Warbird Information Exchange

I'm arrived early this morning and will be here until next monday, helping out with condition inspections and annuals. In fact, I just got back to the hotel from doing the gear swing on the Skyraider.

The airshow looks like it will be a good one. The CAF "Martlett" FM-2 is in our hanger right now and the Collings foundation will be here on Friday as far as I know. Several dozen other warbirds are scheduled to be here and we will be launching the fleet as usual.

If anybody else is in the area, come on out this weekend.

www.olympicflightmuseum.com[url][/url]

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Brad

The show begins today. Several memebers of the British Aviation Enthusiest Society are here and have been taking flights. Yesterday, we flew the P-51 six times, the Strikemaster 4 times, the TBM four times, the Skyraider five or six times, both Hueys and the Cobra several times each and the Zero three or four times. More flights are scheduled today and then the airshow starts this afternoon.

Come on out if you are in the area.

www.olympicflightmuseum.com

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Brad

Sounds like a great show in the making. Post some pics for those of us who can't make it up there!

Well, the airshow came and went. I made it home, sunburned, broke and tired. At different times during the week, I ended up getting to fly the Cobra, Skyraider and Fouga. So far, it's the only thing french that I have enjoyed. I also got the chance to fly the Express http://www.express-aircraft.com/ up to Everett. Even though it's not a warbird, it was still pretty sweet.

The crowd was a little down, mostly due to the heat. To a dry west Texas boy such as myself, it seemed just fine. But, I guess the good folks up in the Pacific North West are used to it being a little cooler.

We ended up with quite a few visiting airplanes from out of state and the flying part was extended to three hours. Next year we will have to park the planes closer together so that master airshow pilot Bud Granley doesn't get so tired running between airplanes. The CAF FM-2 flown by Carter Teeters was a nice addition. Besides that, he's just a dang nice guy.

The Collings Foundation B-17 and B-24 were there and working fine until a cylinder on the Lib decided to give up the ghost. She was being worked on when I left on Sunday evening and I am sure she is long back in the air.

An impromptu WIX meeting was held Saturday night under #4 when JCW and myself commandeered a tug at the hanger party and rode over to look at the engine. Steve Swift and Jim Harley were already at the plane. While Steve worked on the cylinder, the rest of the group drank beer, and kept him supplied with plenty of good advice while we solved all the problems of the warbird world. Soon, Jim had to depart to give tours to a young lady that rode over on the tug with us. We continued to dispense advice until it got to dark for Steve to see anymore. Having seen the Collings Foundation maintenence guys in action several times over the years, I'm continually impressed by them.

To top it all off, several of us wound up at Ammirato's Airshow Bar and Grill up in Bremerton for my fourth or fifth going away party. Monday before getting on my plane back to South Carolina I stopped by the Seattle Museum of Flight and took a look at the new Personal Courage Wing. It's deffinately world class!

All in all, I had a blast. The volunteers at the Olympic Flight Museum are some of the hardest working people I've ever seen and I think they pulled off a pretty good show.

I'll try and post some pictures when I get back from Sicily next weekend.

Brad

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Brad