that one day. Unfortunately that never worked out so i'm trying to work out what's next for me in life. I missed Flying Legends this year, but have been several times in the last few years, and i was there when the Fairey Battle crashed a few years back, which was a sad day.

I dabbled a little in model making but i stopped because i'm just not very good at it, maybe ill pursue it again when im older and have a better hand for it. I always make a mess with glue and paint. I do have a 48scale B24 i am very proud of though but it's in the loft gathering dust.

I've had a couple of flying lessons but they're too expensive right now. I'm training as a mechanic and hope this one day leads to restoring Spitfires or any other warbirds. Engines especially interest me. Anyway i think i've gone OT here so ill shadap!


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## Doughboy (Jul 14, 2009)

My Dad has studied ww2 since he was Nine years old (1983) and he sparked my interest in aeroplanes.


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## Tuphlandng (Jul 15, 2009)

May I join in


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## GrauGeist (Jul 15, 2009)

Tuphlandng said:


> May I join in


Sure, go for it! 

And welcome to the forums


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## Doughboy (Jul 15, 2009)

Tuphlandng said:


> May I join in


Please do!


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## fass (Aug 4, 2009)

I will be ranked as a "junior member" because I only joined today, but from a quick scan of some forum pages I tend to conclude I may well be one of the more litterally senior members as I was born in 1934. I have very vivid and documented recollections of WW2, during which I happened to live at various locations where there was action in The Netherlands ("Holland" to many of you, I suppose) then occupied by the Nazis. 
I'm not sure this thread is still very active as the last post was about two weeks ago and I don't know whether one gets automatic "new mail" notification once logged in so I'll just ask whether there is interest in my first-hand experience of that period?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 4, 2009)

Of course there is interest in your first hand accounts! Welcome to the forum by the way.


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## beaupower32 (Aug 4, 2009)

Yep, deffently would like to hear some of your experiences.


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## Doughboy (Aug 4, 2009)

Echo the posts above ^^. Welcome to the forum.


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## pbfoot (Aug 4, 2009)

Certainly as from Canada there much interest


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## proton45 (Aug 4, 2009)

proton45 said:


> My Dad told me story's of flying gliders as a young man in Japan during the war...and I had an uncle who was with the 14th Air Force in China (I don't remember what he did), and one of my Great Uncles developed photo recon equipment out of Dayton OH during WW2 and the "Cold War", and my dentist flew fighters in the Pacific somewhere...and their was an airfield near my home in NJ that had Mustangs flying out of it (I'd love to know why), so it was always around me as a child.



I mis-remembered what my fathers friend (my dentist) did during the war...He was an American Japanese that was in "Military Intelligence". He was involved in monitoring Japanese broadcasts during the bombing of Hiroshima. He was from Hawaii and had been given a lot of grief (after the war) from fellow Japanese Americans (at home, in Hawaii), because they felt he was a traitor... My father was in Japan during the war, but was good friends with him...after the war. He used to tell me story's of watching fighter planes on some island in the Pacific, and I think I must have confused his story's with those my uncle Gene told me...he was connected with the 14th in China....anyway, I just thought I would set that right. :BIG:

The reason I became interested was because so many adults (as I grew up) talked about the war like it had just happened...It made me curious.

[edit] Gene was in the 14th Air Force...uncle Robert drove a half track in Europe (Battle of the Bulge)


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## Dark Matter (Aug 4, 2009)

I loved planes when I was 3, when I used to open the car doors while we were driving becuase I thought they were wings.


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## fass (Aug 6, 2009)

First it was Crewchief only (I would translate that as "Oberschwarzmann" ...) but as more people are now joining in, I know that this thread is still active and everybody is not taking time off in exotic holiday resorts. I'll write in separate batches to avoid overly long messages that nobody reads anyway...

"Flying machines" are among my very first memories. From 1934 until 1937 we were living near Ypenburg airfield (in the vicinity of The Hague) where the "Luchtvaartafdeling" (military aviation department) was flying machines like the Fokker CV biplane, and regularly flew over. 

But by far my most vivid memory was the zeppelin Hindenburg flying over our house in 1936 (I was 2 then!). That was *not * the flight that ended in disaster, by the way. A silver cigar of almost 250 metres long that stays in the air despite almost standing still looks impossible and it's no wonder that I can recall that image after more than 70 years...

In early 1940, I could read fairly well and one of my first serious books was about aircraft, teaching me the difference between air-cooled and liquid-cooled engines, for instance. The attack in the West, on May 10th, 1940, began with bombing and paratroop landings. By then we were living in the Hague, about a mile from one of the royal palaces that was the target of a paratroop detachment - an operation that failed. We stayed indoors so I did not see anything, but the next day "we ran out of milk" and because that was an intolerable situation, of course, we did some shopping. Even in the midst of war, people try to continue their normal life and shops were open for "business as usual". A bit earlier, a Ju52/3M had crashed on a block of houses and as we passed that street I spent ample time on examining one of the engines, which was lying in the middle of the road. I was quite interested to see that it was made by BMW, I knew they made cars, but their range in aero-engines was new to me...
The smoke from the bombing of Rotterdam on May 14th, 30 miles away, could be seen from the roof of our house. In the week after the country capitulated, I saw several Ju52/3m machines that had crashed in the meadows around the city. 

Next time the scene will change and I shall discuss aircraft recognition.


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## river (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi,

My uncle who flew (RAAF 1 Squadron - Hudsons) and died in WW2 was my influence from a young age when I wanted to know more about him. His old RAAF repair manual for Merlin, Hercules and Gypsy Major engines was given to me and I read it about 100 times and still do look through it.

At about 6 years of age at school one lunch we heard a plane flying very low. It did a few circles above the school at what seemed like only a few hundred feet. It was noisy and did not sound well. One engine stopped and the plane sort of wallowed in the air and then gradually sank down and flew off rather slowly. I found out some time later that it was a Grumman Tracker.

We lived a few miles from the airport and I remember seeing the DC6, DC4, DC3, Connies and Electras taking off and landing over our house.

I vividly remember a DH Heron coming in very low with #1 engine dead.

That got me more interested and I just started from there. If it's got pistons and props then I was interested and still am.

river


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 6, 2009)

fass said:


> First it was Crewchief only (I would translate that as "Oberschwarzmann" ...) but as more people are now joining in, I know that this thread is still active and everybody is not taking time off in exotic holiday resorts. I'll write in separate batches to avoid overly long messages that nobody reads anyway...
> 
> "Flying machines" are among my very first memories. From 1934 until 1937 we were living near Ypenburg airfield (in the vicinity of The Hague) where the "Luchtvaartafdeling" (military aviation department) was flying machines like the Fokker CV biplane, and regularly flew over.
> 
> ...



