Keeping Me Out of Your Warbird?

When I got tapped for one of those unauthorized movements the cops showed up
with an M-60 aimed at my forehead. Made me want to do anything the young
two striper said.

Les


"Smartace11" wrote in message
...
Just the pre-requesites are daunting to say the least.
First, the pilot doing this would have to be good enough to actually fly
the
airplane, which not only requires specific skills but is aircraft
specific
also. That means the thief would have to know where everything is in the

A maintenance troop stole a C-130 off the ramp at RAF Mildenhall. Got all
four
started and managed to get ot off the ground. IIRC he was trying to get
back
to the US to see his wife or girlfriend wh was leaving him. He ended up
headed
the wrong direction and was shot down by fighters out of USAFE as the
story
goes. Supposedly he grashed but there were pieces found with what looked
to be
cannon hits.

We used to practice trying to steal F-4s from RAF Lakenheath. All it took
was
a gullible crew chief to help with the start and then taxi off. Usually
the
flightline chief realized there was a plane taxiing that wan't on the
schedule
and then the sky cops were launched. Their instructions were to try to
block
the plane with their vehicles and if that failed, to shoot the crew.

Unathorized people in the flightline got interesting treatment as well.
Full
spread eagle on the ramp with an M-16 barrel poked in the ear. Happened
once
to a doctor from the base hospital and his two yong daughters. I suspect
they
still talk about their experience with daddy.

"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
Dudley Henriques wrote:

"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
Do restored warbirds have some sort of security system added to
keep unscrupulous members of the public such as me, from taking
one up for an unauthorized flight? Some sort of starting "key"?

What about current military aircraft?

In theory it could be done, but the pilot doing it would have to be REAL
good! :-)) Just the pre-requesites are daunting to say the least.
First, the pilot doing this would have to be good enough to actually fly
the
airplane, which not only requires specific skills but is aircraft
specific
also. That means the thief would have to know where everything is in the
cockpit....probably in the dark .
A self inspired night checkout in the average warbird would kill all but
the
most "inspired" I can assure you!! :-)))

I was hoping you or Vlado would comment.

Well I'll take your word for it. But I recall an American pilot shot
down in Europe during WWII stealing a FW 190 (IIRC). He got the thing
started and into the air (in the dark), but flew it back to England with
the gear down since he couldn't figure out how to raise it.

Is basic flying of a WWII aircraft *really* that much more difficult than
a Cessna 152? We're not talking about doing loops, barrel rolls and split
S's. Just run the plane back to my secret hideout where I'll only look
and
admire it as *my own*, as if a piece of art!

Well, there is the issue of ATC tracking you and finking on where you went.
To avoid that we're talking low level work which raises the difficulty
factor
a bit.
That or I guess you could work in some poor coverage area like the Rockies.
Just don't try it over the midwest and expect to get away with it.

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message thlink.net...
Hi Vicente;
That's a great shot, and a great airplane. That padlock would be one of the
ways to secure the canopy on a 47; that's for sure!
My friend Vlado Lenoch has recently just flown a beautifully restored Jug (a
D.. I believe). There aren't too many left out there. This one looks like it
will be a great restoration when finished.

Hi Dudley,

That aircraft's restoration was actually completed in 1999 (IIRC).
It's the only P-47 Thunderbolt in airworthy condition in Brazil,
though our Air Force forbade the museum to fly the aircraft, under the
argument that such rare aircraft shouldn't be put under the risk of
being lost in an accident. The engine is turned on and the a/c taxis
every once in a while, but it isn't flown (at least not while there's
someone watching :-)) Actually, it was flown briefly and
"unnoficially" several times, during tests. As the Museum belongs to
our Air Force, I guess it must be the last airworthy P-47 in the world
to still be "officially owned" by an Air Force. :-)

Some more pics:

http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_1.jpg
http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_2.jpg
http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_3.jpg

(Pictures taken from airliners.net website)

It is a post-war aircraft (P-47D-40-RA s/n 45-49151, former FAB 4184),
received in 1953, and it is painted in the colors and markings of the
aircraft flown by Lt. Luiz Lopes Dornelles (P-47D-25-RE s/n 42-26766),
the last Brazilian pilot to be KIA in italy.

There are four other P-47's preserved in Brazil (42-26757, 42-26760,
42-26762 and 44-19663) and though they are not airworthy, they have a
much more important historical value (at least for us) as these four
aircraft are all "combat veterans" from our 1st FS in Italy.

