Warbird Information Exchange

I find I just can't get into these efforts to feature multiples of a specific type at airshows. For me the only appeal is if a couple of the examples are ones I haven't seen before. If a show gets 6 P-47s, or 10 P-40s, or 15 B-25s together but they are all aircraft I've seen individually, it's really no draw at all for me.

I've seen all the reasons why many of you get so excited about type gatherings and they just don't do it for me, although you may repeat them again if you feel you must. My real question is, is there anyone else out there who would always rather see 10 different fighters than 10 of the same?

August

I guess then the way to look at it is that a gathering is a grouping of "Type" aircraft for the purpose of the owners and admirers of that airframe to come out and see them all lined as back in the day when there were squadrons of them.

I for one enjoy Gatherings! The more bombers on 1 ramp the better it feels!

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I've always liked the gatherings, even before they were called "gatherings"!
50th Anniversary of the T-6, Oshkosh with 24 Mustangs back in 1988, etc. They weren't "gatherings" but they were GATHERINGS!
I'd still like t o see a good Grumman gathering on Long Island and an overall Navy gathering.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

The aspect of type gatherings that works for me is that is brings in airframes to the show which I have not seen before because they are coming from a distance. You then add to the unique appeal for seeing more than X number in the air at once and you have something special which may not be repeated in your lifetime. As long as the show is rounded off with other attendees of some diversity, then I find the type gatherings work.

One type gathering I woiuld like to see, also possibly unlikely, is a gathering of the A-26/B-26 Invader.

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
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Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
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in 2003 the corsair gathering at mt. comfort indiana was quite a spectacle, & probably the best airshow i've ever been to. the p-51 gathering in columbus ohio this past year, while very impressive, was not as grand for me personally, because while i have the utmost respect for the p-51's war record, i'm just plain bored with all the hype it gets on anymore on tv, the magazines, & yes .....on this forum. no offense stang bangers..... the mustang is 1 of the biggest jocks in the league, but i'm just bored with it. i will say the coolest thing about the columbus gathering was seeing so many in 1 place, otherwise..... zzzzzz .. snore....i'm into more obscure stuff after 22 years of interest in aviation history.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I agree August...not into the huge type gatherings at all either. To me it takes away from the "specialness" or some danged thing like that. I stopped going to car shows for the same reason. If ya put too much sugar in a cup of coffee, ya just can't swallow it.

Tom...I had looked forward to the "Gathering of Corsairs" from the first I heard about it something like a year before. The original plan was to have what, 21 Corsairs there? IIRC there were "only" five or six...which is a nice gathering, but well short of what I was hoping to see. Had a great time talking to a veteran of the USS Indianapolis! Thunder last year was nice, but after getting over the "WOW" factor of seeing that many B-25s in one place at one time, it got a bit boring. All of the crews at the planes were simply fantastic people and all had great stories to tell and took the time to splain things to dummies like me At the time of the Mustang gathering last year, I lived about two hours away from the airport...had other things to do...mow the grass, clean the bike, go target shooting...boring stuff, but Mustangs just don't do much for me Gimme a Spitfire, a full tank of gas and a blue sky and that is a close to heaven as ya can get

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

To me the attraction of a type gathering is to see a bunch of 'em flying at the same time. I would've loved to get to the Thunder B17 event just to see more than one fly together, and as much if not more importantly, to hear them.

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

I like to see airplanes... period. The more the better. But as long as there are things with wings around me... I'm happy.

For the most part I really don't give a rat's a$$ if there's ten examples of a certain type at a show, or only one. But, as a true wingut, I will say that nothing compares to seeing a herd of Mustangs on the ground or in the air... or seeing a squadron-strength flight of Forts thunder overhead. As a kid I loved mass flybys of Texans, and still do.

And I'm happier than a pig in sh*t to have an opportunity to see more than three P-40s in the same place at the same time this coming summer... cain't wait to hear a growling chorus of Allisons. But then, I'm as biased as one can be in that regard...

If 'gatherings' don't do much for you, hey... that's fine. As I say, to each their own. But I can't help feeling just a bit sorry for you if that's the case...


Fade to Black...

I have never been to a "gathering" before. I am looking forward to the P-40 gathering cause there has never been one before. To me its a once in a life time event. I would like to know what its like seeing so many.....to get an idea what it looked like back in the day when there were squadrons of them at an air base. Personnally I can't wait to see what it sounds like to hear 10 or so P-40's flying together at once.

I agree I get kinda bored about the P-51. I really like the P-51 I really do and I appreciate the fact so many still survive and fly. An A-26 Invader gathering sounds like a really cool idea though!

I would wish for a B-26 gathering but that ain't happening.

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i've enjoyed the gatherings altho we've only had one down under the gathering of mustangs had all the airworhty mustang in australia and whilst 7 may seem pale in the us when were ALL the us mustangs in one place at one time it was pretty cool

Give me a gathering any day! To me seeing many of the same type, in the same place is as close as I could possibly get to a time machine. Traveling back in time and feeling what it must have been like to be in a squadron.

My first gathering was in May of 1998 at Duxford. It was the 60th anniversary of the Spitfire taken on squadron strength. There were 13 of them all lined up, and later all flew. As I walked the line on the grass I couldn't help but think of that picture taken of the line up of Mk1's right there at Duxford in 1938. I knew it was as close as I could possibly be to that moment in time.

Going to Geneseo last year and seeing 4 P51's, 3 Spits, 2 P40's 4 B-25's and 2 B-17's really does it for me. Actually I guess if I went to a show that just had 1 of each I'd be a bit let down!

Pete

Can you imagine "The Great GATHERING" of EVERY Flyable Warbird in say ...Forbes AFB, or Philip Billard Municipal in Kansas, middle of the country, ever-body come

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

They do that every year in Wisconsin. Unless you're talking about PAYING everybody to come.

August

I agree with Mike. Coming out from Calif. to the gatherings that have happened at Thunder Over Mi, and seeing the mass overhead flybys of a type that hasn't happened since WWII, B-17's, B-25's, TBM's, (mind you in a miniscual scale in comparison) can give me a feel for what it might have been like then to see mass launches. It also brings together, in that location, lots of planes I've never seen before, and I really appreciate that. Of the B-25 gathering, most of those planes had not been to the west coast in many years, with the exception of the Doolittle Reunion at Fresno several years ago. This is a major reason I continue to make Thunder my one east of the rockies trip each year.

In a way, the Reno Air Races are the same, where 95% (a rough guess) of the flying Sea Furies in the U.S. gather to race or just have fun. Some years there are three to four Bearcats, where else can you see that?
Just my two devaluated American cents worth on the subject, bring 'em on.

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Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

They have a lot of warbirds at Oshkosh, but I think Gary is referring to a theoretical gathering of a LOT more warbirds than have ever been seen in Wisconsin....