Why don't you start your own thread, it would be easier for people to focus on your recollections that way.


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## Doughboy (Aug 6, 2009)

Yes, please start your own thread....That WOULD BE AWESOME!


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## Condora (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi!

I'm not sure of exactly what and when my interest in warplanes started. My country was neutral during WWII, so I did not have a relative introducing me to airplanes.

I remember being in primary school - about 7-8 years old -, drawing Spitfires and Hurricanes all the time. Looking everywhere for... Battling Briton's (the name was changed here, I think that's the original name) comics. I don't know what started first, but through the comics I found out about other airplanes - loved the Whirlwind twin-engine.

At the time, any chance of an aviation carreer went to the toilet, because I started having myopia, and it increased real fast - more than 5 dpt a year -, so that before I got to high school, I was blind as a bat without a radar (even the infantry would not take me, they took my glasses away, and told me to read the letters at the end of the corridor, and I could not see the corridor... 8) ). I never lost the interest, though, and when I was a teenager I found some Bill Gunston's book, which at the time I knew by heart, almost destroyed it because I almost slept with it. 

Since that time, whenever I have a chance to know/read/see something related to warplanes, I do it. 
Not much chance to fly, though. I *almost* had a little flight on a C-130 two weeks ago, but it was sent to Afghanistan a couple of days before! My wife got mad at me because she wanted to go to the beach, and I did 200 kms the other way to fly a plane that was not there... 

Just to finish, a few years ago, someone told me there was some new surgery to cure myopia, and it worked. Too bad they don't accept over-the-hill aircraft loonies in the Air Force.

Do you think I could pull it off by claiming "age discrimination" to get in?


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## fass (Aug 7, 2009)

Doughboy, thanks for creating the new thread and can you remove the first alinea on the new thread and substitute the one I suggested in my previous message? I can't edit your messages, of course.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 7, 2009)

Well I would have made one properly for you fass (since I have the ability to move posts and what not), had doughboy not tried to do so...

Anything else you would like to do doughboy?


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## Doughboy (Aug 7, 2009)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Well I would have made one properly for you fass (since I have the ability to move posts and what not), had doughboy not tried to do so...
> 
> Anything else you would like to do doughboy?


Sorry.


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## fass (Aug 7, 2009)

Oops, am I glad I did not try to do anything myself and did suggest "Oberschwarzmann" create the thread... As your powers are apparently unlimited, dear Eagle, would you please also add the sentence: 

I was born in 1934 and experienced WW2 living in The Netherlands (Holland), which was occupied by Nazi Germany from May 1940 to May 1945. 

at the beginning of the new thread? Then I can safely start scribbling. Heaven knows whether anybody will look at that thread. For those who join this thread later: the new thread is to be found under: 
ww2-general/personal-recollections-ww2-20085.html


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## Doughboy (Aug 7, 2009)

fass said:


> Oops, am I glad I did not try to do anything myself and did suggest "Oberschwarzmann" create the thread... As your powers are apparently unlimited, dear Eagle, would you please also add the sentence:
> 
> I was born in 1934 and experienced WW2 living in The Netherlands (Holland), which was occupied by Nazi Germany from May 1940 to May 1945.
> 
> ...


What does "Oberschwarzmann" mean.... Does it mean Der Crewchief?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 7, 2009)

fass said:


> Oops, am I glad I did not try to do anything myself and did suggest "Oberschwarzmann" create the thread... As your powers are apparently unlimited, dear Eagle, would you please also add the sentence:
> 
> I was born in 1934 and experienced WW2 living in The Netherlands (Holland), which was occupied by Nazi Germany from May 1940 to May 1945.
> 
> ...



I will make you a proper thread as soon as I have more time later tonight.



Doughboy said:


> What does "Oberschwarzmann" mean.... Does it mean Der Crewchief?



No it does not mean Crew Chief. I will be honest, I have no clue what he means by it.

Oberschwarzmann litterally translates to Upper Black Man...


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## Marcel (Aug 7, 2009)

fass said:


> Oops, am I glad I did not try to do anything myself and did suggest "Oberschwarzmann" create the thread... As your powers are apparently unlimited, dear Eagle, would you please also add the sentence:
> 
> I was born in 1934 and experienced WW2 living in The Netherlands (Holland), which was occupied by Nazi Germany from May 1940 to May 1945.
> 
> ...


Dear Fass,

Welkom op het forum 
Being a Dutchman myself, I'm rather interested in your story. However I can't seem to find your thread


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## Catch22 (Aug 7, 2009)

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww2-general/personal-recollections-ww2-20085.html


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## fass (Aug 8, 2009)

In WW2, aircraft mechanics in the Luftwaffe were called "Schwarzmänner" ("BLACK MEN"), see, for instance: 
The Bf109 In Wartime Color- Ostfront (nice video of a crew cleaning a Bf109).
Perhaps because they always had dirty hands, but it may be possible they wore black overalls. 
So my "Oberschwarzmann" was a pun on Crew Chief, with some poetic licence...
A wingman in the Luftwaffe was called a "Kaczmarek" and it seems nobody knows where that came from. Lots of references on the web! 
Marcel: I think you can find it now, I will add to it this weekend. 
Happy landings, all!


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## AMCKen (Aug 9, 2009)

"but it may be possible they wore black overalls. "

I've heard that IS it - black overalls.


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## fass (Aug 9, 2009)

Yes, that's what I thought, but with redoubtable correspondents like we have here on this thread, I thought it better to incorporate some reservation... The problem is that I could not find a colour picture of them in overall, the colour pics I have all show them semi-nude...


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## Njaco (Aug 9, 2009)

IIRC German crewmen were called "Schwarzmänner" - slang for the black clothing they wore. I don't think it was used in a derogatory way.


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## fass (Aug 9, 2009)

No, it was definitely not derogatory, on the contrary, it was comradely!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 9, 2009)

I never took it in a derogatory way. I was just unaware of it...

You learn something new every day.

Fass I will set up your thread now that I have time.

fass I have just done so, but unfornately I lost some of your posts in the process. I am sorry for whatever inconvenience this may have caused.


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## fass (Aug 9, 2009)

ALARM!! PANIC!! WOMEN AND CHILDREN LAST!!

My dear Adler, the situation is MUCH worse: two hours ago I could find my Personal Recollections thread, but it now seems to have vanished altogether... Or it's on page 113... If I click on the link in Catch 22's message, I get a message saying that it's not a valid link...
Could you post a link to your thread on THIS "when did you..." thread so I can find it? 
Don't worry about the "lost posts" (sounds like Last Posts), I have saved my stuff and can re-post. Only you may have lost the other guys' posts as well?

But herewith I demote you solemnly to Unteroelwechsler...

Marcel are you still with us?


