Warbird Information Exchange

Alfred,

Burlington, VT?

Not Burlington, but you are the closest so far.

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It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

Sorry Rick, I missed your answer in the shuffle this morning. No it's not Beaver Falls.

_________________
It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

Okay, Here's my answer, and if I'm correct, I'll explain it. If I'm not correct, I'll crawl back in my hole!

September, 1986, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT.
On the edge of what is now the de-icing pads, at the begining of what use to be a taxiway over the highway connector that lead to the Hamilton Standard Plant.

Blue skies,
Jerry

It may very well have been as late as September. I left Conn. that month and returned home. I thought it was slightly earlier, but my memory gets foggier as I get older.

You are smack dab on target Airdales.

_________________
It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

Okay, the reason I know this is that it is I, (the bigger of the two people) who is standing by the front hatch ladder!

I was asked via the New England Air Museum if I wanted to assist in helping marshal the display aircraft in for Hamilton Standard's open house. "909" couldn't make it up the taxiway (due to width) so it sat on the end of the ramp. The photo was taken just after we taxied it closer to the end of the ramp. It was my first time riding in the co-pilot's seat and it was GREAT!

If I had a good slide scanner I'd scan some of them and post'em! , P-47 "Little Demon", P-51 "Passion Wagon", a whole contingent from Kalamazoo, Jets, Helios and Fairey Gannet! What a weekend! I helped out from Friday to Sunday.

The hardest aircraft towed up the taxiway was the F7F. To tow it, we had to use the nose gear. If you jerk the tow motor even slightly, the gear could unlock and come crashing down on it's nose. The Hamilton Standard crew jury rigged attachments and clamps under the cautious and watchful eye of John Ellis, and we were able to tow it successfully and safely to the front of the building. It was almost 10:00pm before we got it in.

The most moving event I had ever experienced in an aircraft happened at this event in "909". The B-17 wasn't open for tours at that particular moment, but an older gentleman asked if he could look inside. The pilot said it would be okay and to take him in. As we sat in the cockpit, he suddenly got very quite. He looked around slowly, purposefully, and deliberatly. Up to this point, I hadn't said a word the whole time. After several minutes, I asked him when the last time he had been in a B-17 cockpit. He said quietly, "1944. Over Germany."

"We were hit by flak, and everyone had bailout. The plane went into a spin and I was thrown to the floor. My arm was broken and I was pinned right down there by the centrifical force," as he pointed to the crawl space between the seats. "I thought it was all over. I gave up. Then I decided to give it one more try, I inched and pulled my way to the front hatch. I made it, and I fell out. I couldn't have been more than 1500 to 2000 feet when I made it out and the chute opened."

Let me say that I had goose bumps and tears in my eyes. That had never happened to me before. He's telling me the story in the exact location it happened and reliving it as he spoke. It's a moment that I've always held dear and one I have never written about.

It is one of the main reasons I believe preserving flying warbirds is so important. Someday soon, no one will be able to sit and listen to a veteran speak of his trials inside the very "battlefield" where it happened.

I'd have to say that, up to that point in my life, it was one of the most enjoyable events I had ever worked! It really lead me into Airshow Flightline Operations, which has been very good for me and my team.

Warhawk, thanks for the trip back in time! I think that's why I love the WIX site so much!
Blue skies,
Jerry O'Neill
Airdale 1

Excellent story Airdales! Gave me goosebumps just reading it!

That is a wonderful story Jerry. Here are the other two pictures I took in that timeframe. Yes, both are bad photos too.

_________________
It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

Whats sad is that those would be considered good photos in my collection.

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The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Gus Grissom

They might be "bad" photos, but they are good and I'm enjoying seeing them,
Those were taken on the East Ramp. That hangar is now the UPS base of operations at Bradley. Believe it or not, those two photos show the airplanes on the same area that was the main ramp when Bradley was an Army Air Field in WWII. Some of the Staff at the museum went for a ride in the B-17 from that ramp and one of the air-to-air photos taken by my friend Jim Kippen, ended up in Jeff Ethell's "Warbird Price Guide" Book!
Fun times! Thanks.
Jerry

I say "bad photos", but that is just going with a theme. There are no bad photos. It's just that people can get down on themselves and the pictures they take. The photos are not good because of the fence, but they show a moment in time that will never come again and it certainly stirred your memory today. I have accomplished more with this thread then I could have hoped when I started it this morning and thats a pretty good feeling.

My only hope now is that others will take this up. I know some have and it has sparked some really good conversation.

Thanks Tulio. I hope you have stopped by here because it's your thread that gave me the idea.

_________________
It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

When I took those I thought I had it in close enough to shoot through the fence. I was not happy with the result to say the least. I'm awful glad now that I snapped em though.

_________________
It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

AMEN!

This has happend to me twice in an aircraft once in the waist of Chuckie, I was sitting next to a former B-17 crewman, when the engines started and the airplane came alive...yes that's what it feels like to me, vibrations, shakes an shimmies, smells...the old man broke down and cried...I cried the lady across from me cried...Later he told me about being in that space over Germany and of his friend who died and froze right there one afternoon....

The second was on a Huey that we flew to an airshow, I was all alone sitting on the deck waiting for the show and a man came over and sat down and started crying...he told me "one of these helicopters saved my life...in Viet Nam..." he showed me the scar on his belly...we bothe shed tears.

That is what it is all about...that is the reason for flying these machines.

If someone don't get it when their in those situations they never will get it. Amazing that you can get the same response sitting next to a lowly L-4 the same way, probably from some grunt who wouldn't have come home if the L-bird hadn't called in a strike and saved his ass.

Warhawk:

Thank'tcha!

This could be the beginning of a very productive thread here at WIX:

Your ugly pix! (I happen to have a ton of these)

Less than perfect, but showing aircraf that have meant a lot for us.

Photos through cyclone fences, some too far, some a little out of focus....

Not only the bright and shiny pictures tell a story, huh? : )


Saludos,


Tulio