Paul Allen on 60 Minutes tonight

[Baldeagle]

Says it's going to show some of his "toys", mostly about his book of course




-

[67N20]

A brief shot of him and the interviewer in a hanger, the Mig29 was the most prominent plane to be seen.

[Baldeagle]

Leslie Stahl told him that he reminded her of Howard Hughes




-

[JohnTerrell]

Yeah, I personally didn't understand that connection she was trying to make...not much lines up there. Besides the actual featured interview, I found the follow-up 60-Minutes 'Overtime' special on their website a bit interesting, though again, there is no real coverage/talk of his aircraft collection in the interview, besides a general view of the FHC hangar.

[tom d. friedman]

he sounded pretty bitter toward gates. leslie stahl's hughes comment / comparison was just about predictable. talk about grasping for straws.

[bdk]

How many records has Paul Allen set in aviation (besides spending maybe)? Does he even have a pilot's license? Produced any movies?

[The Inspector]

Years ago someone described Bill Gates' drive and ambitions as being like 'standing in front of a firehose'. Allen feels that he was booted to the curb by Billy G. and Steve Balmer.

I find it oddly interesting that both Allen and Steve Jobs, while having more money than god both suffer from incurable physical ailments. Like the old Kansas song 'Dust in the Wind' said 'and all your money not another minute buy..'

He might not have a pilots license, but he has managed to gather and save a large number of pretty significant airframes from the beercan factory, and unlike some other mega collectors (like Ron Pratt), has made them available to the great unwashed to be able to see them actually flying, not just keeping a patch of over buffed cement from sliding around in a closed building in an out of the way place.

[k5083]

As financer of SpaceShipOne and part winner of the Anzari X prize, his name will forever be associated with an event that may someday be seen as comparable in significance to Bleriot's channel crossing.

That does not make him Howard Hughes, but even though not a pilot, he has aviation visionary cred and "his" plane hangs right there next to Spirit of St. Louis.

Can't help wondering, though, whether there was a more subtle subtext to Stahl's observation, relating to PA's apparently increasingly crotchety nature as expressed in his book? He has sometimes been called "reclusive," but not so much lately.

August

[P51Mstg]

In aviation, everyone does what their unique set of skills allows..... Not everyone can be Doolittle, or Bud Anderson or his former buddy (CY)....... Some have to work with what they have. Paul Allen happens to have pockets as deep as as the Marianias Trench. Better he spend it on what he has than build a new mega mega yacht about the size of a WWII aircraft carrier. For the record according to sources close to Bill Gates, Bill considers aircraft TRANSPORTATION and thats it...........

Mark H

[tom d. friedman]

As financer of SpaceShipOne and part winner of the Anzari X prize, his name will forever be associated with an event that may someday be seen as comparable in significance to Bleriot's channel crossing.

That does not make him Howard Hughes, but even though not a pilot, he has aviation visionary cred and "his" plane hangs right there next to Spirit of St. Louis.

Can't help wondering, though, whether there was a more subtle subtext to Stahl's observation, relating to PA's apparently increasingly crotchety nature as expressed in his book? He has sometimes been called "reclusive," but not so much lately.

August

well put!!

[JohnB]

He might not have a pilots license, but he has managed to gather and save a large number of pretty significant airframes from the beercan factory, and unlike some other mega collectors (like Ron Pratt), has made them available to the great unwashed to be able to see them actually flying, not just keeping a patch of over buffed cement from sliding around in a closed building in an out of the way place.

Amen!
Like it or not these are historic artifacts that helped win a war against some very bad guys. (I say that as a taunt to those few guys here that see the US military as bad guys ).
They are not like new Ferraris or Rolls...expensive trinkets with no real historic importance. Or even historic race cars...as much as I love the cars, I can't quite rate the Ford - Ferrari wars at Le Mans with the same global importance as WWII.
Warbirds need to be shared...

Cheers to guys like Allen and Weeks who share their treasures....rasberries to a few others.

[bdk]

That does not make him Howard Hughes, but even though not a pilot, he has aviation visionary cred and "his" plane hangs right there next to Spirit of St. Louis.

Who sponsored the Spirit of St. Louis? It sure wasn't the city of St. Louis! Even Wikipedia doesn't list the sponsors (I know, not authorative, but apparently not that memorable).

I almost remember that the flight was in pursuit of the Orteig prize (whover that was).

No question in my mind that Lindbergh flew it!

[The Inspector]

Orteg was an immigrant New York Hotel owner who first put the $25K up @ a 1919 dinner for one E. Rickenbacker, a notable pre WW1 auto racer and failed automobile builder who went on to have some sucess against the German air force in the first world war, later he ran, with an iron fist, a smallish airline named EASTERN, and owned and ran a somewhat famous racing track in the upper Mid West that only had one event each year.

Later he apparently spent several days on a Pacific Ocean cruise in the mid 1940's (and tamping down his ideas about offering Trans Pacific routes alongside Pan Am) where he learned to mingle with the native seabird population, and learned that if you put a Seagull and a clay building brick in the oven @ the same time, the brick will be tender sooner, and taste better

I believe the RYAN was purchased in the name of the city of St. Louis, by a group of bankers and big shot business guys in STL.

[JohnB]

Orteg was an immigrant New York Hotel owner who first put the $25K up @ a 1919 dinner for one E. Rickenbacker, a notable pre WW1 auto racer and failed automobile builder who went on to have some sucess against the German air force in the first world war...

Just be be clear, Rickenbacker failed as an auto builder (along with hundreds of others) in the 20s...after his wartime fame.
Not a bad car, one of the first with four-wheel brakes. In the period, most cars only had barkes on the rear-wheels only.

[P51Mstg]

If I recall Capt Eddie didn't do a really good job with Eastern Airlines either. But it was OK after he left until Frank Borman got his hands on it. If Frank flew as bad as he ran Eastern, he'd have been dead before he completed his first preflight as a student pilot.

Fame does not equate to business skills.

Mark H