Warbird Information Exchange

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“With bottomless pockets...anything is possible”

Chris, I *COMPLETELY* agree on that score, and frankly the idea of some schlub making hundreds or thousands of dollars off of the signature of a living individual is utterly repulsive to me... why not pay the individual if it's worth that much to you? They could probably use it, particularly if it's one of our WWII veterans.

When I had the opportunity to meet Gabby back in 2001, he was charging 10 or 20 bucks for his autograph, and I did not have the slightest problem in paying him... I had him, Felix Schacki and Frank Klibbe sign my P-47 Walkaround book, and wouldn't sell it for anything. I don't blame people one bit for getting wound up about someone selling THEIR autograph and profiting off of it- yes, even CY. There's a right way and wrong way to go about that, though...

Lynn

Well could you just give it to me then?

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Curator - EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, WI
"Let No Story Go Untold!"
http://www.timelessvoices.org

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“With bottomless pockets...anything is possible”

Just go on the collect space forum to see all the issues on Armstrong signatures. A guy even wrote a book on the subject!
A pal of mine who was really bucking to become an astronaut and would have made it had he not had a minor heart condition that will see him to old age but kept him from space told me, "If I'd had made it, after I flew first time I would have refused to sign an autograph ever again and drive up the prices among the space fans... Then, I would sign a crap load of stuff and doal it out myself on eBay one item at a time and retire off that." And you know, if he became famous enough, it might have worked.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Reminds me of that scene in "The Right Stuff" where Gus Grissom says he's gonna take up a roll of dimes and some other nicknacks on his Mercury flight.

I once went to a Star Trek convention...


<waits for laughter to die down>


..where William "Kirk" Shatner and Leonard "Spock" Nimoy were the guest speakers (it was the 25th anniversary of the original series.) During the Q&A period, a guy in the audience stood up with an original "cel" from the Saturday morning cartoon version of Trek, and ask them to autograph it for a friend's kid supposedly dying of cancer or something. I couldn't believe he seriously expected them to buy that BS..he was obviously trying to exponentially increase its value as a collectible. The actors politely declined, saying such requests had to go through their agents. I can understand celebrities or persons of historical significance not wishing others to profit from using their names, but I think CY has gone a bit overboard (although if a company implies that he has specifically endorsed one of their products then I have to admit he has a case.) Last year a decal maker released a set of P-51 decals that included a fictional Mustang named "Amorous Len" flown by a "Capt. Reager." However there were some unexplained "extra" letters in on the margins of the sheet, allowing the modeler to build a certain historically accurate P-51 without the decal makers getting sued...

SN

Yeager is not a saint or perfect. I have been very fortunate to have been treated nothing but nice from the Yeagers, and that is all I can comment on. I will say that from 2001 to 2005 I worked for an airline at an international airport. I had the chance to run in to alot of celebs, sports stars, and such. I can sum it up and say that I saw people who have done next to nothing in life, act way worse than what is described here. That is not a defense for it, mind you, but just a thought. One thing though, you don't have to like the man, but you can't take away his accomplishments.

P.S. One of the nicest, most polite, and down to earth people I ever met workingat the airport? Hands down Jessica Simpson. No where near the dumb blonde she appears to be on TV, and she handled some airline screw ups with alot of class.

Bigest A hole I ever met-a tie between Clay Aiken and that guy from the Subway commercial.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

I was stuck in an elevator in LA once with JS and she was nothing but sweet, funny, and nice.

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

well I have read all this stuff, and in the big scheme of things, at the point where a company used the name of CY to promote a product, the man should have received just compensation-of which we are in agreement.
CY being an Alpha Hotel, I wonder has anyone ever asked him why he's being such an a ss (outside of the lawsuit thing(s) ).

I had a boss a long time ago, a former Marine Corsair Pilot, a co-worker and I generally stood out-front of the ATC facility I worked at burning one before going up into cab, and Al would come out of the office every morning headed to a morning meeting. Don and I always said good morning Al, and he would huff as he walked by.

Then one morning as usual, he walked out the door and as he was passing us, I elbowed Don and said F*@k you Al. He huffed and continued walking toward base operations and got half way across the parking lot, turned and with a contorted face all screwed up said "WHAT?" I restated my greeting of the morning and explained "we've been saying Good Morning Al for about 3 months just wanted to know if you were deaf, now we know you just don't give a s**t; good morning Al.
Al was an A ss, and he did at times have a sense of humor and great Marine stories.

I imagine that CY is/can be an A ss and at times has a sense of humor. In the end we all die; its just a matter of how.
The remark about the headstone, that was awesome.

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

The word on the street (sounds like a bad '40s film noire line is that CY is being led around by the nose (or another body part - much futher south!) by his "new" and significantly younger wife. Apparently she is/was a low grade "B" movie actress, and her MO is to sue everybody for anything she thinks she can make a off of. If that's true, it's pity to see someone who has done so much for aviation to come to this sort of thing, especially in thier later years.

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"Thou shalt maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground reach up and smite thee."

That's the word I heard too. Supposedly she orchestrated CY suing and getting sued by his own kids a few years ago because they believed she came in and was trying to gain control of all his money and their inheritance.

One of the nicest celebrities I've ever met is R Lee Ermey. I was on his show, "Mail Call" in 2005 and I've never met anyone so in tune with the fans. The man literally dropped what he was doing to talk with people on the set and pose for a couple of photos. Real class act and one of the funniest people I've ever met!

Sounds like what happened to famed RR photographer O Winston Link in his later years, the guy was practically a prisoner in his own home: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link#Later_life

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Is it true that the Gunny owns many of the items used on the show.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

My opinions of CY aside, I'm going to comment on the below -



I hereby quote my Facebook post after meeting the man -



And the fuzzy photo of me sitting with him.



I've also had the distinct pleasure of meeting some very fine veterans and a few celebrities over the years, but I will say that the two famous people that surprised me the most (in a good way) were Vince McMahon (yes, that Vince). Very quiet, very humble in person (daughter Stephanie and husband Paul were very nice too) and the "king of sleaze" Jerry Springer.

Nope, very much NOT true. The Jeep and most of the props they used on the show are still owned by co-creator and producer Rob Lihani.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)