The old guys at the airport

dmcummins · 07-08-2013, 01:56 PM

Well actually most everyone at the local airport is older. Dan is 89 and has a 1941 C-47 he picked up in Israel, well actually his wife bought it for him. He use to fly for Ozark back in the day and his wife was a stewardess.

He took a tumble last year getting out of the plane and broke a few bones and was pretty much home bound for a year. He had to retake his drivers test and said it only took him 5 tries and ended up taking it 100 miles from home.

Anyway, today was the day he was going to fire up the old girl and do a few takeoff and landings.

Well the batteries were a little weak so they found an old tug and jump started her.

Unfortunately the brakes locked up in about 75 feet. I guess the floods this spring might have gotten into the drums.

dmcummins · 07-08-2013, 01:58 PM

There is no way I would get in that old plane and go up with him. But I hope he gets the chance to fly her again.

motion · 07-08-2013, 02:05 PM

Nice story on the plane, but.... uh.... he has an FAA medical?

motion · 07-08-2013, 02:11 PM

And speaking of old guys at the airport... there are a bunch of em here in Red Lodge. They have some cool planes, like taildraggers, biplanes, WWII AF fighters, etc. But.... they all take off and circle the airport all day, like within a half mile. Seems kinda pointless to me. And I love planes. Annoying, too.

dmcummins · 07-08-2013, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

Nice story on the plane, but.... uh.... he has an FAA medical?

I don't ask. He use to take the plane to air shows from time to time. And I think he hopes to do it again. When he goes he takes his 78 year old buddy who I know has a medical, or I hope so as he was my instructor last year and I hope to get my instrument rating from him this fall.

dmcummins · 07-08-2013, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

And speaking of old guys at the airport... there are a bunch of em here in Red Lodge. They have some cool planes, like taildraggers, biplanes, WWII AF fighters, etc. But.... they all take off and circle the airport all day, like within a half mile. Seems kinda pointless to me. And I love planes. Annoying, too.

Some do that here and I don't get it either. Maybe they don't trust their planes to go very far. Most here will fly down the river a ways and then buzz the field and land. But with all the farmland around there are plenty of places to put down if you had a problem.

porwolf · 07-08-2013, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmcummins

There is no way I would get in that old plane and go up with him. But I hope he gets the chance to fly her again.

And I hope he was only allowed to fly over completely uninhabited areas!

dmcummins · 07-08-2013, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porwolf

And I hope he was only allowed to fly over completely uninhabited areas!

This airport is in the middle of farmland. And the plane will have to be in annual if they take it anywhere. Its out of annual now due to Dan's injury's, the plane has basically just sat for the last year.

Tim Hancock · 07-08-2013, 04:18 PM

I think it is a great idea to go around the patch every now and then to keep the cobwebs out of the plane and the pilot.

john70t · 05:32 PM

That airplane has signifigant historical value.
I'd suggest a thorough going-over before any more flights, and have a co-pilot 'helping' execute the more dangerous phases.

Contact these guy because they've already been through it all (hanger burning down/pilots overreving/complete restorations/etc): Yankee Air Museum - C-47 Skytrain

bell · bell's Garage

I'm not a pilot but have flown..... I think the takeoffs and landings are the most fun .....that could explain why they do it lol

widgeon13 · 07-09-2013, 02:08 AM

I'm guessing if he used to fly C47's he can probably get it up and down w/o hitting the sea wall if ya know what I mean.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I ran into my old boss yesterday at the store. He used to be a instructor for C47s during the Korean war. He was in the Army Air Corps when it became the Air Force.

He went to work for the FAA back when it was the CAA. He is 97 now and he drove himself to the store. He had his pilots license until he was 92. He just did not bother to get it renewed. He has been flying since WW2. In all those years he never once had an incident or crash.

recycled sixtie · recycled sixtie's Garage

If the old guy with the C47/DC3 lives in the middle of nowhere, has no licence and the aircraft no annual then he has nothing to lose. What can the FAA do to him?

If the aircraft is not kept up mechanically then it's performance is compromised and the safety of the fliers is in doubt. The occasional buzz job/low flying would be fun though.

dmcummins · 07-09-2013, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

If the old guy with the C47/DC3 lives in the middle of nowhere, has no licence and the aircraft no annual then he has nothing to lose. What can the FAA do to him?

If the aircraft is not kept up mechanically then it's performance is compromised and the safety of the fliers is in doubt. The occasional buzz job/low flying would be fun though.

Who said he didn't have a license? He may not have a medical, I don't know. And the plane was in annual a little over a year ago, it needs a new one and I'm sure a few things here and there.
But it is suppost to be the oldest flying C-47 out there.

And Dan flew DC-3's for Ozark for years, I'm sure he has over 10,000 hours in them. He has some good stories to tell.

dmcummins · 10-19-2013, 02:04 PM

Well unfortunately Dan is back in the hospital getting his hip worked on. It is my understanding the 1941 C-47 is now for sale.

I can put you in contact if anyone is interested

. Id suggest a good pre-buy.

FLYGEEZER · 10-19-2013, 04:04 PM

Know that type of aircraft very will. Flew them in Vietnam 1967-68.They burn 100 gal./hr. Price of 100LL here is over $5.00 a gallon. Pretty expensive ride around the flag pole. But God bless 'em!