Let's try something to spur some action on this forum. For those of you familiar with social media, "Throwback Thursday" is where you share an old photo of yourself from some previous point in your life on social media networking sites such as Facebook or Instagram. It could be something from 20 years ago or just last week. The photo is usually accompanied by the hashtag #TBT.
So with that in mind, post your "Throwback Thursday" warbird photos in this thread. The picture must be warbird related in some way. It could be a picture of you in a warbird, with a warbird in the background, with a veteran, wrenching on a warbird, a cool warbird shirt or hat you found, artwork on your wall, etc. Just as long as it's warbird related it qualifies.
So to kick things off, here is a picture of me taken almost exactly a year ago with P-47 veteran Jim Powers, who I had just met at the Planes of Fame air show in Chino, California. Jim flew 45 combat missions with the 510th Fighter Squadron of the 405th Fighter Group during WWII.
#TBT - February 24, 2008 - the day I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Hoover for the Timeless Voices of Aviation oral history program.
I had just about 45 minutes to talk to him, which wasn't nearly enough time to even scratch the surface of his aviation experiences. For those interested, here is the edited interview.
These are from 1977... home for summer vacation after my freshman year at Parks College where I learned to fly, I got some aerobatics instruction in this Stearman at Kobelt Airport in upstate NY. The Stearman rented for the princely sum of $50/hour (when a C-150 was as low as $15). I'm the kid in the blue shirt, with the suave instructor dude in the red.
Its not Thursday, but in the mid-90's I visited the warbird museum at Galveston, TX and was startled to see on display an airplane that I used to fly professionally. Noorduyn Norseman N13340. Made me think about the passage of time...
A few from Oshkosh way way back...
That is my older brother standing in front of the P-38 and that has to be even earlier than 76. Beer can hats were in fashion.
A year ago in May I was in DC for the Mutual Concerns of Air & Space Museums conference. On the way back to Oshkosh, I detoured north to visit some aviation museums, including the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY. Great museum with a very eclectic collection.
#TBT - AirVenture 2008 and John Session's P-51B "Impatient Virgin." Quite a difference between sitting in a restored to stock P-51B and the museum's Cavalier conversion P-51D "Paul I."