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Aug 9, 2009)

That is because your thread is located here:

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/personal-recollections-ww2-20119.html

Things like this happen when people who do not know what they are doing (doughboy, even though he was only trying to be helpful) try to take matters into their own hands and play moderator or site admin. It is best to wait for one of us to take care of it. In the end your thread would have been started and would have been done so correctly.

In the process of combining doughboys thread and your posts and making corrections, I lost the thread and posts.

Also, you will not demote me to anything...


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## B-17engineer (Aug 9, 2009)

In 2003 my family and I went to a WWII weekend. That's when I became interested in WWII in general.


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## fass (Aug 10, 2009)

Adler you have now been re-promoted to your original rank... 

And by the way, none of my messages implied ANY criticism of you, so no explanation in defence is needed. I only know too well what glitches happen in the digital world... 

Reconstruction of the thread will be done soon.


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## Marcel (Aug 10, 2009)

fass said:


> Marcel are you still with us?


Yup, still here, sometimes  Looking forward to your thread, fass


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## Condora (Aug 10, 2009)

Doughboy said:


> My Dad has studied ww2 since he was Nine years old (1983) and he sparked my interest in aeroplanes.



???
How old are you, DB?


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## fass (Aug 10, 2009)

New text (not copy of the original) on the "Personal recollections" thread.


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## Doughboy (Aug 10, 2009)

Condora said:


> ???
> How old are you, DB?


12.....


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## GrauGeist (Aug 10, 2009)

Doughboy said:


> 12..... Was something in my post misleading?





> Originally Posted by *Doughboy*
> _My Dad has studied ww2 since he was Nine years old (1983) and he sparked my interest in aeroplanes._


I thought you to be older than that myself.


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## Doughboy (Aug 10, 2009)

GrauGeist said:


> I thought you to be older than that myself.


How old did you think I was? Just wondered....


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## GrauGeist (Aug 10, 2009)

Doughboy said:


> How old di you think I was? Just wondered....


To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought, but for a 12 year old, you fit in well. There's people here (well, have been, but not anymore) that are older than you, that act half your age.


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## vikingBerserker (Aug 10, 2009)

Yea, I was suprised myself. I actually thought you were yanking my chain.

Nicely done - you should go far in life.


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## Condora (Aug 11, 2009)

Doughboy said:


> 12.....



Nothing you did, or to be more accurate, you "talk" older, if you get my meaning.

Keep that way...


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## fass (Aug 12, 2009)

Doughboy, you fooled 'em all but good, mon! Will you now take that malicious smug grin off your face, Sir?


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## Doughboy (Aug 12, 2009)

fass said:


> Doughboy, you fooled 'em all but good, mon! Will you now take that malicious smug grin off your face, Sir?


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## imalko (Aug 12, 2009)

Guys, guys... You were not paying attention. As far as I recall Christian (Doughboy) said he is 12 years old during one discussion early on when he joined the forum few months ago...

I agree with posts above, it serves your credit for showing interest in aviation and actively participating the forum. Keep that way Christian.


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## Doughboy (Aug 12, 2009)

imalko said:


> Guys, guys... You were not paying attention. As far as I recall Christian (Doughboy) said he is 12 years old during one discussion early on when he joined the forum few months ago...
> 
> I agree with posts above, it serves your credit for showing interest in aviation and actively participating the forum. Keep that way Christian.


I found my post.....It's on this page....http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/corrections-suggestions/respect-others-18186-3.html


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## Condora (Aug 12, 2009)

imalko said:


> Guys, guys... You were not paying attention. As far as I recall Christian (Doughboy) said he is 12 years old during one discussion early on when he joined the forum few months ago...
> 
> I agree with posts above, it serves your credit for showing interest in aviation and actively participating the forum. Keep that way Christian.



I've only been here about a month now, and still haven't read ALL the posts (think I'll never will, not even the more interesting one on "aerodynamics" Breaking News).

When he said that on his father, I tried to add up his father's age, and as I only needed to take my shoes off once, that meant that for DB I might not need baring my feet...


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## Dasha1 (Aug 17, 2009)

Hi everyone, I first became interested in warbirds a long time ago, almost 40 years I guess. However I did nothing about until 12 months ago when I met an arrogant know it all who was convinced that a Lancaster Bomber had crashed in the village in England where I grew up. I made a few enquiries just to prove him wrong but never expected to prove him so wrong! It was a B17G called the 'Tenny Belle' which went down in April 1944 only the navigator survived but then only to perish on his next mission. 

With a bit more digging I managed to find the nephew of the radio operator and together we have been piecing bits together about the crew members and their families. I have tried to get information from the official archives in the US but as I am not a direct descendant (son/daughter widow etc) they are not able/willing to help me. Does anyone out there know of another source where I can find out more about the 'Tenny Belle' and her crew?

Anyhow since then I have become obsessed/addicted/fixated with anything military that flies, floats or kicks ass really. 

Dasha


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## GrauGeist (Aug 17, 2009)

Welcome to the forums, Dasha...glad you were able to prove the "know-it-all" wrong!

Heck of a way to start off your appreciation of WWII aircraft, but we all got to start somewhere!


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## snafud1 (Aug 17, 2009)

Welcome to the boards Dasha1.


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## Airframes (Aug 19, 2009)

Dasha, I'm probably trying to teach Granny how to suck eggs, but I presume you know the Bomb Group and Squadron. Therefore, have you tried contacting the BG Assocaition concerned? In the little experience I've had dealing with a couple of US Veterans Associations, I've found them very helpful. BTW, welcome to the forum from up North, where it's a bit hilly compared to Thetford, but maybe not as attractive - nice town!


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## BigB (Sep 8, 2009)

I have always been interested in WW 2 aviation. 

My Dad flew B-17's out of Fogia Italy in the final months of WW 2. He was trained as a pilot, but I think he flew both as a co-pilot a pilot. He had 6 combat missions by the time the war ended. 3 were against "military targets" 3 were over cities. These findings I have in his old paper work. I have tried to contact the DOD for more info but a fire in the 50's had destroyed most of the info about his service many others......... He had stories of ME 262 attacks, that I can only begin to appreciate now.

I've climbed in static displays of WW2 aircraft including B-17's those guys who flew them had incredible courage! I look forward to flying in a B-17 when the cash available matches the opportunity !

C-ya

B


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## Doughboy (Sep 8, 2009)

BigB said:


> I have always been interested in WW 2 aviation.
> 
> My Dad flew B-17's out of Fogia Italy in the final months of WW 2. He was trained as a pilot, but I think he flew both as a co-pilot a pilot. He had 6 combat missions by the time the war ended. 3 were against "military targets" 3 were over cities. These findings I have in his old paper work. I have tried to contact the DOD for more info but a fire in the 50's had destroyed most of the info about his service many others......... He had stories of ME 262 attacks, that I can only begin to appreciate now.
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum.


