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BillyVance

War bird rides?

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Can anyone point me in the right direction on any legit war bird ride outfits in the eastern VA, MD and NC area?

My father in law's 75th birthday is coming up. I suggested to my wife that maybe such a ride would be more enjoyable for him over a tandem jump (weird coming from me).

Thanks.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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None that I have personal experience with but if a T6 will do the trick these folks look like they have their act together. I saw adds for their helicopter tours when I was in NC but didn't know they flew a T6 at the time. Only downside, as with any warbird flights I've ever seen, pretty pricey.

https://www.obxairtouradventures.com/obx-warbird-rides

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I know the B-17 Flying Fortress nine-o-nine occasionally tours and can take passengers.

I got to ride in and jump from the bomb bay doors about 6 years ago when it came to Donnegal Springs PA

I don't know what their touring schedule is, but I know it's one of only a few B-17s that are still airworthy

Maybe look up nine-o-nine and see what's what
__

My mighty steed

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BillyVance

Can anyone point me in the right direction on any legit war bird ride outfits in the eastern VA, MD and NC area?

My father in law's 75th birthday is coming up. I suggested to my wife that maybe such a ride would be more enjoyable for him over a tandem jump (weird coming from me).

Thanks.



I have a friend with an N3 though I suppose that's kind of pre-war. It's a (branch of military that I can't remember, maybe navy) version of a Stearman.
I'll check around though, there are quite a few that fly for our air show, including some yaks. I'll ask Nick how to contact them.
But then, he might be picky about which side they were on.

edit: I know the Yaks are two seaters because they bring their wives along, but I'll check with Nick about any of the war birds he might know about that would fly a passenger. Then there's Dina's C-150 that I jump from occasionally. It LOOKS like it's been in combat.

yaksmoke.jpg

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OldGregg

None that I have personal experience with but if a T6 will do the trick these folks look like they have their act together. I saw adds for their helicopter tours when I was in NC but didn't know they flew a T6 at the time. Only downside, as with any warbird flights I've ever seen, pretty pricey.

https://www.obxairtouradventures.com/obx-warbird-rides



Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. And the prices are about where I expected them to be. :D
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Collings Foundation tour B-17, 24, 25 and P-51 will be on east coast August through Oct. VA and SC in October. This is the B-17 we jumped out of at Quincy. https://www.collingsfoundation.org/events/category/wings-of-freedom-tour/

B17 and 24 are $450. B25 $400 P 51 $2200 30 min, 3200 60 min.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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Phillbo

Not going to be cheap. I can't remember the exact amount but it was around 1500.00 for a P 51 ride at Oshkosh about 10 years ago. A thrill that was worth it though.



Yeah, a T6 is going to be good enough. It's all I'm willing to pay... :D
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Phillbo

*** P 51 $2200 30 min, 3200 60 min.



OUCH...

I flew an hour in the P51 "Crazy Horse 2" in Kissimmee. On the way out to the practice area the instructor asked if I wanted to take it easy or fly more aggressively. I replied "I've paid a lot of money; I want to fly the hell out this thing" - which we did; a lot of fun and highly recommended.
"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

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I was lucky. My brother's best friend out in CA took me up in his Extra 300L out of Watsonville and we played over Monterey Bay for about an hour. He let me take the stick for a while so I did everything I could think of. Barrel roll, back loop, hard banking turns, flew upside down, even did a stepped barrel roll or however you call it, rotate 30 degrees stop, rotate another 30 degrees stop and keep going all the way around back to upright. When I ran out of ideas, I let him take the controls back, and he showed me some new stuff. Geez, talk about some good G-forces!

When we got back on the ground, he asked me if I'd ever flown before. I said that was the first time I ever controlled the stick. He seemed surprised. I've never taken off or landed one at the controls though. B|

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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riggerrob

My favourite was the tail-gunner’s seat in a B-25 Mitchel bomber. My grin was wider than that wing-span!
We were using the B-25 to test-drop Aviator PEPs for Rigging Innovations.



See first trivia item: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065528/trivia
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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councilman24

Collings Foundation tour B-17, 24, 25 and P-51 will be on east coast August through Oct. VA and SC in October. This is the B-17 we jumped out of at Quincy. https://www.collingsfoundation.org/events/category/wings-of-freedom-tour/

B17 and 24 are $450. B25 $400 P 51 $2200 30 min, 3200 60 min.



that's awesome, how did you get the chance to make a jump out of it?

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BillyVance


Yeah, a T6 is going to be good enough. It's all I'm willing to pay... :D



I think a vintage training aircraft is a great option, not least because you're experiencing an aircraft in its classic configuration.

