I did a demonstration flight during the 1994 Oshkosh show for a promising new aircraft (aerobatics capable) from Switzerland. For the show, I flew it from Switzerland to Florida (where I gave the FL Secretary of Commerce a ride) and then a week later to Oshkosh. 20 of this aircraft were sold to the Malaysian airforce.
I Connecticut, I flew many WWII warbirds, eg P-51 Mustang, T-28, and T6 (similar to your photo). They take significant maintenance to keep them running, including fabricating various parts long since available.
Vernazza, Cinque Terre me and my wife met our friends from Texas there. Being Dutch we couldn’t resist taking a dive into the blue water. It was October, but still hot.great experience in a beautiful place.
flying into the huge airshows in Oshkosh and Sun and Fun in Florida are challenging experiences
but not compared to my described flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the Switzerland to Florida flight. Ice water, pitch black darkness, somewhat retracing the path of the Titanic, hundreds of miles of fear, hundreds of miles without possible radio communication, several points of no return, and 80 mph headwinds. my net ground speed was for hours about 40 mph. the interior of the plane filled with a bladder filled with fuel, about doubling the wing tanks capacity. navigation at the time was crude…no gps, just hope.
Both of these flights were as serious as it gets, as I look back beyond borderline stupid.
In contrast, my many flights across the US in various aerobatic planes (limited fuel and electronic navigation capacity) were pure fun. When my seat got tired, would half roll and fly for a while inverted hanging by the seat belt. Picking up my custom-made black S1T Pitts at the Afton, WY factory for flight to Connecticut was especially scenic, especially low altitude meanderings in the mountains and deserts.
Photographer’s “porn”. Just discovered this British manufacturer of tripods called 3 Legged Thing. This “half bowl” leveling device is pure form meets function. Waiting on the Tommy tripod which looks wildly overbuilt.