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## proton45 (Sep 8, 2009)

GrauGeist said:


> To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought, but for a 12 year old, you fit in well. There's people here (well, have been, but not anymore) that are older than you, that act half your age.



He has yet to experience adolescence (lol)...just kid'n , I agree, with an attitude like his, "Doughboy", will go far in this life.


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## airboiy (Sep 11, 2009)

Everyone, I'm back.

About the comments about the 262 thing, let me make this clear-This was my little brother's doing. He is a natural liar and a 13 yr old. I let him on my account because he was interested in airplanes. I shouldn't have, but I wanted to trust him. 

I am sorry for the actions he took.

I haven't been on since before I let him on because my 3 yr old littler brother was (and still is) fighting ulceritive colonitis ( inflamation of the colon). Again, sorry for the trouble he caused, and hopefully we look back at this one day and laugh.


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## airboiy (Sep 15, 2009)

Personally, I was interested when my dad took me to the airport and showed me a 747 up close ( his friend works at UPS) and I was amazed.


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## Klay (Dec 5, 2009)

I've loved to look at airplanes since before I can remember. I don't know what prompted it. But I studied every airplane book I could get my hands on and always watched the TV show from the 60s...I think it was called "Wild Blue Yonder." I always especially liked the aircraft of world war 2. This is a great site. I just found it.


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## N4521U (Dec 5, 2009)

Being a senior, when I was about 9 years old, 1952, I was living in San Lorenzo California, SF Bay Area. There is a small Air National Guard station in Hayward, and they flew Mustangs. I lived just a few blocks from the air port. I would ride my bike to watch them land from the East, later I learned it was from the Tracy area. The soldiers there would stop and say hello since it was pretty obvious I was waiting for the planes to take off or land. I had a classmate whos father flew Corsairs out of Alameda Naval Air Station, he used to take us there to watch them TO and land, gord ahmighty I loved that. One day the ANG police escorted me to the tower gave me their binoculars to watch for the planes from over the Hayward hills, how exciting was this for a nine year old!!!!!! I used to hang out at the rapair hangars as well. Bloody hell, we moved and never had another air port close to me. Never lost the urge to fly. Was a helicopter aircrewman in the Navy, SH34-J sonar operator, USS Yorktown CVS-10. Finally learned to fly at 48, what a day. During my lessons I met a SF 49r tight end at the Livermore AP, he had a P-51, Bob Loves old plane, he took me up with him it in on several occasions. It sounds in stereo, just like it sounds from outside. If you get a chance, no matter the cost, I would suggest taking a ride in one. cheers, Bill


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## 1275GT (Dec 7, 2009)

Hi all, I think my interest was first sparked by a visit to the Imperial War Museum in London. I think it was the first time I'd been close to some of the aircraft that I'd seen in books, etc. 
It became serious after my first couple of airshow visits. The first was to Old Warden, Beds - a really great little place, mainly WW1 stuff, and you could get up nice and close to real, working aircraft.
The second was the Mildenhall Air Fete, which I guess most of you would know about so I won't g go on, but needless to say I became a regular there and saw some amazing stuff.
The rest, they say, is history.................
Neil


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## WarbirdRadio (Dec 7, 2009)

I was hooked after my first CAF Airshow (back in Harlingen). Now, some 25+ years later, I'm lucky enough to be around them everyday. Life is good! 

Matt Jolley
WarbirdRadio.com


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## snafud1 (Dec 7, 2009)

You lucky SOB. Welcome to the forums.


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## WarbirdRadio (Dec 8, 2009)

Haha... Thanks! Wish you guys were here at ICAS this week. I think every warbird airshow act in the country is here. Hopefully they'll help inspire the "next generation" of warbird fans.

v/r

Matt Jolley
WarbirdRadio.com


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## Marcel (Dec 9, 2009)

WarbirdRadio said:


> I was hooked after my first CAF Airshow (back in Harlingen). Now, some 25+ years later, I'm lucky enough to be around them everyday. Life is good!
> 
> Matt Jolley
> WarbirdRadio.com



Harlingen? You mean the Frisian harbour here in The Netherlands


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## snafud1 (Dec 10, 2009)

WarbirdRadio said:


> Haha... Thanks! Wish you guys were here at ICAS this week. I think every warbird airshow act in the country is here. Hopefully they'll help inspire the "next generation" of warbird fans.
> 
> v/r
> 
> ...



If any one there took pics , you ought to have them post them in the Events thread. Can't get enough warbird pics.8)


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## schlosser (Dec 21, 2009)

My God. I have been intreasted in the subject sence i can remember. but the main reason why is all the diffrent types and modles made for diffrenet purposes and reasons.


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## pbfoot (Dec 23, 2009)

While going through my junk I found a notebook of mine from grade 2 or 3 about 1962. The only thing i managed out of that list was working radar


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## snafud1 (Dec 24, 2009)

Now that is cool.


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## Night Fighter Nut (Jan 2, 2010)

I fell in love with warbirds when I was 5. My neighbor, Mr. Black, gave my brother and I a plane model. Mine was a some four engine cargo plane a cargo master or something, my brother's was the XB70 Valkyre. I probably broke the plane playing with it I don't remember. Later, when I was nine, my dad gave me my first model plane. A Sopwith Camel with an electric motor I had to build. Never got any help from my dad building it and it had excess glue coming out of every seam... That one lasted a little longer than my first plane but from then on I build as many model planes as I could get. All in 72nd scale. I think my brother and I had over 30 planes hanging from our ceiling and I could identify every last one of them. All were WWII planes. I didn't get to build planes again until after I retired from the military in 2003. By then I was a qualified avionics tech working in the medical field. To celebrate veteran'd day, my wife bought me five 48 scale night fighters. She new how much I love WWII planes and thought I would be better building them instead of just collecting those little postage stamp series planes... of which I have dozens of. Now I follow restorations of old warbirds as I find them like the Mid Atlantic Air Museum which is restoring a P-61B to flying condition. One of only four left in exsistance. Point of interest, did anyone know that the FW 190 A and D are being rebuild as new again in Germany?


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## Njaco (Jan 2, 2010)

I will be sure to get some pics for you, Nightfighter, of the P-61 when TO and others visit MAAM this June for WWII Weekend.


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## Night Fighter Nut (Jan 2, 2010)

Njaco said:


> I will be sure to get some pics for you, Nightfighter, of the P-61 when TO and others visit MAAM this June for WWII Weekend.



Thanks... I would really appreciate that. If you take special requests for pictures, let me know.


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## snafud1 (Jan 3, 2010)

Njaco said:


> I will be sure to get some pics for you, Nightfighter, of the P-61 when TO and others visit MAAM this June for WWII Weekend.



