The WIX 'Get to know me!' thread.

fotobass · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:19 am

Just a thought, and feel free to move this where it is deemed best. With some of the stuff that's gone on lately, I was thinking that, perhaps if we knew a bit more about each other, some of the more personal attacks might slow down a bit.

With that said, here goes...

Greg Bartram, born in 1963. My earliest memory is of either a takeoff or landing, sitting on a parent's lap just forward of the wing on the left side of the aircraft during an employee orientation flight as TWA was bringing on a new jet. My parents remembered the flight, and tell me that I was about 10 months old or so, so obviously aviation was imprinted early. Both parents worked for TWA.

I got hooked into Warbirds when a teacher in 6th grade showed the Memphis Bell documentary.

I went to a Quaker boarding school through high school, but entertained serious thoughts of going into the USAF after HS.

Instead, I got into a band, The Toll. After years of roadwork, we were signed to Geffen, releasing two records in '88 and '91. Useless footnotes from that time include our 2nd record being the first release from Geffen that did NOT include a vinyl edition. We at one point held the record for the longest non-Michael Jackson video ever played on MTV (10:07). Since MTV doesn't play music any more, I'm sure that still stands, as if anyone would pay attention to such things.

It was always my dream that, once we got as huge as we naturally would, that I would become a Warbird owner/pilot. Great idea, anyway...

Backed into professional photography, and now serve as team photographer for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, and #2 photog for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. Shoot a variety of other things as well...some magazine work, some commercial, and the occasional event.

Happily married with two sons, ages 7 & 9.

Who's next?

Mgawa · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:30 am

Hi,

I am Srecko Bradic, profesional digital illustrator, born in 1966 in Serbia, still live here and you have thread for introducion:

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... php?t=1428

Cheers

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:18 pm

Hey guys, I am Chris or aka mustangdriver. I think that this is a great thread, and agree with the tone. I started into aviation at 12 years old, cleaning parts, and sweeping floors at the Air heritage museum. I had always been amazed with planes, and through my friend Rob I found the museum. I really enjoyed my time there all the way until college. Than I started flying and college for ATC. after that i met a girl and got married. I worked in a bunch of different jobs in aviation until 2005 when I started at Stat medEvac which is a medical helicopter company. I started as a parts guy, and worked my way up to manager of flight Operations. That is where I am today. I went through a nasty divorce, but this place helped me find a good place to go to during that time. Now I have a new girlfriend, ans she is awesome. On top of that, an aviation fan as well. I am a lifetime member of the EAA and long time member and supporter of the Nation Museum of the USAF. I support flying museums aswell as static. They both play very vital roles. I am member of the Planes of Fame, National Museum of Naval Aviation, CAF,, and Air America Foundation.
I love to fly, work on old cars, and hang out with my family and friends. Yes I have a 1966 mustang fastback, as well as a 1969 Dodge Charger. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can. I have always had a great time meeting all of the WIXer's and have made alot of great friends here.

Holedigger · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:03 pm

Great Idea fotobass, just waiting for the thread to be booted to some other spot(tomorrow perhaps!) btw, my daughter is a CBJ Fanatic in Columbus!!!

The name is actually Chris, yes another Chris. My dad was AF (he flew a desk and was in AF intelligence, a real department not fictional!). My mom worked at Randolph AFB when I was too young to remember. Built a lot of models growing up, did a lot of doodling, AC, Ships tanks and other targets of opportunity. A degree in visual arts and 25 years later and I am an Architectural Illustrator, doodling AC, Ships and tanks on the side. A bit of photography here and there. My 10 yr old is a history junky just like his old man, had a blast crawling through Yellow Rose a few months back (thanks Mike!), and loves talking to the TV telling the History Channel that they are sooooo wrong.....don't know where he gets that from! :roll:

Happy Fourth Y'all
"Holedigger"
Chris Sheppard
csheppard@shepartstudio.com

Ztex · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:05 pm

Hi, my name is Zane Adams, 44 and I am a aerohaulic.
I am a bearing salesman.
My dad worked for North American Aviation, Dallas druing WWII and my Uncle flew B-24's with the 783rd BS - 465thBG.
Dad always had an interest ing aviation but never flew or worked in the industry. UNcle Nathan never flew after WWII but always talked about flying.
So...I was hooked at an early age.
Private Pilot, Instrument rated in the late 1980's. Not current due to the cost of family vs flying.
I crewed with the B-17 Chuckie for several years and the fledgling Texas Air Command Museum (they didn't survive).

