met a cool WWII P51 and P38 pilot

dakovich

Well-Known Member
well, with all this talk about posers lately i though it would be cool to mention a real deal pilot and hero. i was at the airport yesterday waiting for some students and one of the locals walks in. older fella, real nice, and he sits down and starts chating with me. turns out he flew in WWII, starting out in P38's and then near the end of the war he flew P51's. we probably spoke for a good two hours about how the old fighters handled, all their quirks, and also quite a bit about the new Sport pilot license. I thought it was sooooo cool to get to talk with someone who had actually done things that many of us can only dream about. in all truth, many of us only know what we know about that time through documentaries and other forms of media. but what History channel documentary is going to talk about the delicatness of using rudder trim in a P51, or how the carberators in a P38 would sometimes over-charge and flame out an engine if you weren't careful. the kind of stuff the general public has little knowledge of, but we as pilots have a common understanding and appreciation for. its so funny how during this coversaton between an old WWII vet and a fresh 25 year old CFI that both of us were so excited about the topic of flying. he for a new license comming soon that could possibly keep him flying if he lost his medical, and I for the stories of an era long since past that only he having been there and done that could tell.
 
Awesome!
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Good god, my two favorite aircraft of all time!

That is really awesome Dak. Seriously.
 
Speaking of cool people, at the National Air Tour stop in Dayton, I met a retired captain from Eastern Airlines. We chatted for a while about Spain and other things. I asked him how many hours he had. He said around 70K!!! He is 80 and still flying.
 
70,000 hrs. = 8 continuous years in the air!
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...or almost 3 hours of flying per day for 65 straight years!
 
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