Better let us all see them,....or else..........


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## Spielmann (Jan 9, 2010)

Hi everybody,

I became interested in warbirds at the age of 6-7. My first book was "The big show" of Pierre Clostermann, a comics in fact.

Cheers,
Spielmann


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## CrotalusKid (Jan 10, 2010)

One day at about six or seven years old I got into the passenger seat of my father's '78 Trans Am. On the floor board lie a copy of "Fine Scale Modeler" with a photo of a Spitfire on the cover. I expressed my fascination, and upon returning home my father introduced my to the PC game "Aces Over Europe". It was a good day. (I suspect my father was upset that my favorite aircraft was no longer what he flew, the F-4 Phantom II.)


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## zoomar (Mar 18, 2010)

My dad was in the USAAF in the Pacific theatre during WW2 and the Reserves after until about 1960 or so. Even though he was not a pilot or flight officer (he was in logistic support and information), airplanes were always a big deal in my family. My mother also liked them. From my earliest memory, I had more toy airplanes than anything else, and started making old Aurora plastic models (with my other's help usually) when I was 5 or 6. A special gift was a big static balsa model of a B-24 my dad made for me when he was in the hospital. I always liked WW2 (and WW1) planes much more than modern jets - which when I was a kid meant F-86's and B-47s. A few years later my folks bought me a copy of William Green's "Famous Fighters of the Second World War" and I basically never read anything other than books about WW2 airplanes for the following several years. I also got hooked by Pierre Clostermann's book - I had a first edition paper back and read it to destruction. Our local airport had also been used to store WW2 planes after the war and I remember messing around in stripped Lockheed Hudsons and the like pretending I was bombing Berlin.


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## tomo pauk (Mar 24, 2010)

As any proper boy I fell in love with airplanes at age of 5 
Made the paper planes, even tried paper balloons once. Dreamed about becoming a pilot, but my eyesight crushed that.


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## Glider (Mar 24, 2010)

pbfoot said:


> While going through my junk I found a notebook of mine from grade 2 or 3 about 1962. The only thing i managed out of that list was working radar



Agressive little fella, wanting to take the Russians on at that age.

Love the picture. If you did that these days they would probably send you for therapy.


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## herman1rg (Mar 24, 2010)

My interest was sparked when my parents took me onto the back roads near to RAF Duxford where the Battle of Britain film was being produced at the time.


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## Bullo Loris (Mar 29, 2010)

My interest since I was 5-6 years old...vow 20 years


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## Oggie2620 (May 19, 2010)

Have interested in newer warbirds since I was a youngster (my dads ex RAF) and my especial favourite has always been the Harrier. My interest in older warbirds started in 2008 when I found the grave of a New Zealander from 75 (NZ) Sqn buried in my local churchyard. Because of him I started buying books about New Zealanders in Bomber Command and especially Stirlings which is what he died in. Now it has taken on a whole other life. Strange to say that my other favourite newer warbird now is the Skyhawk (looks a bit like a harrier in some ways without the VSTOL capability)..... Warbirds at Wanaka was great and it looks like I will be volunteering at RIAT this year....
Dee


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## Smoke (Jun 3, 2010)

I've loved anything that flies as long as I can remember, but I only became seriously interested in warbirds a few years ago when I went to an airshow in Rome, GA.

They had a P-51, B-25, SBD... great show!


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## T Bolt (Jun 3, 2010)

I grew up hearing my dads war stories of flying B-24's in the 8th and 15th Air Forces. Then in '74 we went to an air museum that was little more than a bunch of wrecks parked out in a field and I was hooked for good! Thats me on the right next to my brother and my all time favorite aircraft!


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## Canberra Man (Jul 6, 2010)

Hi.
My interest in warbirds started when the war started, I was a very young nine year old and was already making rubber powered flying models. My father worked for the LNER. (Late and Never Early Railway)
Grimsby Docks Board, organised spotting posts on high buildings in Grimsby and spotters were trained from the LNER staff. They were in telephone and radio contact with the dock authoroties and the docks continued working during an air raid. If anything suspicious was seen, alarm bells were rung and all the workers went to shelter. The proof of the system was that less than 2,000 hours were lost in six years. I too, had a job, my father told his bosses that I could make model aircraft, the result was they purchased solid model kits and paint and I made aircraft recognition models. I had a few near misses in the war especially with the Butterfly Bombs. Also, although I am 80 next month, I help out at the local aviation museum, we have a 3 story control tower full of artifacts. The aircraft are Jet Provost, Meteor, Hunter, Vampire, Saab Draken, F100, 2 Helicopters, Spitfire and a Lightning. 

Ken


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## vikingBerserker (Jul 6, 2010)

Very cool Ken!


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## jrw1238 (Jul 15, 2010)

I guess I really first got interested in warbirds after I read Robert Scott's God is My Co-Pilot. The other thing was there was a TN. ANG squadron at then Berry Field in Nashville, TN that flew P-47s. I used to watch them get into a rat race over where we lived. I've been a frustrated fighter pilot ever since.


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## skeeter (Aug 23, 2010)

From the moment I laid my eyes on my childhood friends model of a B-17. It was 1/72nd scale and olive green but with some detail to it. Even as a small child the plane looked "right."


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## 4mot (Sep 1, 2010)

As a child I was always models of WWII aircraft from various countries. This aroused my interest in such aircraft, the fighters were the best. At air shows about 15 years ago I was able to experience the live sound. Since that time, I love these planes, whether fighter or bomber. Being the most beautiful sound is B-25.


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## Smoke (Sep 1, 2010)

Canberra Man said:


> Hi.
> My interest in warbirds started when the war started, I was a very young nine year old and was already making rubber powered flying models. My father worked for the LNER. (Late and Never Early Railway)
> Grimsby Docks Board, organised spotting posts on high buildings in Grimsby and spotters were trained from the LNER staff. They were in telephone and radio contact with the dock authoroties and the docks continued working during an air raid. If anything suspicious was seen, alarm bells were rung and all the workers went to shelter. The proof of the system was that less than 2,000 hours were lost in six years. I too, had a job, my father told his bosses that I could make model aircraft, the result was they purchased solid model kits and paint and I made aircraft recognition models. I had a few near misses in the war especially with the Butterfly Bombs. Also, although I am 80 next month, I help out at the local aviation museum, we have a 3 story control tower full of artifacts. The aircraft are Jet Provost, Meteor, Hunter, Vampire, Saab Draken, F100, 2 Helicopters, Spitfire and a Lightning.
> 
> Ken



Very cool story!

I don't want to get to far off topic, but I was curious what aviation museum you helped out at?


