Breckinridge Questions
Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:51 pm
Can some please tell me what exactly Breckenridge was? Was it an Air Show or a fly-in? How many warbirds showed up at these events?
Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:07 pm
Oh boy!
Look out!
You've opened the flood gates!!
Jerry
Look out!
You've opened the flood gates!!
Jerry
Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:22 pm
I just found out about this old event over the past couple of weeks! 
Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:44 pm
Oh wow....how to explain it all....
Back in the 80's and 90's, every Memorial day weekend, Warbirds, pilots and enthusiasts gathered at this small mid Texas town for an unofficial airshow/gathering of warbirds and things vintage....in its early years, it attracted upwards of 140 warbirds, or so I'm told....I never made it to the early shows, only seeing the last 4 or 5 of them before the show petered out, but we still had 80-90 warbirds on the ramp at those shows and had a good time. The rules were lax on the flying-low passes were REALLY low, rides were abundant if you knew the right folks, armorer half tracks rumbled around after the traditional dinner in Bill Arnot's B-25 hangar firing off blank .50 calibre rounds until 2 am in the morning. It was a party, a blast, a celebration with very loose rules and very GREAT flying and the Greatest of machines and people, all gathered in one place for that weekend, once a year....
It was....simply....BRECKENRIDGE.....not since duplicated, unique unto itself. There'll never be another like it again.
Mark
Back in the 80's and 90's, every Memorial day weekend, Warbirds, pilots and enthusiasts gathered at this small mid Texas town for an unofficial airshow/gathering of warbirds and things vintage....in its early years, it attracted upwards of 140 warbirds, or so I'm told....I never made it to the early shows, only seeing the last 4 or 5 of them before the show petered out, but we still had 80-90 warbirds on the ramp at those shows and had a good time. The rules were lax on the flying-low passes were REALLY low, rides were abundant if you knew the right folks, armorer half tracks rumbled around after the traditional dinner in Bill Arnot's B-25 hangar firing off blank .50 calibre rounds until 2 am in the morning. It was a party, a blast, a celebration with very loose rules and very GREAT flying and the Greatest of machines and people, all gathered in one place for that weekend, once a year....
It was....simply....BRECKENRIDGE.....not since duplicated, unique unto itself. There'll never be another like it again.
Mark
Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:13 pm
It was everything Mark said it was and more.... It is greatly missed and like he said, rides a-plenty. The best ride I ever got was in Connies PBY to his place in Big Springs. Stephen Grey was along on that one and it was such a neat day, touring Connie's castle and hangars and seeing all the Merlins, P-51's and 2 seat Buchon in storage. His ramp vehicle was a halftrac driven by Tex who was in his early teens. What a day!
Like it's been said on another post, Howard would come to your show if you came to his. It was like the get-together for all the owners and crews to kickoff the airshow season. Man, I need to dig out some slides!!!!!
Like it's been said on another post, Howard would come to your show if you came to his. It was like the get-together for all the owners and crews to kickoff the airshow season. Man, I need to dig out some slides!!!!!
Last edited by slinky on Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thu Nov 23, 2006 1:13 pm
It was everything Mark said it was and more.... It is greatly missed and like he said, rides a-plenty. The best ride I ever got was in Connies PBY to his place in Big Springs. Stephen Grey was along on that one and it was such a neat day, touring Connie's castle and hangars, seeing all the Merlins, P-51's and 2 seat Buchon in storage. His ramp vehicle was a halftrac driven by Tex who was in his early teens. What a day!
Like it's been said on another post, Howard would come to your show if you came to his. It was like the get-together for all the owners and crews to kickoff the airshow season. Man, I need to dig out some slides!!!!!
Like it's been said on another post, Howard would come to your show if you came to his. It was like the get-together for all the owners and crews to kickoff the airshow season. Man, I need to dig out some slides!!!!!
Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:02 pm
I was there in 1980 and have photos of 102 different aircraft (38 different types). I might have missed some (but not many) of the those attending.
AeroCommander 1, Twin Beech 5, Staggerwing 1, T-34 4-A, 2-B & 1-C, Kingcobra 1, Huey 1, Stearman 3, Texan/Harvard 25, Cessna Super Skymaster 5, Tweety 1, Bamboo Bomber 1, Challenger Ultralite 2, Corsair 5, Vibrator 6, P-40 1, A-26 1, Skyraider 2, Gonney 1, PT-19 1, Wildcat 2, Avenger 1, Hellcat 1, Bearcat 1, Tigercat 1, Albatross 1, Fury 1, Helio Super Courier, Howard DGA 1, Mustang 5, B-25 4, P-47 1, Soko Seagull 1, Stinson Reliant 1, Stinson Sentinel 5, Spitfire 2, Taylorcraft 1, Varga Kachina 1, Yak-11 1.
This may not have been the best year, but it was my year. Great Show!!!
bill word
AeroCommander 1, Twin Beech 5, Staggerwing 1, T-34 4-A, 2-B & 1-C, Kingcobra 1, Huey 1, Stearman 3, Texan/Harvard 25, Cessna Super Skymaster 5, Tweety 1, Bamboo Bomber 1, Challenger Ultralite 2, Corsair 5, Vibrator 6, P-40 1, A-26 1, Skyraider 2, Gonney 1, PT-19 1, Wildcat 2, Avenger 1, Hellcat 1, Bearcat 1, Tigercat 1, Albatross 1, Fury 1, Helio Super Courier, Howard DGA 1, Mustang 5, B-25 4, P-47 1, Soko Seagull 1, Stinson Reliant 1, Stinson Sentinel 5, Spitfire 2, Taylorcraft 1, Varga Kachina 1, Yak-11 1.
This may not have been the best year, but it was my year. Great Show!!!
bill word
Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:28 pm
Who said thet were blanks? And when he said he toured Connies castle, he doesn't mean a big house he means a castle with moat and everything.
Thu Nov 23, 2006 4:49 pm
I asked this same question a couple weeks ago. I got lots of good info! Here is the thread.
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9582&highlight=breckenridge
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9582&highlight=breckenridge
Thu Nov 23, 2006 5:18 pm
Obergrafeter wrote:Who said thet were blanks? And when he said he toured Connies castle, he doesn't mean a big house he means a castle with moat and everything.
I fired some tracers down range one night, and I believe that there was some brewed adult beverages involved somewhere in there.
Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:24 pm
Another great thing about it was you never knew what might show up. My wife treated me to my first ride in a B-17 (Chuckie) at Breckenridge, one year one of those Micro-jets flew an acro routine, piloted by an ex Blue Angel, a Buchon (Cavanaugh), White Lightning, Mosquito, F6F (Pond), and the Ezell hanger was always amazing to see what was being worked on. Even remember an early British single-engine jet one year. Just too much to list or even remember, but it was just the best.
Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:04 pm
Obergrafeter wrote:Who said thet were blanks? And when he said he toured Connies castle, he doesn't mean a big house he means a castle with moat and everything.
And the moat goes in and out of the house! Cool place. You oughta see the new quarry with stonehenge and his other "late afternoon" creations with limestone blocks.