The "Tora, Tora, Tora", act is way too long, and the announcer way too obnoxious. Time for this one to go away or change.
The "Tora, Tora, Tora", act is way too long, and the announcer way too obnoxious. Time for this one to go away or change.
Originally Posted by robertc
+1
bjc
+2. May I also add the word lame.
+3.
The aircraft themselves were interesting, on the ground at Warbirds. Wish there had been somebody around to ask about how they did the "conversions."
My Dad flew the Kate's for Tora, Tora, Tora carrier scenes. He flew Fuchida's Air Group Commander's airplane with the big red and yellow horizontal stripes on the tail for the take off scenes filmed aboard the USS Yorktown. His logs are below.
As I recall, the Zeke's were SNJ/T-6s, the Vals were BT-13s. To make the Kate's they took SNJ/T-6s, sliced off the tail and grafted a BT-13's tail onto the SNJ.
We lived in Coronado next to North Island. There were several incredible parties at our house.
Last edited by TedK; 07-31-2015 at 05:01 PM.
Ted, that's so cool and fascinating. If your dad is still with us, he should do an Osh forum on the experience.
What's a 52E and SH3D aircraft?
I liked seeing the Tora, Tora, Tora aircraft flying. Much more interesting to me than seeing them on the ground. I don't think it's lame at all, you can only do so much with just a few aircraft. I enjoyed seeing the B-17 right in the middle of it. I do agree that the commentary can be obnoxious; we don't need to hear "and you are there!" over and over, and the announcer has a good amplifying system, he doesn't need to scream. I did like how they played parts of FDR's speech to Congress, but during the airshow, I tend to lurk down by the ultralights, out of range of the screaming commentary.
Perhaps this sort of re-enactment might work!Of course they'd need more jumbotrons so we could see it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ccuWFidUYI
I arrived Friday night, July 17th, and left after noon on Monday, July 27th--the longest I've been at OSH. Obviously I enjoyed being there, or I wouldn't have stayed so long. On the good side, food vendors were great, like last year, only this year they had their acts together better. The porta potties were super clean. I could go on and on about the good, but not everything is rosy.
- The new shower/toilet building in the North 40 was poorly serviced--often stalls were out of TP and toilets were plugged. Having 4 towel dispensers but only one trash can is ridiculous! I only stopped once at the old shower building, and it was similarly unkempt. I gather it's two different organizations servicing porta potties and the shower buildings, because as I said, the porta potties were spotless, each time I used one.
- Stopping the trams right after the last airshow made no sense--it trapped many who were tired of walking, far from either their airplanes or their vehicles. Only one more run would have solved that problem. As someone mentioned, when the buses take over the tram routes, they should follow the tram routes exactly.
- I also don't like the flip-flop repetitiveness of many of the acro pilots' performances. I much prefer the smoothness of Julie Clark, Bob Carlton, Matt Younkin--and the P51 pilot at the very end of the last airshow was truly magnificent! I'd like to see some organization to the airshows--interspersing singles acts with formations, for instance. I think it would be more interesting.
- Much of the narration during the airshow acts is both unnecessary and inaccurate. Some of the announcers may have been doing it all their lives, but that's not necessarily good, as much of what they said was just filler. If they can't describe a maneuver accurately, maybe just being silent would be better.
- Some of the music is awful--although some such as during Julie Clark's act is appropriate.
- And putting both music and narration on at the same time--c'mon, folks, can you understand both? I sure can't. And turn down the volume! I didn't even have my hearing aids in, and it was still way too loud, even far from the speakers. When I was closer to the speakers, it was actually painful.
- I also wish that the vendors were all aviation oriented, but I understand the economics of it--but I can guarantee that I will not put up with being accosted by any of the vendors again. I tried being polite this year, but next year, "SECURITY!" No, I don't want my glasses cleaned, I don't want a portable massage, I don't want this or that--if I ignore a vendor, I don't want to be followed.
- One last gripe: although the golf carts and John Deere machines were less obnoxious this year, there are still some who drive too fast and carelessly in close quarters with pedestrians. Each of those machines should have a big sign on it, identifying its number and providing a phone number to call to report misuse. That by itself would likely reduce the speeding and careless operation.
Overall, though, the OSH system works well. Special kudos to the FAA's people--they do a wonderful job getting lots and lots of airplanes in and out safely. The problems arise when the pilots themselves don't follow two important rules:
- Read the NOTAM--it's mandatory, but many ignore it.
- Practice spot landings, right hand close in patterns, and slow flight so that the airplane can be flown competently.
I'm already planning for next year, but I hope my gripes and those of others will be considered and remedied.
Cary
"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee
+4 and I'd include the "regular" announcer who had the nickname "Hollywood-someone"?
Apart from this, the whole week was a blast. The event was well-organised, the range of aircraft was the best I've seen in my life and I met dozens of very interesting people. Congrats to the EAA for putting on another excellent event.
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