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## tyrodtom (Sep 12, 2010)

I'm really not sure how far back my interest in aviation goes, somewhere around 8 or 9 I begin building balsa wood and plastic models . 
What really boosted my interest was a 1957 trip to Chicago, for my brothers wedding. While there we went to the Fields museum. As you walked thru the main entrance you were greeted by a Stuka pointed right at you in a very steep dive. There were several other aircraft there, and other exhibits, but I remember only that Stuka and the U-boat (U-505 ) outside.


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## tail end charlie (Sep 12, 2010)

I always had an interest in aircraft, one time in 1982 I went to do some race practice at Snetterton race circuit which was a USAAF bomber base in WWII. It was february and freezing cold so myself and my friend walked to the local bar. We sat and had more than a few beers in a room lined with old photos pinned up by the American aircrews in the war many of whome did not return, it was a very touching poignant experience. Being only about 1 1/2 miles from the runway I bet that bar was a special place during the war.


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## P40NUT (Sep 17, 2010)

I was in Civil Air Patrol as a teenager and inheried my love for the old warbirds from the Senior Members. I even worked an airshow for the Confederate Air Force back in the 70's .


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## Canberra Man (Oct 11, 2010)

Smoke said:


> Very cool story!
> 
> I don't want to get to far off topic, but I was curious what aviation museum you helped out at?



Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum. Try putting that in your search box, it might work.

Ken


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## VBF-13 (Nov 2, 2010)

My Dad's Navy stories and memorabilia are basically what got me hooked. He got his wings on July 28, 1944.


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## Crimea_River (Nov 3, 2010)

OK here goes:

Me in my Dad's arms in 1960 and the next two in 1962, building my first scratch built model.


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## marcus4hire (Jan 1, 2011)

Hi everybody.

Fitting topic of my first post, huh?

I do not recall a time when I wasn't devoted to warbirds (I prefer WWII, ETO, 8thAF Luftwaffe Ostfront). 

Seriously, the Mrs. asked a while back and I really don't know. I think, but not sure, it had to do with a weekly reader ad in 2nd-3rd grade. Had some cartoony Mustangs and Thunderbolts in the margins. I do remember asking dad what they were, he got up, walked over to his ample library, and whipped out some type of WWII encyclopedia. The rest, as they say, is history.

Guess I better go check in at the proper place..........


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## muscogeemike (Apr 1, 2011)

I grew up in S. Cal with a kid who’s dad flew recon P-38’s and B-25’s during the war. He (the dad) and another pilot bought a surplus P-38 and put a second seat in it. I got one flight and got sick, but I was hooked on War Birds.
I remember in grade school getting in trouble for doodleing airplanes instead of what I was suppose to be doing.


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## Readie (Apr 16, 2011)

I was always interested in anything with a petrol engine as a small lad. My life long love of Merlin engined Spitfires was triggered by a display at Manston which I went to with my dad when I was about 5. The sheer power and noise made my neck tingle then and 50 years later it still does.
I admire Tempests, Typhoons,Hurricanes,Sea Furies, lancasters,P51's,Mosquitos, Bearcats but...given one it would be a Vb Spitfire. The perfect fighter in my opinion.
Cheers
John


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## jjp_nl (Apr 26, 2011)

I've been interested in WW2 Warbirds since I was a kid. My old man was (and to a certain degree still is) a bit of an aviation nutter as well, so I guess it was part of my upbringing. 

The other day we went through my grandmothers stuff as she passed on a while ago (God bless her). So, out came all these photo-albums and 8mm films (my grandfather used to be quite a photographer and filmer) from when my dad was a kid and even from way before my dad was even born (dating back to the war-years when my grandfather and grandmother were still dating, those typical boyfriend/girlfriend pic's) These films and photo's have been digitized since and I've found multiple pictures of my dad as a kid playing with what most likely was his first Spitfire modelkit (crazed and glue-soaked clearparts and no paint, you get the idea). Must have been around the early sixties.

One of those strong memories from when I was like 4 or 5 years old was having two of my dads 1/32 scale-models hanging on the ceiling of my bedroom. The matchbox 1/32 Spitfire F.22/24 and (most likely also a Matchbox) 1/32 BF-109E Galland (the pilot figure in the BF-109 even has a Galland style mustache on it so dad did his research for sure when he got older) Also there were always aviation books and magazines laying around in the house. So in that regard the apple didn't fall all that far from the tree.


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## jetmech (May 2, 2011)

My father was a crew chief in the USAAC, serving with the 36th and 432nd fighter squadrons in the South Pacific. Dad started his aviation career in 1940 at Langley AFB Virgina. He worked on P-40s, P-39s, P-38s, B-24, and other various aircraft. Even though Dad was assigned to these squadrons, he served most of his time on detached service going wherever there was a plane in need of repair. He often talked of the pilots, Bong, McGuire, Lindberg, McDonald and many others who flew his plane at one time or another. 

In wanting to assure that the historical time in which he served would not be forgotten, Dad utilized various methods to impart it into each of his three children. He would often take us to the museum at Wright Patterson and spend the whole day watching movies in the theater or discussing the various aircraft with us. We would also attend as many local airshows as possible. We would spend hours going through his photo album and often times he would buy model planes that he want me to assemble for him. It was neat to walk into the house and see whole squadrons of aircraft hanging from the ceiling. 

Today after retiring from a 34 year career in the USAF I am now crewing a P-51 Mustang along with a T-6 Texan. Both are painted with the historical 325th checkertail markings. For the past three years, both aircraft have been at Oshkosh. You may also have seen the Mustang at the Gathering of Mustangs two years ago in Rickenbacker AFB. OH. Dad was overjoyed when I took him to see the planes and without missing a beat at his age of 95 he asked where we kept the P-38. 

I enjoy being around the old warbirds and listening to the veterans who contributed to the efforts that give us and others the freedom we share today. May their efforts never be forgotten and their aircraft maintained for as long as time allows.


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## Readie (May 16, 2011)

jetmech said:


> My father was a crew chief in the USAAC, serving with the 36th and 432nd fighter squadrons in the South Pacific. Dad started his aviation career in 1940 at Langley AFB Virgina. He worked on P-40s, P-39s, P-38s, B-24, and other various aircraft. Even though Dad was assigned to these squadrons, he served most of his time on detached service going wherever there was a plane in need of repair. He often talked of the pilots, Bong, McGuire, Lindberg, McDonald and many others who flew his plane at one time or another.
> 
> In wanting to assure that the historical time in which he served would not be forgotten, Dad utilized various methods to impart it into each of his three children. He would often take us to the museum at Wright Patterson and spend the whole day watching movies in the theater or discussing the various aircraft with us. We would also attend as many local airshows as possible. We would spend hours going through his photo album and often times he would buy model planes that he want me to assemble for him. It was neat to walk into the house and see whole squadrons of aircraft hanging from the ceiling.
> 
> ...


