When I really want to go fast.............

Rex D.

Rex D.

Well-Known Member
My RV-8 is 10 years old now. Top speed flat out 220 mph, cruise 200 mph. Flying it never gets old. Me...........likes..............toys.....................fast................and.............furious!
 
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Nice plane

My late father was a recreational pilot his entire life. When I was a kid I put in many hours with him helping him build his Bushby Midet Mustang in our basement. The thing was just narrow enough with the wings and tail off to fit the fuselage through our basement door. (We had a walkout basement.) I bucked many rivets building that thing. He used to fly it at our local airport. For a one-man homebuilt he said he got it up to 200 MPH with the 4 cylinder Lycoming engine.
 
The Midget Mustang was a popular single place homebuilt. It was one of the designs that was way ahead of it's time. Most folks flying homebuilts were happy to break 100 MPH while the others flying more advanced designs pushed up against 200 MPH. Too bad it was single place and he had to leave you on the ground, you would have been thrilled! Here's a photo of a Midget for you.
 
I recently saw a tv special on the P51 Mustang. I think that was an incredible machine. The shape, design, power (for that time). It was amazing to watch that plane in action. They were flying during the war so it was cool to watch their combat abilities and dog fighting strategies.
You guys are cooler than I am. I was always told that my eyes are too bad to get a piolet's license. Would love learn to fly. I am envious of u guys.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
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P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, Supermarine Spitfire, Focke Wulf FW 190 and Japanese Zero. The best WWII dogfighting machines. The P-51 is by far the badest and sexiest. All pilots wish for some stick time in a P-51...........including me.
 
RE: When I want to go really fast !!

I too have the need for SPEED ! I owned a sweet, RV3A w/O-320D3G Lycoming for 12 years. It cruised at 200mph on less than 8gph at altitude. Great plane. I had to sell it 2 years ago due to health reasons. I sure due MISS that litte gal . . . . she was a hot one. Always turned their heads !
BTW, she had no flaps. She stalled at 60 IAS. Landings were ALWAYS interesting !! heh,heh
 
Rex D. said:
P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, Supermarine Spitfire, Focke Wulf FW 190 and Japanese Zero. The best WWII dogfighting machines. The P-51 is by far the badest and sexiest. All pilots wish for some stick time in a P-51...........including me.
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You didn't mention the "other" badazz fighter. My personal favorite was the
P-40 Warhawk, made famous in "The Flying Tigers". I do however really liked the P-51 as well.

Warhawk1.jpg
 
Many members of my family fly. My uncle ( a former Delta pilot) is an instructor. He also has several planes at his ranch (Flying M Ranch). One day I hope to get the book work done and take advantage of his generosity and learn to fly.

BTW - Any of you who fly might be interested in his annual fly-in. It is usually the last weekend of October. I usually camp out during the fly-in and just enjoy seeing all the planes up close. We have had weekends where 500 airplanes came in to Flying M during the fly-in. PM me if you want any additional info.
 
Maybe I need to spend another day down at the Smithsonian drooling over the likes of the planes mentioned and another 2 of my personal favorites SR71 and the Enola Gay which for some reason always mesmerizes me.Awesome plane BTW
 
Didn't mean to slight anyone's favorite WWII flying machine.
Anybody been to the Reno Air Races?? It's the only chance to see these machines completely b@lls to the wall, wide open throttle. Plenty of videos on the net, but being there and experiencing the bark and rumble of these pieces of history is similar to having some yahoo at a red light with his boom boom going and penetrating everything and everybody around, only better.
 
amevl, I used to live in Virginia and have been to the Air & Space Museum many times. I took a tour of D.C. a few years back with the family. We spent 5 days there and every day started at the A&S Museum and then on to other sights. It took all 5 days of a few hours each morning to see everything the A&S had to offer. Worked well as spending an entire day at the A&S can get old for those not Av. nuts. BTW there is a facility called the Paul Garber Restoration Facility I believe it was in Silver Hill, Md. that most people don't know about. You need to look it up and call ahead and reserve a spot as they only take small groups on tours. This is the facility that does all the restorations for the A&S Museum. They have multiple buildings housing aircraft and parts to the ceiling. You can see aircraft stored there that can only be seen in books. When I was there I saw the "Enola Gay" under restoration, a freshly restored FW190 and a mind boggling collection of aviation stuff. The docents are experienced, mostly veterans with first hand stories about aircraft seen on the tour. It's a nice paced tour and anyone with a story to tell can stop the tour and educate the bunch. The Paul Garber tour is a real gem.
 