I am married to a wonderful woman for 21 years and we have a 17 year old good guy for a son.

I am a scoutmaster for a troop of 45 boys as well.

I like shooting larger guns.
I like the cool mountains of the southwest.
I like auto racing
I like photography
and I like aeroplanes.

K5DH · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:01 pm

OK, I'm in. . . :roll:

My name is Dean Hemphill. I'm currently 50 years old. I was born in Philadelphia and grew up outside of Wilmington, Delaware. I am an electrical engineer at Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems in Dallas. I was hired right out of college in 1980, which is what brought me to Texas. I've been married to my high school sweetheart, Cindy, since 1980 (I've been a "one woman man" since 1977!). We have no children, but we do have a cool black and white cat named Bandit. I went to college at Delaware Tech and came away with a degree in EE. I'm a life-long automotive and aviation buff. These days, I pretty much live and breathe warbirds. I'm a member of the Vintage Flying Museum in Fort Worth and a volunteer crew member on B-17G 44-8543A Chuckie. I also volunteer with the Collings Foundation's Wings of Freedom tour when they're in town. I am an avid amateur radio operator, and I hold an Extra class license. My WIX "handle" is my call sign. Cindy and I are both classic car nuts. We currently have an all-numbers-matching '72 Ford Mustang convertible (my hobby car) and an '05 Ford Mustang Mach 1 (her daily driver), plus a '71 Chevy Corvette convertible with a VIN-matching LS-5 454 (her hobby car). My father was in the U.S. Navy from 1953 through 1957 (plus four more years in the Naval Reserve). He was a corpsman. He did his sea tour with the Marines, then finished his hitch at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. Mom was a USO hostess in Philly, and they met at a USO dance. Just like in the movies, eh? Dad was a private pilot for a number of years. He owned a 1970 Piper Cherokee 140 (ex-N5997U) which was based at New Castle County airport (KILG). He gave up flying in the mid 1980s for health reasons. The Cherokee was later destroyed on the ground (along with several other light planes) by a microburst during a raging thunderstorm.

My big goal in life is to take a ride aboard every still-flying B-17 in the world. Four down, nine to go (counting Texas Raiders, who'll be flying soon!).

Cheers,

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:30 pm

i'll be 48 august 23rd, i own 2 stores with my 3 brothers & 1 sister. 1 store with high end clothing & boating accessories, the other store is a jewelry store / gallery, & i'm an authorized rolex watch dealer. ive been a warbird freak since 5th grade. i've written 4 nationally published magazine articles on aviation history & antique aviation memorabilia collecting, #5 is due to be published soon. i appraise antique aviation items, do consulting on the stuff, buy & sell as well. i turned my love of aviation history into a sideline business, & have been doing it since 1987.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:30 pm

I’m Dan Jones, aka Dan Jones. I’m newly 42, have one of the most patient women in the world on my arm, and fly civilian, stretched, Lockheed Hercules freighters for an airline here in Canada. My dad was a mechanic and flight engineer in the Canadian air force, and when I was a kid we always had a broken airplane in the garage being mended (it changed periodically, but there was always one in there). Bucking rivets, driving a broom, and doing dope and fabric work started as soon as I could work the pinking shears without drawing blood. After high school I started working for a small, bush-operation charter company, washing airplanes, loading freight, and bucking rivets from the inside of floats (thankfully I grew out of that one!) and after some more school and licenses I spent about a dozen years flying in the bush on floats, skis, and big tires, working all over the Canadian arctic.

Warbirds have been an avid interest of mine since pretty much the very beginning. A chance viewing of a late night movie (Ron Howard’s “Skyward”) launched the idea that eventually led to a trailer load of bent Stearman parts following us home one summer about twenty-six years ago that, three years later became a flying airplane. Dad is gone now but that Stearman still resides in my hangar and is still as much fun to fly now as it ever was - in fact I just hung a new propeller on her last week. And today I’m building up another one from a wrecked crop duster to keep her company. That’s about it - working class, blue collar, beer drinking old airplane nut, plain and simple.

