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 Post subject: More Geneseo photos
PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:24 pm 
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I greatly enjoyed my first Geneseo and WIXLA conference. When not in WIXLA seminars I walked around and took a few pictures. I used digitals only on Friday and a little bit Sunday morning -- Saturday was film only -- may post some of those when developed.

Friday afternoon the skies were threatening ...

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... and then the heavens opened up. Under the wing of a C-47 is a pretty good place to stand when rain is coming down. We learned it is not that great when rain is coming sideways.

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After the downpour it cleared up nicely and the field seemed able to absorb the water without problems. Some more pics from Friday evening.

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These pics of the Fallis P-40N are not typical of how it looked all weekend:

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Most of the time, it looked more like this:

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Sunday morning started out beautiful, the best sky of the week.

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But you know what they say about red sky in the morning. By noon, when I packed it in, the field had received more water than it could take:

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Despite the soggy Sunday, a terrific and very photogenic airshow with some planes not often seen in these parts.

August


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:52 pm 
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It sure was a great event despite the scattered rain showers we had. Great captures.

Eric

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:18 am 
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I love the shot of the Harvard tails

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 Post subject: DC-3
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:06 pm 
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August, do you have any info on the gorgeous DC-3 in your photo? As for the weather. well I guess that's why it is so green up there!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:06 pm 
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Bill, the DC-3 is listed to Champlain Air of Plattsburgh NY and is called "Mary Lou". Details from an airline company listing:

Champlain Air, Inc.
518 Rugar Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(518) 562-2700; Fax: (518) 562-8030
Antony von Elbe, C.E.O.; John A. Sullivan, Jr., President; E. James Drollette, Executive Vice President/Director-Flight Operati
Equipment: 2 Douglas DC3's
Note: Carrier does not provide scheduled service.

Below is a newspaper story published about Mr. Drollette, the company, and this aircraft

ADDICTED TO FLIGHT
www.pressrepublican.com/Archiv - [Cached]
Published on: 8/12/2002 Last Visited: 8/12/2002

The pilots, Jim Drollette and Bill Dahler, had already gone through an extensive safety checklist and were ready to take flight.
...
"Okay, we'll be cruising at 2,000 feet with an air speed of 150 miles per hour," Drollette said through the PA system, his words clear and sharp above the steady hum of the plane in flight.

The aircraft banked to the left and moved toward Lake Champlain. Valcour Island, its distinct bays dotted with dozens of sailboats, was in clear view. Gray-white fluffy clouds hung in the sky, and an intensive thunderstorm moved slowly across the horizon to the west.

"We'll stay out of its path," Drollette said of the storm, choosing rather to circle above Plattsburgh and the surrounding countryside.

Drollette, co-owner of Champlain Air, takes special pride in this plane, a refurbished C-47 that served as a transport for the British Royal Air Force during World War II. It was the first of several similar planes he has given a new life to over the past decade.

"We've spent countless hours refurbishing these planes," he said. "This plane's been completely rebuilt."

The plane, named "Mary Lou" by Drollette's crew when refurbished in 1992 but soon to be renamed Mary Ann in honor of his girlfriend, was manufactured in Oklahoma and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force on Feb. 4, 1944. The C-47 was then leased to the Royal Air Force and assigned to the 233rd Squadron out of Prestwick, Scotland.

After the war, the plane was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force, where it spent the next 26 years before being sold as surplus in 1972 to the Canadian Fish and Game Department.

Drollette, who grew up in Saranac but now lives in Florida, purchased the aircraft because of both a passion for the past and a dream for the future.

"I've always been interested in historic airplanes," he said. "The history of aviation is fascinating, and all these planes played an important role in history. I thought it'd be a fun thing to buy and refurbish them, have a little fun with history."

But the purchase of Mary Lou had a practical side as well.

"My partner (Tony von Elbe) and I planned to retire to the Bahamas and fly charter excursions," he said.
...
Besides running occasional charter flights over the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain, Drollette uses the big planes (the C-47 has a 95-foot wingspan, the same as a 727 jetliner) for specialized instruction for experienced pilots. The practice gives pilots an extra rating on their license.

C-47s were heavy transport aircraft. They had large cargo spaces for transporting military equipment. The DC-3 was a cousin of the C-47 but was designed more to carry troops than equipment.

...
Drollette currently has three in his hangar on the former Air Force Base. Mary-Lou and its cousin, Priscilla, are both silver metal with blue trim, giving them a distinctive historic airliner appearance. A third plane is painted military green, just as the planes looked flying over Normandy so many decades ago during World War II.

Champlain Air also has enough extra parts in storage to build another complete aircraft, though the parts are used to replace parts on the existing planes with ease.

As a kid growing up in Saranac, Drollette lived directly under the flightline of Colonial Airlines. He remembers going out and watching the planes fly overhead, dreaming of one day doing it himself.

That has definitely come true. He has logged more than 22,000 flight miles as a pilot and flight instructor.

"I've been flying since I was 16 years old," he said. "I loved it back then, and I love it just as much today. I still get a thrill out of it every time I lift off."

He continued circling the Plattsburgh vicinity for about a half hour before taking the plane back down to the runway. But as if he couldn't get enough of the experience, he lifted off again and took one more cruise above the North Country.

* * * * *

August


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:39 pm 
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Wonderful stuff, August!


Fade to Black...


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 Post subject: Interesting...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:02 pm 
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What's the deal with the little flange behind the spinner on the Hurricane nose pic? Is it to get a little cooling air inside the cowling thru the gap between it and the spinner? Never seen that before - is it standard to Hurricanes?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:20 pm 
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It was standard on Mark IIs and the Canadian equivalents and is an oil deflector to channel oil from the prop/spinner down so it won't run onto the windscreen.

