Warbird Information Exchange

What a flyby!

Still doesnt beat the time the Tora Tora Tora act came to Connecticut, and that Friday, before the airshow the team must have been "showing off".

I heard the distinctive sound of those propellers and engines and ran out to the middle of my street with my dad. I was still in a towel, because I just stepped out of the shower. Though I got out there just in time to witness four all white "zeros" in a diamond formation strafe my street.

Truly amazing, to see them on the deck. I felt like I was at Pearl Harbor 60 years ago!

First, that was an amazing and I'd dare say dangerous fly-by. Performances like that are exciting to see but can have a detrimental effect on all pilots if somebody complains. Keep it at a respectable, safe altitude.

Secondly, on that Friday in 1996, I was almost in the rear seat of one of those Zeroes! We were handling the ground ops for the Bridgeport Airshow and I was offered the ride, but was too busy with incoming aircraft so one of my guys went instead!
Glad you liked the show!
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

My favorite is a time back in the early 90s when B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" with a P-51D tucked in off each wing unexpectedly buzzed the annual evening warbird picnic at treetop level. A stunning sight and sound that made it seem like we were in the ETO. The three of them then circled and made a nice second, higher pass...... but that first one is forever embedded in my memory.

Dennis

Very nice--but very risky if something goes wrong.

I'm confused about this clip, though. Are we looking at multiple shots of the same aircraft? Or (according to the narrator) is this a once-in-a-lifetime flyby of six F-18 pilots all named Michael?

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

DoraNineFan - It was one very risky flyby. Some of my fellow alums from Fort Worth made the trip to Navy for the game, and said the noise was ear-shattering in the stadium. Some up near the pressbox said the plane was lower than where they were sitting. I was told the pilot, a think a marine, lost his wings due to that flight.

That must've sounded fantastic! The tail hook was down, perhaps he was trying to set it down on the 50 yard line.

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I just wonder how much trouble the pilot go in. I can only imagine that he was breaking altitude limits for the fly past.

Anybody know?

-David

First of all...Yeee-hawww! A flyby worthy of the Fabulous (and Reckless) Fifties. Incredible that somebody'd pull this in modern times.

Was thinking the pilot must have been a Marine, as (from what I could hear) the announcer refers to him as "Major", which is not a Naval rank. I don't wonder he might've been grounded after so, er, entertaining a flyby. I do wonder, might he have been about to retire anyway, or be moved to a desk job, and this was a grand farewell? Would be interesting to know the whole story.

Wow...thanx for the link.

S.

My pleasure, SteveT - quite a sight, wasn't it!

TAdan - an interesting point regarding the tailhook. At the start of the film, it looked like he actually flew through the flag. If you stop the film as it passes the flag, when he banks hard right, it looks like he just barely missed hooking the flagpole with the hook. Maybe it is a depth perception distortion from where the camera was, or maybe just some great flying.

I think it would be interesting to hear from Randy Haskin regarding this flyby, since he flys comparable equipment and has probably done some flybys himself over the years.