Thread: Still smiling

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

He said only one,am going to loop the golden gate bridge,will only take an hour at the most,I declined, and he did it himself.Just nutz.

Added to bucket list.. Please forward appropriate friend info...

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Added to bucket list.. Please forward appropriate friend info...

He died two years ago

Sorry for your loss, and heart patients as well. Sounds like he gave more than he took, and enjoyed the ride as well.
We should all be so lucky.

Thank you for the memories! Not a Moth but assorted low and slow aircraft over a lot of years.
Dropping into an airfield, lighted just barely by the remaining eve's sun and just after the lights came on over the surrounding countryside was a fliers' perfect end to a wonderful day.
~Richard

Funny how much you don't really appreciate things until your no longer able to do them. I miss the smell of JP-5! If they made a shaving soap in that scent I would buy it in a sec! Ha.

There is nothing quite so liberating or focusing as flying. It is one of the only places you can truly check your worries at the door and live in the moment. I'm sure next to family and friends some of my last thoughts as I am leaving this world will be of memories of prior flights.

Your truly lucky to get to fly in such a historical aircraft! Thanks for the post!

That is awesome! I am very jealous...

Thanks for the shared memories from you all as well.
Richard, the calm at dusk, and flying in the creeping shadows of the setting sun was a great mental image and sensation.
Docmo, JP-5,,, there's a memory I forgot until you mentioned it,, now I can almost feel it on my fingers again. Used to do fuel samples on the Jetstreams before they left for the day's flights when I was a ramp rat in the late 80's. Remember skydrol synthetic oil as well? That blue stuff stank and stung like an SOB if it got in or near your eyes. Melted styrofoam cups too which was always fun when you asked an apprentice to get you a cup of skydrol, hehe.
Here's one last pic of the homefield before we came in. This was on our final approach and another neat thing about biplanes is you come in on a heavy angle, side slipping with almost a 45 deg sideways 'drift'. As per Eiler, it's cause you can't really see straight ahead at landing so you come in sideways and slipping so you can see the field, then straighten out at the last moment before you get into ground effect. Those overfilled bouncy grass rated tires are like touching down on balloons to add to the thrill, and challenge.
Told me this afterwards of course. All along I thought he was just showing off,,,