Recent meeting. Pics

[Dubbo]

As some of you are aware, the 4 founding members of the Hellhounds recently all got together in Dayton Ohio for the 1st time. Beebop and I had flown to Quazi's place in Nashville TN and after a couple of days as Mr & Mrs Quazi's guests, we drove across Kentucky to Zeus-cat's place. What a trip. Nashville is a really interesting place, made all the more interesting with Quazi's commentary and direction. We also happened to be there during the week of the CMA Music Festival which added to the experience.

After visiting some local sights, including a full scale Parthenon originally constructed in 1897 - who knew? -, a trip to the Jack Daniels distillery :drunken: and a drive around the local celebrity mansions and haunts, we piled into Quazi's car early Friday morning and drove off across Kentucky to Dayton. We arrived just before noon and had enough time to get to the USAF museum at Wright Patterson and do the tour of the restoration projects hangar. There are 2 hangars and it took most of the afternoon to go through them. Highlights include a Beaufighter which saw action in New Guinea -

According to our guide the RAAF had this one in Australia and wanted one that could be made flyable. The USAF museum had one still in a crate and wanted one with combat history. So they swapped. (Be interesting to see the crated one fly)

They also had a P-47 they were restoring

Some MiGs, missiles, jets and a Ryan Vertijet

By far, the most exciting find in the restoration hangars was THE Memphis Belle. As I have pointed out, few people have touched this piece of history. Even fewer have licked it. Let's just say that my DNA is now on the paintwork

It had been displayed after the war at the Memphis National Guard armory, sitting outside in the elements. In 1987 the Memphis Belle Memorial Society had the bomber moved to Mud Island in the Mississippi River where it was displayed in an open-sided pavilion and so deteriorated even further. In 2003 she was disassembled and moved to a facility in Millington TN for restoration but the MBMS was unable to raise enough funds to do it. The USAF museum (who own the aircraft) decided to take the aircraft back and in 2005 it arrived at Wright-Pat. Vandals had completely gutted the interior including all the instruments, fittings and a lot of the wiring. It was also discovered that the restoration work done previously on the aircraft was incorrect. They estimate 10 years before it will be ready to be put back on display.

We were in Dayton for 3 days where Mr and Mrs Zeus-cat generously looked after us. The second day started out with a trip to Huffman Prairie which is where the Wright brothers established the first flying school. There is a reconstruction of their hangar and the catapult that was used to launch those early Wright Flyers. Surreal to be standing in that much history. Afterwards the rest of the day was devoted to the museum again and we managed to get through 1/3 of it, starting at the dawn of flight, through WW1 right to the end of WW2. There is a lot to take in on this part of the museum and we took our time soaking it in.

Here are some pics......

This is actually a CASA version of the Ju52 and is outside in the airpark for now. Quite the interesting array of aircraft out there and a reconstruction of a WW2 control tower with some Quonset huts.

Strawberry Bitch. Big aircraft.

A real Ju88. Never seen one of these before. Unable to lick.

If you don't know what this is, you are probably reading these forums by mistake

A Dora

A Schwalbe.

And a P-39Q painted to represent a 57th Fighter Squadron aircraft serving in Alaska during the Aleutian campaign

There were a lot of interesting displays including this one of the engine and cannon assembly from a P-39

I could fill this with pictures all day so I will take a break now and post some more info and pics later.

To be continued............

[Beebop-RIP]

Not much to add yet until I get my pics out of my camera.

But let me say this, The absolute thrill of meeting people in person who initally met on the Internet, and finding out they are every bit the person they personify in the virtual world, is a reamrkable and pleasurable experience.

Dubbo, Zeuscat and I had met about three years ago when Zeuscats' job sent him to Seattle for a business conference. We were able to spend an all to brief Sunday visiting the Boeing Museum and getting to know each other. Quazi was the one founder we hadn't yet met. He, like Dubbo and Zeuscat, was just like he seemed on the 'Net. What are the chances? I feel fortunate and blessed to know such fine folks.

