Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: MachFly on June 07, 2009, 08:41:02 PM
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I met Col. Bud Anderson Today!!!
I can't believe this happened. I don't think I was so nervous talking to anyone in my life.
(http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/417/dvdcovers.jpg)
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2231/budanderson.jpg)
P.S. Thanks Mbailey, if not for you I would have never been there.
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Cool! I bumped into Bob Hoover back in 2006 in Washington DC. Literally. I was making way for a large crowd of folks coming through the lobby of one of the airport FBOs as he was rounding a corner. I turned around to apologize and there's a grin under a straw hat looking back. Had an opportunity to talk to him for 5 minutes or so before he was shuffled off into an awaiting 20 series Lear. Very nice guy and everything I have for an honest aviation hero. A true airman :salute
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Met Bud about 10 years ago. Glad to hear he is still out there.
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Cool! I bumped into Bob Hoover back in 2006 in Washington DC. Literally. I was making way for a large crowd of folks coming through the lobby of one of the airport FBOs as he was rounding a corner. I turned around to apologize and there's a grin under a straw hat looking back. Had an opportunity to talk to him for 5 minutes or so before he was shuffled off into an awaiting 20 series Lear. Very nice guy and everything I have for an honest aviation hero. A true airman :salute
Hoover seems like a guy that you could talk to for hours. Here is a clip from Wiki that I would love to ask him questions about.
"Bob Hoover learned to fly at Nashville's Berry Field while working at a local grocery store to pay for the flight training.[1] He enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard and was sent for pilot training with the Army.[2] He was sent to Casablanca where his first major assignment of the war was test flying the assembled aircraft ready for service.[3] He was later assigned to the Spitfire-equipped 52nd Fighter Group in Sicily.[4] In 1944, on his 59th mission, his malfunctioning Mark V Spitfire was shot down by a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 off the coast of Southern France and he was taken prisoner.[5] He spent 16 months at the German prison camp Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany.[6]
He managed to escape from the prison camp, stole an Fw 190, and flew to safety in the Netherlands.[7] After the war, he was assigned to flight-test duty at Wright Field."
He stole a frikkin' FW-190!! A couple minutes with him is just not enough.
It would be great to meet Bud Anderson, btw, I am envious of both of you.
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I have been fortunate enough to have met both of these fine men.
Mr. Anderson was a joy to talk with, and I know the feeling of stumbling over your tongue in his presence.
Bob Hoover all but lived in Reno for many years, in conjunction with the Reno Air Race Association. Not only could he fly that P-51 like nobodies business, but for years he did an energy management demo with a Shrike Commander that was just beyond belief.
Never saw him without his straw hat unless he was in plane, and he would stop to talk to anyone, anytime, except once he told me he was on the way to the restroom, and if I liked, we could talk on the way.
Not that it makes me world famous, but I stood on his right while in the restroom.
You will not believe what your eyes are seeing in this video....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp2Uc9XvmjY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp2Uc9XvmjY)
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I have a feeling that they may pass away before I ever get the chance. I hate to think that some many of them will be gone before I even get on with my life. Makes me wish I were born a generation earlier...though I wouldn't have all these awesome electronics. :D
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Absolutely wonderful that Bud is still at large. A big :aok to him!!!
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Bet you liked the Spitfire 18 eh, machfly? :)
I was surprised, but that by far was the most badass sounding aircraft there. The Griffon is a real monster. Beautiful too.
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Bet you liked the Spitfire 18 eh, machfly? :)
I was surprised, but that by far was the most badass sounding aircraft there. The Griffon is a real monster. Beautiful too.
That was the 2nd best thing at that airshow, after Bud Anderson. lol
Did you see the way that Spit climbed, just like a modern jet. :O
I spend about 20-25min total time walking around the aircraft, it was beautiful. I could not believe they opened the cockpit, I was talking pictures of everything in there.
I can be talking (typing) about how much I loved that spit for hours, but I just don't have the time right now :cry lol
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Was that Beasley's Spitfire? His toybox is a couple hangars down from ours. Watching it go on a normal takeoff and comparing it to where a P-51 is at that point makes you realize it's everything a Mustang wishes it was and more. Very cool growl as it comes around the hangars and quite a sight when it goes.
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Was that Beasley's Spitfire?
It might have been Beasley, not sure. This is the plane:
(http://www.airshowbuzz.com/files/photo/gallery/photos/orig_2724_20fba.JPG)
(http://www.airshowbuzz.com/files/photo/gallery/photos/orig_2724_fbc84.JPG)
(http://www.airshowbuzz.com/files/photo/gallery/photos/orig_2724_4fceb.JPG)
His toybox is a couple hangars down from ours.
Wait, your hanger in near his?!?! :O
Watching it go on a normal takeoff and comparing it to where a P-51 is at that point makes you realize it's everything a Mustang wishes it was and more. Very cool growl as it comes around the hangars and quite a sight when it goes.
If P-51 would have had a Griffon engine in WWII it would have probably been my favorite, not the spitfire (also 2 radiators).
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Thats his. Quite the beast :aok
Our hangar is full of working mans airplanes. Our 45, a pair of Citation IIIs, a Westwind and a Cheyenne. No toys just yet...
My toy of interest just got put into a box and shipped off to Romania a couple weeks ago. :( Fortunately the owners are already shopping for a replacement that is much more practical :D