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sportsroof69

Check it off the bucket list!!: Incredible ride!!

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Working at the airport for so long, I've been able to ride in a few neat things, like a B25, T6, British Provost Strikemaster III fighter trainer, ect......

 

 

Well today, my boss and I flew the Lear to a small town in Mississippi, and sat all day, and then went somewhere else. We got a day room, and we were sitting around when we got a call from a guy we know, that we do business with. He was at the the airport we landed at, and saw our Lear, so he called. He said to come out, and he'd take us for a ride. We hauled ***, and here are a few pics I took.

 

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I was in this.

 

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It was so bad ***. We didn't just get a little ride, buzzing around in formation either. We were up for an hour, giving it hell. Playing chase, and tail, doing rolls, we pulled 4-5 G's numerous times. We did low passes, break and re groups, ect...... It was incredible.

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Great pictures, thanks. On my bucket list too.

We have a retired Chance Vought product engineer here, 94 years young. He still has drawings of the corsair he helped design. Very cool guy.

 

Nat

ATP

A&P

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WOW!!!!:punk::punk: that is amazing! i couldn't imagine feeling the G's in those things.... not many of those left in service are there? didn't they destroyed a lot of them...

 

now just think all the maneuvers you did ... and.. someone is shooting at you.....!!

 

congrats i bet that was an amazing experience.....:punk::punk:

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WOW!!!!:punk::punk: that is amazing! i couldn't imagine feeling the G's in those things.... not many of those left in service are there? didn't they destroyed a lot of them...

 

now just think all the maneuvers you did ... and.. someone is shooting at you.....!!

 

congrats i bet that was an amazing experience.....:punk::punk:

 

Yeah, my boss and I discussed that. It was kind of a surreal experience. It was absolutely incredible.

 

And, no. There aren't many left flying. I haven't even seem very many Corsairs. I never thought I'd get to go for a ride in one, and it was great that it wasn't just a buzz around. They were giving them hell! I always thought the B25 would be the coolest airplane I got to ride in. Turns out I was wrong!!!!

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Cool, truly a couple of awesome rides and something indeed to check off the bucket list. Had an uncle who had flown F4U’s in the Marines and later owned a P-51 in the late sixties but never got to fly in it. Spent a career plus in the Air Force as an aircrew member and have over 10,000 military flying hours in various cargo/crew aircraft. Closest to any high performance rides were a couple of trips in C-21 Learjets. Most of my time was in C-130’s, C-141’s, and C-17’s.

 

Congratulations on flying in the baddest Mustang ever built although the newest Shelby GT-500 Mustangs are getting close in the horsepower department (LOL).

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i think you got the better end of the deal. much harder to find a ride in an F4U than a P-51! gimme a shout the next time & i'll lend you one of these:

 

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& maybe these:

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they'll make the ride more authentic! i also have a "mechanix illustrated" from 1940 that has an article on the "X" F4U, which was when it was still an experimental aircraft. it was a razorback then, like the early p-47.

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i think you got the better end of the deal.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I THINK I've seen maybe one or two F4Us at air shows over the years, but I ALWAYS see P51 Mustangs. Both are amazing, but I agree the F4U ride was probably the better choice!!

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Not many get to check that one off the bucket list! Totally awesome thanks for sharing. Being a pilot was my first dream and I ended up only with a private pilots license and maybe 150 hours, but it was fun while it lasted!

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Very cool. So where the heck does the passenger sit in the plane you were in? Looks like a 1 seater unless you can only see over the pilots shoulder.

 

My guess is he was sitting where the old radio system used to be installed. The P51 Mustangs radios used to sit behind the pilot, and I bet the F4U was the same. Most of those planes have had the original radios removed to add a jump seat for quick passenger rides. My guess is new style radios are MUCH smaller, and mounted elsewhere.

 

For sure, the view out of the P51 looks a little better to me too! HA HA!

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My guess is he was sitting where the old radio system used to be installed. The P51 Mustangs radios used to sit behind the pilot, and I bet the F4U was the same. Most of those planes have had the original radios removed to add a jump seat for quick passenger rides. My guess is new style radios are MUCH smaller, and mounted elsewhere.

 

For sure, the view out of the P51 looks a little better to me too! HA HA!

 

You got it. It's not an ideal seat, but it's a whole lot better than not going. I could actually see pretty well. Just not as good as the glass canopy in the Mustang.

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