Rex D. said:
Didn't mean to slight anyone's favorite WWII flying machine.
Anybody been to the Reno Air Races?? It's the only chance to see these machines completely b@lls to the wall, wide open throttle. Plenty of videos on the net, but being there and experiencing the bark and rumble of these pieces of history is similar to having some yahoo at a red light with his boom boom going and penetrating everything and everybody around, only better.
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You kidding Rex? No offense taken buddy. Up until I was 14, I ate, drank, and slept airplanes. Then I took a ride on my friend's Honda 250 and the rest was history! By the age of 14 I was able to amass a collection of just under 400 model airplanes. I had them everywhere. My room must of had at least 100 hanging from the ceiling to my mother's dismay. The pride of my stable was my B-17, B-24 Liberator, and the mother of all models was my giant scale Enola Gay which had a 3 foot wingspan. I had a squadron of P-40's and also about 5 Corsairs. (From the Ba Ba Black Sheep Days) Not having enough sense to save some of them, me and my friend Anthony blew up two thirds of my collection on the 4th of July in 1977 in his backyard. Those were the good ol days!
 
i remember we went on a b-24 when i was younger at the hanscom airforce base air show. my grandfather wasn't a pilot, but he was in armament. he loaded the bombs on the b-24s and loaded and tested the machine guns in england for many operations including d-day. in the rear with the gear, but a very important job nonetheless. he flew back to boston on the "rebel gal", where he later was a boston cop for over 30 years. here are some pictures from my flickr account.
 
thanks. my grandfather was a tough customer back in the day. wasn't in a combat role, but that reputation goes back before the war. he came here from italy when he was 5 years old and dealt with a lot of shit from the american kids when he got here and was growing up. many people said he was one of the toughest guys they knew. now he's an old, extremely fragile man. crazy what time can do to a guy. used to tell me a lot about the liberators though when i was growing up. was always very proud to be associated with them and to be a part on the air war that liberated europe from the nazis. on a side note, i can't even tell him that i ride because he would worry too much, and that saddens me because it is something i love to do. but, eh what are you gonna do?
 
amevl said:
Maybe I need to spend another day down at the Smithsonian drooling over the likes of the planes mentioned and another 2 of my personal favorites SR71 and the Enola Gay which for some reason always mesmerizes me.Awesome plane BTW
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Beale AFB is 30 miles to the west of me, used to watch the SR71 fly over at low altitude all the time. At the air shows they would fire it up with 2 built 454 chevy's on carts and then taking off with after burners, that was great but the really awesome thing was when they would do a fly over. Mach 2, 75,000 feet - sonic boom followed by really fast contrails produced by dumping fuel at that height. No other plane like it.

Saw a B24 buzz the strip( those big radials sound so cool) in the 80's and then a static tour when he landed.
 
Sweet -8. Did you build it? QB or basic kit? I was building a Rans S-7S but had to sell it when I decided to move from WA to CA. Oh well, I'll start another project soon, perhaps a Sonex. Would like a built -4 but they're tough to find in good condition.
 
I knew about the resto facility but I didnt think they gave tours of that area.I really want to get up to Wright Patterson AFB and see that collection
 
Amevl, the P.G. resto facility takes tours of small groups, maybe 12 or so people. You can get the number and call, make a reservation. It's a "must see" for anyone who is nuts about aircraft and history. You can't believe what they have crammed in the storage buildings. How about the original Pogo, VTOL?
The resto shop is a real treat. You get to look up close and talk to the folks while they are restoring aircraft. I talked to the guy finishing an Arado 234 (german twin jet WWII bomber). I learned the canopy was original, like new after polishing, and one of the instruments in the panel has a plug with the "star of david" pin pattern on the connection on the back. It was speculated the enslaved Jews fashoned this pattern intentionally and got it into the production of the instrument and harness. Regarding the"Enola Gay", they didn't have the bomb rack for the atomic bomb but someone had one in Europe scavanged from a crash and sent it in to the facility. Another fact, the facility didn't have an A-bomb to display with the airplane(several copies were constructed but had disappeared) but a search found one at an individuals private home. He donated it to the museum, when they received it they found it was a working copy(I don't remember which of the two bombs, I believe it was the "fat man"). It didn't have any nuclear material but it was not just a model, it was the real deal. This guy had it in his home since WWII and thought it was just a model. Regarding the FW190, freshly restored, they couldn't get the cover to close over the twin guns forward of the canopy. When they received the airplane originally the reinforcing ribs were crushed like they were run over by some vehicle. After some research and no answer it was determined during Hilters haste to get aircraft in the air there was an engineering screw up and the gun cover wouldn't close so they smashed the ribs and closed it. What do you think the A&S museum did? They carefully ran the cover over with a vehicle and reinstalled and latched it! You see what I mean about the tour! We got to wander around the facility and chat with anyone we wished. I've got to do it again someday.
 
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