The good old days of airshows...

[Neal Nurmi]

All sorts of things would turn up at air shows back in the day.

This young lady was trolling for a Mustang ride. She got her ride, dressed just like this...

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[Xray]

That B-23 never did really fly a lot at any of the shows I remember. Here's one of the few decent shots I have.

I always thought it was a really good looking airplane, especially in the air...

For sure can see alot of B-17 in the design, tail/stabilizers looks almost lifted from the 17, along with the cockpit layout.
Is obviously a bit more boxy looking, probably to give it a few extra square ft in the interior.

[JohnB]

For sure can see alot of B-17 in the design, tail/stabilizers looks almost lifted from the 17, along with the cockpit layout.
Is obviously a bit more boxy looking, probably to give it a few extra square ft in the interior.

But..

The B-23 predates (ff. 1939) the B-17E (ff. Sept 1941) which introduced the big tail.
The B-17s that were around during the B-23s development had the smaller "shark fin" vertical stabilizer.

[Mark Allen M]

Chino and POF has all my best memories. Oshkosh does as well when I was young. But Chino was always like a kid in a candy store for me. I used to feel like I could walk anywhere around the airport. When my dad would come out to see me from Michigan we would always fly down to Chino from Santa Barbara for the day walking around looking at stuff. When the Hintons where around they were always more than happy to get dad up in the cockpit of either their hellcat back then or the Corsair. Dad always had plenty of war stories to tell sitting up there. The POF folks always remembered dad and went out of their way to greet him even during their air shows. I’ve stayed a POF donor ever since.

Great photos Neal

[hurricane_yank]

Great photos...please keep sharing!

I went to shows when I was really young around the Midwest with my father but the first show I have an actual memory of was Kalamazoo in 1992 and the Doolittle Reunion they hosted along with Tora Tora Tora and then capped off by a night show...what a day for a youngster.

[Neal Nurmi]

Thanks to all. Scanning this stuff has been fascinating for me. So much water under the bridge in the last 40 years. It's interesting to remember when I was younger, and all this was new to me (both the airplanes and the trying to figure out how to take useful pictures). I sure thought it was all a lot nicer than the military chickens##t, broken and torn young bodies and strange tropical diseases that had been my experience in the years preceding my discovery of cameras and Warbirds. This was a LOT more fun.

In the mid 1970s most all the flying B-17s were working girls. I still remember how excited I was to find out that there actually were still flying B-17s! Chandler was too small and B-17 hours too valuable for them to take an active part in the shows, but they were allowed to make a pass or two over the air show on their way to or from a job...

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[sledge39]

"Load and return" at Hemet (HMT) 29 Nov 1980

Returning for a reload while working a fire

Tanker 65 N5237V
Tanker 22 N207EV

JD

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[JohnB]

I saw 23 and another at Boise in 1980.
One of my photos of the pair are in the latest editions of The Final Cut.

[Neal Nurmi]

Here are a couple more from Madera California, about 1980. I think that's probably Bob Love flying the Tigercat. Mike Bogue was involved with both of these airplanes.

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[Neal Nurmi]

Spectators, parachutists, gasoline trucks, and big airplanes all sharing the same space...

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[ZRX61]

I just can't participate in them anymore. I remember when you could stand 30 feet from a warbird and watch it start up and feel the thunder.

At my last one, marshalling was done by little Civil Air Patrol cadets and there was one little führer taking his task way too seriously. Better not put a toe over that line.

Duxford around 1990, P47 backed up to the crowd line fence at about 45 deg. Woman wearing a white jumpsuit standing directing in line with the rudder, maybe 6ft from it. Was *suggested* (3 or 4 times) that she might want to move before it fired up. Gave quite an attitude about "I can stand where I want on this side of the fence"
She left in gray jumpsuit with black spots... oh how we laughed

[ZRX61]

All sorts of things would turn up at air shows back in the day.

This young lady was trolling for a Mustang ride. She got her ride, dressed just like this...

Dagnabbit, I think I worked on that P47 (unless there's two with that checker pattern?). There weren't any boobies or tuna rides involved

[Stoney]

Reno 1975, my first time there. I think that's Jeff Ethell in the cockpit with Frank Tallman.

Bob Love flew the F7F most of the time.

[Hooligan2]

Duxford around 1990, P47 backed up to the crowd line fence at about 45 deg. Woman wearing a white jumpsuit standing directing in line with the rudder, maybe 6ft from it. Was *suggested* (3 or 4 times) that she might want to move before it fired up. Gave quite an attitude about "I can stand where I want on this side of the fence"
She left in gray jumpsuit with black spots... oh how we laughed

Bunch of us standing close to one of Jeff Hawke's B-25s when he was about to start it at Cranfield in 1979 - I can still hear him shouting at us to get clear as there would be a lot of oil heading our way shortly!

[sledge39]

Chino 10 July 1971 ...

B-23/UC-67 N777LW

Not an airshow...just starting on a trip to somewhere ...
All those people got into the airplane and flew away ...

sledge

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