Mr. & Mrs. Quazi & son were the epitomy of "Southern Hospitality", making us feel right at home. Mr. & Mrs. Zeuscat & cats were everything nice you've ever heard about Midwestern Hospitality. Again we were made to feel right at home. A special thanks to Mrs. Zeuscat for using her "influence" to get us into the Presidential Hanger and the Research & Development Hanger before the unwashed hordes arrived. It was amazing to be in such a place virtually by ourselves.

I also like to thank Mr. & Mrs. Dubbo for their continued hospitality. They are a rare breed. After what, 4 visits now, have yet to be "away" when I arrive or ask me to sleep out on the patio......of some other home.

Anyway, I just wanted to publicly say "THANK YOU" to my squadmates for being who they are.

[Dubbo]

You are indeed welcome Beebop. And I have to agree with you about meeting everyone. :thumbright:

Continuing on.....

So that was Saturday done. Early Sunday morning we all got up and Mr and Mrs Zeus-cat took us out to shoot rockets. Wahoo!! I had never done that before and in fact, had never seen it done even. We had a lot of fun and managed not to blow up or otherwise break any of Zeus' rockets.

Preparing to launch. As you can see, the Zeuses are busy running around whilst Beebop and Quasi drink coffee :wink: A hell of a lot of fun.

After a quick lunch at ZC's place we went back to the museum to finish of the tour. Mrs ZC got us onto the base and over to the Presidential Aircraft and R & D hangars where we spent over an hour poking around. A lot of history there too.

This was Eisenhower's Columbine III, a Lockheed Constellation that was in fact his third transport aircraft, Columbines I & II also being Constellations. #1 was his transport when he was a general & #2 was his 1st presidential aircraft. #3 served him from 54 until 61 and was retired by the USAF after Eisenhower left office. All of the larger presidential aircraft allow access to the interiors which was very cool. Included in the collection are Truman's C-118 "Independence", Roosevelt's C-54 the "Sacred Cow" and SAM 26000, the first aircraft to use the call sign "Air Force One". (This 707 took Kennedy to Dallas in 63 and transported his body back to Washington. LBJ was sworn in on board. It remained in service carrying all the presidents from Kennedy to Clinton from 1962 until 1990.)

This is a shot in the R&D hangar. It is stuffed full of curious aircraft all presided over by the XB-70 Valkyrie. That thing is huge!! In this pic you can also see a Chance-Vought XC-142 tilt-rotor prototype and the Bell X-5 which was the world's 1st swing-wing aircraft (Although they had to be adjusted on the ground)

Here is Quasi with his beloved X-15. That is one mean aircraft.

After these hangars we went back to the museum proper and finished off the 2 display hangars we had not yet seen. These included the Korean War gallery, the SE Asia War gallery, the Cold War gallery and beyond (missiles and NASA stuff) The highlights of these last galleries were the F-82 Twin Mustang, the B-52, the F-22 and the B-36 Peacemaker

After this was all over we bid the Zeuses a fond farewell and headed back to Nashville and then after a day there, said "So long" to the Quasis & retreated with great sadness all the the way back to BC Canada.

What a great trip!! It was truly an experience. Thanks (publically) to both Quasi and his family and Zeus and his family for being such generous hosts. Their hospitality made the trip.

[Sloan]

Great posts guys, keep em comin! Glad to hear everyone had a great time.

[Enforcer57]

Excellent photography Dub. You see the problem wiht some of the hangars and the

inconsistant level of lighting; you overcame that rather well (or the computer in the cam

did). either way, great stuff. lots of changes since i was there in 89.

Im wondering about the belle being vandalized on mud island....you had to take

a tram to get to the thing, and it was in great shape, mostly restored back in 89, and

under a large open air pavillion that protected it (or so it seemed) from elements. I kenw

it got vandalized really bad when it was on a pad in the open in memphis for decades, but

i had no idea it had gotten in this bad shape. damn. Ill try and find my pics i took of hte

paint job when it was fresh....before you tarnished it by licking the thing. heh heh. :roll:

Check the drones in the background of the XB-70. they had it in a different hangar when i was

there. The F-94C by the B-36 wasnt there then either. note the open 2.75 in rocket doors....24

in the nose and 12 in each wing pod. Basically an F-80 with AB and radar etc.

