Francis Gary Powers mentions that it his book. He was apparently over the Sinai area and realised he was leaving a contrail. Change of altitude resolved the issue.

(Written on 2021年 09月 10日)(Permalink)

Hi Relics, I wouldn't be sure about DG. Andersen on Guam is a lot closer and the Philippines is between Guam and all the Chicom activity around the Spratleys, if this bird was having a look at that. Now Wake is a little bit further east than Guam but flights also would have to cross the Philippines to get to the China Sea. Wake is also a lot more private than Guam. And there's been a lot of work going into Wake over the last couple of years, they relaid the 9800 foot runway and seriously expanded the aprons at both ends. So I'd think Wake over DG.

(Written on 2021年 09月 07日)(Permalink)

Hi Scott. Thanks for this explanation of how some companies who are outside the EU have chosen to avoid being fined by the EU. Now I understand why some links I've sent to people don't work for them but do for me.

(Written on 2021年 07月 31日)(Permalink)

I haven't been able to get this remarkable series of 1920s barnstorming like incidents out of my mind for the last few hours. It reminds me of stories about "Grumman" bush pilots in South America operating out of some of the small artificially extended lakes and rivers in the 1950s and 60s. In actual fact the pilot, Collier, overcame each of the difficulties he encountered enroute and was able to successfully patch up his kite to continue his journey, almost to completion. Many long-distance aviation pioneers had similar series of failures and near disasters but were deemed heroic on completing their journeys. Collier's final difficulty may have been equally non-disastrous had the FAA not requested he keep the landing gear extended on this leg. It seems that he was skimming the water with the amphibian in a potentially successful landing just before the wheels dug in. Initially the a/c floated and took a while to sink. Perhaps the penetration of the hull which permitted water in

(Written on 2021年 07月 26日)(Permalink)

I didn't notice any reference to and "Trumps", single or plural, in the posted article. Was this reference in a different article about this incident to the one that was posted here ?

(Written on 2021年 07月 26日)(Permalink)

I didn't notice Collier's (the actual pilot) age mentioned. It seemed that the seller, Lynn Swann (a "retired pilot") was the 88 year old.

(Written on 2021年 07月 26日)(Permalink)

Never trust the gauges if you can dip the tanks. It used to be a lot easier to dip the tanks in a low wing Cherokee or Tomahawk than in a 152.

(Written on 2021年 07月 21日)(Permalink)

Hi RR Was it a single 23mm or what ? Were they using tracer ? What height/airspeed were you generally at and did you vary it much ? Was there any cloud around your altitude ? What was visibility/weather and time-of-day ? What color was the underside of the Mixmaster ? What part(s) of your a/c did they manage to hit ? Was there any possibility they were monitoring your comms ? Were the F-4s this crew had previously downed flying straight and level when hit ? Were the F-4 shootdowns in the same incident or different times ? It can be really difficult for some poor unaided gunner using only eyesight to spot, track, lead and hit someone jinxing around especially if the target keeps changing altitude and airspeed. This crew must have been somewhat competent to have taken down two Phantoms but damned stupid to keep trying to nail you when it was obvious what you were doing. Thanks

(Written on 2021年 06月 12日)(Permalink)

Hi John Thanks for taking the time to reply. Frank

(Written on 2021年 06月 11日)(Permalink)

What "Freedom of Religion" ? In Pennsylvania in 2020 Governor Wolf banned Church Services and closed the churches.

(Written on 2021年 06月 11日)(Permalink)