Moonbeam McSwine in the Twilight Zone

Baldeagle · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:14 am

So one day Vlado flew through a cloud, and came out the other side in 1918....

Jim Koepnick photo for EAA

Mark Holliday in the Fokker Triplane belonging to the Vintage Aero Flying Museum in Colorado, and Vlado Lenoch in his Mustang-

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mlenoch · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:23 am

Imagine a place where reality has been replaced by what is inside your mind..........(cut in music of Twilight Zone).........

{That was hard flying, I needed flaps to stabilize the speed, the extra drag helped the Mustang remain speed stable because power changes would cause too fast movement forward. Other than that, the triplane was fun to fly with!}
VL

The Inspector · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:14 am

Now that's a heritage flight!!

Django · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:38 am

I bet that was tough to do! Great photo.

viking73 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:06 pm

I love that Twilight Zone episode! Lots of great Cold War era planes to see on the ramp in the background all over that episode...

-Derek

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:29 pm

The Inspector wrote:

Now that's a heritage flight!!

No it aint!

A BF-109 with the DR.1 Now THATS a heritage flight! :wink:

John-Curtiss Paul · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:16 pm

That looks awesome Vlado!

How about the Spitfire and Sopwith Camel? Some of the coolest film I've ever seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6PnKUEFX8g

JC

Enemy Ace · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:22 pm

I agree with Warbird Kid, but how about the Fokker, a FW 190, Me262, F-86 and a Eurofighter!!!!! Now that would be cool!!

wls3 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:53 pm

Flash forward through another cloud and come out along side
a currently flying Moonbeam McSwine.

Art work from ladder door of an A-10 last November.

Speedy · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:19 pm

My money is on the triplane....

The Inspector · **Posted:** Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:20 pm

Chris,
What do you mean 'no it ain't'? In the same frame, in the same piece of sky are THE two top of their game, ultimate best killing aircraft of their eras. I guess no one showed up @ OSH with any sort of 109 so what would you suggest in place of Vlado and MOONBEAM, a post war FW-149 in Luftwaffe camo and dayglow orange? How about a SM 260 with bogus invasion stripes and stars and bars?
That is a dramatic time capsule picture and I very much admire both pilots for their extreme skill in coordinating flying two aircraft one who's top speed is about the speed @ which the other one becaomes a brick.

Baldeagle · **Posted:** Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:36 am

Well, it came together thanks to the WIX forum. When I came up with the idea a couple of months ago I started a thread on "How slow will a P-51 fly?" and got connected to Vlado by PMs. We had the best crew we could, Mark and Vlado, Bruce Moore in the C-210 camera plane, and Jim Koepnick shooting the photos (Caroline Sheen from Air and Space mag got some also), so it was pulled off safely and with style.

The Inspector is right, I wanted the most famous fighter planes from WW1 and WW2, and there they are-

Incidentally, I didn't know who Moonbeam McSwine was until I googled it the other day, now I get it...

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51fixer · **Posted:** Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:47 am

Baldeagle wrote:

Incidentally, I didn't know who Moonbeam McSwine was until I googled it the other day, now I get it...

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A little different image than his 1st P-51, Princess Elizabeth.
Rich

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:54 pm

You never read 'Lil Abner' as a kid? To this day I have to explain to younger leg shavers (avionics folks) what a 'schmoo' originally was, they just know it as a future wire terminating crimp. Schmoos were always in Lil Abner strips,The schmoo was a pear shaped ghost like character with a walrus like moustache that laid eggs, gave grade A milk, and would turn itself into a steak if you just looked hungry and multiplied like rabbits. :oops:

And, I caught the significance of the picture immediately, nice job by all!!!!

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Moonbeam McSwine in the Twilight Zone

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