New "FIFI" Tour Stop!

[bugazon]

I know I know, the S.F. bay IS full of loonies, there are a few conservative non-weirdos in the area though. *ahem* I have to say, when the Collings Foundation flies into Moffett, they usually get a decent crowd and get alot of people willing to pay the $$ to fly. There also still is a big WWII veteran community here too. If not for us, for them. Today I met a B-24 navigator who flew in the Pacific. I thanked him for his service. I always go out of my way to say thanks. They are my heroes and love to hear the stories. So to see FIFI grace the skies here I am sure would bring out the best. (maybe not in Berkley or S.F., but the surrounding cities )

[Chief]

Yes, I agree there still are some people in the SFO area who are interested. For example, on Veterans Day, when we had FIFI in Long Beach, we talked with many people who had travelled down from the bay area to see her.

[CAPFlyer]

Minor point, but Moffatt isn't SFO.

Neither is OAK or SAC.

I say take FiFi to Beale and put her beside a U-2.

[Zachary]

I don't give a darn if you're from the left or the right, take the frickin politics somewhere else!!! I suggest some of you go back and re-read Zane's recent post: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39154

It's enough to drive one to drink...

[b29flteng]

Zachary, this is serious stuff. Many years ago some group splashed red paint on FIFI to protest something, so I wouldn't put it past someone to do it again, and the bay area is the most likely spot.

[bugazon]

Every year I go and see the Collings Foundation at Moffett, and in the past six years, I have never seen anything but positive and supportive people. Ask Taigh Ramey about the people who want to take a ride on his plane at the Dream Machine event in Half Moon Bay. He gets a huge line for people who want to ride and fly in a military aircraft. Where did the paint incident happen? While S.F. the city is weird, and even I don't venture in there, there are plenty of people in the surrounding cities and counties that still would venture to see her. Not all California is bad. There is bad in every state and city you go. There is still plenty of Military history here that people still go visit. Remember, there are alot of people in the Bay area with big bucks that can fund flights and DONATE. Thats what its about.

[warbird1]

Zachary, this is serious stuff. Many years ago some group splashed red paint on FIFI to protest something, so I wouldn't put it past someone to do it again, and the bay area is the most likely spot.

I haven't heard of that incident involving FIFI. Can you tell us details? I do know that the original Enola Gay at the Smithsonian was "attacked" twice by protesters throwing either red paint, or blood, I can't remember.

[b29flteng]

I don't know the details, I heard it from some old timers. I heard it happened in the late 70s, the police arrested the protesters. Don't know where either.

[Taigh Ramey]

Don't let the minority keep you all from coming to the S.F. Bat area. Warbirds are well received here as we have a great veteran population that is well supported by the rest of us.

As mentioned above the collings, EAA local Warbird folks do very well here without the problems mentioned on this thread.

Last year I drove our WWII Chevy bomb truck in the final day of a recreation of a 1919 military vehicle cross country convoy that started in Washington DC and ended going right through downtown San Fransisco. I wondered just how the military convoy would be received in SF but I was amazed by the show of support. People were lining the streets and cheering and waving the whole way. I did count 4 people who expressed their displeasure by extending a particular digit or the thumbs down but those four were nothing when compared to the overwhelming positive response we received. There were about 50 motorcycle cops escorting us and doing traffic control throughout the city which was about 1 per military vehicle. They all lined up with us at the end and were wonderful and supportive too.

More info on this convoy here:

http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=142838&p=839245&hilit=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twinbeech.com%2Fimages%2FAirshowEvents%2Fconvoy09%2FDSC04830web.jpg#p839245

Once again please don't let the few idiots prevent Fifi from coming to the Bay Area. I was proud to be a part of her visit here years ago and I will gladly help in any way I can to try and get her back. She will be very popular and I would bet she will be profitable too.

There are a majority of good folks who support our veterans both in SF and the surrounding bay area who will come out to support you all. Please come!

[Eric Presten]

I can't believe you guys are buying into the presses BS. I've spent my whole life living in the Bay Area, and have never seen any anti-military anything at any aviation event anywhere in the bay area. The few people who are anti-military have the presses ear (and apparently yours too). The press makes these generalizations (based on a very, very, very small percentage of the population), and the rest is up to you to believe or disregard. Come here and see for yourself. Do you think everyone in Texas has horns on the front of their cars, everyone in Seattle lives in a Starbucks, everyone in Washington DC is a crooked politician, everyone in Salem is a witch. Then why put the rest of us Bay Area folks through the witch trial?

I live here because there's more historic aviation activity here then just about anywhere else in the world. We have a huge collection of warbirds and vintage types here that are very active, and very popular draws at events. We can also fly comfortably about 335 days per year. It's a great place to live and as the incomes are so much higher here, the cost of living thing is even a bit inflated. All I ask is for you to come and decide for yourself before the press discovers your area (on a slow news day), and gives you a reputation that you don't deserve. Give me a call, and I'll show you vintage airplanes for two weeks of teeshirt February weather.

It's a great place to live.

[b29flteng]

It's great to hear your replies. I'm not saying we won't go there, it all depends on what the B29/24 squadron leadership has set up for tour. What we have done in the past is tour one year on the east coast, next year the middle of the country, and then the west coast. I would like to see a bomber camp set up ala the Collins B-24 with Taigh, wishfull thinking.

[warbird1]

I can't believe you guys are buying into the presses BS. I've spent my whole life living in the Bay Area, and have never seen any anti-military anything at any aviation event anywhere in the bay area. The few people who are anti-military have the presses ear (and apparently yours too). The press makes these generalizations (based on a very, very, very small percentage of the population), and the rest is up to you to believe or disregard. Come here and see for yourself. Do you think everyone in Texas has horns on the front of their cars, everyone in Seattle lives in a Starbucks, everyone in Washington DC is a crooked politician, everyone in Salem is a witch. Then why put the rest of us Bay Area folks through the witch trial?

Good point, Jack Cook is NOT a witch!

On a more serious note, I DO know from first hand experience, that it is dangerous to be flying a military, military-marked or "federal" painted airplane down low to the ground in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Sacramento, Chico, and those towns. The FBI had numerous reports of Hippie's firing upon low flying airplanes because they thought they were drug-busting airplanes looking for marijuana fields. There is a lot of pot being grown in the foothills.