Warbird Information Exchange

The Collings Foundation F-4 training program started in earnest yesterday. We did upset training with Robert Borrius-Broek, owner of the P-51 Dove of Peace. http://www.mustangflights.co.nz/#

Robert is 6ft 6in tall , so Mudge, we have room for you !

We'd also like to welcome Jerry ( Jive ) Kerby as one of our new instructor pilots. Some of you might know Jerry, he flies Fowler ( Big Dog ) Cary's T-33 and is a former commander of the 81st Aerial Target Squadron. Jive was also the first F-4 Heritage qualified demo pilot. He flew an F4D qual flight yesterday.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

GREAT NEWS!!! I knew they were ready.

I had put my name on the list to fly years ago - prior to being diagnosed with Cancer. I got a call from Collings about 3-4 weeks ago asking if I was still interested......I sure am but I've got two problems.

The first is I have no medical; even though my Drs tell me I'm OK to pass it, my case would still require review by the FAA. As it stands now, I can fly Light Sport Aircraft (L-Birds!!!) with a lapsed/expired medical, but if I should be turned down I can fly nothing...

Second thing is at the present you need a mutli-engine rating, but Collings says they're working on getting that requirement rescinded.

So do I risk losing the abilty to fly LSA for my one shot at a flight in the F-4??

And if I get my ride I only want to do one thing......roll it!! That is if I haven't soiled myself during the take-off and climbout and have not been turned into a drooling idiot by the whole experience!!!!

Why do you have to have a medical? it's not like you're going to be flying the F4 for a living, right?
or is CF requiring that?

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All I did was press this red button here...

Originally the FAA told us that a Student Pilot's Certificate was adequate for Upset Training but anyone doing Initial course had to have the necessary credentials to acquire the type rating, even if they didn't plan on getting the rating.

The Class III medical is also a Student Pilot Cert.

After telling us one thing and approving the training course the local FAA issued our LODA to allow us to use the training program. It specifies that any student must have a license for class and category for all activities.

Medical is no longer specified.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Somehow I missed this thread the first time around. I was doing a thread search to see what the history of the Collings' F-4 was while it was on active duty ... have I missed that somewhere?

And say "hi" to Jive. I did some work for a mutual friend, Kooler, back in 02 and was lucky enough to accompany Jive for a sortie in the F-15D. He even let this C-130 puke get some stick time. That, of course, "did not suck".

Ken

And now the $64,000 question...................how much? Maybe if I have to ask, I can't afford it!

We have now gotten the F-4, TA-4, and Fi-156 added to our exemption letter. We no longer have to require people to have a license or medical to fly in the F-4 or TA-4. In both aircraft we offer a 1 day flight experience (a full day) to anyone who is interested. The cost of the program is $12,500 for the F-4 and $7,500 for the TA-4. In both cases you spend 3-4 hours in ground school, then get a 40-45 minute flight in the aircraft. We will start taking reservations in mid-September. All flight experiences will take place in Houston, TX at Ellington Field.

Those of us down here with the jets prefer to state it as approximately 1 hour start up to shut down. Semantics, I know, but there's a lot going on prestart, post start, and then post flight. We feel that is all part of the overall experience and shouldn't be discounted.

Just a slightly different perspective between Massachusetts and Texas ! Uh Oh,....Here comes Ken, gotta go !!

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

If you ever have a "50% off sale", let me know!

Rich

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

Love to Rich, if we just get some 50% off JP8 !

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Rick you are correct on the whole experience view. Part of the event is walking out to the aircraft, and climbing into the aircraft. Same on the way out.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

What is the rough breakdown of costs for the feel? I'm not really asking for specifics, but was just curious about how much of the fee for the Phantom was for the fuel!


This would rank right up there as one of the things I would want to do most in the world. However, I just graduated college and have only been working for 9 weeks... not gonna happen any time soon lol

How much for the Storch experience?

We typically load 1000 gallons at the local fuel price, so that is alwas a floating number. The rest goes to all of those expenses that makes an aircraft like this survive in the civilian environment.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Rick,

I think I know the answer to this but is the cost of any Collings Foundation "Flight Experience" tax deductible since the foundation is a non-profit organization? If that's the case, that's a discount of sorts. Way to go on making this program happen! Congrats to Jive on being "blessed" as a Collings F-4 IP.