Flying Low Friday

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 05/10/2019 at 10:35 • Filed to: Planelopnik, wingspan

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Now, that would have been something to see. And hear. A B-36 Peacemaker buzzes the beach at Galveston ca. 1948.

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 10:38

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Galveston tx., not Galveston ca.

Just saying.

/s

//sending this to my dad, the biggest B-36 nerd I know

Goggles Pizzano > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 10:54

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O bligatory.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 11:07

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I’m now imagining a weird alternate history thing with B36s converted to low insertion B-25H style bombers and snickering. If an A-10 is unnerving to see over a hill after *not* hearing it coming, this would be a whole other kind of disturbance - a hum turning rapidly into a roar into deafening thunder, and a *literal* “aluminum overcast”.

ttyymmnn > Goggles Pizzano 05/10/2019 at 11:52

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Darkbrador > Ash78, voting early and often 05/10/2019 at 11:54

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Little known fact, Circa is the 51st state.

Nothing > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 11:54

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My dad said they startled a few people (farmers mostly) when they did low level  flight training in B17s. I really need to get the old photo album from whichever family member has it now.

ttyymmnn > Nothing 05/10/2019 at 11:56

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I’d love to see some of those photos. 

Goggles Pizzano > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 11:58

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Nothing > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 12:03

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My dad didn’t talk much about the war itself, a story here and there. Most of his WWII stories were about his stateside training. The train ride from Washington to Florida, turret gun training, riding in the back of a truck while shooting skeet, stripping and repainting the planes.

I do wish that his crew member that found our family had found my dad when he was still alive. He found us about two years after my dad died and shared a lot of stories with us. I would have loved to see the two of them get together!

ttyymmnn > Nothing 05/10/2019 at 12:08

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While we wish they had told their stories, we have to respect their desire not to retell or relive what must have been a pretty horrifying experience. My father-in-law retired as a colonel in the USMC after enlisting out of high school. It did a tour of Korea and two tours of Vietnam and never spoke about it. When he was bedridden with cancer in the last weeks of his life, I did get a chance to sit quietly with him and he told a couple of stories about commanding a fire base and working with native irregulars. But that was about it. He was quite a guy, and he died before any of our sons were born. I wish they could have met him. He was really special.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn 05/10/2019 at 13:16

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One of my favorite memories is 4th if july weekend, standing on the beach berm at low tide, watching 2 a10s pass over the surf lineup at wave top  height. And when I say wavetop I mean they were @a wingspan above.

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 05/10/2019 at 13:55

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That would have been something to see.