Blackbird! - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cmac2012 · #31 02-17-2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVOtoGO

Two hours !! I guess you'll be going back !!

Sounds like you had an awesome visit. There certainly are some cool aircraft up there, for sure.

As for the 117. The screens arent fixed. Here it is doing what it does best.
Note: No vents.

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Riat2002/F117/index.html

Let us know the next time you go. How about some pics !

I usually don't think about taking any when I'm at places like that. AF, Pima, etc.
Too busy looking and "listening" to their stories of aviations yester-years.
And yerning....

Interesting shots. A buddy of mine in high school -- we spearheaded an intra-mural basketball team -- was always talking about going to the AF Acadamy in CO and he did, in fact, go. Some years back the OlyWA paper had a bit about him being one of the original stealth fighter pilots.

He was a good basketball player, bit too short for the varsity, around 5'8", but he could shoot it and was quite the gunner. Pre-requisite for his current job, perhaps. I was going to give his name but what's the point?

Botnst · #32 02-17-2009, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Interesting shots. A buddy of mine in high school -- we spearheaded an intra-mural basketball team -- was always talking about going to the AF Acadamy in CO and he did, in fact, go. Some years back the OlyWA paper had a bit about him being one of the original stealth fighter pilots.

He was a good basketball player, bit too short for the varsity, around 5'8", but he could shoot it and was quite the gunner. Pre-requisite for his current job, perhaps. I was going to give his name but what's the point?

If he flies those things he'd appreciate not having it broadcast over the internet.

TOPGUN · #33 02-17-2009, 10:35 PM

I just got convinced to go to Dayton to see the Blackbird. A nice long run for the Mercedes.(any excuse) The most awsome plane that I have seen was the Spruce Goose. Amazing woodwork. I think it is the largest ever built. Thanks for the post. Topgun

t walgamuth · #34 02-18-2009, 07:02 AM

That reminds me.....I gotta go see the goose before I die too!

jplinville · #35 02-18-2009, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOPGUN

I just got convinced to go to Dayton to see the Blackbird. A nice long run for the Mercedes.(any excuse) The most awsome plane that I have seen was the Spruce Goose. Amazing woodwork. I think it is the largest ever built. Thanks for the post. Topgun

You won't be disappointed...there are many, many aircraft in the hangers there. I've been going there twice a year since I was a kid...started taking my kids when they were babies.

Make sure to stop at the cafeteria and try the "space ice cream" It's kina like flavored styrofoam...LOL

You can spend 3 days there and not see everything.

My employer has a few engines on display there...look at the jet engine in the Tomahawk Missle...it's one of ours! Still makeing them too!!

Also, if you call ahead and request a tour, you can see the Memphis Belle being restored.

If you are interested, the original Wright "B" flyer is located in Carrillon Park, a museum of sorts, about 20 miles away from the museum off of I-75 at Edwin C. Moses Blvd. Just follow the signs...

MS Fowler · #36 02-18-2009, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

That reminds me.....I gotta go see the goose before I die too!

If that is the case--then by all means do NOT see the 'goose.

Live long.

KarTek · #37 02-18-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jplinville

My employer has a few engines on display there...look at the jet engine in the Tomahawk Missle...it's one of ours! Still makeing them too!!

Let me guess... Williams?

Here's some shots I took of the Blackbird last July:

Here's a link to a slide show of all the pictures I took (about 121).

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y71/kartek/Dayton%202008/AF%20Museum/?albumview=slideshow

Fulcrum525 · #38 02-18-2009, 10:10 AM

Looks good in black...too bad they never gave one a proper paint job

jplinville · #39 02-18-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarTek

Let me guess... Williams?

Yep!! If Barry keeps his promise to invest heavily in un-manned aircraft, then I'll continue to work here for many years!!

davidmash · #40 02-18-2009, 03:17 PM

No idea if this is true or not (I am sure that at some point somewhere something like this happened) but everytime I read this I just have to grin....

http://www.lawenforcementforums.com/forums/f27/sr-71-radio-chatter-15027/

Quote:

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed.

"I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed."

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren.

Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded
very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52, ground speed check."

Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it. Ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows
what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet.

And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 over the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios.

Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our simulator training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.

Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat.
That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles
Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?"

There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request.

"Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation,
and you just knew he was smiling.

But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once
again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks,
we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on our equipment."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, "Roger
that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys
have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes
on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast.

For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

Darrell Woods · #41 02-18-2009, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

The only thing I didn't see was a C5A.

When you come back, look up. The C5 can be seen flying over the area or on the operational runway.

KarTek · #42 02-18-2009, 10:07 PM

Here's one I shot outside the museum:

Quote:

Originally Posted by jplinville

Yep!! If Barry keeps his promise to invest heavily in un-manned aircraft, then I'll continue to work here for many years!!

I've noticed that Williams is being tapped to supply engines for quite a few of the new compact class of jets. Should be some job security...

t walgamuth · #43 02-18-2009, 10:42 PM

What I like about the Blackbird is it just looks right....kindof like the intuitively designed jaguars of the fifties and sixties....before computers ruined the looks of race cars!

The newer fighter jets (a lot of them anyway) now look wrong...kindof like a Chris Bangle design.

The Blackbird is the personification of speed!