Fantasy of flight- part 6

[beaky]

Not quite ready to go outside yet...
Here's an unusual item: a balloon capsule, used on several round-the-world attempts.




An unusual sponsor...  :-?   Yes, they have a website...  ;D




The nose of some sort of Ilyushin... can't remember which one.







Wouldn't be a warplane collection without a Spitfire... and look- a baby one, too!




This is A MKXVI, built in 1945 and retired from RAF service in 1960. She's still ready to go, and looks it!




She's painted in honor of Belgian ace Ramond Lallemand, who chose a very strange name for a fighter... or did he? All I can find on him is that he was a Typhoon pilot... they should fire the guy who's been naming these aircraft...




Waiting for the tram ride to the "off limits" areas, I had to indulge in some Stearman-watching



















For a measly $200, you can get a 1/2 hour aerobatics lesson in this sweet machine.
Maybe next time...



Next: hidden treasures!

[Willit Run]

Nice shots!!

 This looks like one hell of a place to visit!!

 I have to get there sometime.  Maybe the next trip to Disney I'll get sidetracked for the day!!

 Weather a little cloudy today?

  Keep them coming!!

[ozzy72]

I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever post shots of the Spit!

[Hagar]

More excellent stuff. You're really very good at this.

[quote]This is A MKXVI, built in 1945 and retired from RAF service in 1960. She's still ready to go, and looks it!

She's painted in honor of Belgian ace Ramond Lallemand, who chose a very strange name for a fighter... or did he? All I can find on him is that he was a Typhoon pilot... they should fire the guy who's been naming these aircraft...

[Roughrider]

I've enjoyed the whole series, great job Sean.

[ATI_7500]

The "Ilyushin" is a Pe-2 or Pe-3.

[beaky]

More excellent stuff. You're really very good at this.

This is A MKXVI, built in 1945 and retired from RAF service in 1960. She's still ready to go, and looks it!

She's painted in honor of Belgian ace Ramond Lallemand, who chose a very strange name for a fighter... or did he? All I can find on him is that he was a Typhoon pilot... they should fire the guy who's been naming these aircraft...  

Maybe you shouldn't be too hard on the poor chap.

I wasn't commenting so much on authenticity (although I missed the reference to R.L. as a spit pilot) as the name "Winston Churchill" for an airplane, esp. a fighter... yuck...  and as I see from that linked article, he paid for that bad choice:

"On 14 September 1944, while Lallemant was flying his Typhoon, named "Winston Churchill," bad luck struck. He was attacking a German anti-aircraft artillery position, during the Allies' ill-fated attempt to reach "a bridge too far" at Arnhem in the Netherlands, when he was hit by ground fire. With his canopy jammed and unable to bail out, Lallemant crash landed his burning "Tiffy" in France. "

 Normally I believe "superstition only brings bad luck" , but I think planes and boats should be named after ladies or towns... just asking for trouble with a name like "Winston Churchill".

[beaky]

The "Ilyushin" is a Pe-2 or Pe-3.

Aha, so it is... probably my mistake...  :-[

[Hagar]

[quote]I wasn't commenting so much on authenticity (although I missed the reference to R.L. as a spit pilot) as the name "Winston Churchill" for an airplane, esp. a fighter... yuck...