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In my late teens I had a girl friend with a FAM (Fuerza Aérea Mexicana) captain as her father. He had landed a PBY-5A in Tequesquitengo lake in the early 60's, showed me his photographs. At the same lake's Aerodrome, I took a Skydive AFF course in the late 80's, when they inaugurated Cuernavaca Commercial Airport. Since my Skydive guru & team where part of that show, I was invited as reserve skydiver (nobody got sick).

Walking around so many invited WWII aircraft of all types, I made friends with one of the pilots. He was part of the Confederated Air Force, a group of Texan WW II veteran pilots that rebuild & flew their own aitcrafts. I had learned to chew English in Haskell, Texas, so that drawl was very familiar to my ears. When asked if I wanted to fly with him I could not resist: his aircraft was a Me-108B Taifun, painted as a Me-109 for several Hollywood movies (the Great Escape was one) and I had a chance to pilot her for a little while. Very strange mixture control, unconventional & complicated, but that lady flew as guessing one's intentions, except for a kind of tricky ground handling with a take off under severly strong torque!!

With such memories I opened my Golden Wings with Duxford, a strange 30's scenario with automobiles from the XXI Century & early jet aircraft, parked among postwar prop airliners. I had recently downloaded various versions of the Taifun (here at Simviation) and picked this one from the Luftwaffe for Duxford's grass strip:



I noticed this PBY-5A (could be a Canadian Vickers PBV-1A Canso A) behind me, going into take off position in the paved strip


Catalina is all throtles open & begining her roll


When Catalina was running at my port wing, I started my take off


Misscalculated my move: Catalina is ascending fast & my tail wheel still drags on the ground


FiNALLY! Taifuns tail is up but Catalina is geting smaller & smaller


Reminded me how the Taifun handled trickily on the ground, but once in the air she was FAST & LiGHT...


...but not fast enaugh to close in with Catalina


My camera can do it


Now Catalina veers to the right...


...then banks to the left & lowers her gear...


...slowing down so much I almost bumped into her!


An then, marvel of marvels, she just VANiSHED into hazy air, no more Catalina! That's the great disadvantage of flying in formation with an Ai Aircraft. I have to review the installation PDF to see if I can configure this, I wanted to land after Catalina & phone home!!

You're much better than I am. I could never keep up with them.


I've traveled a third of the world, and in that too you have me beat.

If we were neighbors I'd give you my copy of Secondhand Lions. But it might be too long of a walk to knock on your door.

This is a poor sample, and hopefully you can watch it from your home. If not, try real hard to get a copy.

I think that you'd fit right in this movie.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6qW6d8QJvs[/youtube]

Nice set and commentary Jean...well done...

OldAirmail wrote:You're much better than I am. I could never keep up with them.
I've traveled a third of the world, and in that too you have me beat.
If we were neighbors I'd give you my copy of Secondhand Lions. But it might be too long of a walk to knock on your door.
This is a poor sample, and hopefully you can watch it from your home. If not, try real hard to get a copy.
I think that you'd fit right in this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6qW6d8QJvs

ONE OF MY FAVORiTE MOViES.- I studied High School in Haskel Texas after swiming the Rio Grande (called Río Bravo in México) to visit my sister & brother in law after abandoning the mexican home, because the divorce of my parents became much worst than WW II. I made friends with daughters & sons of ranchers, in those middle/late fifties. That was the era of this picture & I was the age of that little bastard. There I learned to chew english & went at all churches to lecture about México: my life there, Christmas time, the Three Savants and to play Bingo.

The brother in law of my brother in law was navigator in a Douglas C-124 Globe Master ("Old Shaky") belonging to the SAC, in times where atomical paranoia was rampant and the SAC had to keep most of its fleet in the air, just in case the Ruskies started something funny. Close to Haskell there is a town called Abilene with an Air Force Base, then part of the SAC network. There we went to welcome & bring him to my sisters home. My eyes were poping out with all those aircraft: I remember a B-36 that seemed to come alive straight from Black Hawk comics, with that glazed nose & a combo mix of jet engines among radials and propellers. Lots of B-47's, no B-52 yet. I was thinking that it was a good thing I am a pacifist, for I was in restricted territory & without legal papers. Suposedly this society had been our enemies in the past, now long gone & forgoten. I had good times riding horses at those ranches, build very much like in that movie. No red bipes though!! But lots of derelict dogs, pigs & fowl. Shooting contests were every week end, asorted with chili beans, grilled pig ribs with barbecue sauce, angel cakes & all the beer my sister would allow.

Flying Trucker wrote:Nice set and commentary Jean...well done...

Thank you, I am reviewing your first simulated 2016 flight in Ercoupe: GREAT!!

Nice shots Jean.