1943 person flys 1942 airplane
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
7
Trip End
Apr 02, 2006
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Aldan is a retired chief pilot for Caterpillar. His hobby is restoring planes--he has 3: a Stearman biplane, a 60s Beechcraft and his pride and joy a 1941 AT-6. This plane was used in WWII and again in Korea as the last fighter trainer just before 18 year olds earned their wings and went off to war. Only difference between this plane and the fighters themselves is that the AT-6 has 2 seats--one right behind the other.
Aldan is now 87 years old--same age my dad would be were he alive. He is spry and very clear of mind. Still flys the thing like a fighter plane (see my pics taken during a wingover when I asked to photograph the ground. We did all of our flying between 3000 and 4000 feet to stay VFR (visual flight rules) since clouds were thick from 4K up.
At one point Aldan wanted to take me by to see his friends house--so we just dove from 4000 feet right down to the deck and flew right over his friends roof before pulling up.
This is a powerful plane with a 650 hp motor. It cruises around 270 mph and reaches 350-375 in a dive.
Aldan found the plane disassembled and reconditioned it better than new. Everything is 1041 stock accept some of the avionics.
Aldan let me fly it out and back when I was not taking pictures which was really fun. The challenge was holding the camera (no place to put it in the spartan cockpit) while using the stick. Took awhile to get the feel and not porpoise up and down alot.
Our other days in Tulsa have been busy and fun. I am learning to turn pens from Tom and Chrissie and Marilyn are working on some jewelry making.
Weather has been very cold and variable. Had some severe warning--tornados--rain, some light hail and snow is predicted for tomorrow. Looks like it may clear on FRI so we will start home then.
We decided against going home the northern way--Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, etc since snow has closed roads--all of the East/West interstates in Kansas were closed today, for example. Instead, we plan to go to Dallas, then down to I-10 and home via Tucson, AZ and Yuma, AZ.
Thats it for now. Enjoy the pictures.
