Warbird Information Exchange

Summer is coming and a lot of folks are getting excited about flying. I wanted to give some free and good advice to riders (like me) planning on or hoping for a warbird ride.
When I was young my mentor Ed was the master of the AT-6 he knew the airplane in and out, understood it and flew it like the pro he was. I was of the opinion that everyone
who flew a firebreathing warbird was the same way. But, it's just not true. These shots are of the day I came closest to dying and luckily just had the cr*p scarred out of me.
Before this final groundloop we left the runway at another airport going through big chuck holes I was sure were going to rip the gear out. But my friend X jerked her off into a
nose high, wing shaking/shuttering attitude and some how flew her out and headed for home to the
result seen here. He doesn't fly T-6s and much at all anymore. What I'm trying to say is know your pilot or at least get a good recommandation from someone in the know.
Not everyone is Chuck Gardner or JCW. Remember, I learned the hardway so you don't have to!

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Don't touch my junk!!

I wonder why the center flap segment is not extended?

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If God had wanted man to fly behind a flat motor, Pratt Whitney would've built one.

Jack, those are very wise words to follow. You have to
know the person who is going to be the driver of the day
and something about him. You should have already
watched him fly and asked around about him. There
are people like Stan Mussick, sorry Stan about the spelling
I think, can fly a sani-hut if one had wings. He is a natural,
but they are not always around when you want to go burn
some AvGas. Its hard to follow, but don't just hop into a A/C
and fly away, listen to what your body is telling you.
I know a lot of friends who were great drivers,
but are no longer with us.

Check your Six,

Lynn

Many if not all 'G' models had the center flap wired in the up position has do many flying T-6s nowadays. I've been told this basically makes the flaps pitch adjusters. now over to the experts.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Some T-6G's had the center flap disabled (I undertand this was done as a "field Modification"). The theory was that the center flap "blanked out" the tail and thus lead to directional control issues in landings. The T-6G that I fly has been in my family for 40 years. The center flap was never disabled by the USAF and continues to be functional. I have flown many different models of the T-6/SNJ/Harvard including a very special purpose built racing T-6 that had the center flap disabled. From my personal experience, the lack of center flap was detrimental to the handling of the airplane in the landing configuration. It took away too much "drag" and made the approaches flatter and landing speeds higher.

Carl

Thanks Jack;
Wise words and hopefully well taken by everyone. In my years of flying, there have been many pilots I've known whom I've considered friends and others aquintances. In many cases, though I like them and enjoy our relationship, I would never fly with them. Many occassions I have told friends not to fly with them. Some have listened, some haven't. Luck has been with them, but on more than one occassion, things were about 10 seconds from disaster, and only resolved by intervention on the part of others witnnessing what was developing and who were not inside the aircraft.

We who are involved in the warbird community have an advantage over those outside our operating circles. It's hard for the general public to know who is safe and who isn't. Anyone can set themselves up with the proper ratings and hang a shingle out to give rides. It doesn't mean they are safe pilots. The public, in general, believes all pilots are are of the same skill level and that everyone one of them should be trusted to fly safely. After all, THEY'RE PILOTS, AREN'T THEY! They must posess some special "gift". We know differently and I've seen many pilots I know in the Warbird Community challenge others who appear to not have the skills or safety standards that they should. It's a toug thing to do, but we are all better for it.

Sorry, my two cents!
Blue skies and happy warbird rides!
Jerry

Great advice Jack.I fell into the same trap you did only I picked a pilot who had low hours in a two seat Pitts.The flying & aeros' were great but the formation landing opened my eyes a little.We landed second behind a Sephens Akro Laser & bounced so a little power was added,ultimately the Pitts interplane strut carved through the outer wing of the Laser and we ended up sliding down the runway on our side with wings trapped under us.No injuries but amazed at the potentials that could have been!!So think before you leap people & take care this summer.Best Regards,Pete

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Give me a Centaurus over a Merlin any day

Lynn A
Does Stan Musick look at this board??? If so "HI Stan" its been awhile.. If not the next time you see him give him my best.. Had a ball flying three weeks of formation with him, Tadd Foran and Marty Case during freedom flight.. even the leg in west virginia... makes a good story but not particularly intrested in a repeat..

take care

jcw

I would agree with this whole-heartedly. I've flown fairly often with Larry Kelley in his B-25J "Panchito", and have always been impressed by his very professional style and ability to fly a smooth and safe air-to-air shoot.

However, we did one shoot a while back where the aircraft being photographed (to remain nameless) was piloted by a real cowboy. He didn't follow the brief to even the smallest degree, and was all over the sky. When we had to come in to land we had to go through some patchy cloud, which required care to negotiate. Instead of keeping in proper formation with us as the lead ship so that we could each keep an eye on one another, he just stooged around sometimes to our rear, sometimes above, below, close ... far. It was a very un-nerving experience. I kept having to call in to say where the guy was, and Larry was not happy at all!

This goes to show you that you should not only be concerned about which pilots you actually would fly with, but also, those whom might join you in formation.

Cheers,
Richard

This past weekend, I watched a supposedly experienced, commercial trained, instructor pilot nearly lose it in dealing with an engine fire. I don't know if he had the fuel boost pump stuck on or if he just primed it way too much. Any way, he had flames shooting 6 feet under the aircraft, back under the belly, on a C172. A second pilot came over to him, and I don't know what he was saying, but I ran over to get the passengers out while they were still able to do so without being hurt. He stopped trying to crank it several times, even with the second pilot there to assist. After he got the thing started, he had the throttle so advanced that the airplane began to taxi at a high rate of speed with the second pilot hanging out of the door.

I take what I do very seriously and hope this is a safe and happy air show season for everybody. But I know people don't always think clearly when it comes to the emotionally exhilarating experience of flying, pilots included. So keep your eyes open for safety issues, always have a safe way out of where you are whether on the ground or in the air, and if you see something wrong, get the real rescue crews who know what they are doing there fast. Practice, practice, practice, checklist, checklist, checklist will save a lot more aluminum, wood and fabric than every restorer put together in the world.

Or have the pilot say " Watch This".

Famous last words....

With any luck I'll get a ride in "Porky II" this weekend. Pilot will probably be Steve Hinton. Can he be trusted?

Mudge the suspicious

My T-6F has never had the center flap disabled, but I've flown other T-6s that have had this modification.

I can't say I really noticed much of a difference, just keep it going straight whatever it takes...like any tail dragger.

The key to warbird flying is currency. If you're about to go fly with someone who takes his T-6 out once or twice a year...well, you see what I mean.

Flying, especially warbird and formation flying, is a perishable skill. Before you go for that ride you might want to ask how much flying the pilot has done lately.

If it's been several months you might want to give them a chance to "knock some rust off".

Thanks Jack, for bringing up an important topic.

Steve

Lynn is right, only fly with some after check out their qualifications. Stan has taken me on several rides in Red Nose and it is unbelievable how smooth he is at all times, even doing vertical rolls. OH GOD IS THAT FUN!

To help keep our airplane and pilots safe we have a rigorous training process for our pilots and our airplane gets poke and prodded by the best Mustang mechanics in the county. Safety should be every War Bird operators overall objective, especially when the general public is involved.

Philip

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Philip Beegle
Dixie Wing CAF

Mudge:

Please take some good pics, my dream is to fly in a 38.

Philip the envious.

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Philip Beegle
Dixie Wing CAF