Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:12 am
Are you sure that bike is not a Norton? Thats what I thought when I first saw it. Maybe not.
Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:38 am
Obergrafeter wrote:Are you sure that bike is not a Norton? Thats what I thought when I first saw it. Maybe not.
It's either a Tiger110 or a Trophy
Sat Oct 17, 2009 3:39 pm
Way cool pix. Pains me to think of the number of these type photos that vanish every year when attics get cleaned out. The color cockpit shots are a restorer's dream.
I was also amazed at how some things never change. I have nearly identical photos from Reese AFB in 1991. Guys grinning in cockpits, sitting around in flightsuits waiting your turn for whatever, empty liquor bottles, the front gate, and, unfortunately, burned out T-38 hulks stored after fatal wrecks.
It's like the line from the AF song that talks about "We live in fame or go down in flames ... " just an accepted part of the culture - a pretty darn fun culture if you ask me.
I was also amazed at how some things never change. I have nearly identical photos from Reese AFB in 1991. Guys grinning in cockpits, sitting around in flightsuits waiting your turn for whatever, empty liquor bottles, the front gate, and, unfortunately, burned out T-38 hulks stored after fatal wrecks.
It's like the line from the AF song that talks about "We live in fame or go down in flames ... " just an accepted part of the culture - a pretty darn fun culture if you ask me.
Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:08 am
Found a couple more survivors:
F-80A 44-85125 is now at Kalamazoo marked as 44-85152.
Beech Bonanza N3187V is recistered to William Roethle in Wisconsin - cert issued 6-09.
F-80A 44-85125 is now at Kalamazoo marked as 44-85152.
Beech Bonanza N3187V is recistered to William Roethle in Wisconsin - cert issued 6-09.
Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:50 am
Holedigger wrote:M I S S I S S I P P I
here is a great little website on it
http://www.maaps.net/history.html
Umm..........I just caught your post. Malden Army Air Field/Air Force Base is actually in far south-east Missouri. There was a large concentration of Primary, Basic, and Advanced fields in that general area; Walnut Ridge, Camden, Newport, Stuttgart (all in eastern Arkansas), Malden and others spring to mind.
Scott
Sun Oct 18, 2009 9:37 pm
First of all, Chuck, thanks for posting the URL to your customer's photos. They brought back many memories of my Aviation Cadet days in class 54G but I was at Marianna FL for Primary and at Vance for Basic as he was and we both got Pre-Flight at Lackland AFB TX. And evidently he ended up in KC-97s like me judging from the shot from the co-pilot's side of #4 grinding away. Looking at the pictures, he must have been in a later class since we weren't allowed to wear ball caps and we didn't have the newer style flight suits. The official 'cover' while in a well-used blue flight suit was what we called the Kuntkap!
At that time there were six Civilian Contract Primary Flight Bases. They were all owned and operated by Civiliam Contractors on a cost-plus basis. The PA-18 Super Cubs were all civilian owned so they carried N numbers but the T-6G aircraft were USAF and maintained by the contractor. The whole base staff were civilians with the exception of the Base Commander, a few military check pilots and new 2nd Lt. non-rated military training officers under whose command all us Cadets were. The bases were at Moultrie GA, Bainbridge GA, Bartow FL, Marianna FL, Malden MO and Marana AZ. The instructors were all employed by the contractor, some ex-WW II, some crop dusters,some recent military pilots and quite a few professional civilian flight instructors. All were good and strived to get us trained rather than washing us out.
There was also a full military Primary base at Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo Tx. If you were coming into the Aviation Cadet program as an Enlisted man as I was, they sent you to Goodfellow as a Pre-Cadet to fuel, oil, wipe oil, fire guard and generally get familiar being around alot of aircraft activity. I did that for 6 months until my Pre-Flight class date.
There were a number of accidents on an ongoing basis and they would drag in the wrecked T-6s and place them along the flight line between the ramp and the fence. One I remember in particular was one that had been involved in a mid-air. It had been cleaned up pretty good but there was still grey matter inside the artificial horizon case. After that, business was good at the orderly room with men that had decided to go to Navigator/Bombadier training or if not qualified for that, return to Airman status. The men with two or more years of college could come directly into Pre-Flight without any ramp duty so they were spared that. Student officers went directly to their Primary bases.
The B-25s in the photos look like L or N models since they had VOR installed and a more modern cockpit. Ours were all J models (with the WW II armor plate seats still in them) untill just before I graduated. The first time I flew an ILS approach was on my final check ride for the instrument rating. It was all ADF and Low Frequency Range and GCA work, day in and day out. Don't trust that VOR gadget was the constant chant from the instructors!
Sorry I got to rambling but I sensed some of the posters might be interested in a little more info.
At that time there were six Civilian Contract Primary Flight Bases. They were all owned and operated by Civiliam Contractors on a cost-plus basis. The PA-18 Super Cubs were all civilian owned so they carried N numbers but the T-6G aircraft were USAF and maintained by the contractor. The whole base staff were civilians with the exception of the Base Commander, a few military check pilots and new 2nd Lt. non-rated military training officers under whose command all us Cadets were. The bases were at Moultrie GA, Bainbridge GA, Bartow FL, Marianna FL, Malden MO and Marana AZ. The instructors were all employed by the contractor, some ex-WW II, some crop dusters,some recent military pilots and quite a few professional civilian flight instructors. All were good and strived to get us trained rather than washing us out.
There was also a full military Primary base at Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo Tx. If you were coming into the Aviation Cadet program as an Enlisted man as I was, they sent you to Goodfellow as a Pre-Cadet to fuel, oil, wipe oil, fire guard and generally get familiar being around alot of aircraft activity. I did that for 6 months until my Pre-Flight class date.
There were a number of accidents on an ongoing basis and they would drag in the wrecked T-6s and place them along the flight line between the ramp and the fence. One I remember in particular was one that had been involved in a mid-air. It had been cleaned up pretty good but there was still grey matter inside the artificial horizon case. After that, business was good at the orderly room with men that had decided to go to Navigator/Bombadier training or if not qualified for that, return to Airman status. The men with two or more years of college could come directly into Pre-Flight without any ramp duty so they were spared that. Student officers went directly to their Primary bases.
The B-25s in the photos look like L or N models since they had VOR installed and a more modern cockpit. Ours were all J models (with the WW II armor plate seats still in them) untill just before I graduated. The first time I flew an ILS approach was on my final check ride for the instrument rating. It was all ADF and Low Frequency Range and GCA work, day in and day out. Don't trust that VOR gadget was the constant chant from the instructors!
Sorry I got to rambling but I sensed some of the posters might be interested in a little more info.
Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:04 pm
Mystery solved:
The bike is a 1957 Triumph Thunderbird...like this one...
The bike is a 1957 Triumph Thunderbird...like this one...