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First Flight in Attu Warrior

Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:47 pm

Good times! Thanks Dave and all!
I have ridden in two Harpoons before, but never got off the ground...once in N7457C with the Pooner his-self doing the towing, and a few days back in Hot Stuff in Indy...taxi-ing around, checking the new brakes...thanks PJ, Scott, Gaylon, Steve, Jen, and all!!

Sept 15th I flew in to Salt Lake, where Dave Hanson drove down and picked my carcass up, and brought me back to Heber City...I stayed out of everyone's way while they preped AW for the flight to Reno
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Next day, the pilot for the flight, Aubie P. flew in with Scott and Hans..Soon as they made their stop at Subway, we boarded for the flight
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Being a little light in the tail, I was assigned the tunnel gun position in AW, portly has it's priveledges....I believe as being required equipment for the PV, I should be given a Lockheed part number....But anyway, I do believe that I had the best seat in the house....actually, I didn't sit, but after buckling in, twisted around where I could lay on my belly, facing the rear of the aircraft....I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I found it thrilling to be where I was....
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After takeoff, we turned back over the lake
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I can't remember the name of it, eve though Dave did tell me...CRS
We turned over the airport in Heber, where I heard Aubie over the intercom ..."Hold on girls", and he racked AW over in a desending turn
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After sliding around back in the tail on the wood floor, I finally was able to regain my composure and camera at the end of the buzz job down the runway at mach 2
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Gaining a bit of altitude to climb out of the valley, I looked straight down from the tunnel position, and could tell that our pilots were doing a really great job of navigation, as you can see, they found the right road to Reno!
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Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:59 pm

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Fat guys can fly!
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Hans had to drag me out to get his turn in the aft.
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Crusing at about 13500'..skiming cloud tops
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Cap'n Dave...cought in the act...
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Aubie...He's thinking about how to pi$$ off the airboss at Reno
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Diverted to RNO....Clay Lacy's Goonie Bird

Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:06 pm

Takeoff...from my view point/point of view...RNO
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Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:12 pm

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Landing at Stead
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Taxiing in...
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The Tow-Bot was really cool...moved AW with ease
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Looking good!

Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:46 pm

Always good to see a PV out and about.

Does the Martin 250 power up, or perhaps operates with the back-up hand cranks?

Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:38 am

Oh man, that looks like fun!

Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:07 am

Nice looking bird! I wish I could of made to Reno this year, oh well next year I guess.

Scott........

Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:47 am

Nice job!! Thanks for the different and interesting perspective of looking aft and down instead of over the pilots right shoulder-

Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:53 am

Those are some good pictures Gary. Looks like a fun trip. Did you ride in the turret? That's the best seat in the house.
Take care,


PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org

Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:41 am

That looks like a great time, Gary! PJ's right, though--the turret is the place to be! Maybe you can get up there for a ride sometime in the future.

Attu Warrior looks great inside and out, too. Dave did an excellent job finding and fabricating and installing all those restoration parts.

Congrats to all the Attu Warrior crew. Now Reno needs to have a PV-2 Racing Class. Trophies for Fastest Time and for Most Oil Distributed ...

Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:09 am

hey gary, what is that tubular instrument w/ the adjusting knobs that you have your hand on?? aircraft periscope?? if that's what it is then i've never seen 1 like that before!! it's bigger than any i've seen. congrats on a great experience / trip!!

Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:33 am

Very WAY Cool! Aircraft Ballast indeed!!! 8) She looks like a fast little bird!

Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:49 am

Tom,
That's a B-3 Drift Meter. Also used on the Harpoon was the Mk 6 Drift meter. These are also called drift sights.

PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org

Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:37 pm

Tom, indeed, the instrument is a drift sight....PJ and Indy...now come on...you know ballast is not allowed in the turret! Actually, I did stick the camera up in the turret for a forward shot
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It was kinda chilly at 12-13000', and I didn't think I'd be able to get up in the turret, or worse, get out! Next time!...
The turret works in the manual mode at present time...Dave will get it operating before long...
AW is still very much a work in progress, Dave tried to get the tunnel guns installed, but ran out of time before Reno....and yes, he has done a terriffic job on AW, about all of it by himself, no sponsors...
I am very fortunate that Dave puts up with me, and conciders me a part of the crew, I just wish I had more to offer for him and AW, and youse guys too with HS!....I will continue to plug away digging up Harpoon parts and history for future use...

Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:44 pm

Sweet Bird
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