Warbird Information Exchange

That biplane with floats at the beginning, is that the replica of the first Boeing and Westervelt seaplane thing (the real one of which came to NZ for its career)?

Or is it something else?

_________________
The Wings Over New Zealand Forum http://rnzaf.proboards.com

The Wings Over New Zealand Show http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html

Wings Over Cambridge http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz

Warbirdnerd.

Yes it is Bob Hoover standing in the cockpit of the borrowed CAF Mustang.

His 'show' Mustang was unserviceable...and he managed to get into and recover from an 'unscheduled inverted manoeuvre' that was as close as you can get and would have seriously bitten the then average P-51 display pilot. Pilots, that I was in the company of, were in awe at the recovery. I discussed this with him a couple of years later and he told me that at the edge of the envelope he was caught out by the slight differences between the two Mustangs.

...of course if this was a trouser/pants changing situation it might account for why he was standing up.

PeterA

Jerry,

Upset? Not in the slightest. At my age the pleasure of sharing far exceeds the annoyance of occasional abuse.

I have a fairly free and easy approach to stuff I send out or post. I only draw the line at commercial unauthorised use of my material. Provided the etiquette of crediting the source is upheld I think it unrealistic in this day and age to post on the internet then expect control 'ad infinitum'.

I loaned the 8mm reels and they were returned. What you see on Utube is an edited compilation of me flying with the two seat Spitfire with Don Plumb (later Bill Greenwood's), Transpo 72 in Washington, the first outing from Texas of the CAF and Airwar 74, Don Plumb's airshow in Windsor, which was the largest gathering of Warbirds at that time.

At Airwar I had total freedom to go anywhere and fly in anything with a second seat. Spitfire, P-40, multiple P-51, Wildcat, P-38, Avenger, Firefly. It was 'heady stuff' for a Brit in those times.

Don Plumb, a good friend. RIP.

PeterA

Prices for that are falling. The going rate here in the U.S. for a quite good frame by frame capture is currently about US$15.00 per 50-foot reel.

August

DaveH,

Transpo 72 Washington.

This was something like 35 years ago but from memory it was 'Boeing Number One'. A replica? - Perhaps. Although we were on the ramp, it was parked on the far side of the runway and I did not get the chance to take a still. I seem to remember that the first or proto Boeing 707 was flying also and this was all part of the Boeing presence there.

PeterA

Thanks Peter. Yes, it is a replica. The real first and second aircraft produced by B&W came to New Zealand for the famous Walsh Brothers Flying School at Kohimarama, Auckland. After the school closed in the 1920's the aircraft disappeared. Ever since there have been rumours that they, or at least one, were walled up inside a large network of military tunnels at North Head, near Devonport, just across the harbour from Auckland city. A good number of credable witnesses claimed to have seen an old biplane inside the tunnels in the early days. Some efforts were made in the 1990's to look, but as they're Government owned and reportedly full of stored ammunition, and/or likely to collapse, the team were given a strict time limit. They found there were bricked up walls everywhere from the days the tunnels were finally closed, and so had no luck. It's a neat mystery, the first Boeing aircraft would be worth a fair bit of money if it were found intact, safe inside a bunker.

The replica was constructed for Boeing's 50th Anniversary or something, and flew a while before going into their museum at Seattle (?)

_________________
The Wings Over New Zealand Forum http://rnzaf.proboards.com

The Wings Over New Zealand Show http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZ_Show.html

Wings Over Cambridge http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz

Glad all liked the video of Mr. Arnolds and thanks to him for letting me post this on Utube.

I have been very lucky in the last 2 years with the people of WIX and Flypast who have donated their video and images to me for the Jerry Billing web-site. Without their generosity the web-site would be pretty boring.

Also thanks to Peter Ball, Bob Swaddling and the Billing family for the video donations, I have received lots of positive remarks on the net world wide over the video's and its all because of their generosity.

Looking forward to the 2007 air show season to start filming again.

Cheers Dave Cheeseman