Miss D. and I are off to Lexington, KY for the night. The Commemorative Air Force is flying in there with their B-29 Superfortress, 'Fifi', a P-51 Mustang and another plane. I've bullied her into taking a half-hour flight in the Mustang, on the grounds that it may be the only chance she ever gets to fly in a warbird like that. It'll count as an advanced birthday present. (Funny, she didn't seem to take much convincing . . . must be an Alaskan bush pilot thing!)
Anyway, we're hitting the road. I'll post an update from our hotel. Please say a prayer or two for us for traveling safety - and if you're in or near Lexington, KY tomorrow morning, and a Mustang parts your hair at high speed and vanishes into the distance trailing a high-pitched full-throated exultant "Yeeeeeaaaaah!", that'll be my wife!
Peter
I remember Fifi from the CAF air show in Harlingen, TX in the late '80's. She's a beautiful beast. Dad was stationed in Brownsville at the time and we both managed to get a sun burn on one side of our face from standing out their all day on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteI assume that your wife will be flying with their two-seater conversion - the "Gunfighter". This really ought to be a once-in-a-lifetime-experience. Got to put it on my bucket list, and start to save....
ReplyDeleteI was just there yesterday! I was flying into Lexington on business, and didn't know Fifi or the aviation museum was there. As the plane was taxiing to the terminal, I glanced out the window and yelled, "Holy crap, it's Fifi!"
ReplyDeleteMy coworkers all looked at me kind of funny. More so than usual, anyway.
We can always start the betting pool on how many days it takes for the silly grin to disappear from her face.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing three.
I spent time in the Harlingen area when they were still the "confederate Air Force". What an amazing collection of warbirds.
ReplyDeleteBully! Always a topic near and dear to my heart. My dad was a B-17 pilot who flew 35 combat missions over Europe with this group---
ReplyDeletehttp://www.447bg.com/
In my younger days, had the good fortune to tour the Commemorative Air Force Hanger in Midland, TX. FiFi was there with a jungle of parts on the hanger floor, undergoing a major overhaul.
For those of us that can't accompany you---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKU0uQki5Dc
What do you call four Merlins flying in formation?
A Lancaster.
It didn't happen without pictures, you hear? Wanna see this one!
ReplyDeleteI just wonder in today's climate, if the name 'Confederate Air Force' would gain some comments from the media - I'm guessing yes. :^)
ReplyDeleteLifelong resident of the Rio Grande Valley (McAllen), the Confederate Air Force museum in Harlingen was a frequent stop for visiting when I was a kid / teenager. Dad was in the Navy at the tail end of WWII and was based in Guam for most of his tour of duty. His SP duty often covered the air base there, and his commentary on the various planes in the museum took years off his attitude :^).
Enjoy the show.
Anonymous - it did, but the biggest problem was corporate sponsorship, notably of the Houston airshow and Arizona Wing. The vote was . . . interesting. I was there, trying to explain the reason for the change to overseas members. FWIW I preferred the old name, but I suspect if it had gone unchanged, we'd probably be being sued by every activist looking to get his/her/its name in the papers right now.
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
Yeah, I still prefer the old Confederate Air Force, but completely understand the change with the climate of stupidity around "Confederate" anything.
ReplyDeleteFifi flew overhead on approach and the engine noise is impressive. I took a flight on a B-24 and it was worth the cost because a WWII pilot who had flown them over Italy was on board.
ReplyDeleteGerry