Gotta find my shots of some of these and how they looked in 89. lots of changes. damn.

and i love the phoenix missle scale model rocket.....I used to do Estes rockets back in the 60s

and 70s....designed some of my own. fun.

damn damn damn.....well damn. sounds like a great time was had by all. Wish we had a pic of

Dub licking the belle.

And I had imagined Quazi looking like Steve Austin or Chuck Yeager (NOT)....im so crushed. :twisted:

heh heh......

[Waldo.Pepper]

Extremely impressive.

[Painless]

~S~ Dubbo,

Thanks for sharing your trip M8. It made for excellent reading with great photo's .

One of these fine days it would be great to meet some of you guys from across the pond, talk aircraft and get a little drunk maybe !!! :drunken: LOL

I think it would be fair to say that because of the complexity of the IL2 sim, the guys that fly it are bound to be substantial characters with real life personalities to match !!!

It sounds like that has been your experience so far and I envy you that sir .

If money was no object I'm sure a large percentage of us HH's and DD's would love to get together regularly. (we could ALL stay in Blair's out house or something) !!! LOL :wink:

Anyhoo, thanks again for the post, see you in the air !

~S~ V131WL_(DD)Painless

[DoubleTap]

Fantastic, and I mean, absolutely fantastic pictures. You got to see stuff I have never seen except in illustrations or old photographs. Thanks alot for sharing them. I think I feel the need to take a trip down south to see these for myself.

Seems like you guys had quite a good trip. I am glad it all worked out.

Oh, and I can't resist:

"Im wondering about the belle being vandalized on mud island....you had to take

a tram to get to the thing, and it was in great shape, mostly restored back in 89, and

under a large open air pavillion that protected it (or so it seemed) from elements. I kenw

it got vandalized really bad when it was on a pad in the open in memphis for decades"

So, WHEN are we bringing caning to the U.S.? Vandals in general are maggots, but defacing history is even lower. Sorry to end on a negative note, but in New York, we have to deal with morons who can't even draw writing their stupid "tag" all over the place. Should be whipped and dipped in paint thinner. Okay, I'm done.

[Blairgowrie]

Great stuff Dubb.

Got any of the Hellhound boys facing the camera?

[Quazi]

Nononono....eh...yea, there are a few I'd imagine. The X-15 was one of my favs. And to be able to look into the cockpit was incredible. The B-36 was another fav for me. Sucker made me feel like a skinny man, HEHE. The nose of that ac is just FAT! Hell, I did look like Steve Austin in front of that ac, woohoo!

And I would just like to reiterate what was said above by Beebop. No doubt m8s. What you hear is what you gat when it comes to Beebop, Dub, & Zues-Cat. And, I would say the same would hold true if we all were to hook up somewhere and hang with each other for a while. But one thing is for sure, don't let voices form pictures in your mind, HEHE! Sorry I let you down Enforcer m8. Lol

[sged]

Very cool pics....I hope to see a museum like that in my lifetime too...

Nice meeting ya Quazi, (on pic), I'm sure you guys had a ball that weekend!

[Klinger]

What a great story and pics.

Makes you want to do something, eh Mick ?

~S~ Klinger.

[Dubbo]

Great stuff Dubb.

Got any of the Hellhound boys facing the camera?

Well ZC has a couple of group shots and Beebop has a few with the subjects facing the camera as well. They were going to post some pics here and yet we wait. I would like to see some of the pics taken with Zeus' 30 Gigapixel Super SLR GTS V8 Turbocharged 5 litre Canolta camera. It looked like it would do a good job.

I will post more of mine later

[Dubbo]

Ok. Some final pics from me. Firstly here is a nice shot of Roosevelt's ride - Sacred Cow. I like the way the light coming through the hangar door windows reflects off the fuselage.

Ever wonder how many bottles are made from a single barrel of Jack Daniels? Well stop wondering. Count 'em up y'all.

