Oshkosh B'gosh
- Thread starter C&C
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Mooseonagoose
Well-known member
Sweet video, Thanks for posting it! I got a little damp-eyed watching all those Gooneys flying by, wish my Pop was still around, he'da liked that, ...in his 26yr AF carreer he racked up nigh 5000hrs and a very large percentage of those in Gooneys, his favorite bird 'til his final take-off!
airboss
Well-known member
C-47 and /or DC-3. Great old bird.
First introduction was catching a ride on one out of Lowery AFB in Denver to Scott AFB in Southern Illinois, blasted off the runway ( at a moderate pace) to a cruising altitude of 8,000 feet. Crew Chief came back to warn me to stay buckled in as the pilot was in a hurry. Asked the Crew Chief about all the shaking, rattling, and vibrations, told me I should only worry when they stopped.
Later on had the privilege of working with an AC-47 Squadron at Phu-Cat AB, RVN, fascinating and dedicated group of people, on duty 24/7, they had the book on allowed fight service hours, but I think they burned it. We never had a base over run while an AC-47 was on station. Only issue with the AC-47 was there was never enough of them.
"Legends from 1967-1968"
Had an AC-47 pilot complaining that his "new" bird was sluggish on the controls, when they finally pulled up the foor boards to check the cables, they found over a ton of coal dust left over fron the Berlin Airlift.
Another pilot wrote his AC-47 for excessive vibrations near the wing root, tear down reveled an unexploded cannon shell from a WW2 German fighter lodged in the wing root.
It's great seeing those old birds still in the air. :clapping:
First introduction was catching a ride on one out of Lowery AFB in Denver to Scott AFB in Southern Illinois, blasted off the runway ( at a moderate pace) to a cruising altitude of 8,000 feet. Crew Chief came back to warn me to stay buckled in as the pilot was in a hurry. Asked the Crew Chief about all the shaking, rattling, and vibrations, told me I should only worry when they stopped.
Later on had the privilege of working with an AC-47 Squadron at Phu-Cat AB, RVN, fascinating and dedicated group of people, on duty 24/7, they had the book on allowed fight service hours, but I think they burned it. We never had a base over run while an AC-47 was on station. Only issue with the AC-47 was there was never enough of them.
"Legends from 1967-1968"
Had an AC-47 pilot complaining that his "new" bird was sluggish on the controls, when they finally pulled up the foor boards to check the cables, they found over a ton of coal dust left over fron the Berlin Airlift.
Another pilot wrote his AC-47 for excessive vibrations near the wing root, tear down reveled an unexploded cannon shell from a WW2 German fighter lodged in the wing root.
It's great seeing those old birds still in the air. :clapping:
I haven't been back to OSH since '99, when I flew there from Palo Alto in a Mooney with a couple of other guys. I wanted to take the wife there this year on the FJR and camp with EAA Chapter 46, but that was right around the time of our 30th HS reunion, and since we were organizing it we couldn't really bail on it!
One of those guys that went with me back in '99 was a retired AF bomber pilot who flew everything from RB50s to B-52s. He told a story of his younger days where a group of them were to be flown in a Gooney Bird somewhere down south for training. They somehow managed to spend some time in the O-club before the flight (smell trouble yet?). Their base commander was getting his currency by flying left-seat for the flight. Once airborne, he worked to trim the plane for level flight. That's about when the guys in back all decided to have some fun...they all got up and rushed to the back...which necessitated a rapid trim adjustment by the commander up front! Once he had it trimmed again, they all went back up front, and the whole trim adjustment was repeated. Apparently, the commander was perhaps a tad outside the AF physical requirements and so was huffing and puffing in the southern heat to make such rapid trim adjustments (remember, all cable-controlled flight surfaces, no hydraulic assist). I think they even repeated the whole evolution again. They all had a good laugh about it, until they landed and the commander had a 'talk' with them!
Great video and thanks for sharing it!!
One of those guys that went with me back in '99 was a retired AF bomber pilot who flew everything from RB50s to B-52s. He told a story of his younger days where a group of them were to be flown in a Gooney Bird somewhere down south for training. They somehow managed to spend some time in the O-club before the flight (smell trouble yet?). Their base commander was getting his currency by flying left-seat for the flight. Once airborne, he worked to trim the plane for level flight. That's about when the guys in back all decided to have some fun...they all got up and rushed to the back...which necessitated a rapid trim adjustment by the commander up front! Once he had it trimmed again, they all went back up front, and the whole trim adjustment was repeated. Apparently, the commander was perhaps a tad outside the AF physical requirements and so was huffing and puffing in the southern heat to make such rapid trim adjustments (remember, all cable-controlled flight surfaces, no hydraulic assist). I think they even repeated the whole evolution again. They all had a good laugh about it, until they landed and the commander had a 'talk' with them!
Great video and thanks for sharing it!!