Bent means beautiful!!

warbirdguy · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:55 pm

I'm Mike aka Warbirdguy and I'm 22 years old. I'm currently going to school for Elementary Education (K-6), and I hope to graduate in 3 years. I've been obsessed with warbirds for as long as I can remember. I do know my first warbird experience was the one and only appearance of the B-29 Fifi to Valparaiso, IN in 1989. I'm currently a member of EAA Warbirds of America as well as the Collings Foundation. I also help coordinate the Valparaiso, IN stop for CF along with a few other guys.

Here's an album for a few events I've attended the past few years:
http://community.webshots.com/user/warbirdguy

daveymac82c · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:42 pm

Hi Greg,

great idea for a thread (wherever it ends up).

I'm David McIntosh, 27 and born and raised in Vancouver, BC.

My Dad, and his Dad were both into airplanes, but neither became pilots.

I became a pilot when I was 16 years old through the air cadets first flying gliders (Schweizer 2-33A's) and then doing my private license at 17.

From there I did my commercial and IFR ratings while doing a business degree. I did my float endorsement on the side and have dabbled in taildragger training too.

I've been in love with airplanes since anyone can remember. Right from the beginning it was warbirds for me. Jets were interesting, but didn't grab my attention the way a Spitfire or B-17 would.

At 10 years old I began volunteering at the Canadian Museum of Flight doing office odd jobs, then moved into helping with restorations, then moving the museum, and doing some tour guiding. I was on the board of directors for a couple years, then shifted into a fundraising and future planning role. With my girlfriend (currently of 4.5 years) we created the museum's newsletter up until last year. I intend to build more tail-dragger time so one day I can help fill the shoes of our wonderful museum pilots who are slowly leaving us.

On Chris's note, I also believe in the importance of static and flying museums. It could be argued from now 'til eternity, but both are very important in my mind.

Everyone here on WIX is good in my books. We're all here for the same basic purpose, right?

Cheers,

David

P.S. Happy Independence Day to y'all!

Rod Schneider · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:02 pm

I'm Rod Schneider, nearly 51. I've been with Delta Airlines for 30 years working in the main maintenance hangar in Atlanta. My father is to blame for my interest in airplanes. He worked at Boeing and Lockheed as an engineer in the 60's and early 70's. He also builds and flies control line model airplanes. I developed an interest in warbirds, particularly B-17's after reading "Flying Fortress" by Edward Jablonski when I was a kid. I have a private pilots license and am nearing the end of construction of a Van's RV-6 powered by a Subaru 3.0 liter six cylinder engine. I also make the annual trek to Oshkosh every year for the big show.
This past year I was fortunate enough to be able to get involved with the Liberty Belle when it spent the winter at Cherokee County airport, which is just up the road from me. It was always a dream of mine to get to work on one of these wonderful machines, and I was able to spend many days helping another fellow do a ton of wiring work. I also got to help with the other things we worked on, including a #3 engine change, pulling the props for repainting, replacing 3 of the turbos, and a lot of other things. I can honestly say it was the most fun and rewarding thing I've ever done. I've also been able to get involved with a T6 that belongs to the fellow I did the wiring work with on the B-17.
I also love to tinker with cars, and I have a 1988 Fiero GT that I've totally redone, as well as a 66 Porsche 911 that I restored back in the 80's. My latest project is an 85 Porsche 944 that my father and I picked up this spring. Boredom is not an issue!

CrewDawg · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:38 pm

Excellent thread idea Fotobass!

I'm Bill Gorin aka Crew Dawg. I turn 40 on Monday. I have been a crew chief my entire adult life but the plane that I am proudest of is the one that I am lucky enough to be the crew chief on now, B-17G 44-8543 "Chuckie" gem of the Vintage Flying Museum fleet.