 
Well said
Cheers
John


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## Tangopilot89 (May 20, 2011)

I have been fascinated by aviation since I was young(er). As I live right on the doorstep of an active runway, and a main approach to an airport, I have heard and seen many aircraft fly over my head all my life. Since then, I have visited many aircraft museums across the UK (one each in Malta and the US), read countless books and watched many documentaries on aircraft. My dad, also keen on aircraft, was mainly responsible for all this and was also where I found out my grandfather was a Lancaster pilot during the war. I have also accumulated countless models over the years. As my fascination never stopped, I have ended up working with aircraft where I have had the privilege to work on EF2000s, Harriers and Tornadoes. However, WW2 warbirds have always been my main interest. I have shown my support for the B-17 _Sally B_ and have also had the unique privilege of a one-to-one guided tour of her. I remain in her Preservation Society because I strongly believe that these historic aircraft be preserved and kept where they belong, as a reminder of what they did for us.

Andy


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## brucejscott (May 20, 2011)

My father was in the military and an avid modeler. His personal area of interest was WW II pacific naval aviation. It was from him that I aquired my love of history, the military, aviation and modelling. I started building planes from about age five because this is what I figured normal people did. I still think this way. It's the ones without a hobby like modelling that I consider to be abnormal and stressed out.


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## Lighthunmust (Jun 9, 2011)

My Grandmother, who was a pilot, told me bedtime stories about the Flying Tigers when I was 6. I watched the series Twelve O’Clock High on prime time TV. I saw “Flying Tigers” starring John Wayne on TV sometime around age 8. My father was a private pilot, my uncle was a F-84 pilot, and my great-uncle was a RAF Mosquito pilot. Stories about flying led to model building of WW2 and later aircraft. Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona had many different types of WWII bombers and piston engined transport aircraft being converted to fire bombers. There was even a F-86. In the 1960's and early 70’s you could walk right up to them. Pretty Heady stuff for a kid. By the time I was 14 I had visited the old air museum at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne) in California, The USAF museum in Dayton, Ohio, The Canadian Museum in Ottawa, and the Smithsonian collection when it was housed in the old War Department buildings in D.C. So began my life long love of warbirds. My grandmother is now 96 and still likes to tell stories about airplanes.


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## Gixxerman (Sep 22, 2011)

I think I was bred with it. 
My dad was in the RAF, a Vulcan navigator so an interest in aircraft, the RAF and subsequently our allies the opposition's kit naturally followed.
All the boys of my gen in my family have it to one degree or another.......and it only occurred to us talking about this that although our sister seemed to have little in the way of a great interest in planes she was the only one that went and worked for an aircraft company for several years!
It must have seeped in well!

I suspect it also helps being a certain age.
When I was a boy growing up aware of these things WW2 was only 25yrs ago.
Many various family members had either fought in the armed forces - or worked in the war effort, most especially females in the family. 
They all experienced the war very directly personally.
It's something I can look back on see very clearly in my own growing up and it's totally absent in the next gen.
In one sense I'm glad of that but in another I think it's a pity there is so little interest.....or if there is an interest its fairly superficial.

Still, I'm sure the echoes of the wars trauma is no bad thing to be leaving behind.
I sometimes wonder just how much the attitudes of certain generations have been shaped (consciously subconsciously) by that trauma.


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## P-38Lightning (Oct 10, 2011)

My interest started when my grandfather brought an old World War Two scrapbook up to my house. it had a lot of pictures in it, and suddenly i found myself wanting to find out about all the airplanes in the book. I also build a lot of models, and seeing some of those models helped to keep my interest alive.


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## rayco79 (Oct 26, 2011)

Hi,
How did this all begin. I remember when I was around 7 or 8 years old,Living in South Africa{moved here from there 41 yrs ago] my father returning from a auction sale he had been to, with a model of a Lancaster he had purchased. Can't remember the manufacturer or the scale, must have been 1/72, green plastic and lots of bits. Stuck it together and painted it blue with some old house paint Dad had in the shed.
It was many years later that the Keilcraft balsa kits caught my attention. Burnt up a lot of those while lighting the fuse for the little solid fuel rocket engine. From there it grew into control line, tow line gliding, a little R/C {too expensive for me} and finally 1/72 plastic models from Frog and Aifix. Purchased and built all that I could find till finally settled with 1/72 scale WW1 aircraft. Loved all that wonderfull rigging that just HAD to be included in the finished model.
When the wife and I decided we had to get the children out of there and move to Canada, I left behind a decades worth of models which were given to my brother in law. None of them remain as his children used them in war games I guess, and they were all shot down in flames.
Just sort of eased into WW2 Aircraft after we got here. Tried a couple of WW1 aircraft but had been there, so here i am, still fiddiling with lovely bits of plastic, but in 1/32 scale this time around, not as much as I would like to anymore, but when I decide to retire one day, and if she with the big stick doesn't want to spend all our time roaming to exotic locations,my modeling time may get back to what it used to be. One can only hope.
Ray.


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## parsifal (Oct 26, 2011)

I was a kid when i saw the movie "Battle of Britain". i think thats what started it. 

As I grew up I worked for a guy that had flown against the japanese in WWII. He used to describe their tactics and skills. I found i was fascinated by all of this and just could not get enough information. 

Years later i joined the RAN. I got several "work experience" style days on the carrier as a JTO, and decided I wanted to fly from that time. Was rejected from the selection process, but was selected for tactical warfare training. Decided if i couldnt fly them, I could direct them. 

Spent six months at HMAS Watson, our tactical warfare school, before being posted. Eventually I got a job and working in the operations room of the carrier and trained as a PWO. Deployed to the indian ocean, to watch aircraft operating as near as damn it to a hot situation, and came away convinced that airpower and aircraft were the future solution to many issues that we faced. 

Soon after the carrier was paid off, by that time i had done a stint in small ships and was last posted to the Antarctic supply ship. Was discharged medically unfit in 85, went back to uni and studied strategic studies a bit more. All the time maintained my interest in airpower and all things flying. By this time was heavily into the "professional wargaing scene, testing and designing for the australian Dersign Group (ADG).

I have helped design a couple of air games for operational level games. Have undertaken reviews and testing of a a number of sims. Still I wish i could actually fly one day, but my medical condition wont ever allow that to happen.


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## Canberra Man (Nov 12, 2011)

Hi Smoke.
Sorry for the delay. The museum is Dumfries Galloway Aviation Museum. I usually refurbish cockpits. I learnt my trade in the Royal Air Force. I was with 617 Squadron and worked on Avro Licnolns and Canberras. We took the Canberras on detachment to Malaya for 6 months in 1955.

Ken


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## Arossihman (Nov 20, 2011)

Since i was old enough to pick out my own book at the library! I always gravitated towards warbirds!