I've always thought it a shame (but obviously unavoidable!) that the only way to offer rides in a 'single seat' fighter is to use a two-seat variant of it. Although to me the P-51 trainer looks very similar to the single-seater - maybe because the cockpit was bigger to begin with - there's a Spitfire trainer that flies regularly out of my local DZ whose additional bubble canopy really spoils the look of that otherwise beautiful machine.

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Foundation for many years brought B17 and 24 or 25 to World Freefall Convention. $10 raffle ticket for 1 in 35 chance or pay $350 , ride price then. About 14 spread throughout cabin. All could go out bombbay but half of my load decided to go out crew hatch behind waist gunner.:S Bombbay doors opened underneath my legs. One of most memorable jumps.

Riding in it, or just touring B17, give you an appreciation for what bomber crews went through. Below zero cold, altitude requiring oxygen, large open gun ports (window) on sides, ball turret and tail gunner cramped stations. You watch movies and they aren't cold, hypoxic, scared shitless, and bored for hours. ☠

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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I've always wanted to try a jump through the bomb bay doors of a war bird, but alas, that opportunity never presented itself.

I DO, however, have TWO bomb bay door jumps through the floor of the pink flamingo Pilatous Porter of Drop Zone the movie fame.

You sat on the floor, and you didn't know when it was gonna happen, then the pilot pops the door and down you went. Loads of fun. The videos were hysterical. I've got a VHS tape somewhere of my load's bomb bay door exits. Thanks Mike Igo and Gold Coast Skydivers for the memorable weekend.

And for the classic line from the movie...

Pilot: "Geez Louise! Don't you think maybe you better go get him?" (after Jessie dumped tandem passenger Pete Nessip through the floor without her)
Jessie: "mmmmm, lemme put my goggles on first"

:D

Okay, I may not have the exact words right but here's the scene...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGcla1_O220

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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I jumped the Pink Flamingo at the Nationals one year.
No one told me about the bombay doors, and I didn't notice.
(I don't expect to see them on a single engine a/c.)
When I first say that scene in the movie, my reaction was: "WHAT??? That must be all CGI."
Only later I learned the doors were real.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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ryoder


When I first say that scene in the movie, my reaction was: "WHAT??? That must be all CGI."
Only later I learned the doors were real.



Real doors, but fake backdrop/ fall-away - through the use of what looks like some slightly dodgy chroma key work. However, it was the nineties so ropey special effects are permissible, and it's still a fun scene. :)
I'm not sure how I'd feel about sitting on the floor of a Porter that might open up and dump me a few hundred feet above the ground! Presumably there's a bit more to the mechanism than a simple lever that someone could lean on accidentally... :o

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They have to remove the floor panels to expose the bomb bay doors, which sit about, I don't know, 8-12 inches below the floor in the plane.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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BillyVance

They have to remove the floor panels to expose the bomb bay doors, which sit about, I don't know, 8-12 inches below the floor in the plane.



Neil is known for his sense of humor, if you know what I mean, and one time a first jump student sitting behind the pilot kept edging as far away from the open door as possible. Neil casually said "watch that door, it pops open sometimes."

Not a good idea.

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Bob_Church

***They have to remove the floor panels to expose the bomb bay doors, which sit about, I don't know, 8-12 inches below the floor in the plane.



Neil is known for his sense of humor, if you know what I mean, and one time a first jump student sitting behind the pilot kept edging as far away from the open door as possible. Neil casually said "watch that door, it pops open sometimes."

Not a good idea.

I forgot to add that on my second bomb bay door exit from the Pink Flamingo Porter... when Miami Mike, the videographer, played back the video in the video room with a bunch of people watching over him... the room erupted in laughter. I didn't have to see to know why... Everybody was pointing at me and laughing. When I dropped through into the air, I started flailing my arms and legs like crazy. Just the visual of it was hilarious.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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BillyVance


I forgot to add that on my second bomb bay door exit from the Pink Flamingo Porter... when Miami Mike, the videographer, played back the video in the video room with a bunch of people watching over him... the room erupted in laughter. I didn't have to see to know why... Everybody was pointing at me and laughing. When I dropped through into the air, I started flailing my arms and legs like crazy.



Well, Wesley Snipes did the same thing in Drop Zone. You could have just said it was a tribute. ;)

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MikeJD

***
I forgot to add that on my second bomb bay door exit from the Pink Flamingo Porter... when Miami Mike, the videographer, played back the video in the video room with a bunch of people watching over him... the room erupted in laughter. I didn't have to see to know why... Everybody was pointing at me and laughing. When I dropped through into the air, I started flailing my arms and legs like crazy.



Well, Wesley Snipes did the same thing in Drop Zone. You could have just said it was a tribute. ;)

I did it for real. Wesley didn't. :D
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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