On the Ramp Right Now: On the Ramp in NZ!!!

Cribbs74 wrote:The hand crank is way cool. Although hand starting with the prop would be even more manly.

That's one plane I wouldn't be afraid to fly in. I love open air!

I'm sure it's been prop-started at SOME point in it's history, but that Ranger sits so high that it'd be almost out of reach for a good, downward haul on the prop.  A sock starter might work...AND be a lot more fun to watch!  

Yeah, the PT is a big, friendly pup of an airplane, and everything happens very slowly.  The biggest thing for me was to make note and remember how high you sit when it's on the ground so you don't drive it into the runway on landing.

You sit so low in the thing that you're mostly out of the slipstream, bit there's a healthy blast right at the cockpit rim that will very efficiently remove sunglasses.  

I'm sure we'll see (and hear) John's baby rumbling around the area on any day when the temps get anywhere reasonable.  The Ranger is air-cooled, and those engines LOVE cool weather once they're started and warmed up (sound familiar?).


John was no stranger to having the PT apart...these are photos from it's center section rebuild back in '08

OVERLORD wrote:
I'd like to know what it's like to start such an engine with a hand starter. It takes some turning to get the crankshaft moving. Normally, 1 of the magnetos has a snap coupling that retards the ignition and suddenly gives the armature a wank in order to get a descent spark.

COOL engine Lieven! The crank-starter always seemed to work well...maybe due to John's loving care and adjustment of the Ranger. There's a very short interval between compression strokes, and when you felt one coming on, you'd give it an extra "Whump!" to kick it through. I've started it on several pretty cool days, and it always fired up. I never heard an impulse snapping, but may have forgotten, so I'll ask John about it.

A BUNCH of our local posers were quick to move in and say that John wouldn't get the PT flying again, even some guys that I had a fair bit of respect for ( I quickly adjusted my opinion of them). I've been around a lot of these tough old guys, and knew that if John's injuries didn't bring him down, the PT would be flying again. Men like this are a flat-out inspiration for me.

This is John's Other Ride...an RV-8 he built in his "spare" time.

An unexpected visitor drops in to the Painton International Aerodrome Fly-In Dinner !

Yes, it's colder than all get-out, but I was suddenly seized by one of those monsters that fortunately only puts it's hands on me once in a while.

Before I really knew what was happening, I found myself heading North East, sail-boat-like-tacking the Assault Van up the road in frozen (and I MEAN frozen) crosswinds.

Nearly froze off a couple of appendages camping behind the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Richmond, Indiana, but survived, and the whole deal seemed strangely like 'fun'.

Anyway, I'm now sitting at my table, in my wind-rocked van, assembling my gear for a day of touring the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

'Bout as surprised as anybody to discover I'm here, and intend to make two days of the place, also swinging up by Neil Armstrong's Museum in Wapakoneta, and maybe try to find the Wright Brother's place.

SO...if any of you have a particular subject you'd like photographed in detail, I'm loaded with enough file space to take drivers license photos of nearly everyone in the state, so let me know.

Now...off to further adventure...

Kim,

I was stationed at Wright Patterson from 1998-2005.

The museum is a great place to visit, the Wright Brothers hanger is located on area A-C in huffman prairie.

At one point it was only accesible from on base, but I believe you can just drive out to it now without getting a pass.

It's right off highway 444

Hope so...cause I didn't ask !!!!

A "Sort-of-a-Taildragger"

New ASSULAT Van !?!?!  nice , Where the funk are you doing man roar trip   Sounds cold , is here Good to hear from YOU !! Eric

You are about 2.5 hours from me. That is a cool museum. I have only been there 2 or 3 times. I haven't seen _everything_ yet.

Phil

Yo Kim! I had to put on a sweater.. after seeing that iced-up rolling man-cave! I'd love to see anything associated with the Wright Brothers. I hope you get the chance. Get yourself a big thermos of chicken stew.. and keep warm!

Cribbs74 wrote:Kim,

I was stationed at Wright Patterson from 1998-2005.

The museum is a great place to visit, the Wright Brothers hanger is located on area A-C in huffman prairie.

At one point it was only accesible from on base, but I believe you can just drive out to it now without getting a pass.

It's right off highway 444

Cool,
This has always been a great place for me to visit. I came here for the first time in 1974, and was simply blown away by the place. It's contnued to get bigger and bigger. I was surely glad to see them get the Vakerye inside !!!!

getback wrote:New ASSULAT Van !?!?!  nice , Where the funk are you doing man roar trip   Sounds cold , is here Good to hear from YOU !! Eric

Hey Eric!

I just bolted out of town for a few days (maybe early onset of cabin fever), and decided to head to Dayton, Ohio and visit the Air Force Museum and some other spots there.

The "Assault Van" thing started a long time ago when I'd load up my much smaller vans for our shooting parties we called "Gun Days". Someone asked me what I was packing in my assault van at one of our shoots, and suddenly, EVERYTHING got prefaced with 'Assault'.

This is sort of a shake down cruise for this van I got back in March, and everything is working out great. Compared to my other vans, this thing is like packing my own hotel room with me, but is much more functional at hauling stuff than one of the smaller RV's.

Anyway, gonna get some breakfast and hit the Museum again.

More photos to follow !

andrew wrote:That van is too cool!!  Most of my mobile camping has been in the back of a pickup with a topper.

Thanks Andrew!! Yeah...I'm afraid that I've spoiled myself rotten!

Used to be a Starfighter stuck on this pole.  Figured they decided it had better use than as a lightning rod...



















Never noticed that the Marauder had two, differently designed sets of bombay doors:

Treated myself to a night in the Comfort Inn here next to the Air Force Museum.  Gonna hit the place at opening to sign for a bus trip over to the R&D and Presidential Hangars.

Got a fantastic guided tour yesterday, by a retired Air Force Veteran/volunteer, who had a BUNCH of inside stories on some of the exhibits.  Nearly makes me dizzy trying to imagine all the cool stories there are, with most that I'll never hear.

Also checked out a beam that was on it's way to the new hangar...after being autographed by the group of volunteers who are involved with it and the other museums projects.

The "Cold War Hangar" wasn't open the last time I visited about 10 years ago, and I was too spent to do it justice with photos, so that's on the schedule after today's tour.  The more I hike this place, the more awestruck I become, just TRYING to imagine the millions of behind-the-scene engineers, machinists, physicists, mechanics and other workers that made all this stuff happen.

More Coffee !!!

The National Museum of the USAF is my favorite aviation attraction - that and WNC Air Museum in Hendersonville. The tour guides are great, the exhibits increasingly interesting, and the sheer amount of aircraft present is breathtaking. I've been several times and it never gets old.

The Starfighter was always there when I visited, wonder what happened to it...

Probably needed freshened up.

Made it back home with 1170 miles on the odometer. Already thinking about another run.


















WACO's at the museum in Troy, Ohio:





The Skylancer at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio:





Pointing the Man Cave West:

One of our local aviators, Bob Russel, died Saturday in a crash in a Turbine Legend.He and his dog were the only casualties. He was 84 years old and had built the plane. Wayne was telling me about the plane and sent me a video from which I screen shot this pic.

So, is it, or isn't it our own Kimby?




The Kimlike apparition is at 3:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5CrI33jjjY

BUMP

Wow, Thanks for the bump Rusty. How did I ever miss this thread. The V-22 Osprey and the late model P-38 on page one is worth the price of admission alone. Also love the "wannabe". They were testing the Osprey when I was at Patuxent River back in the '90's.

It's going to take me time to work through all 19 pages.