When did you first become interested in Warbirds?

therritn · 12-27-2007, 11:55 PM

My interest in warbirds started in 1976 (when I was 7 going on

when Baa Baa Black Sheep (later renamed Black Sheep Squadron) first premiered on TV. Then a month later one of my friends gave me a model plane for my eighth birthday. Since that time my interest in warbirds has never diminished, and my favorite warbird of all time still is the F4U Corsair.

Catch22 · 01-01-2008, 10:54 AM

I can't really tell you when I first became interested in Warbirds. My dad gained a love of the Corsair and WW2 from the same show therritn! He built me a Corsair model when I was born, and we have tons of books, so for as long as I can remember I've been interested.

GreyWolf · 01-01-2008, 10:54 AM

Well I got into aviation at a very young age. my fasination started with drawing byplanes of the first world war and going to airshows with my dad. the drive to see more and more lead me to photography and started learning as much as I could. now I work as an aviation tech. but I do love to get as much aviation history as I can and do alot of art and photography editting to feed my love for it all.

Salute Wolf

Nostalgair · 01-07-2008, 08:28 PM

Hi all,

I've loved warbirds for as long as I can remember also.

My father was a fighter pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force and flew 201 missions in Korea. His favourite aircraft was the Mustang and I must admit to sharing his admiration. He continued to fly them in the 1960s in civil life, towing targets for the military. As a child I would sit in these iconic aeroplanes living out daydreams and 'checking my six'.

I've been a warbird fan ever since.

Cheers

Owen

Hollywood · 01-13-2008, 01:16 PM

My Dad flew B-29's in the 20th AAF 313 wing 505th group 484th squad from Tinian North field which at the time was the worlds largest.......
So as far back as I can remember there was a balsa model of his plane "Lil Spook" #84-06 sitting on his Dresser in Mom and Dads bedroom that he built from scratch and he has an album of photos which I've posted a few here so it was natural I became a Warbird "nut"......

P.S. Guess which plane got my vote for the Top Heavy Bomber hahahahaha...
It was an obvious choice anyway........

claidemore · 01-18-2008, 01:08 PM

My interest started when I was about 12 years old after reading a book about the different WWII fighters. Like any kid, I daydreamed about flying them,and chose which one I would like to fly. I remember falling in love with the Spitfire, thinking the Yaks were pretty cool looking, but chosing the P51 as my mount of choice because that particular book listed it as the fastest.

My interest was re-kindled as an adult when I was introduced to WWII combat flight sims. Since then I've become a more serious student, attended a few air shows, checked out museums and read a lot of books, including some rather boring techinical ones.

I used to say that there was only 4 things worth talking about in any detail, women, horses, hunting, and fighting. Now theres 5 things.

Evil_Merlin · 02-06-2008, 02:10 PM

When I was walking with my dad in Vermont in the early 70's and found the wreck of a P-51 that crashed up there years ago. It was stripped to the bone, but you could still see what she was.

My dad was a crew chief on F-100's from the late 50's till his retirement in the late 60's. He really helped me foster the idea that anyone could fly and if I wanted to do it, I could.

I was only 4 or 5 years old, but that image of the aluminum bird stuck in my mind forever.

I built all the plastic models I could, read even more books, studied WW2 in detail in high school, minored in Military Aviation History in college and did my thesis on the impact of the Fw 190 Dora and Ta-152H/C on aircraft combat during the 1940s.

In my early highschool years, I rode my bike nearly every day after school during the spring, and every day during the summer and made friends with all the pilots, washing planes, cleaning hangars and such. Soon one thing lead to another and I was flying with the guys, learning by doing, I did ground school, got my medical and just kept flying.

And thats me. Now since I cannot afford a real warbird, as much as I'd like to! And in New England no one really restores them, I do the next best thing, I build large scale RC models. Mostly German and Russian, and boy do I have fun researching, contacting old factories, pilots and digging into any data I can.

pbfoot · 02-06-2008, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claidemore

My interest started when I was about 12 years old after reading a book about the different WWII fighters. Like any kid, I daydreamed about flying them,and chose which one I would like to fly. I remember falling in love with the Spitfire, thinking the Yaks were pretty cool looking, but chosing the P51 as my mount of choice because that particular book listed it as the fastest.

