Hello, from new owner.

[fjpikul]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Not 4N]

Hi. I'm a new owner (Tungsten 2006) but have admired this car for a long, long time.
Perhaps I could find a 'beater' for more daily use, if such a thing exists.

Hello John
1st - A warm welcome to the forum :thumbsup
2nd - What do you fly for a beater - you know when the weather isn't just right :shrug
3rd - You have a great taste in colours, even though Frank thinks red is still the fastest. :biggrin

Cheers
Trent

 

[ChipBeck]

Thunderbolt

Wow, just wow. A P-47 in your hanger and a Ford GT in your garage. Today I spent the 4 worst hours in the air in my 34 years as a pilot. 1000 miles from College Station, Texas to Falcon Field in Arizona in bone jarring turbulence the entire way and straight into a 40 knot headwind. My little Glasair III cruses at 260 MPH, has a VNE of 350 MPH, full inverted systems, and is capable of +9 to -6 G's. As a younger man I flew for 10 years on the Firebird's Aerobatic Team and from 1996 through the end of 1999 I was the Airshow Demonstration pilot for the Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft Company who manufactures the Glasair III. The photo below was taken by an EAA photographer at the Sun & Fun Airshow in Lakeland, FL from a Turbo Cessna 210 with the door off and the pilot actually went vertical with me. :eek

I would LOVE to see your plane someday. The last P-47 I saw up close was at the Phoenix 500 Air Races/Airshow in AZ and it was being flown by "Hurricane" Bob Hannah (who was a great motocross rider). Welcome to the site!!

Chip

 

[Wwabbit]

Hello John
1st - A warm welcome to the forum :thumbsup
2nd - What do you fly for a beater - you know when the weather isn't just right :shrug
3rd - You have a great taste in colours, even though Frank thinks red is still the fastest. :biggrin

Cheers
Trent

Thanks for the welcome. Well, these days if I don't need sunglasses, I try real hard not to go. But for messy weather travel is us a vintage 1960 Bonanza. I actually
learned to fly in that model, so it holds a special place. OR, when I have a bunch of friends that want to go.....

 

[33Bravo]

Welcome!

You'll love the car!

I too am a pilot - I fly a L39 for fun - and a Commander otherwise...

 

[Mike Mosing]

Welcome. White 2005 GT, flying an L-39ZA, A-36, Christen Eagle II, J-3 Cub and a Cessna 185 Amphibian when it gets so hot I need to go swim. Would love to get into the WWII airplanes one day. Maybe trade in all the others...except the GT of course. Yu going to love this forum.

 

[djs]

A Thunderbolt, especially a "D," is baad, baad, plane. You are to be congratulated my friend. Question, do the 8 Browning .50s still work?:lol

 

[Wwabbit]

A Thunderbolt, especially a "D," is baad, baad, plane. You are to be congratulated my friend. Question, do the 8 Browning .50s still work?:lol

Guns and ammo still in the plane, but all are de-milled and inop. I've heard of guys that have armed guns in WWII planes though.

Hi John,
The icon to right of the text that says "Reply with Quote" is the "multiquote" function. If you want to reply to a bunch of different replies at once, simply click that icon under each post you wish to reply to and then click "reply to thread" at the bottom of the page.
What a newbie I am.... don't hate me
Congratulations on the new car and welcome to the site. :cheers

Wow, just wow. A P-47 in your hanger and a Ford GT in your garage. Today I spent the 4 worst hours in the air in my 34 years as a pilot. 1000 miles from College Station, Texas to Falcon Field in Arizona in bone jarring turbulence the entire way and straight into a 40 knot headwind. My little Glasair III cruses at 260 MPH, has a VNE of 350 MPH, full inverted systems, and is capable of +9 to -6 G's. As a younger man I flew for 10 years on the Firebird's Aerobatic Team and from 1996 through the end of 1999 I was the Airshow Demonstration pilot for the Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft Company who manufactures the Glasair III. The photo below was taken by an EAA photographer at the Sun & Fun Airshow in Lakeland, FL from a Turbo Cessna 210 with the door off and the pilot actually went vertical with me. :eek

I would LOVE to see your plane someday. The last P-47 I saw up close was at the Phoenix 500 Air Races/Airshow in AZ and it was being flown by "Hurricane" Bob Hannah (who was a great motocross rider). Welcome to the site!!