You can buy a bottle of single barrel JD (primo stuff) for about $40 US per. You can also buy the whole barrel, bottled up and delivered on a pallet with the barrel, signed by the Master Distiller himself for about $8-10 grand depending on the local taxes.

For those of you who fly Red, here is a close up of one of the problems with Blue airfields, a 20mm quadgun.

And one of your favourite targets........

I think I remember reading a sign that indicated that Erich Hartmann was one of the last people to pilot this aircraft. I'd never seen one before but they knew I was coming and put it far out of reach.

I have been aboard 3 different B-17s in my life and the common factor was that no one was allowed aft of the access door, once inside. So I'd never been able to look into the tail gunner's compartment. Because the Memphis Belle was in pieces I was afforded the rare opportunity to look into the tail gunner's station.

The barrels and surrounding shrouding are absent but you can see the ammo trays and the front part of the gunner's seat, which amounts to little more than a bicycle seat. Lonely back here.

Now because of the lighting in the museum and the narrow spaces between some of the displays some pics did not turn out as well as others. The following may be a bit dark and the complete aircraft may not be in frame but they are still look-worthy

A-36 Apache. Note those dive brakes

Bockscar. This is the B-29 which on August 9th 1945 dropped the 2nd atomic bomb on Nagasaki, effectively ending WW2. Zeus has looked through the bombsite on this aircraft previously.

Macchi MC200. Another 1st for me.

Me 163. This aircraft was captured by the allies when they overran the factory. It appears as though this aircraft would have had a short combat life anyway as it had been sabotaged by the forced labour workers in the factory.

V-2 on it's transporter. Hard to see in this pic but it was even harder to photograph. In the foreground you can see the rocket motor from a Komet.

Mossie. (I actually had seen and touched one of these before here in Vancouver. It's hidden away at YVR here, privately owned)

One interesting thing about the Dawn of Flight thru to the end of the WW2 displays are the way some of them are set up. (See the P-39 above) The most interesting diorama was the B-25. It was set up on the simluated deck of the USS Hornet as one of Doolittle's raiders. Lashed down with canvas covers in place and mannequins loading bombs and checking equipment. Very cool and a little more interesting that just having a B-25 sitting on the floor

And this one I figured we could all relate to.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope some of the others throw up some pics as well.

Thanks for watching :wink:

[Blairgowrie]

I was kind of hoping the silver tongued devil would be waering a sequin jacket and a cowboy hat and perhaps a Dolly Parton look alike hanging off an arm.

Instead I see this m8 "dresses" just like the rest of us.

[Dubbo]

I was kind of hoping the silver tongued devil would be waering a sequin jacket and a cowboy hat and perhaps a Dolly Parton look alike hanging off an arm.

Instead I see this m8 "dresses" just like the rest of us.

With a sequin jacket and a cowbow hat you'd be hard pressed to tell him apart from the Dolly Parton look-alike :wink:

[JensenPark]

I see they even have a display based on Arthur's landing technique...cool.

[Beebop-RIP]

The "rest of the story":

yes, the mispell is deliberate

[Zeus-cat]

A closeup of my Phoenix blasting off.

[Zeus-cat]

Apparently, I can't upload any more photos; I keep getting an error. I even tried starting a new thread - no luck. I'll try again later.

[Painless]

~S~ Dubbo,

Awsome , truly awsome M8.

Thanks for the excellent "Dubbo Show" part 2.

~S~ Speechless

[Dubbo]

No problemo mate. It's nice that other people are enjoying our experience as well. I hope ZC can get some more pics up and Beebop unloads his camera and does the same....soon

[Zeus-cat]

Sorry, no more photos from me. I've tried half a dozen times over three or four days and it just isn't working for me.

[Dubbo]

Here is one of ZCs pictures from the "Missile Gallery" The whole gallery is pretty phalic....

[B16Enk]

Sorry, no more photos from me. I've tried half a dozen times over three or four days and it just isn't working for me.

I wish I could do something about that, but as postimage is a free third party add-on....

An alternative is you could zip up your photos and I can post them on your behalf, or you could use the ftp we have available