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Jeff Funk
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:51 pm 
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Rob Mears
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:01 pm 
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Man, that is too cool. 8) I was wondering when I'd finally see Chuck Gardner get his hands on a fighter! I think it's high time one of the major collectors takes advantage of Chuck's dedication and bazillion SNJ flight hours, and makes him chief pilot of something with at least six guns on it. :wink:

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AIRIC
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:37 pm 
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I agree, very cool to see Chuck at the controls.

Great shooting Jeff.

Eric

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Lynn Allen
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:16 pm 
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Yeah, its been a long time coming for him, well done Chuck...

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CH2Tdriver
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:37 am 
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Wow, and just when Chuck told me he was happy that WA wasn't going on the road anymore! :lol: But hey it's a Mustang! Congrats!

(Is Chuck still with WA BTW?)

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dors
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:27 am 
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I didn't know that was you Chuck. I was standing right beside you on saturday when that guy was showing you his Gathering of Mustangs book. Anyway, it was cool to see a P-51 and B-17 flying over my house instead of the usual CRJs and Dash8s.

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henning
 Post subject: ha!
PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:05 pm 
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Those pictures of chuck here represent endless hours of work! Congrats chuck!
Very well deserved! And I really do hope you can make this a real job!

The close up must have caught you mid sentence while saying something otherwise
we'd notice his grin would be ear to ear!

Great job Jeff for catching him at work! :-).. nice shots.

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Ryan Keough
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:48 pm 
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What I really want to know is who won the bet with the CF crew on how long it would take before Chuck's mug to be ID'd and announced on WIX? :-)

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Jeff Funk
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:46 pm 
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Ryan,

Actually, a number of WIXers respected Chuck's wishes to keep it off the board until he had a little time in the job. A number of us learned of his new position at Thunder (I'm sure a number of others also knew) and kept quiet. I only posted the pictures taken a few weeks later with his knowledge and non-objection. So the first point of this post is the fact that WIXers are a pretty trustworthy group as a whole.

Secondly, the pictures that show Chuck are moderately subtle. Therefore, Rob "Hawkeye" Mears is revealed as keen observer.

Finally, I gave Chuck a bunch of pictures .... some of which show him working hard between flights. I congatulate him on his new, well earned endeavor.
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warbird1
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:16 am 
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So, was that Chuck's "checkout" flight in the Mustang, with an Instructor in the back, or is Chuck fully checked out?

Congrats, either way. :D

Does this mean that Chuck left Warbird Adventures?
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Swiss Mustangs
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:30 am 
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Chuck sent me this link of what he did on the weekend....

http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=288880

Martin

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Jeff Funk
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:32 am 
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Warbird1,

Chuck is the main pilot. I don't know the exact time, but I believe at the time I took the pictures he had been the pilot for well over a month.
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kmiles
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:34 am 
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Hello,
The Collings Foundation does not have main pilots. Chuck is one of several volunteer pilots that fly the mustang. None of them are ranked any higher than the others. Chuck just happens to be the one out on tour now. The only main pilot is our chief pilot who happens to be Rob Collings. Chuck got his check out in our aircraft from Rob, and started flying the aircraft when the tour was in Dayton or Columbus about 3 weeks ago. He was out on tour for a few weeks before that co-piloting several of the other aircraft. There are other mustang pilots who have flown our aircraft for more than three weeks earlier in the year, they are just not out now.
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Jeff Funk
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:23 am 
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KMiles,

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't mean to imply Chuck was the only P-51 pilot or the first among them ... although I now see I chose my words poorly. I just meant he was the pilot that day and wasn't doing his check ride.
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corsairboss
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:41 pm 
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Way to GO Chuck....!!!
Chuck has served his time in training for this Big Day, and I'm very Glad to see him get the recognition that he has worked very hard to Achieve. !!!

And to get to fly a Legend that flew during the War makes it even more Grateful. Hats Off to You.... You deserve it. Mustang Driver Now ... Corsair is "Next"...!!!

:shock:

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