Chip

Awesome pic, Chip. Pleasure to meet you. I hate flying the desert SW in spring and summer. Greyhound is sometimes a suitable alternative. Look forward to meeting you.
JS

Welcome!

You'll love the car!

I too am a pilot - I fly a L39 for fun - and a Commander otherwise...

I had a BAC Strikemaster for a while back in the day and have a few friends with L39's. Wonderful machines..

Welcome. White 2005 GT, flying an L-39ZA, A-36, Christen Eagle II, J-3 Cub and a Cessna 185 Amphibian when it gets so hot I need to go swim. Would love to get into the WWII airplanes one day. Maybe trade in all the others...except the GT of course. Yu going to love this forum.

Look's like we've got lot's of pilots. Excellent. I'm happy to make everyone's acquaintance. Look forward to learning and enjoying GT stuff from you guys.

John

 

[soroush]

congrats and welcome !

 

[Waxer]

Welcome. Congrats on the FGT. This is without a doubt one of the best forums out there.

BTW you are flying my dream. I am a big WWII warbird fan. I'm sure you know all about Zemke's wolfpack. One of the best war stories is their tangle with Gunther Rahl.

Is the nose art on your bird original to it? Whats the histroy of your bird? Theatres, campaigns, pilots, combat history?

Cheers.

 

[Wwabbit]

...

Is the nose art on your bird original to it? Whats the histroy of your bird? Theatres, campaigns, pilots, combat history?

Cheers.

Waxer-
Thanks. The nose art is original - not the actual paint though- flown by Col. James Hare 9th AF, 57FG based in Corsica 1944-45. They worked over the Germans in Italy in
Operation Strangle. 20 min flight over the Adriatic, pound the Germans, then hop back over to top up the tan a bit. Col. Hare is 96 and lives in Columbia, SC. Growing up,
his little sister called him Wicked Wabbit, and there you go.

Here are a couple of pics, one with him and one of him signing the intercooler door. He had not seen a P47 for 50yrs. He had one kill and had to ditch in the Adriatic sea onceafter taking a hit and lost pressure. He was running until last year when he fell and broke his hip. That sucks. But he still enjoys a cold beer on Sundays.
I fly to a lot of WWII memorials and commemoration things, and get to meet a lot of the real cool 21 yrs old kids (now in their 80's and 90's) but they remember those
days like yesterday. What a guy!

John

 

[AJB]

John - are you by any chance going to the Doolittle Reunion at WPAFB April 14-19 ? My dad flew B-24's out of Italy in WWII and they invited him to 'try his hand' at Flying the B-25 next weekend. ( He was invited last summer and had a chance to fly a B-24 from Pittsburgh Pa to Johnstown Pa. )

I plan to meet him in Urbana Ohio where they are 'staging' 20 B-25's. On April 17 if I recall, they plan to take off every 1min 30 seconds to fly to WPAFB in a tribute to Doolittle's take-off pattern heading to Tokyo.
If you are there , we could meet and say 'hello'.

AJB (Andy)

 

[Wwabbit]

John - are you by any chance going to the Doolittle Reunion at WPAFB April 14-19 ? My dad flew B-24's out of Italy in WWII and they invited him to 'try his hand' at Flying the B-25 next weekend. ( He was invited last summer and had a chance to fly a B-24 from Pittsburgh Pa to Johnstown Pa. )

I plan to meet him in Urbana Ohio where they are 'staging' 20 B-25's. On April 17 if I recall, they plan to take off every 1min 30 seconds to fly to WPAFB in a tribute to Doolittle's take-off pattern heading to Tokyo.
If you are there , we could meet and say 'hello'.

AJB (Andy)

Andy-
I won't be at Wright Patt, but will be at Thunder Over Michigan in June (Willow Run Arpt). They usually let us do a really cool reenactment with ground troops - German and
US ground forces. Germans are trying to capture a bean field or something. Here are some pics from the last one. It's like your track day in the GT for us. I catch myself
making machine gun noises in the cockpit. Can't help it, they're shooting at me so I gotta shoot back, even if it's spit. That's awesome your Dad flew Liberators.
I'm sure he will enjoy the B-25. I have a few friends with B-25's, but not sure who will be there. Maybe will see you in MI.