Cheers,

Vicente

(v dot vazquez at terra dot com dot br)

I understand completely the argument concerning the flying of such a rare
bird. It's true that things can go wrong and an airplane like this could be
lost. It's a judgment call really, and each owner or association involved
with these airplanes must make this judgment carefully. You can make the
argument either way.
It's wonderful to see these airplanes in the air of course, but as they get
down to the nitty gritty of the last ones in the world, the desire to see
them in flight weighs more heavily on those entrusted with their care and
safe keeping.
I flew my Mustang, but I would respect another pilots decision not to fly
their warbird. It's a tough call!! :-)
Dudley

"Vicente Vazquez" wrote in message
om...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Hi Vicente;
That's a great shot, and a great airplane. That padlock would be one of
the
ways to secure the canopy on a 47; that's for sure!
My friend Vlado Lenoch has recently just flown a beautifully restored
Jug (a
D.. I believe). There aren't too many left out there. This one looks
like it
will be a great restoration when finished.

Hi Dudley,

That aircraft's restoration was actually completed in 1999 (IIRC).
It's the only P-47 Thunderbolt in airworthy condition in Brazil,
though our Air Force forbade the museum to fly the aircraft, under the
argument that such rare aircraft shouldn't be put under the risk of
being lost in an accident. The engine is turned on and the a/c taxis
every once in a while, but it isn't flown (at least not while there's
someone watching :-)) Actually, it was flown briefly and
"unnoficially" several times, during tests. As the Museum belongs to
our Air Force, I guess it must be the last airworthy P-47 in the world
to still be "officially owned" by an Air Force. :-)

Some more pics:

http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_1.jpg
http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_2.jpg
http://www.aviacaomilitar.com.br/webkits/b4_musal_3.jpg

(Pictures taken from airliners.net website)

It is a post-war aircraft (P-47D-40-RA s/n 45-49151, former FAB 4184),
received in 1953, and it is painted in the colors and markings of the
aircraft flown by Lt. Luiz Lopes Dornelles (P-47D-25-RE s/n 42-26766),
the last Brazilian pilot to be KIA in italy.

There are four other P-47's preserved in Brazil (42-26757, 42-26760,
42-26762 and 44-19663) and though they are not airworthy, they have a
much more important historical value (at least for us) as these four
aircraft are all "combat veterans" from our 1st FS in Italy.

Cheers,

Vicente

(v dot vazquez at terra dot com dot br)

(Vicente Vazquez) wrote in message . com...
snip

There are four other P-47's preserved in Brazil (42-26757, 42-26760,
42-26762 and 44-19663) and though they are not airworthy, they have a
much more important historical value (at least for us) as these four
aircraft are all "combat veterans" from our 1st FS in Italy.


Know the feeling, we just got a flying kiwi Corsair back in the
country (saw it flying here on TV a couple of days ago.)

http://www.travelcentre.com.au/trave...f_the_show.htm

Errol Cavit | "I long for the day when we can match the Germans in the
sky, ‘plane for ‘plane. When that day dawns, Germany is
beaten. We know by experience that we can whack his land forces, tanks
included, any day of the week." Private L. A. Diamond, 23 NZ Batt,
1941

Good old stories.
The three Pensacola sailors who stole a T34 (2 seats!) to go to New
Orleans. They ended up somewhere in Northern Alabama out of gas in a
field. I presume their next post was Portsmouth (NH) brig.
A crew chief was taxi-checking a Sabre at Williams AFB (AZ) way back
when and temptation got the better of him. He got airborne okay but
getting down - he was talked down by an IP but pranged the bird
successfully - i.e. he didn't kill himself.
As for getting airborne with stuff hanging on - one of our F86Ds at
Naha got airborne with a intake screen still attached. Nobody had a
good explanation for that as the screen was painted bright yellow.
An F4 got airborne with the big clunky gear downlocks still attached.
They're big things like pipes sawn lengthwise and clamped about the
shiny part of the retraction cylinder rams. They're also painted red
and have streamers attached.
One of my classmates got airborne at Nellis back in the 'Tiger program
days' in an 86 that had not been refueled from the previous flight- on
the turn out of traffic he found he had about 250 pounds of fuel left
- he got down okay, and got 'counseled' by his instructor.
Another one got one the shortest flights ever made at Bainbridge - the
fuel selector on his Piper PA18 was not positioned properly and about
25 feet in the air the engine quit cold. He got down okay, and went on
to a great flying career culminating in a 747 captaincy.
I 'recurrented' an old friend of mine in fighters - he got me in a
Sabre dance in a 104B. I'd neglected to ask what he'd been flying -
took it for granted he was still flying T33s. Nope - he'd been flying
T29s. OOps! But we survived.
Be ever pessimistic - it's a survival trait for pilots.
Walt BJ

