Flew over Castle yesterday
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:32 am
For our company Christmas lunch we flew to Merced to the Airport Cafe in the Twin Beech. Pretty typical airport food but not a bad burger I might add.
I asked the controllers at Castle tower if we could do a turn over the museum and they obliged. While in the middle of the turn I thought you all might like a picture so I scrambled to get the camera out. Lousy photos were the result. I could not get the flash off quickly enough. Oh well, here they are anyway:
I asked the controllers at Castle tower if we could do a turn over the museum and they obliged. While in the middle of the turn I thought you all might like a picture so I scrambled to get the camera out. Lousy photos were the result. I could not get the flash off quickly enough. Oh well, here they are anyway:
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:39 am
That's neat! Great collection of planes...
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:49 am
It sure would be awesome if one day some funding could come along to get a couple of NMUSAF sized hangars out there.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:57 am
The are working on funding for a new museum to house the collection...
http://www.travisairmuseum.org/html/vision.html
http://www.travisairmuseum.org/html/vision.html
Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:36 pm
Now thats what I call a Christmas party!
Taigh, I notice you've been flying this plane a lot more than the RC-. Any reason in particular, more comfortable? Just wondering. Merry Christmas.
Taigh, I notice you've been flying this plane a lot more than the RC-. Any reason in particular, more comfortable? Just wondering. Merry Christmas.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:05 pm
Hey Roger,
I wanted to sell the Beech RC-45J so I could put the funds toward other projects.
I sold the RC about a year ago to a guy up in the Seattle area. He also loves that she is unaltered and is still completely authentic and original. He is going to take care of her and keep her just like she is. He says that he is going to do educational programs with kids and the Museum of Flight with the Beech. I couldn't be happier to find a new owner who will be her next care taker and treat her with the respect that she deserves.
I wanted to sell the Beech RC-45J so I could put the funds toward other projects.
I sold the RC about a year ago to a guy up in the Seattle area. He also loves that she is unaltered and is still completely authentic and original. He is going to take care of her and keep her just like she is. He says that he is going to do educational programs with kids and the Museum of Flight with the Beech. I couldn't be happier to find a new owner who will be her next care taker and treat her with the respect that she deserves.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:24 pm
Thanks Taigh, good to hear it got a good home. I knew you had it up for sale then, just didn't know you had parted ways with it.....
Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:53 pm
Dang, 50 years and the B-36 is still the biggest in that collection. 
Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:54 pm
Taigh
Off-topic, but I thought that you would enjoy this photo.... not something that you normally do with a Twin Beech. We called it "surfing the Beech" back when C-45's were the jumpships of choice. When everyone else exited through the door, we would backflip off of the horizontal.
Off-topic, but I thought that you would enjoy this photo.... not something that you normally do with a Twin Beech. We called it "surfing the Beech" back when C-45's were the jumpships of choice. When everyone else exited through the door, we would backflip off of the horizontal.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:35 pm
She was a great old Beech. I flew her for about 1000 hours on her original Navy-Pensacola R985's.
It was very rewarding to take her from the bone yard (storage lot in the back of the pima Air Museum) and get her flying again.
She still had the charts and instrument approach plates used on her last flight from the Photo School at Pensacola to storage at Davis Monthan in Tucson. I even met the Navy pilot, Bill Granade, who flew her to DM in 1972 and left those very charts in the cockpit. After the flight they all took a photo in front of 585 on the ramp at DM. He gave me a copy which is this shot:
I took him and his buddy back up on old 585 a few years ago and they flew her like they had been doing so the day before. According to his log book he had flown RC-45J BuNo 29585 31 years ago that very day. Too cool!
Here is a shot of 29585 while she was still in the Navy being flown by Bill Granade in September of 1970:
Here is Bill flying the same exact airplane 31 years later. I never did paint those prop hubs and blades!
I have a lot of fond memories and I had a lot of good times in that great old beech. Now the new owner can do the same.
I guess it isn't hijacking if it is your own thread.
It was very rewarding to take her from the bone yard (storage lot in the back of the pima Air Museum) and get her flying again.
She still had the charts and instrument approach plates used on her last flight from the Photo School at Pensacola to storage at Davis Monthan in Tucson. I even met the Navy pilot, Bill Granade, who flew her to DM in 1972 and left those very charts in the cockpit. After the flight they all took a photo in front of 585 on the ramp at DM. He gave me a copy which is this shot:
I took him and his buddy back up on old 585 a few years ago and they flew her like they had been doing so the day before. According to his log book he had flown RC-45J BuNo 29585 31 years ago that very day. Too cool!
Here is a shot of 29585 while she was still in the Navy being flown by Bill Granade in September of 1970:
Here is Bill flying the same exact airplane 31 years later. I never did paint those prop hubs and blades!
I have a lot of fond memories and I had a lot of good times in that great old beech. Now the new owner can do the same.
I guess it isn't hijacking if it is your own thread.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:39 pm
Not at all, great story.
Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:46 pm
Hello Brian,
What a cool picture. That sure explains some unusual dents that I keep finding on ex jump Beech 18's!
Do you know where I can get a copy of the film/video of the "no frills flying" Beech 18. Do you know the one I am talking about? Where they have about a dozen jumpers sitting on the outside of the Beech? A long time ago I saw a video of that whole thing showing everyone getting out and on top of the Beech. The last sequence shows the guy on the top of the fuselage near the cockpit stand up and run down the fuselage to dive off of the tail. He had a helmet camera on so the shot would cut back and forth from the camera plane to his helmet cam. The problem was he slipped off just before the horizontal and it looked like he hit his head on the tail.
Do you know where I can get a copy of that?
It's not this one but this is amazing all on it's own. Check out the rudder tab and the control delection!
What a cool picture. That sure explains some unusual dents that I keep finding on ex jump Beech 18's!
Do you know where I can get a copy of the film/video of the "no frills flying" Beech 18. Do you know the one I am talking about? Where they have about a dozen jumpers sitting on the outside of the Beech? A long time ago I saw a video of that whole thing showing everyone getting out and on top of the Beech. The last sequence shows the guy on the top of the fuselage near the cockpit stand up and run down the fuselage to dive off of the tail. He had a helmet camera on so the shot would cut back and forth from the camera plane to his helmet cam. The problem was he slipped off just before the horizontal and it looked like he hit his head on the tail.
Do you know where I can get a copy of that?
It's not this one but this is amazing all on it's own. Check out the rudder tab and the control delection!
Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:57 pm
Taigh Ramey wrote:Hello Brian,
What a cool picture. That sure explains some unusual dents that I keep finding on ex jump Beech 18's!
Do you know where I can get a copy of the film/video of the "no frills flying" Beech 18.
I saw it recently on a skydiving website. I will search for it in the morning. There was a complete story of the planning and the jump
Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:36 pm
Taigh
Thank's for the Great post and Super shots
The last one should be Titled In air restart by hand proping
R H White
Thank's for the Great post and Super shots
The last one should be Titled In air restart by hand proping
R H White
Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:58 pm
Taigh
Here is a link to a skydiving forum that has info on the movie that you asked about. The video is not on line but there are some stills from it attached
http://www.dropzone.com./cgi-bin/forum/ ... t=46208514
Here is a link to a skydiving forum that has info on the movie that you asked about. The video is not on line but there are some stills from it attached
http://www.dropzone.com./cgi-bin/forum/ ... t=46208514