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## Nig (Nov 25, 2011)

My son now has this but I used to sleep under it. anyone else got one?


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## Njaco (Nov 25, 2011)

I would have loved to have a bedsheet like that!


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 25, 2011)

Heck I'd love to have it now


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## pbfoot (Nov 25, 2011)

Njaco said:


> I would have loved to have a bedsheet like that!


Remember its a Spit Cockpit and it didn't have self sealing tank in the fuselage


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 25, 2011)

LMAO


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## Sagittario64 (Nov 25, 2011)

I was hooked on planes the moment i first said their name in the "Childen's dictionary of letters and things"  made up book title but im sure weve all read a book like that in our earliest years


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## Canberra Man (Nov 26, 2011)

I became interested in warbirds in the thirties, I was eight when it hit and my mates were niggled when I gazed upwards instead of playing cowboys and indians. During the war, I made models, flying ones even until balsa wood became unobtainable. My eyes were forever cast heavenwards. After the war, national service called, when my turn came, the air force wasnt recruiting so I ended up in the Royal Artillery on ack ack. Three months after demob I volunteered for the RAF. Trained as Electrical fitter and joined 617 Squadron working on Avro Lincolns and later, the Canberra which we took to Malaya for 6 months. Still had the itch in civvy street and was with Air Cadets as Warrant Officer for 30 years. Got a few gongs!

Ken


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## woljags (Nov 26, 2011)

my interest came from holidays in westgate on sea in kent in the 60's/very early 70's,the beach was in the flight path of RAF Manston,i would see every day Vulcan's/Varsity's/Valletta's and Whirlwind helicopters flying into land,also just up the road was the frog factory where the kits were made,as my family loved playing bingo in the evening we kids would get bored hanging around so we would look at the prizes,as the frog factory was just up the road there were aircraft kits available as prizes so i got my 1st kit playing bingo,by the time i left that year i had spent nearly a years saved pocket money picking up these kit however i could.Lots of trips every year after that to RAF Manston where they had 3 gate guardians [spitfire/canberra/javelin] ,i didn't stop making/collecting models until i started work in the late 70's ,in the late 80's i became ground crew for a couple of seasons at North Weald and West Malling airfields on vintage warbird displays until health and safety got in the way,although i have kept up my interest in aircraft it wasn't until a couple of years ago that i started modeling again and couldn't believe just how much it had changed,the detailing done now makes my attempts look scrap,so i look on now trying to do better each time and although i have lots of rare kits to build [100 approx] i hope that at the end i will turn out something on the par with some of the chaps on here


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## vikingBerserker (Nov 27, 2011)

Very cool gents!


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## destrozas (Nov 27, 2011)

I started very young I was 2 years old when my hometown (Alcala de Henares) Spanish paratroopers have their main base there and to displays for the holidays, plus a guy in the Spanish SAR, later when I was 4 years my grandfather was honored by a government establishment for being the senior Republican last fall prey to the Spanish civil war from that day my grandfather began to tell their stories of war, with 8 years my uncle gave me my first Spitfire Mk Ia model an Airfix I think, since then I've been making models 17 years I volunteered at the Spanish Air army, instruction estubo 9 months but I detected a heart condition that limited me to keep my job and I graduated from sick leave will be free until the mandatory military service by the then still being made, the models by life circumstances I could not have a record in the hobby,
From the first show of chinooks on my terrace mayor dreamed of flying in a helicopter and fly as high performance that has hurt the military that could not be in my heart.


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## jipi (Dec 9, 2011)

Hi !
As far as I remember, I have always been interested in fast, noisy jet fighters.

I have started getting interested in WW2 fighters when, in the Frazé's cemetary, in the deep french countryside, I found the stele of a young french pilot, Arnould Thiroux de Gervillier, saying "Killed in aerial fight on may 21st 1940".


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## Marcodc3 (Feb 5, 2012)

I was always a big time lover or both military and civil aircrafts, especially those build in the 1930s and 1940s.


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## Readie (Feb 5, 2012)

woljags said:


> my interest came from holidays in westgate on sea in kent in the 60's/very early 70's,the beach was in the flight path of RAF Manston,i would see every day Vulcan's/Varsity's/Valletta's and Whirlwind helicopters flying into land,also just up the road was the frog factory where the kits were made,as my family loved playing bingo in the evening we kids would get bored hanging around so we would look at the prizes,as the frog factory was just up the road there were aircraft kits available as prizes so i got my 1st kit playing bingo,by the time i left that year i had spent nearly a years saved pocket money picking up these kit however i could.Lots of trips every year after that to RAF Manston where they had 3 gate guardians [spitfire/canberra/javelin] ,i didn't stop making/collecting models until i started work in the late 70's ,in the late 80's i became ground crew for a couple of seasons at North Weald and West Malling airfields on vintage warbird displays until health and safety got in the way,although i have kept up my interest in aircraft it wasn't until a couple of years ago that i started modeling again and couldn't believe just how much it had changed,the detailing done now makes my attempts look scrap,so i look on now trying to do better each time and although i have lots of rare kits to build [100 approx] i hope that at the end i will turn out something on the par with some of the chaps on here



A coincidence there. My family come from Ramsgate Margate. My Mum served at RAF Manston in WW2. Been to West Malling too.
Manston hosts the 'Spirit of Kent' Spitfire display every year.
Cheers
John


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## Elmas (Feb 5, 2012)

I'don't know.......
I did receive the first book on Aviation as birthday present September 19th, 1960, at the age of eight.....
I still own this book, of course.......


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## oldcrowcv63 (Feb 10, 2012)

The first book my mother read to me as a child (before I learned to read) was _the Story of the Wright Brothers._ My brother was an artist and an early pilot in his teens due to his summer employment at a small New Jersey country airfield: Lander's Flying Service near Blairstown in Warren County, NJ. At this airfield were the abandoned wrecks of yellow painted WW2 training aircraft that I could climb around and play in. Seeing my brother's sketches, and recalling the stories my mother had read and told me (inspired from her own experiences in befriending aviation pioneers) I was hooked on the romance of the sky. That's never changed. I knew when young that aviation would be a major part of my life and it has been so.


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## Charlie (Apr 12, 2015)

Hollywood said:


> My Dad flew B-29's in the 20th AAF 313 wing 505th group 484th squad from Tinian North field which at the time was the worlds largest.......
> So as far back as I can remember there was a balsa model of his plane "Lil Spook" #84-06 sitting on his Dresser in Mom and Dads bedroom that he built from scratch and he has an album of photos which I've posted a few here so it was natural I became a Warbird "nut"......
> 
> P.S. Guess which plane got my vote for the Top Heavy Bomber hahahahaha...
> It was an obvious choice anyway........



Hollywood,

My dad Charles W. Johnson was the pilot of Lil Spook


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