Just got back from a mini road trip with a few brothers and family up to Oregon to visit some friends for the fourth.

Took the slow road stopping here and there off the beaten path. One of the highlights for me was the Erikson aircraft collection in Madras OR.

There was a gentleman there giving us some of the rundown and stories on the planes. I believe he said most if not all planes there are still active and flown for special occasions or even a customer with deep pockets..

I’ve always thought these planes are cool as hell and to be able to walk right up to them with no barriers or hassle was awesome.

Pretty amazing machines and we sure did crank them out
how to have a strong mentality

What I wouldn’t give to see this bad boy fire up...




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PBY. My Dad flew as bombardier on those throughout the war in the Pacific. He was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Thanks for posting.

I bought, read, and loved his book, and I could be way off on the actual plane he flew...but I thought of Rocky Raab and his exploits when I saw this little guy.

Tiny 4 cylinder engine and held 12 gallons of gas

The whole affair was superb. Clean, not crowded,and just pure badass to be able to walk around and pore over those planes.

Also had several engines on display. Merlins and the like.. great big fire breathing monsters

Wish I had taken more pictures

Lots of uniforms and misc war art, posters and historical documents on display as well...

Did all the pics post for you guys or did a couple not work

Love those old warbirds! Thanks for the pictures.

The pics in your 2nd and 3rd posts are not coming through for me. The others look good.

The PBY was made right here in Fort Worth, TX. There are several ramps leading from the water to an abandoned airfield on the North end of Eagle Mtn Lake.
For a time, we had an air museum here too, called the Pate Museum. I’m not sure if it’s still operational? It may have moved to the southern end of Meacham Field.

The pics that did not post were probably too high in resolution. Reduce their pixel strength in “Paint”.

Thanks I’ll try to redo them

I've been to the Pate museum years ago. The old Patternmaker that taught me much of what I think I know about machining was allowed to go there and work on the machines. He made a lot of parts for them. He was restoring a 1903 Cadillac and he'd made parts for the one they had.

Great pics!

I've been to the Pate museum years ago. The old Patternmaker that taught me much of what I think I know about machining was allowed to go there and work on the machines. He made a lot of parts for them. He was restoring a 1903 Cadillac and he'd made parts for the one they had.

Beautiful pictures. Wish I could see the museum.

Got my pilots license in 1971. The museum had a wood & canvas high wing mono plane with a tiny engine. Sure wanted that plane. Can’t remember what it was called.

Looks like a military version Aeronaca.

Cool pics. Looks like a cool place.

Oh no. It's a Piper Cub I believe.

mentally strong

Jesus.

You found a gold mine.

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Plenty of other cool stuff too..

You’d dig it man.. no way not too

Thanks for sharing. Awesome pics

That was awesome era in aviation. Some countries were still using biplanes at the beginning of the war, and it ushered in jets.

I love the nose shot of Tangerine.

I live near Buckley. This morning a B25 flew by. I see old birds from time to time no idea what I miss. Wish I knew a source of what is coming

“Bristling” is the word that comes to mind...

I wanna ride in a mustang so bad

The Tillamook Air Museum is another good one in OR. It's in an old WWII blimp hanger.

An amazing era with amazing men. My dad was a WW2 vet and shortly before he started to have serious health problems he called me up and said that he saw a B17, B25 and P51 flying over his place (near the Livermore, CA airport). I thought he was losing his mind, so I drove over to see what he was talking about and sure enough, there was a warbirds show coming up and they were flying in the old WW2 planes. My dad loved B17s, so we grabbed my nephew and took them over to see the planes.

To say that my dad lit up being able to show his grandson the planes that saved the world, and explain what the dual 50 cals did in the back of the bomber, is an understatement. He could barely walk at this point, but he insisted on walking without a cane or walker right up to the plane and then climbed up the ladder into the guts of the plane to then show my nephew what the waist gunners did. Then he took my nephew over to the B25 to tell my nephew the story of my uncle being shot down in one and living on the run for months in the jungles of Burma.

The history is one thing, but passing on the stories is what makes it special. I think about it a lot, how my nephew grew up with stories of American pride, while today kids are being taught about our evils. It's not progress.

Great pictures! Esp of your Dad and your nephew!

Thanks for posting.

Saturday was a nice day here in the Mid Atlantic so flew the Archer up to Mifflan County PA for the monthly EAA breakfast. Nice turnout with maybe 40 planes but no "warbirds" but there was the plane that every Naval and Marine Aviator started on was there. I realize that I've never flown an open cockpit plane. I need to remedy that.

I saw Merle Gustafson flying Angel of Okinawa at an air show at Barksdale AFB. A truly gifted pilot flying a superb aircraft.

They had a PT-17 there and it was being taken out on a flight.

The gentleman who I was talking to explained that perspective pilots had 10 hours of flight to prove they had what it took to become a pilot.

That's still true, mostly. It turns out that 10 hours is just about what it takes to separate the could-bes from the never-wills. It takes most pilots right at 10 hours to solo - or not. And if you haven't by then, you probably never will.

Great photos of great planes, good sir. (And the plane I strapped on in combat is that one right under my name at left.)

The little airport I fly out of has a lot of warbirds owned by one guy who flies them regularly. He has two P-51s, a supermarine spitfire, a super corsair (the last one flying), and a bearcat. Another guy at the field has a Storch. Plus lots of other cool toys with wings or blades.

The Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville is also excellent.

Midland, TX had a nice one too.

Used to be called the Confederate Air Force.

Now they’ve changed it to the Commemorative Air Force 😡

We can’t have that name used anymore for fear of pissing someone off.

Naval Air Mueseum in Pensacola is a place you can wander for hours and wonder at the planes. Highlight for me is SBD divebomber that survived the Battle of Midway and the Pearl Harbor attack and was rescued from Lake Michigan. Stand by the planes and see if you can hear their whispered stories of days gone by.

The EAA is about to start here in Oshkosh , I hear there will be a C-130 stopping by and F-14's keep doing flyovers. The Warbird flyovers are pretty impressive, especially when you can watch them from your boat.

So I wasn’t even close 😂

Thanks RR

Well I remembered what that wood & canvas plane was at the Pate Museum:

Badass, Cert! Thanks for sharing.

The Pima Air Museum in Tucson has a nice collection of warbirds and historical aircraft. I recommend going in the late fall to escape he summer heat.
Paul B.