My aviation interest started when I was a kid and my dad built model airplanes and hung them on my bedroom ceiling. Then when I got old enough, I built and hung my own. Dad was a crew chief too and worked for Vought Aircraft after getting out of the Air Force. I knew from an early age that I wanted to somehow be involved with planes, I joined the AFJROTC program in high school and joined the AF the summer before my senior year of H.S.. Without even knowing it at the time I enlisted to be a 'Strategic Airlift/Bombarment Maintenance Specialist" a.k.a. Crew Chief on heavies - ended up on B-52G's. I brought the job description home and showed it to my dad and he said, "oh, you're gonna be a crew chief like I was".

Crewed B-52's, then KC-10's, got out for 10 years and then went back in the Reserves after 9/11 and crewed F-16's where I did a short tour in Iraq.. Volunteered at the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale AFB while I was stationed there.

Got out and went to work for Micky D (McDonnel Douglas) in Long Beach building C-17's (worked on S/N 001 and watched them put the wings on S/N 002). Volunteered a couple of times at POF in Chino before I figured out that it's tough to live in CA on $10.00 an hour. Moved back to Texas and got my A&P and worked on everything from Cubs to corporate jets, which is where I've been mostly. Worked for Cavanaugh Flight Museum when the ink was still wet on my license. Thought I was in heaven until I found out that working on warbirds doesn't pay a lot of bills. Now I work for SimuFlite at DFW teaching corporate jet maintenance classes for my paying job, but my REAL job is crewin' "Chuckie".

Married then divorced, have a wonderful son who is 13 now and loves to come help at the museum with his dad. Currently looking for the next Mrs. Crew Dawg.

spookythecat · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:02 pm

I like this idea.

I'm Al Sauer. Born and raised in Oshkosh, WI. My parents first took me to the airshow there when I was two years old and i've been there every year since then. This year will be my 32nd AirVenture and 22nd year volunteering there. I've built plastic models of primarily WW2 - Vietnam era aircraft pretty much my whole life except when I started a band in high school. I moved to Seattle 7 years ago (because of a girl who i'm no longer with) and discovered a ton of awesome aviation stuff going on around here. I'm an amateur photographer who finally splurged on a DSLr earlier this year and am still getting used to using it. I've never had any desire to get married or have kids and even though everyone has told me i'll change my mind once I get older I still haven't felt different about it. Oh, and today is my birthday. I'm a bicentennial baby.

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:14 pm

We used to have a sticky thread up with 10 pages of folks backgrounds and all the cool a/c there flown in or actually flown.
Wonder were it went??

m charters · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:37 pm

Love the idea for this....
Well here i go, I am Mike Charters from Smithville Ontario Canada. I originally grew up in Ancaster Ontario about 1 mile from the Hamilton Airport where the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum resides. Most of my family doesn't even like flying, but I had this facination for the North American Harvard with its roaring prop tips that hooked me on aviation as it flew the approach to runaway 06 by my house.
I joined CWH in 1981 at the age of 14 hoping for a ride one day in the Harvard to fullfill my dream. Little did I know the first warbird ride would be in the back of a P-51D with Dennis Bradley (thanks Dennis!) that kept me coming back for more.
I spent a couple of years on the Lancaster, a couple on the Hurricane then 10 years as crew chief on the Corsair where I became one of the highest back seat time guys in a Corsair with 67 trips and 121 hours! I miss that plane, and the fellow who flew it (rest in peace Pete).
Along the way also I met my wife of 19 years Sandi ( very patient with me and the warbirds) and have 3 great kids ( 2 boys and a girl ages 17 boy, 10 girl and 8 boy)
The museum was what got me to love the industry and I became an aircraft maintenance engineer along the way. I am currently the Director of Maintenance for a corporate charter company ( Jetport Inc.) for the last 13 years looking after a mixed fleet of corporate jets and maintain a Hawker Sea Fury and a Fouga.
Last year I had a the best of opportunities when I was asked to take over as Chief Engineer at CWH for an interim period of 3 months until we could find a replacement for the outgoing chief. 3 months turned into just over 12 mths and I had the time of my life ( except for the long hours at both jobs) getting all those wonderful aircraft at CWH flying for another season until May 1st of this year.
I am still actively involved and plan on being for years to come!
Good to be here on WIX!

Regards, Mike Charters

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