Vintage jets I remember in North Carolina

[raconnel]

In the late 60's or early 70's there was an F2H in Asheville in the city park. In the late 70's / early 80's there was an F9F-8P airframe at the fire training center in Burlington. Does anyone know whether either was preserved, and where they might be now?

[Chris Brame]

Those are probably the ones now in Ohio mentioned in this thread (but the photos are MIA):

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ht=banshee

[D17s]

Also an F-86 in the downtown park Statesville, NC and an F-86 at Lake Norman airport until appox. 1976.

[Rajay]

In the late 70's / early 80's there was an F9F-8P airframe at the fire training center in Burlington. Does anyone know whether either was preserved, and where they might be now?

My current multi-engine CFI is a captain in the Burlington Fire Department and I'm scheduled to fly again with him tomorrow. I'll ask him if he knows anything about it. (I'm not even sure where the fire training center in Burlington is.)

It wasn't a jet, but I remember seeing an old derelict Beech 18 more than 10 years ago in the yard of an Alamance Co./City of Burlington municipal garage or warehouse just off of Hwy. 87 and I-85 (south side of Graham.) It was "registered" to Harry Doan in Daytona Beach - even after he died, but eventually it disappeared. It was in really bad shape, but I often daydreamed about being able to restore it.

[Rajay]

In the late 60's or early 70's there was an F2H in Asheville in the city park. In the late 70's / early 80's there was an F9F-8P airframe at the fire training center in Burlington. Does anyone know whether either was preserved, and where they might be now?

Actually, it occurs to me that I once heard that the Beech 18 I mentioned in my last post was traded to Burlington for a F-84 that ended up in Asheboro, in front of a National Guard armory. Might you be thinking of that F-84?

You're in Massachusetts now? Did you live in NC back then? (Just curious about why you're asking about these aircraft now....)

For the state that is supposed to be "First in Flight" and also one with so many military bases, North Carolina is not as active in the warbird scene as I'd like.

That being said and while I'm at it anyway, would anyone like to start one about NC (First in Flight) versus Ohio (Birthplace of Aviation)? When Congress "officially recognized" Ohio as the "Birthplace of Aviation" I actually wrote to my congressman (and an Ohio congressman or two) and asked him (them) if they didn't have something better to do with the time that we pay for.

If you want to be picky about it, neither slogan is really correct. NC is First in Powered Flight, but Ohio is nowhere close to the birthplace of Aviation. In fact, it is not even the birthplace of both of the Wright Bros. - Wilbur was born in Indiana! And then, consider the Montgolfier Brothers; flying hot air balloons in Paris in the 1780's - that qualifies as "aviation." And Otto Lilienthal was flying gliders in Germany in the 1890's. Also "aviation" long before the Wright Brothers.

Consider the gauntlet thrown....

Last edited by Rajay on Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Robbie Roberts]

Well if you want to get into technicalities, The first flight by ANYTHING in the USA was a balloon flight in Vineland, NJ in 1793. The pilot, a Frenchman, carried a letter from George Washington which saved his life- when the balloon settled, had it not been for one of the rural NJ farmers recognizing Washington's signature, they probably would have pitchforked the strange talking man from space...

Oh, and the FIRST place titled an "Airport" was Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ(RIP- Killed by politicians with empty pockets... At least I have a couple landings logged there)

So there's yer gauntlet- New Jersey- TRUE birthplace of Aviation in the USA.

Robbie

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

The first Balloon flight was from approx 11th street in Philadelphia to a field near Woodbury Heights NJ.

Here is a link to it!

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay ... S/LTA2.htm

Here is a piece about it .

Eight years later, Blanchard, who had developed a prototype of the parachute, came to Philadelphia and New York to demonstrate balloon flight to the American public. Franklin had died in 1790, but President George Washington, Franklin’s coadjutator in helping to develop the steamboat, attended the demonstration and provided Blanchard with a passport which instructed all Americans to give him aid when he landed. Blanchard took off from Philadelphia on Jan. 9, 1793, and landed 15 miles and 46 minutes later in Woodbury, New Jersey.
“Dunlap’s American Daily Advertiser” described the crowd as “an immense concourse of spectators” which was notable for its awed silence when the balloon began to rise. “Indeed,” said the newspaper, “the attention of the multitude was so absorbed, that it was a considerable time e’er silence was broke by the acclamations which succeeded

[raconnel]

I grew up and went to college in North Carolina. I happened to think of the old jets because I went by the park in Asheville a couple of weeks ago on a visit home. I have seen the F-84F in Asheboro. At one time it was displayed in front of a clothing outlet. I'll try to find and post a couple of pictures I took of it back then. I don't have pics of the F9F or F2H, but I remember them well. I crawled all through the F2H as a kid when GE used to have family picnics in the park. I still remember being fascinated by the adjustable rudder pedals.
I think a Beech may have come after the F9F (it was definitely an F9F-8P) I remember some kind of twin being there later on. The fire training center was right off of I-85 near exit 147.

[Rajay]

Well if you want to get into technicalities, The first flight by ANYTHING in the USA was a balloon flight in Vineland, NJ in 1793.

So there's yer gauntlet- New Jersey- TRUE birthplace of Aviation in the USA.

Robbie

This is all just in the spirit of fun, so please take the following in that spirit. First off, "in the USA" was not one of my original criteria, but what the hey. If that's your relevant claim to fame in NJ, we'll go from there. However, if you are going to say "ANYTHING" (in big capital letters) then I'll have to ask, what did the birds do before 1793? Walk?

Once again, to be technical about it, I guess you mean the first "manned" flight by any sort of aircraft (in the USA.) In that case, we may have a "winner." Hot air ballooning is very popular in this area, but it has never been my personal cup of tea.

Are there any new challengers out there?

[Robbie Roberts]

Well if you want to get into technicalities, The first flight by ANYTHING in the USA was a balloon flight in Vineland, NJ in 1793.

So there's yer gauntlet- New Jersey- TRUE birthplace of Aviation in the USA.

Robbie

This is all just in the spirit of fun, so please take the following in that spirit. First off, "in the USA" was not one of my original criteria, but what the hey. If that's your relevant claim to fame in NJ, we'll go from there. However, if you are going to say "ANYTHING" (in big capital letters) then I'll have to ask, what did the birds do before 1793? Walk?

Once again, to be technical about it, I guess you mean the first "manned" flight by any sort of aircraft (in the USA.) In that case, we may have a "winner." Hot air ballooning is very popular in this area, but it has never been my personal cup of tea.

Are there any new challengers out there?

Of course it was taken in fun! And the flight originated in Philadelphia, as I found out, noted in a posting above... So PA & NJ are the co-birthplace of flight!

(See- NJ is useful after all. Had we not ben here, that guy would have blown clean out to sea!... lol)

Oh, but to answer your question, birds don't count unless they were manned flights... And being dragged by your but by a whopping big eagle or hawk does not count! lol

Robbie