Aviation BS and Photo Thread

Damn good luck there for sure.

I got hired into aviation during the Air Traffic Controllers strike in 1981. (I should have bought a lottery ticket that day!)
I have been in the business since then (41 yrs) without being laid off.
I did have endure two weeks of no-work during a union strike at NWA in the '90s. But, amazingly, that's all. I even survived the attacks on the Twin Towers without a hiccup.
I'm still active and count my blessings for this job everyday.

 

I had the same book

 

Some of the most fun I had was working as a lineman at the FBO where I hung out. If they had paid well, I would have never stopped doing it.

 

https://twitter.com/engineers_feed/status/1530089608247013376?s=21&t=fNqyIvC_fTMtz-MO0xdldA
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1530219480151998466?s=21&t=fNqyIvC_fTMtz-MO0xdldA

Is there a more iconic fighter of the era? I think not.

 

My all time favorite fighter.

It's hard to believe it was flying before I was born......

 

The late 50s and 60s had to be a wild time to be in aviation. Jets were finally getting serious, there was a tangible need for their development (cold war), etc.

So many iconic even to this day fighters like F-4, F-104,

$38 F-106 Engine Oil Drain Valve

F-106 Delta Dart.

 

Don't forget the SR-71...

 

McDonnell Douglas' testament that if you put enough power behind it, you can make a brick fly!
Seeiously bad-ass plane, especially in it's later versions. It was also a freakin' huge aircraft, for it's role, too.

 

True.

Aerodynamically, the F-4 can't really fly. As is true for almost every fighter designed since then.

But then again, a bubble bee is not aerodynamic either.

 

For the low, low price of $1.5mil an F-4 could be all yours?

https://www.controller.com/listing/...nell-douglas-f4h-1f-turbine-military-aircraft

 

Thats cheap for one....the killer is in the operating costs.

 

Just out of curiosity, I'm tempted to contact the Collins Foundation and ask them what it costs them to operate their 2 F4s. They're the group that operates those 2 Phantoms you see at airshows.

 

Should be less money because it has a "NAVY" paint scheme.

 

Not touching that one ^ .

Here’s a fact I didn’t know about the Corsair…
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1530918642740867073?s=21&t=fx7P9Ze_fwpehSZDyFYvHQ

 

My favorite aircraft.
I believe Ed McMahon, from the Johnny carson show, flew Corsair's in the Marine Corps.

 

It's pretty amazing how big the Corsair is. I was not prepared for how big a single engine prop plane could be. I can only imagine a 21yo being turned loose in that.

 

Military service

McMahon hoped to become a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot. Prior to the US entry into World War II, both the Army and Navy required pilot candidates to attend at least two years of college. McMahon studied at Boston College from 1940 to 1941. On The Howard Stern Show in 2001, he stated that after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the college requirement remained in effect and he still had to finish his two years of college before applying for Marine Corps flight training.

After completing the college requirement, McMahon began his primary flight training in Dallas. This was followed by fighter training in Pensacola, where he also earned his carrier landing qualifications and was designated as a Naval Aviator. He was a Marine Corps flight instructor in F4U Corsair fighters for two years, finally being ordered to the Pacific Fleet in 1945. However, his orders were canceled after the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan's unconditional surrender.

As an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, McMahon was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He flew an OE-1 (the original Marine designation for the unarmed single-engine Cessna O-1 Bird Dog) spotter plane, serving as an artillery spotter for Marine artillery batteries and a forward air controller for Navy and Marine fighter bombers. He flew a total of 85 combat missions, earning six Air Medals. After the war, he remained in the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1966 as a Colonel. In 1982, McMahon received a state commission as a brigadier general in the California Air National Guard, an honorary award to recognize his support for the National Guard and Reserves.[

 

"You are CORRECT, SIR!"

 

It's basically a PW double-wasp with a cockpit attached.