My interest was re-kindled as an adult when I was introduced to WWII combat flight sims. Since then I've become a more serious student, attended a few air shows, checked out museums and read a lot of books, including some rather boring techinical ones.

I used to say that there was only 4 things worth talking about in any detail, women, horses, hunting, and fighting. Now theres 5 things.

have you seen the Hampden they are restoring out there and you have Y2K spit resto at Comox?

Rook58 · 05-21-2008, 06:19 AM

Can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated with all things military in general and warplanes specifically - I was drawing pictures of WW2 aircraft a lot in grade school and read everything I could find about air combat in WW1 (also drew about a million pictures of Snoopy and his bullet-riddled doghouse...)

Concorde247 · 05-31-2008, 04:20 PM

Its difficult for me to say exactly when i started my interest in aviation, but I was still a kid at primary school, I made lots of models of all types, then at a later age, went on to all the flight sims for the PC. I go to the RAF museum at Hendon a lot, and have been to the imperial war museum at lambeth, my library of books fills several bookcases, as do my DVD's & Videos. I used to repair micrographics equipment at the PRO in kew where i was able to see all the squadron order of battle books as well as the combat reports. My interests are mostly around WWI & WW2. I have done a bit of flying myself as I used to go paragliding on the southdowns near brighton, it was the cheapest form of flying that i could afford - but as it is dependent on the weather conditions we were grounded a great many days & spent a fortune in the amusement arcades on brighton pier!!

The interest in aviation is still as strong as ever even at the age of 42! and although my "new" job is shift work, i still love my Dvd's & books on my rest days...

One thing i must do every year is to go to the Flying Legends Airshow at Duxford & take the time off specifically for it!! for me its a definite MUST

Njaco · 05-31-2008, 08:43 PM

That does sound like a must, Concorde! I would bring a sleeping bag and never leave!

Old Wizard · 05-31-2008, 10:22 PM

When I was a kid during WWII they used to sell this flavored wax as replacement chewing gum [it turned to crumbs after a couple of minutes of chewing]. Each pack had a photo or drawing of the various WWII aircraft. I got to walk through a Lancaster in a dark hanger which was very exciting. Then I saw a Mosquito doing high speed passes over a lake in Regina and blowing up spray!
That plane crashed in Calgary killing the crew. Then came Air Cadets and flights in various aircraft.

quayhog · 06-13-2008, 11:32 PM

I grew up around it. My dad was a Naval Aviator. He was at Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal (VCS-6, SOC's fron New Orleans). During `44 he was a pilot flying PV-1s (VB-144) out of Tarawa. During the 1950's he flew
P2Vs and other large aircraft. He retired in 62.

I remember his aviator friends and their stories. Their names and deeds are still ingrained into my memory.

My dad also taught me to fly and I still work in aviation management. The love of old aircraft hasn't left after 55 years.

Canberra Man · 06-20-2008, 07:01 AM

My interest developed in 1951 when I finished my tech training in the RAF and was posted to 617 Squadron at RAF Binbrook. At that time they were flying the Avro Lincoln, the Lancasters big brother, fifteen feet more wing and bigger Merlins. They were fair to work on except for a battery change. Four 12volt 40ah batteries connected series parallel to give 24v at 80ah. They were situated in front of the main spar and after disconnecting, had to be moved one at a time, over the main spar, over the secondary spar, slide under the mid upper turret, down a two foot step (end of bomb bay) Then past flare chutes and flare racks to the rear entrance, then a six foot ladder to ground level. The same had to be done in reverse with new batteries! We had one electrician who was a gorilla of a man, each battery had a long webbing strap and he used to hang all four batteries round his neck and do it in one!!! Nobody on the sqaudron argued with that man. I think, even the CO kept clear of him!!

Ken

runningdog · 06-22-2008, 01:04 PM

Easy to explain. A kid, living in London, is told war is coming, his Dad is in the RAF, ergo, he's a pilot. He wasn't, he was a airframe mechanic, by the time I found out it was too late, I was hooked.
Yes, I was evacuated, nothing happened, so they brought me back..........