I Love Airplanes Part 2

Remember the wonderful bi-planes flying over my house since Friday? We went to the airshow today. There was a nice breeze blowing with temps in about the mid to upper 70s. It was hot standing in the sun though. Drifting through the air was the yummy smells of hamburgers and hot dogs grilling. We didn't get any of those, but sure loved the smell. Can you get fat on the aroma???

Here are the pictures I took of the airplanes. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I loved seeing them up close today.

The above plane was a WW2 aircraft carrier fighter. Everything on it had been restored. I watch all the History channel documentaries on WW2 and am always in awe of these planes landing on the carriers. Today was the first time I saw the hook they catched the line with to stop them as they landed. I don't know if you can see it. It is painted black and white stripes under the numbers XE 0662 on the tail.

Yep, I was excited to be able to be so close to the planes as they took off today. These are the ones that were flying on Friday and Saturday over my house.

This plane said it carried mail at one time (see the picture below where you can see it on the tail of the plane). The pilot flew the plane from the open cockpit. The mail, other cargo or passengers sat in inside where the two doors are open (see above and below pictures). The interior was very nice, all wood. There was a telephone inside for the passengers to communicate with each other and the pilot.

There were several of these planes below - Cessna's 195. They were manufactured from the late 30s until the late 40s. Cost was $6000 back then... alot of money then, alot of money now! Oh! but so nice looking inside. The plaque said it was like sitting in your living room in one of these and inside the sound was quiet.

Ok, I forgot what was said about the above plane... I sure love the red though.

This plaque accompanied the plane below, another Cessna 195. So gorgeous!

More bi-planes taking off. There was a lot of private planes taking off also. It was a beautiful day to go flying.

I really do love the red, especially when it is paired with white.

In the picture below, the plane in front lands on water. There were a few with pantoons on them at the airshow, some Pipers from back in the 30s even. This one had done a lot of flying in Alaska.

The bi-plane pictured below is just like the ones that were flying over my house. These are the kind that the WASPs took their training in during WW2. WASP stands for Women Airforce Service Pilots. They were the first women to ever fly military aircraft. They did not fly in combat, instead they ferried all size of military aircraft from base to base here in the U.S. Many lost their lives during their service. This is a really fascinating site to go to learn more:

http://www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/

There are tons of pictures of the women in training and serving our country and lots of information on that website.

This was my favorite plane of all. Yes, red and white. I took several pictures up close, I hope you can see the details.

A fun plane below. We went to the airshow with our friend Bruce (he's looking in the cockpit of my favorite plane above). He has his private and commercial pilot's license. He said this VW Bug one does fly. It says 'Spirit of San Diego' on the door. My Dad's cousin helped build Charles Lindbergh's 'Spirit of St. Louis' here in San Diego in May of 1927. Mr. Lindbergh used it to fly the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris. It took him 33 hours and 30 minutes. We have pictures of my dad's cousin working on the plane in family photo albums.

And yes, there were antique cars and a couple of antique tractors at the show. I am saving the pictures I took of the cars for another day. That's Jerry standing by the John Deere. Both of our dad's grew up on farms, I am sure they rode on these type of tractors many times.