I know that our society is youth focused and many tend to ignore the elderly but it's sometimes worth it to engage in conversation, you can learn some interesting things.
I was in a hobby shop in San Diego to buy a gift for my son and there was an older gentleman that looked like he was in his late 80's to early 90's. He was looking at a big, beautiful and exceptionally detailed model of an old Curtis biplane prominently displayed and I took to admiring it also and mentioned how exceptional the model was and the old gent said thanks as he was the one that built it. I was really impressed with the detail and asked him where he got the information for all the details and he said from memory.
I was really impressed now and we talked quite a bit and just before he left he claimed not only that he had flown the plane but that he had traps in the plane, on board the USS Macon (ZRS-5), one of the Navy's two flying aircraft carriers (the other being the USS Akron) in 1935. He was aboard when Macon crashed. I looked at the shop's owner and he knew I wasn't sure if I was being had or not but he pointed to a picture on the wall of a young Naval Aviator in front of an F9C and it sure looked like him. This guy had to have been one of only a dozen or so Naval Aviators that had traps on a dirigable and I didn't even get his name.
