Planes, Cars and stuff....

For a guy who grew up in the Sixties, the golden age of Muscle Cars, nothing beats a Classic Car Drive in.



On the third Saturday of the month a regular gathering is held at our favorite burger joint near our son's former H.S.

This particular July 4th weekend, 200+ classic American Metal beauties drove in.
The above '68 'Stang is owned by a HS buddie of Soldier Boy. It was the first car he had restored himself. His current project is a '72 Corvette. I myself owned and drove a 1968 Mustang Convertible for many years. It was the first car I bought myself, and remains my favorite set of wheels.

Below is the Holy Grail for all American car collectors, the Ford Shelby Cobra.
Basically they are a ton of engine residing in about one thousand pounds of sheet metal.
You should be required to have a pilot's license to drive one!












The Queen adorns her favorite, a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria, in pink of course.













Below is a perfectly restored 1964 Nash Rambler.
My best friend Duane owned one when we were in HS. We once crammed 13 guys in it, for a 'Road Trip' to see our HS football team play across town at Cental Stadium.
We were stacked in like cord wood.
His Rambler didn't have a suspension, just a mere hint of shock absorbers.
It took corners about as well as your average Radio Flyer wagon.













"I can see your blonde hair flying in the sun, got the top pulled down, Wayfarers on, Baby!"
(My apologies to Don Henley on that one, I couldn't resist!)












Below is a McDonnel Douglas F-4 Phantom Jet, the mainstay of both our Air Force and Navy in Vietnam. This particular jet was flown by a famous Ace of the era, Col. Olds.
Ironically I saw a special on his exploits on the History Channel shortly afterwards.
A good friend of mines older brother was flying a similar jet from the Carrier Independence in 1964, was shot down by a Communist SAM missle and spent over eight years in North Vietnamese prison camps.












We were privileged to visit the National Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio this summer.
This fulfills another long term goal of mine to visit some of the most impressive historical sites in our great country.

My sister in law Beverly, AKA 'Doctor Strangelove'
She had a great time careening about in this electric chair.
One of the highlights of our visit was watching her 'race' an elderly gent in a similar chair. "Hey Don, some old man is hitting on your wife!"
"That's OK as long as they don't hit anything!"












A Fokker TriPlane from WWI, the same model flown by the infamous "Red Baron" when he was shot down by an Australian machine gunner and killed, while chasing a young British Pilot.


















One of my favorite aircraft, the P-40 Warhawk.
This one has the paint scheme of the American Voluteers prior to our entry in WWII, the famous "Flying Tigers"












The Queen posing in front of the YF 12A, predecessor to the famous Blackbird Spy Plane, still the fastest jet in history. (Live nose art!)
She had, shall we say an altercation with said jet just minutes after this shot was taken.
Everthing ended up AOK, the slight cut over her nose healed nicely with no after effects.
They meant what they said when they told us to be careful in this particular hanger!