Warbirds
If you spend any amount of time at our home you will notice a strange phenomenon. Whenever certain sounds of certain airplanes can be heard, the men in the house suddenly, and without warning (because I'm not tuned into those noises all the time like they are), rush out the nearest door and stand gazing for the aircraft that is making the noise. What it amounts to is that the men of this family have a love affair with flying machines. Not always airplanes, sometimes helicopters, gyro copters, and hot air balloons. I have to admit, I do like them too, just not to the same degree.
The other day the phenomena struck and Caleb shouted from the deck "Mama! Mama! Get your camera!! Hurry! Hurry!" When I got out there he was shrieking excitedly about the airplane flying over,.jpg)
"It's a B-17! a B-17! I can't believe it!! It's a B-17!" And yes, it was a B-17! Despite the love affair that these men have with airplanes I still don't know how to identify them in the air like they do, BUT I do recognize an old warship like the B-17. Part of this is because I've spent LOTS of time in Aviation museums across the country, also because I love to watch old WWII war movies, oh, and also because I studied WWII in college.
It turns out that at a local airport there was an exposition of three planes that have made history.
I won't bore you with the details of how we spent the next two days at the end of the airstrip as the P-51, Mustang, B-17 , Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator took off at wonderful rumbling speeds right over our heads, but I will tell you... Wow! We had a great time! We got to tour the two larger aircraft and walk all over and around them. They are two of only a handful that exist in the world today, in working condition. Pieces of our history, tools of liberty. As we stood waiting for one of the planes to take off, Caleb said "Listen closely, this is a once in a lifetime chance to hear the sound of history." The huge rumbling sound this plane made wasn't a screaming sound like you hear in the fighter jets of today but a low, powerful rumbling. Just hearing one by itself was amazing, but to imagine an invasion where 200 of those mighty warships flew overhead would be a fearful experience. What a sacrifice so many made for our liberty.
The other day the phenomena struck and Caleb shouted from the deck "Mama! Mama! Get your camera!! Hurry! Hurry!" When I got out there he was shrieking excitedly about the airplane flying over,
.jpg)
"It's a B-17! a B-17! I can't believe it!! It's a B-17!" And yes, it was a B-17! Despite the love affair that these men have with airplanes I still don't know how to identify them in the air like they do, BUT I do recognize an old warship like the B-17. Part of this is because I've spent LOTS of time in Aviation museums across the country, also because I love to watch old WWII war movies, oh, and also because I studied WWII in college.It turns out that at a local airport there was an exposition of three planes that have made history.
I won't bore you with the details of how we spent the next two days at the end of the airstrip as the P-51, Mustang, B-17 , Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator took off at wonderful rumbling speeds right over our heads, but I will tell you... Wow! We had a great time! We got to tour the two larger aircraft and walk all over and around them. They are two of only a handful that exist in the world today, in working condition. Pieces of our history, tools of liberty. As we stood waiting for one of the planes to take off, Caleb said "Listen closely, this is a once in a lifetime chance to hear the sound of history." The huge rumbling sound this plane made wasn't a screaming sound like you hear in the fighter jets of today but a low, powerful rumbling. Just hearing one by itself was amazing, but to imagine an invasion where 200 of those mighty warships flew overhead would be a fearful experience. What a sacrifice so many made for our liberty.
That's very cool. I think it's neat when men and boys are "into" something, be it aircraft or whatever. I know NOTHING about planes and neither do our children. Josiah will probably be into computers and all that's connected to that. He would like to be a doctor someday. Gabe just wants to be on a swat team, so he can hit people with sticks and get paid for it. LOL!
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