John

 

[AJB]

Ok - thanks John. I will ask friend Mark Nickerson from the Collings Foundation who is bringing a B-25 if he knows you and the WickedWabbit.
Maybe June will fit in...
andy (AJB)

 

[Wwabbit]

I know Rob Collings, have flown with him in their B-17 and have flown formation with their B-24 and B-17 in the Thunderbolt during several of their tours years ago. They do a great job and are always on the go.

Regards,
John

 

[PILOTJPW1]

That Gruman flying boat is awesome. Is that a Goose ? Love the port hole. I am planning a flight to Tenn. soon in my 182 Amphib.

Please tell me your favorite lake and river spots down that way?

 

[Waxer]

John: Thanks for the reply. I chuckled at your improvised 50 cals but only because I would have done the same. That looks like too much fun.

Do you ever make the Air Show in Reading PA?

I love all warbirds. One of my favs is the ME109G with that whistling supercharged inverted Benz V12. Ahead of its time at the beginning of the war and if flown well by an skilled jockey could hold its own against any even at the end of the war. Problem was (thank God) the Germans were running low on skilled veteran pilots. Didn't have the ruggedness of Jug though. They were hoping to get one of the last flying ME109s with the Benz V12 (as opposed to the Hispano) to Reading but it hasn't happened so far. Apparently its owned by a concern up in Canada. I think the other ME is White 6 that has been mothballed in England.

Above are the story and copy of the painting of one of the best Thunderbolt storys ever.

Cheers.

 

[GT38]

I love all warbirds. One of my favs is the ME109G with that whistling supercharged inverted Benz V12. Ahead of its time at the beginning of the war and if flown well by an skilled jockey could hold its own against any even at the end of the war. Problem was (thank God) the Germans were running low on skilled veteran pilots. Didn't have the ruggedness of Jug though. They were hoping to get one of the last flying ME109s with the Benz V12 (as opposed to the Hispano) to Reading but it hasn't happened so far. Apparently its owned by a concern up in Canada. I think the other ME is White 6 that has been mothballed in England.

Not Benz powered of course, but take a look at this - especially what's tucked into the corner.

 

[PeakCompletions]

Andy-
View attachment 24328

Welcome aboard John!!! As an avid WWII buff and entering into the warbird sector myself you are flying one of my all time dream planes! Congrats and enjoy!!! what an incredible and beautiful bird!!!

interesting fun fact based on the pic above is the number 40 of the "Hun Hunter" and the 44 of your "Wicked Wabbit".... the original GT40 was 40" high off the ground (making for interesting head room issues for us taller guys) and the new Ford GT which you have added to the stable is 44" high... kind of funny given the number of your plane and wingman :biggrin

thanks for sharing such a wonderful story and welcome again! :cheers

 

[donnymac]

Waxer-
Thanks. The nose art is original - not the actual paint though- flown by Col. James Hare 9th AF, 57FG based in Corsica 1944-45. They worked over the Germans in Italy in
Operation Strangle. 20 min flight over the Adriatic, pound the Germans, then hop back over to top up the tan a bit. Col. Hare is 96 and lives in Columbia, SC. Growing up,
his little sister called him Wicked Wabbit, and there you go.

Here are a couple of pics, one with him and one of him signing the intercooler door. He had not seen a P47 for 50yrs. He had one kill and had to ditch in the Adriatic sea onceafter taking a hit and lost pressure. He was running until last year when he fell and broke his hip. That sucks. But he still enjoys a cold beer on Sundays.
I fly to a lot of WWII memorials and commemoration things, and get to meet a lot of the real cool 21 yrs old kids (now in their 80's and 90's) but they remember those
days like yesterday. What a guy!

John

Wwabbit you are a good man. Can only imagine the COLs memories!

Drop down next Fall to Midland TX with the P47. CAF HQ AirSho plus a nose art display and more.

A few GT owners here as well plus a few independent war birds. You would be welcome.

dm