On the Ramp Right Now!

Marleysky wrote:Picking up Turkeys. Eh? I guess now that a few more states have de- criminalized  "turkey" they still need to import the stuffing!!  

Looks like those engine nacelles are a upside down P-51 mustang.

Yeah, my brother proposed moving our Thanksgiving up a few days so there'd be a chance of getting more of the family together. The couple that run 'Sandy's Place' at the airport will prepare a turkey and dressing, and have it all set to go for pick (MY kind of turkey!)...which was my assignment. We had a big time, though my close exposure to so many kids in a closed house has apparently landed some microbes in my system...feel like a cold coming on...

Yeah, the prop/cowling set up on these planes is different...kinda reminds me of those on the P-3 Orion and others...

Man, that airframe went into service, just before I was born!! Flying back and forth to Hawaii. Yup, now she looks like a patchwork quilt of parts and pieces......flying unmarked plain brown wrapper packets to....out of the way places.....or they're picking up some needed parts to keep one of our former Automotive suppliers production line running, south of the border. Remember that" Giant Sucking sound" Ross Perot talked about? Hehehe.

https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/XA-UPL/761842

Hey, Kim Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving dinner with your family! I know we are having ours here, Thursday (our house) my wife is playing the role of "Sandy" and I'm charged with "making room in the driveway" and clearing a path for our Family to park and walk to the house.

Kim wrote:

Marleysky wrote:Picking up Turkeys. Eh? I guess now that a few more states have de- criminalized  "turkey" they still need to import the stuffing!!  

Looks like those engine nacelles are a upside down P-51 mustang.

Yeah, my brother proposed moving our Thanksgiving up a few days so there'd be a chance of getting more of the family together.  The couple that run 'Sandy's Place' at the airport will prepare a turkey and dressing, and have it all set to go for pick (MY kind of turkey!)...which was my assignment.  We had a big time, though my close exposure to so many kids in a closed house has apparently landed some microbes in my system...feel like a cold coming on...

Yeah, the prop/cowling set up on these planes is different...kinda reminds me of those on the P-3 Orion and others...

First thing I thought of Kim....Baby P-3 Orion. Navy's version of the civilian Lockeed Electra which had severe teething problems, harmonics or something causing the engines to fall off? Saw a lot of P-3's in my twenty years. Heck i go back to the P2V Neptune.

Bob

And so we've lost another hero. 'The Mig Mad Marine' has gone west. As an astronaut, he made one fantastic flight (eclipsing Alan Sheppard and Gus Grissum for me until I was grew a lot older and gained a more focused view of their dangerous flights). He never flew again until his ride in the Shuttle.

But John Glenn was THE Astronaut. Through the rest of Mercury, into Gemini and Apollo, he was still THE man. For me, he defined space flight.

Back before I joined this forum and started venting my aeronautical gushings on you guys, my local newspaper was a frequent target, having a section for people to post photos and short stories.

Thought I'd post this from the 2008 note I sent the paper after a transient Learjet caught my eye on the ramp.

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http://www.semissourian.com/story/1445820.html

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Sometime in 1966 or so, I noticed a newspaper article about John Glenn making a visit to a city in Northern Illinois. He was still a highly sought-after celebrity following the Mercury Seven Space Flights that had him become the first American Astronaut to orbit the Earth. I didn't remember the city, or the occasion for the visit, but I did remember the airplane. John Glenn flew in a Learjet.

That was it...as an impressionable 12 year-old-kid...I knew from then on that any legitimate American Hero just had to do his traveling in a Learjet. Dime Stores (remember them?) had plastic models of the pioneering business jet, and I logged a fair amount of time hand-flying mine around my backyard. With it's fuel tanks mounted out at the tips of it wings and it's racy "T" tail, it was right at home in my airplane box, where I also hangared a plastic F-104 Starfighter...it too with large tip-tanks and "T" tail. TOO cool!!!!

Bill Lear expanded the production of his civilian hot-rod jet into larger versions with more seating capacity, and Gates eventually moved the fuel into the fuselage, replacing the tip-tanks with turned up "wing-lets". I'm not sure if John Glenn had an opinion on the matter, but I didn't like it! Learjets just ought to have tip-tanks.

