HuggyU2

Noonin, BCan and many others know this side of the equation far better than I,... and if they sat down and 'splained it to you for 5 minutes, you'd get it. Unfortunately, I cannot remember many of the nuances of the budget side of it that make the decision invalid. However, I do know that most General-officers (with a few notable exceptions such as Lt Gen Gorenc and Brig Gen Jannitto) know nothing of how or why airshows work, and what they do for the Air Force. I'm willing to bet there are more than a few congressional districts that will be complaining about the lack of AF jet team presence at their show this year. I know of one already. You have to spend money to make money. Although the AF isn't into it to "make $$$", the AF certainly does "make 'money' " at many airshows. And at $55,000/hr, why did the AF decide to keep the F-22 demo team vice the other ones? I'm referring to the demo teams that operate aircraft whose cost per hour is less than half the F-22's (F-15E, F-16, A-10... ).

Let's hear some pros to cutting the demo teams, then. Do you know (past or present) anyone on the Thunderbirds? Everyone I've known on the team has been just fine. Some better than others, but all that I've known are folks I enjoy spending time with.

Somebody woke up grumpy this morning.

I've sent stuff like this to my local high school, recommending they show it at a student rally or whatever. Yeah, yeah,... I know they won't do it. With that said,... every time I go to a football game and see some 15 year old jackasses playing grab ass during the anthem, I embarrass the shit out of them in front of the crowd. Maybe one of these days, the principal will see it and change his mind.

The level of buffoonery at ACC that was involved in this decision is staggering. Granted, they think they are saving some cash. Too bad they didn't ask any of the Demo Teams to weigh in on where the "supposed savings" would be. Had they done that, they certainly would have left them alone.

Concur with Hacker. I spoke with a warbird pilot this weekend who was at Howard's funeral. He says there are other witnesses,... and their impressions may be significantly different.

Thanks to the KBAD crew at the D-M airshow this weekend that gave me a look inside their BUFF. I love "old school"!! And the BUFF is definitely that!

Hacker! There's a Howard in this auction! Now's your time to finally get one!

Yes, Mr Tanerite... I'd like to know what AFI/Dash1/military guidance/reference you are referencing. Not that I doubt it exists, but I've yet to see anyone post it yet. Sputnik, Your rule seems valid. However it was violated by a crew member other than the pilot.

Of course! Rides for all my friends!!

Nice! Oddly enough, I flew a PT-19A (for the first time) in Uvalde, Texas 3 weeks ago. It was the one on the cover of Warbirds magazine late last year. and flew pretty sweet. The owner had a lot of respect for crosswinds in it, and didn't want to chance them. After I made a few turns on departure, he said "I don't do aerobatics in it. You see the wing seam? Everything inside of that, including the fuselage, I restored. Everything outside of that is 1940." Needless to say, I kept it under 1.2G's all day!

Is Capt Crawford a SpecOps Finance Officer?

Milwaukee: looked at the website. That looks like a great show. But don't expect a U-2 there. Oshkosh: probably not this year. They wanted us last year, but it didn't materialize. Fingers crossed for 2013.

Nothing confirmed yet, as it still needs to be approved by the Wing CC. In the past, we've supported California Capital Airshow (Mather) with a static, Wings Over Wine Country with a Saturday flyover, and Reno with a Thurs/Fri flyover. I'm sure there's a good chance those will get requested again this year.

Well, he seemed to cheat disaster for his 77 years. Such a shame to lose another great warbird pilot and owner. I remember being at Oshkosh when Laird Doctor hit him in his Bearcat on takeoff roll. And when he ate up Czech Mate's tail with his prop a Reno a year or two before that. Reno's going to be a lot different this year.

I'm no math major,... but with 187 aircraft purchased, that's a rather optimisitic price tag. By about a third.

Yes,... but I need it to qualify as a "warbird" for business reasons.

No Interstate??? Boooo!!! However, the other 99% of the advice is sincerely appreciated. Yes,... I hate to hear the "no 'fixer uppers'" mantra,... but deep down I know you are right. The L-2 has an 85hp on it... but not all of the glass like the bulk of the L-2's. However, he also has a very original Jeep, with a Rat Patrol .50 cal mounted on it. And it's plumbed with an oxygen/propane (I think) combo so than when you pull the trigger, it sounds like you are firing about 7 rounds per second. My wife actually wants me to buy the Jeep and use it to drive around town. Just what I need for a milk-and-donut run to the grocery store, me thinks.

WheelzUp is wise beyond his years. I have 2.3 hours in the T-38C. 1.2 in the front seat. 1.1 in the RCP. Not impressed. But... take that for what it's worth. I'm still "iffy" on my iPhone technology. Too bad the AF didn't buy the South American F-5 upgrade to the T-38 that Northrop-Grumman offered around '93. In the long run, it would have been cheaper. In any case, the T-38A is kind of like a two-engine, twin-turbine, JP8 slurpin', dual afterburning, supersonic bar hopping machine, modern day version of the venerable J-3 Cub. I love it.

THAT is a good looking airplane. I wasn't familiar with it. I've never heard of any Luscombe being an "L-Bird". I know Taylorcraft had an L-series aircraft that was produced overseas, but if this has an actual "military history", I'm completely unaware of it. That really looks slick, though.

Thanks Moose. Your answer is what I was expecting. Based on how low prices are now for aircraft with recent fabric, I was guessing that the labor would be cost prohibitive if I factored that into a purchase. I'm not an expert by any means on fabric,... and this L-4 has been in an old WWII hangar for about 15 years... but it's looking a bit rough. And you are spot on: yes, I'm looking for a warbird-type of aircraft. Doesn't have to be an L- or O-,... but for what I "need", that's probably the best option at this point. I want two seats, since I always want to go flying with someone else. I do like the Varga. A little small for the cockpit, but I did enjoy flying it. But like I said... I "need" that warbird background. Also,... if 100LL goes away in 7-10 years, I want something that will fly on MOGAS. No hurry though: plenty of opportunity to fly other aircraft for now,... and I've got a kid in college that is soaking up my excess income.

Would this be deVere's? If so, I've never been there, but have heard about it. The menu is impressive.

Thread update... We had to get rid of the SNJ. CAF was WAY too expensive to work with. Also, some of you have some great info and knowledge. So... Questions: can anyone give me a rough idea of what it would cost to replace the fabric on a Cub or Champ type of aircraft? what else have any of you had experience with that is "old and classic", and a two seat tandem? I looked at an L-2 and L-4 recently... both looked like a lot of fun. The L-2 was pristine. The L-4 needs a restoration.

Really??? Then I'll just be sure to tell the medical community that is spending a ton of time and money trying to figure out why U-2 pilots are getting DCS so much, that you have figured it all out. In fact.... I guess I really didn't need to fly to San Antonio this week and spend 2+50 in an MRI chamber, while they looked at my brain (yes, I have one... and it is above my waist). I guess all I needed was a bottle of Gatorade and 3 more hours of sleep. Silly me. And yes... by the time any of you apply and interview, the jets will be modified and DCS will become a thing of the past. To summarize: - don't sweat the DCS thing if you are "worried" about applying. - the U-2 will be around a while. - if hired, you can plan on being the bar officer for a while... it doesn't matter if you're a major or lieutenant colonel... it's your job to clean the floor and make popcorn every day. And if you don't like that then please plan on staying wherever you currently are. BTW... to those of you I met at Laughlin on Friday, it was good to meet you. The crud games were great too. Kudos to the AFSOC guys that shut the bar down with me.

JOC Night.... a moment of silence please. I do miss that.