Airplanes
 

Is any1 here a airplane fan? I am.

I like Airbus ones.

I love the WWII-era Studebaker aircraft, like the Flying Fortress, the B-17 bomber and the "shark-nosed" fighters that later gave rise to their cars of the late '40s and early '50s.

pitbulllady

Me too PBL! I live near a Comemoratiive Air Force unit (Falcon Field in Mesa). Our B-17 is Sentamental Journey (built 1944), and we have a B-25 named "Barbara." Both planes have been painstakingly restored to flight status. I have some pics here:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7/DSCF0099.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7/DSCF0100.jpg

My favorite airplane in World War One:

Fokker Dr. 1 Dreideker:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...03_17_Mech.jpg

I like current military aircraft as well (I was in an F-18 squadron afterall, and have been around naval aviation most of my career).:frankiesmile:

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.


OH, YOU MEAN ACTUAL AIRPLANES.

Yeah, I suppose so.

How about jet aircraft?

F-19, no doubt. I see so many of these, living just 30 miles from Shaw AFB, that they're as familiar as 4x4 pickup trucks in these parts! They're fast and maneuverable, too. Still, when it comes to aircraft, for me the old prop-driven planes just have more class by far. It's like comparing a modern import sports car with a classic American-made vehicle; sure, the modern car may be fast and have a lot more cool gadgets(or as my grandfather would have put it, more stuff to break down and cause trouble), but they just have no soul compared to the old cars of yesteryear. I don't know of any modern aircraft that has the same spirit and same artistic lines as the B-17, for instance, just like I can't think of any modern car that can hold a candle to my 1951 Champion, made by the same company, Studebaker. Modern vehicles just have a "coldness" to them that leaves me unimpressed, but then, I guess that's part of the territory when you're getting up there in years yourself!

pitbulllady

Well, I can see far from from that. Fokker, Cessna, Embraer (110,120,121) and other turboprop or piston has been rather popular along time ago. Airbus and Boeing r the main competitors for Jets and The Russian jets fell after the fall of Soivet Union, but yea. Reliability is better.

A-10 Warthog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II

Kewl. Does any1 have favorite airlines? defucnt or not?

Yeah, those were some neat planes-ugly as home-made sin, but functional and definitely easy to recognize! I used to see these everyday, too, when I lived nearer the coast, since they were based at the now-closed Myrtle Beach AFB. They got a lot of notoriety in the first Gulf War, right before the base was closed, and a lot of folks around here were hoping that the success of those planes would stop the Pentagon from closing MBAFB, but no luck. Fortunately, that area was able to recover financially from the loss due to the increase in tourism, as was Charleston, but many places that lost major military bases weren't so lucky.

I guess I just prefer military to civilian planes, really. I'm not much for traveling on a plane. I've only done it once, and while it wasn't the most harrowing thing I've been through, I can't say I really enjoyed it, either. Living near a major AFB, you just can't help but develop a familiarity with military aircraft, since you see and hear them so much. I can actually identify many of the jets and helicopters based at Shaw AFB by their sound, without even seeing the actual vehicle; they're just that commonplace in the skies around here.

pitbulllady