This Lear 35 spent some time with us recently, and I captured a few images for the photo album. It can be a sobering reminder of your age when one of these older jets taxies up with faded paint, blocked out windows, and it's luxurious interior long-since gutted to make space for crates and pallets. Yep...the Limo eventually becomes a cargo van!

The Learjet in the photos was decked out to carry passengers, and it's crew ordered some fuel before departing on another leg of their charter flight.

While I admire the lines of Gulf Streams, Citations, and the current crop of mini-jets with their cruise-missile engines, they still don't stack up to the low, fast lines of this 1960's bred racehorse.

You know that little shock that you get when you hear bad news followed by a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. That was my reaction when I heard of John Glenns passing. People like John Glenn don't die.

It has been reported that Ted Williams was Glenn's wingman in Korea. I watched Ted launch several home runs into the stands beyond the "Green Monster" when I was a kid attending games with my friend at Fenway Park. I had that same empty feeling when he died too.

Bob

RIP John Glen



When the Korean War broke out, Glenn applied for combat duty, and flew 90 missions. Overall, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross six times and was awarded the Air Medal with 18 clusters.



“Project Bullet” F8U cross country trip:
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/16-july-1957/

In my life are fading and ever fading memories of my youth

MY Dad was in Korea late 50s early 60s and we lived in Oakland Calif where my parents decided to send all their children to Parochial schools...in this case Our Lady or Lourdes where I started first grade

This was old school teaching and I thought those Nuns were a LOT more strict than my Army Dad

I remember the day when the Nuns took us upstairs to the Rectory ( where they lived) to watch the TV and John Glenn circumnavigate the earth IN ORBIT

I also remember not many short years later The John F Kennedy assassination... coincidentally back at same school ....and no chit.... Days later... there was my Hero, John Glenn, as a Pallbearer for JFK funeral

I do not watch news any more...(mental --health reasons)(( I yell too much at the TV and wife threatened to off me if I don't git a grip))
BUT I would hope John Glenn's funeral is as somber and well attended as JFK 'sor Ronald Reagan's was

So, you yell at your TV too?  ( or used to)  One of these days they are going to do what I tell them, by golly.  I heard a news report that that new "smart" TVs have built in microphones for voice commands that are "on" all the time.....so someone is listening! Sorta like the gps tracker in your new vehicles!! We know where you been and how fast you got there, ha ha, hehe hoho...their comming to take me away, haha, they're comming to take me away.

Oops off track post, sorry  RIP and Godspeed John Glenn.

Rest in Peace John Glenn. Some of you guys have a couple of years on me.. (1960) and it's very cool to read of your childhood memories. I really enjoy that.. and often feel that I came along a few years late for the party.

Kim, thanks for this post. I've really enjoyed reading.

I know...not much of a deal, but I was moving slow this morning, and got a kick out of it (the typo, not the crash).  Looks like the Tri-Pacer or Colt got a little banged up, pilot walked away.

FFA...Vs FAA yes...But I am much more curious about "mobilizing the Local 4-H"....WTH?

fredvon4 wrote:FFA...Vs FAA yes...But I am much more curious about "mobilizing the Local 4-H"....WTH?

That was just my joke..going along with the deal on my Facebook page...

Future Farmers of America.....Active at our high school. The "cool" kids made fun of them.

Bob

rsv1cox wrote:  Future Farmers of America.....Active at our high school.  The "cool" kids made fun of them.

Bob

Yeah, still got my 4-H Project book tucked away somewhere.  Kids built bird houses and book shelves for judging at the county fair.  I did a couple plastic display airplanes, but didn't go to the fair...family was shuffling at the time.  

It was a lot bigger deal in our area, surrounded by farms.

Got one of my first real 'Life Lessons' when a farm kid slightly older than me showed up at my cousin's house on a brand-new Sportster.  If that wasn't enough, he was on his way to have it chopped and customized...that kind of stuff RULED at the time.

I was talking about how 'lucky' he was, when my Uncle Wayne pointed out that he'd been working on his dad's farm before and after school since he was little, and that school holidays usually meant doing that much more work.

My work ethic was still forming, and this definitely gave it a boot in the right direction...

Well, if the FFA was investigating, the plane must have crashed in the cow pasture. The 4-H does have a CSI division...

So, as hard as it is to believe, tomorrow will be the 10th anniversary of the 'Miracle King Air'.