August


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:03 pm 
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Great shots :!: Well done :!:

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:42 pm 
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This is what Geneseo is all about...

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Warbirds in the grass and White Picket fences.


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 Post subject: Rag wings and light iron
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:40 am 
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Can there be too many Geneseo shots? I think not. But there has not been too much coverage thus far of the beautiful antiques and classics dotting the field, some of which flew in the show, others not. This was one of the pleasant surprises for me; the show was almost a worthwhile antique and classic show in its own right.

Aeronca L-3 (65-TAC) N39563:

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Aeronca 7AC Champ N84804 converted to look like an L-16:

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L-16As 47-807 N9325H (silver) and 47-1095 N4008A (pink):

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There was much to see for fans of classic Pipers. Starting with the most classic, Wag Aero Sport Trainer (J-3 replica) N285HN:

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Then an L-4, presenting as 42-79553. I didn't note the N-number.

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PA-16 Clipper N5610H:

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PA-22 Colt C-FTDC:

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PA-22 Colt N4691T:

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Another short-wing Piper, not sure of the variant, C-GBXO:

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It was a good weekend for Fleet fanciers as well. Fleet 14 NC8600 is dressed in a scheme borrowed from an F9C Sparrowhawk:

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Fleet 2 N1499T:

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Finch CF-GER "RCAF 4488" came in from Canada:

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For those who prefer Stinsons, there were two nice Reliants, SR-9 NC21117:

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And V77 CF-CAJ:

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Plus a handsome Voyager, NC9451K:

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Three Yak variants arrived together. Yak-52 N4450Y:

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Yak-52 N5979X:

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And a CJ-6 whose N-number was written too small for me to note, seemingly still wearing some of its original Chinese paint:

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There were two Wacos, Mike Potter's lovely ATO CF-BPM:

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And N29303, a UPF-7:

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De Havillands were not forgotten. I heard NX603DH characterized as a replica Gypsy Moth built by a New Yorker in his downtown artist's loft. I forget the guy's name, but I think I have also seen his DH Hummingbird replica. Anyway, it doesn't really look like a Gypsy Moth with the inverted engine; more of a straight-wing Tiger Moth. But a beautiful plane nonetheless.

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Tiger Moth CF-TBS, "RCAF 4882":

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Heck, I like Tiger Moths, let's have another pic:

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Thruxton Jackaroo C-FPHZ:

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Stearmans. Yes there were a few. I didn't care for the custom work on 4CM-1 NC488W, but there's still a great airplane under there somewhere:

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All of us shutterbugs were loving the morning mist at Geneseo:

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"N2S" (you can never trust the paint schemes on these things) N70043:

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And since N3Ns always get lumped in with the PT-17s, why should today be any different (sorry Jeff); N3N-3 BuNo 2613 N1120:

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N197M:

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And, I didn't catch the N-number of #75:

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Two Stampe SV4s came in from Canada, CF-ZXW:

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and C-FXME:

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And now for some types of which only one appeared. I felt that an opportunity was missed to feature this lovely Robin NC534N in the static display, since part of the P-40 event was supposedly a more general tribute to Curtiss-Wright and its employees:

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This Luscombe 8A Silvaire was dressed up as a UC-90:

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Very pretty Bird BK N9739:

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Outstanding Pitcairn Mailwing NC10753:

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Fairchild Cornell CF-CVT "FV720":

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Cessna 195 N9885A:

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Grumman G-44A Widgeon N402E:

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And of course there was the Great War museum's nice WWI replicas. You're all familiar with them, but I'll post my two favorites, Dr.I replica C-FDRI:

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and Nieuport 28 replica CF-WEL:

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:46 am 
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Thanks august!! I had seen her in the back ground of other peoples posts so I knew she was there.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:49 am 
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So there's more to Geneseo than big iron. But that doesn't mean I'm finished with the big iron shots:

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For those modelers out there who like to display the control surfaces in the correct attitude, Geneseo furnished some evidence that when at rest, P-40 elevators hang in the up position:

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I think that I like Hurricane 5481 better than I used to. When David Price owned it in Santa Monica, it was always gleaming shiny, and the colors looked garish to me despite the docents' repeated insistence that they had been matched to 1940 colors. Nowadays it is not so shiny, there is some authentic-looking chipping around the edges, and even the colors seem to have dulled a bit. It's more convincing now.

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Snodgrass in the WoLI Kittyhawk with some other guy in the noisy thing. Purportedly the first time this combo has appeared as a Heritage Flight.

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Spitfire MK912 about 6 inches off the ground. One of my favorite photos from the weekend, so much so that I took the trouble to accurize the paint scheme by retouching out the maple leaf and mouse.

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August


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 Post subject: Re: DC-3
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:58 am 
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Bill Greenwood wrote:
August, do you have any info on the gorgeous DC-3 in your photo? As for the weather. well I guess that's why it is so green up there!


Thanks Bill for the compliment!!!! I worked for Champlain Ent. for 5 yrs and was one of the many that helped maintain her. That company was also part of CommutAir, a BE-1900D Commuter Airline in the NE.

N700CA "mary lou" from the song BTW. Was orig a C-47 and carried litters out of Holland. Inside the interior was the name of a soldier that she carried while being flown out.

N922CA "Percilla" She was painted silver (A very welcomed Idea!!) and was identical paint scheme.

N59NA "Bones" She was a actual RAF Dakota, tho it got painted in AirCorps markings, it was never owned by the us govt. I protested the idea to my uncle to no avail so thats what we painted. When we took the paint down, you could still see the outline of the Queens Crown.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:06 pm 
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L-4, presenting as 42-79553 is owned by my friend Mark E. Haron. :D

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