Grunt and new friend

[1oldracer]

You meet the nicest people over at the gas pump.

[garage gnome]

That's awesome!

[calvinhunt]

Wow! Great pic. �How did that airplane fuel perform in your Jeep?

That photo really caught my attention. �Your Jeep really looks great. �

I've loved old flat fender Jeeps since I was a kid and I wasn't much older than that when I owned my first plane like the one in your picture. �The plane is a C-45 (Civilian version is a Beech 18 or Twin Beech). I could probably find a few pics if I started digging. �

Believe it or not, that plane is about the same age as the Jeep.  Again, great pic.  A vintage Jeep and a vintage plane.

[1oldracer]

Hi Calvin,  The AV gas really works great.  It worked a lot better about six weeks ago before it went up a dollar a gallon.  It's 5.60 a gallon now at this FBO.  There is an FBO in Livingston , Tx that still has it for 4.25 a gallon.  I'm thinking about loading my van up with gas cans and driving over to get some of that.  I just haven't divided the highway miles into the mpg and added up the savings etc. etc.  The self service pump in the picture is just about 80 yards from where Grunt lives so it is hard to pass up.  Cost aside, the 100LL is habit forming.  It will last 8 months or longer in the tank or can and the exhaust smells like perfume.  The C-45 lives here year round.  It belongs to the Confed (whoops) Commemorative Air Force and is flown and maintained by one of the FBO owners on the airport.  This is a great place to live if you like WWII aircraft.  There are two B17's (the Texas Raider and the Thunderbird) that come up here to do touch and goes every month.  They are next on my list for Willys - Aircraft photo ops.  There will be an airshow practice for the Tora Tora Tora planes next week so that should be fun if you like the sound of a couple of dozen radial engines warming up.  Right now there is a Grumman Albatross over getting fuel.  Makes the cost of filling up the Jeep seem fairly reasonable.  

[calvinhunt]

Okay, 1oldracer, now you've done it. �With that response you've really stirred up my vigor. �I had to dig out some pics to share. �At the same time I was restoring my CJ-3A I was restoring a 1944 Willys MB WWII Army Jeep for a friend. �He is a retired Air Force pilot (we met in the Air Force during the Vietnam war). �He made a career of it and I stayed just for one hitch. He is currently a member of the CAF Utah Wing. �We restored his Jeep to the original hood number and we put our unit number on the bumpers. �It fits because our unit number, 379th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force, was a WWII unit as well. �Here is a pic of his Jeep the day we first drove it from his shop to the front of his house. �




When you mentioned your photo op with a B-17 I remembered we had done that a few years ago. �The B-17 may be one of the ones you mentioned because it was flow in from somewhere else. �There isn't a B-17 in the Utah Wing of the CAF.






I dug a little deeper and located a couple of pics of the Beech D-18 I had when I was not much more than a kid. �I had just returned from Vietnam. �My older brother and I decided we were going to go into the flying business. �He was an instrument rated flight instructor and I was a new A & P mechanic with a commercial pilots license. �We had each owned a few smaller planes but here is a photo of our first Beech 18, N61J (They are his kids). �




And here is a pic of our second Beech 18 we picked up about a year later, N79R (I'm the proud owner on the lright). �I know somewhere we have a photo of both of them, Romeo & Juliet, together, but can't find it just now. �




As far as the avgas in the Jeep; I always fill my tank with avgas before wintering my Jeep. �I just park it in the garage for the winter, except for a short drive about once a month to keep parts lubricated. �As you said, the avgas stays perfectly good for months and gets me through the winter with no problems. �

Thanks for your fun posts. �And, I do have lots more old (and new) airplane pics but this is a Jeep site. �Jeeps, airplanes; my two favorite machines. �

You say Grunt lives just 80 yards from the 100LL fuel pump. �Well, my Jeep was reborn at the airport and returns there for service regularly. �

[johnrb3b]

And, I do have lots more old (and new) airplane pics but this is a Jeep site. �Jeeps, airplanes; my two favorite machines.

Yes, this is a Jeep site
But
Many, if not most, of us have related interests as well. Tractors, stationary engines, airplanes, boats, camp trailers, bicycles, motorcycles, the list goes on. All of those cool, OLD things have a following amongst the membership here. That's why we have the misc categories (Rambling Malarky and Non-Jeep Projects) in the forum structure to give those related interests a place to be shared. Some day I'll have to post some pictures of my 100+ year old, shaft drive bicycle.

To be honest, my favorite thread these last several days has been Garage Gnome's "new" Titan tractor. Oh, if only I had the space, time, money, energy, etc. I'd be collecting too many old things.

You've got more pictures of old airplanes? Bring 'em on.

[1oldracer]

Hi Guys,  Thanks for indulging us with our airplane pictures.  Calvin, no wonder you perked up when you saw the C-45. I bet your two families had a ball with the Beech-18's.  Your B17 pic is of the Nine-O-Nine out of somewhere back East (as we say here in Texas).  She was here at our avionics shop for a coupe of days last year.  I've been thinking about how our Jeeps, and other older things like old airplanes, tractors, engines, etc. are so enjoyed today.  I wonder if it is not just the fact that an average guy can still own them and work on them and make them something to be proud of.  I know the only people on the airport who are having any fun are the RV (homebuilt) guys.  Thanks again everyone for letting me straddle topic categories.    

[gmcjr]

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!

[athawk11]

Love the vintage aircraft...and the vintage photos.  Thanks for sharing.  My Grandfather was a recon pilot in the Air Force during WWII.  He was stationed in the Philippines.  He loved airplanes.  As a very young kid, we would regularly go visit the Grandparents.   It was part of my ritual to look through all his picture books of vintage aircraft.  

Your photos bring back good memories.

I miss him.

Tim

[Matto]

Calvin,
 ï¿½ � � � � You should write a book or at least publish your memoirs. Your stories are great!
Matt

[calvinhunt]

Matt,
 ï¿½Thanks for the compliment. �Yes, I'm grateful to have had many unique and enjoyable challenges and opportunities during my life. �Most of them have come from my involvement in aviation--and this is a Jeep forum. �I love my Jeep and I love coming to this forum to read about Jeeps and their owners who have become my good friends.

 ï¿½And thanks to 1oldracer who started this thread with a photo of his beautiful Jeep and the proud old airplane it was photographed with, which gave me reason to post my pics and comments.

[1oldracer]

Rather than start another thread with airplanes in it, I thought it would be best to just finish up this one since I have "clearance to taxi" on this one all ready �:) I thought a good title would be - What happens when you don't secure the border!!

�
The Tora Tora Tora guys were getting in a little airshow practice. �

[johnrb3b]

Wow, cool.

[calvinhunt]

[size=12]That's really an impressive feat for one little Jeep to round up and secure so many enemy planes. �Congratulations are certainly in order.[/size]

[1oldracer]

Thanks, after all he is a USMC "Grunt."  He surrounded them