When did you first become interested in Warbirds?

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

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

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

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

 

[cheddar cheese]

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

 

[evangilder]

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.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

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

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

So is flying...

 

[cheddar cheese]

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

 

[evangilder]

So is flying...

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

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

 

[ndicki]

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?

 

[102first_hussars]

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

 

[lesofprimus]

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...

 

[ndicki]

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

 

[lesofprimus]

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...

 

[FLYBOYJ]

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...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

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

 

[lesofprimus]

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...

 

[102first_hussars]

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

 

[R-2800]

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

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

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?