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More from vixyyfox
Tender Pirates - a Sky Boats series
And so the story continues. I will admit to learning things I hadn't realized or had forgotten and re-learned.
True story - at one of my many jobs (most of which all went out of business) an old mechanic came in with an album tucked under his arm. He politely asked if I wanted to see his picture book from the war. I said sure, figuring something from the 50's as he didn't look that old. It turned out he was in his seventies and had flown in the Martin Flying Boats during the Pacific campaign during WWII. He'd been shot at by Japanese Zeros and everything.
Flying boats were a large part of what went on in the Pacific (and all around the world for that matter). Low and slow they flew every kind of mission imagined. I even read an account of an amazing gun battle between an American flying boat and a Japanese flying boat.
I wish now I had copies of his pictures.
V.
True story - at one of my many jobs (most of which all went out of business) an old mechanic came in with an album tucked under his arm. He politely asked if I wanted to see his picture book from the war. I said sure, figuring something from the 50's as he didn't look that old. It turned out he was in his seventies and had flown in the Martin Flying Boats during the Pacific campaign during WWII. He'd been shot at by Japanese Zeros and everything.
Flying boats were a large part of what went on in the Pacific (and all around the world for that matter). Low and slow they flew every kind of mission imagined. I even read an account of an amazing gun battle between an American flying boat and a Japanese flying boat.
I wish now I had copies of his pictures.
V.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 75px
File Size 66.2 kB
*laughs... I met a PBY pilot once who told me they called them 60/60/60 because they took off at 60, cruised at 60 and landed at 60...
Years and years ago when I was young and up in Alaska, they had a crashed PBY way out in the middle of nowhere at a place where the town decided to make a small picnic area. There wasn't much left of it but the fuselage and wings were still there.
V.
Years and years ago when I was young and up in Alaska, they had a crashed PBY way out in the middle of nowhere at a place where the town decided to make a small picnic area. There wasn't much left of it but the fuselage and wings were still there.
V.
Alaska you say.... That's where Dad learned to fly some 70 odd years ago now. I know he has some flying boat time from a small homebuilt that a friend of the family built to a PBY in the right hand seat. As I remember most of his flying boat time is in Grumman Goose or Widgeons in Alaska. Mind you Dad didn't get his ticket till about 1960... By that time he had 10,000 hours or more
He was raised on the West Coast of Prince of Wales Island around Craig and Klawock. Grandpa Bennett was the US Marshal for the town when Dad was small. He learned to fly in a Bellanca WB on floats up there or at least that's what Dad thinks it was after I gave him a book about the Bellanca aircraft history, anyway that same design became know as the Pacemaker.... Dad had a place in Ketchikan also when he was in his 20s.
It's very likely Dad has flown for just about all of the old time (pre 1958) air charter services up there at one time. Along with doing chippy charters himself.
If Dad wasn't flying he was fishing up there.
If Dad had written a book before he had a stroke he would have had to change the names to protect people. He was flying booze from Prince Rupert B.C. when he was flying for Ellis.... I think he said he was 16 or 17 at the time... It helped he was 6'2" at the time.
It's very likely Dad has flown for just about all of the old time (pre 1958) air charter services up there at one time. Along with doing chippy charters himself.
If Dad wasn't flying he was fishing up there.
If Dad had written a book before he had a stroke he would have had to change the names to protect people. He was flying booze from Prince Rupert B.C. when he was flying for Ellis.... I think he said he was 16 or 17 at the time... It helped he was 6'2" at the time.
This brings back forgotten memories of Air Trails magazine and Bill Barnes.
(No I didn't read them when they were a dime) They were printing them in the 1970s when I was a pup and I got a copy along with Model Airplane news and balsa flying model with my allowance once a month or so.
(No I didn't read them when they were a dime) They were printing them in the 1970s when I was a pup and I got a copy along with Model Airplane news and balsa flying model with my allowance once a month or so.
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