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"John S. Shinal" wrote in
message
...
"Dudley Henriques" wrote:

A self inspired night checkout in the average warbird would kill all
but
the
most "inspired" I can assure you!! :-)))

"All right, time to rotate...hmmm...what the...why can't I...
AAAGH ! The gust locks !"

PRANG ! Boom.

Actually..... saw a guy do something almost as bad once. He had a
Tri-Pacer.
We were all watching through the window of the flight office as he taxied
out with a rather large concrete block trailing along behind him tied to
his
tail. We yelled at him on the radio, but naturally he didn't have THAT
on!!!
So we all climbed on the field pickup truck and raced across the field
after
him. We caught up to him while he was doing his runup. To this day, when
some of us get together and remember this, we bust out laughing thinking
what must have been going through his mind when he saw about fifteen
people
hanging onto a bouncing pickup truck coming directly at him shouting and
waving like a bunch of banshees!!
He told us he nearly **** a brick!!! THAT REALLY broke us up!!!!!

Maybe someone else can provide the specific details but....... once upon a
time a visiting foreign fighter pilot to Australia attempted to land with
his gear up, on his belly tank!

Would have loved to watch that........at a safe distance.

--
The Raven
http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/batfinkquote.mp3
** President of the ozemail.* and uunet.* NG's
** since August 15th 2000.

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message thlink.net...
It's wonderful to see these airplanes in the air of course, but as they get
down to the nitty gritty of the last ones in the world, the desire to see
them in flight weighs more heavily on those entrusted with their care and
safe keeping.
I flew my Mustang, but I would respect another pilots decision not to fly
their warbird. It's a tough call!! :-)
Dudley

Sure it is... :-)

But you can guess the frustration when that kind of decision is not up
to the pilot. An AF vet, Brig. Gen. Magalhães Motta, worked hard for
nine years
on that restoration... and when everything was ready, with the plane
on the
ramp, engine ready to start, he got an urgent telegram from the AF
High
Command saying "Nope! You cant' fly it!". Must have been a very tough
blow
for an old P-47 pilot who was about to revive old memories...

I remember when I first saw a Spitfire in flight here in Brazil, with
the
"Battle Of Britain" theme playing on the background, during the
cerimony
when it was delivered to a museum. While I watched it in flight, names
of
people and places like Biggin Hill, Hornchurch, Sailor Malan and
Douglas
Bader came through my head. All those black and white still images I
saw in
books suddenly turned into a colored motion picture, with that
wonderful
soundtrack provided by the Merlin engine. And then I learned that
reading
about aviation history is one thing: seeing it in flight right before
your
eyes is something completely different. You can call me "excessively
emotional" or whatever the word in English is, but man... I had to
wipe
some tears... :-)

And every time I look at that P-47 I regret not being able to see that
piece
of our history crossing our skies again, carrying the same colors that
were
seen over Italy 60 years ago, with that same "Ostrich" we are so proud
of,
painted on it's fuselage.

Maybe one day... Who knows? :-)

(Errol Cavit) wrote in message . com...
(Vicente Vazquez) wrote in message . com...


Know the feeling, we just got a flying kiwi Corsair back in the
country (saw it flying here on TV a couple of days ago.)

http://www.travelcentre.com.au/trave...f_the_show.htm

Another Kiwi Corsair... :-)
We have an airworthy Corsair down here that came from New Zealand.
IIRC, it is the oldest birdcage Corsair in existance and it seems its
history card says it was used in combat in WWII. But I can't tell if
it is actually a former RNZN/RNZAF a/c or if it is a former USMC/USN
a/c bought by its previous Kiwi owner. It's currently painted in VF-17
markings.

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message hlink.net...
Immediately after brake release, the guy just starts
shouting in the ICS. "Oh Baby!!!!....Oh Baby!!!!!!...Oh man..........Oh my
God!!!!........Jesus H. Christ!!!!........Oh God help me!!!!!"

Wow.

I wonder if was craving a post-coital cigarette afterward? Or just a
change of underwear?