It's two pilots came as close as anyone would care to having a look into the 'abyss', as their plane narrowly avoided an in-flight break up, following a vertical dive from it's cruising altitude.

The stress of it's recovery literally broke off or damaged most of the tail surfaces, bent the wings, and buckled the aft fuselage. With no pitch control (up & down), they used the plane's throttles to control the King Air's landing. It touched down so fast that flat spots were ground into it's new tires at contact.

The plane was later tied down on our ramp as it's future was decided, and became somewhat of a landmark. It wasn't unusual for a visiting airplane to ignore our parking directions, taxi down the ramp to circle the bent Beechcraft, and then head back out to the runway.

The Miracle King Air was eventually broken down and hauled away on a trailer, breaking the hearts of several families of starlings that had been using it's airframe as a deluxe birdhouse.

The final story that I was told was that the pilot's side windshield shattered at altitude, and the crew mistakenly dumped the pressure. Their oxygen system wasn't charged, and they immediately passed out. They regained consciousness in a vertical dive at around 7 thousand feet, and almost pulled the plane apart bringing back to level.

An Arch helicopter called Cape's tower to report that they saw what looked like airplane parts falling from the sky (you can hear them talking to the tower after the King Air was parked).

My scanner didn't pick up the crew's mayday call, but when I heard the tower say "any runway, the airport is yours", I grabbed my video camera and climbed up on one of our fuel trucks.

Thanks to lineman Mark Perry for the disassembly / load-out photos.

It's also the tenth anniversary of my dorky debut on KFVS, talking about the whole deal.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWuPmGPBW8o

Crazy Kim, you didn't look dorky at all. Couple of lucky dudes!

Lucky fellows and some pretty skilled flying too, bringing it to the runway practically without any elevator control. I wonder how many g's it takes to buckle the structure like that, and how many more mph it would have taken to rip the tail off completely

That was amazing that they were able to get her on the ground after Blacking Out !! And the damage done WOW !! Thanks Kim (cool TV Kim)

getback wrote:That was amazing that they were able to get her on the ground after Blacking Out !! And the damage done WOW !! Thanks Kim (cool TV Kim)

Yeah, if they had been older men, it might not have happened, and the King Air would have planted itself. AND it was a one-shot-deal...with no real elevator function, an attempt at raising the nose for a go-round would probably just have insured a much faster impact.

The incident also cemented my attitude about NEVER going to the airport without a charged camera !!!

I still think what a huge jolt of adrenaline the pilot got upon regaining consciousness! Then steady nerves and training kick in.   The accident report blames it on the pilot error, with the cracking of the windshield as a "contributing cause.".......Ya think??

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20070202-0

The co- pilot probably had to buy new underwear for the ride home.

Kudos 's  for the cameraman, steady nerves and a full charged camera!

Marleysky wrote:I still think what a huge jolt of adrenaline the pilot got upon regaining consciousness! Then steady nerves and training kick in.   The accident report blames it on the pilot error, with the cracking of the windshield as a "contributing cause.".......Ya think??

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20070202-0

The co- pilot probably had to buy new underwear for the ride home.

Kudos 's  for the cameraman, steady nerves and a full charged camera!

Yup, someone in the flight crew should have got at least an atta-boy for bringing that bird down safely, or an honorable mention in the accident report.

Marleysky wrote:I still think what a huge jolt of adrenaline the pilot got upon regaining consciousness! Then steady nerves and training kick in.   The accident report blames it on the pilot error, with the cracking of the windshield as a "contributing cause.".......Ya think??

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20070202-0

The co- pilot probably had to buy new underwear for the ride home.

Kudos 's  for the cameraman, steady nerves and a full charged camera!

I think it took a while for the whole 'closeness' of the incident to sink in. The copilot talked about coming to, and complaining that the elevator trim was totally shot...fair enough since the elevator itself was shot.

I kept in contact with the pilot for several years following. He seemed like a good guy, and eventually traded flying for another career, apparently for the sake of his wife who was really messed up about the incident. Hope they were able to iron things out.

Of course, we have our share of 'Local Chuck Yeagers' who passed their pronouncement on the whole deal, especially our non-flyer FAA #&$^% who was ticked that no one cared about his opinion, as we waited for the 'Real Guys' to show up to decide where to store the plane.