Warbird Information Exchange

Thanks for the info. Afraid that's a LEETLE out of my range.

Mudge the frugal

Hey Steve,

You sure that's not NZ$2,000?????

G'day

Not sure if this was already posted.

Campbell Aero Classics

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Casey got his training from me, his dad. Casey started warbird flying at the age of 6, his older brother was 9. We traveled to airshows in a TBM Avenger. We all had flying suits, fire bottles at every station. We practiced emergency situations, followed the interstate when we didn’t have open fields to land in. We had a plan and accepted the risks for the enjoyment that we had planned , and all this had to satisfy there mother, and it did. By time he was 12, he built the wire harnesses for the F2G and F4U-4. He is a good welder, riveter, and engine mechanic, his dad was and A&P instructor. That picture of Casey was for two reasons. One, to evaluate noise canceling head sets to modify our helmets. Bose always said they were going to make one but after calling them many times, they have cancelled the program not the noise. The other reason is I wanted a picture of his face because that is his 2nd flight as PIC in a tail wheeled airplane, yes , he earned his tail wheel endorsement in a P-51. His dad has been a tail wheel instructor since 1968. Squadron/signal publication (6160) has a picture on the middle of page 7 of USN Aircraft Carrier Air Unit Volume 1 1946-1956 that I have always been fond of and wanted to redo in the Navy aircraft that I fly, that is the reason for the picture of me in the Hell Cat. I have considered risks my whole flying career, 31 years as a successful crop sprayer, skydiver instructor, glider, sea plane and helicopter flying. Look at the background in every one of those pictures. Its harvest time, the ground was hard, the whole world was an airfield for us to use, and we were prepared to, and right now!! We have a lot of features added to our airplanes that gives us an early warning of things that are going amise, this would have saved friends and airplanes. A lot of warbirds and other planes are flown out of airports and over terrain that the risk is so much higher than what is in that picture, even with helmets and a firetruck following you on the ground. It quits, you crash, your choice!! A good debate is honorable, you know who we are obviously, you could have called and discussed the situation before making negative remarks about us. My parents taught us, if you cant say anything good about somebody, don’t say anything at all. Robert O.

Amen Bob!

My father and his brothers (thus my uncles) never flew with helmets (save the USN fabric one my Dad used to have) and yet they flew anything from a L-5 to a T-28, with no accidents and nothing serious to report.

When I fly with my Dad, I put my helmet on, even if I'm sitting in the right seat in the Focke-Wulf or the back seat with in the Pilatus. Anyhow, I don't feel like one of us is more at risk without one, I'm now preferring the helmet over standard earphones and I can't do without the visor.

By thw way, do you still have that trebuchet of yours...

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

I remember about 10 years ago listening to a guy complain that helmets should NOT be worn during warbird photo sorties because it ruins the authenticity of the presentation.

I remember that they used to announce during Bob Hoover's P-51 show that he wore a helmet not because his show was dangerous, but because he wanted to retain what little was left of his hearing.

Anyhow, I used to wear a hardhat when flying my Stearman. Looked kind of silly, but it was quieter and it helped to keep my hair from being pulled out by the roots. Didn't help in the long run though, it's falling out anyhow.

I've just been reading this thread after Dad pointed out that his accident at Duxford had been brought up.

Below are his comments or the facts from the "horses mouth"...

Dad was not wearing a helmet when the T6 accident occurred. He was wearing (as he always does) his WWII leather helmet. What broke the side canopy was the plastic earpiece when his head hit the side panel.

Dad has worn a helmet in the past, but he now flies in what he feels comfortable in.



Yes, the shoulder harness was secured. As Tim says, even with straps secured, you can still bounce around the cockpit.

Glenn

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True! I've *personally* damaged a T-38 canopy with my *head* while in the back seat on a student BFM sortie. No matter how well you think you're strapped in, a 2G negative jink will make your butt lose contact with the seat and your helmet make contact with the plexi!

I have decided to weigh in on this topic since I fly quite a bit. Some days I will fly up to 8 hours and have 12 customers in the front seat. We are not going to give them a helmet since they just walk up and pay for a ride. It would be distasteful for them to be handed a headset and me to be wearing a helmet in the back.
We also fly here in hot, sunny Florida and believe that a comfortable pilot would make better decisions in an emergency than one all dressed up in plastic and nomex and exhausted from dehydration and overheating from flying all day, day after day. It doesnt fit our mission as Steve had put it earlier in the thread. Plus, I look sexy flying around in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
We do wear parachutes with static lines and always fly at a safe altitude depending on airspace and conditions. Saftey is our biggest concern.
I will wear a helmet when the flight and mission fit the need.

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Live to fly, Fly to live.....

I am hip to your arguments regarding reasons for flying in David Clarks, hawaiian shirts, and shorts, on every point but the above one. That argument sounds to me a lot like the old "I don't want to wear a seatbelt so that I can get out of the car quickly in case of a crash".

I also fly only about 100 miles north of where you do. I wear the full set of flight gear -- Nomex flight suit, G-suit, (sometimes) survival vest, 69-pound back parachute, HGU helmet and mask. I fly 2-3 times per day in the south GA summer heat/humidity...however, I also have to endure 45 minutes of student preflight and ground operations time on the tarmac and in an open cockpit with zero air conditioning (gettin' sweaty, anyone?). My sorties are all most all athletic workouts, with 6-7G loadings for 2-3 minute duration between 4 and 5 times per mission. It's a butt-kicker, and I'm really drained when I get home for the evening. BUT, all those factors don't ever hinder my ability to fly the airplane or handle an emergency. C'mon...even my 200-hour students who are task-saturated with the training are (usually) able to handle EPs and unusual situations while dressed up.

Dehydrated? Take a water bottle with you...I do, and so do most other fast movers. It's all what you're used to. I'd bet a Bennie Frank that if you started wearing full military protective gear all the time you'd not even notice it after 10 or 20 hours. Besides, if that emergency that you're talking about being able to hande "better" had anything to do with smoke/fire in the cockpit, any sort of out-of-control where you were exposed to high positiveand negative G, or one in which you had to get out of the airplane, I'll bet you wouldn't be so calm and cool in your beach gear and flip flops.



Not busting on your choice at all (because I think your other points are valid), but I just think that lase one's kind of a B.S. reason.

I've had a cockpit fire in my Mustang in the summer.......glad I had my nomex (& the fire was put out quickly). I've had a canopy almost depart on the Mustang in the summer..........glad I had a helmet (I held onto the canopy with my left hand most of the time). The helmet in the Mustang doesn't do anything to reduce noise, I use earplugs. ANR headsets are a bit better than the helmets, but not by much.
My 2 cents.......
VL

Vlado, you got that right. No matter how hot it is in the summer (and I'm only in Montréal), I fly with either my flying suit or natural fiber pants. And the helmet doesnt reduce the noise anywhere, even in the helicopter I wear plugs.

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

I use the CEP earplugs with my helmet from Flightsuits.com. They're the size of normal foam earplugs, but with a miniature electronic speaker built in. Really simple, and a huge improvement in sound quality. You insert the earplugs, then plug a small wire in the back of your helmet. No bid deal, very comfortable, and the best sound quality you can have in a warbird.

Vlado, I look forward to seeing you this summer with the rest of the Hoppers (Brutsche, Paul Wood, Dan Sullivan) to renew ACE cards.

Steve