Take off

[Fabio]

Scan from old slides. Late '60s
Aviano AFB Italy
ciao
Fabio

[[email protected]]

I assumed these pics were from Aviano as soon as I saw them. I was there
briefly a couple of times during this very period, as a military dependent,
and still remember the cut of the mountains in the background!.

Brian

[Fabio]

Hope you had a good time
ciao
Fabio

> ha scritto nel messaggio
g.com...
>I assumed these pics were from Aviano as soon as I saw them. I was there
> briefly a couple of times during this very period, as a military
> dependent,
> and still remember the cut of the mountains in the background!.
>
> Brian
>

[[email protected]]

The bad part was that I got there from Rome (where I was living at the time)
to have the medical personnel at the Base evaluate the case of Hepatitis B I
had contracted. Obviously, I got over it, though I was flat on my back in
bed for 63 days straight during the school year, and after my return to
school was a good year getting my strength fully back.

The great part was how I got to Aviano. My Dad was a rated USAF pilot
stationed at a pointless little "flight service" unit at Ciampino Air Base
outside Rome after doing a year in Vietnam. There were two USAF C-47s at
Ciampino, and he was able to fly me up there and back twice in the one his
unit could use to log hours and get monthly flight pay.

THAT was fabulous! A bucket seat in a shaking, vibrating and noisy WWII
era aircraft looking out the window at the R-1830 and Ham Standard prop
scant feet away, plus a few stretches where I got to take the controls in
the pilot's seat as we headed North. And the absolute best part was sitting
on the engineer's fold out jump seat just behind and between the two pilots'
seats as we made a steep descent and landing approach, then touched down on
the runway with those dramatic mountains off to the left. THAT's why I
remember them so vividly. The sight is really burned into my memory.

The two flights up and back in the C-47 were almost worth getting sick!
They were never-to-be-forgotten journeys the way flight was meant to be
experienced, versus the antiseptic, sardine can misery of flying commercial
today.

Brian

[Fabio]

Looks like the best part was worth the deal. I can't find a pic of the C-47
you probably flew but it should be somwhere..
Take care
ciao
Fabio

> ha scritto nel messaggio
g.com...
> The bad part was that I got there from Rome (where I was living at the
> time)
> to have the medical personnel at the Base evaluate the case of Hepatitis B
> I
> had contracted. Obviously, I got over it, though I was flat on my back in
> bed for 63 days straight during the school year, and after my return to
> school was a good year getting my strength fully back.
>
> The great part was how I got to Aviano. My Dad was a rated USAF pilot
> stationed at a pointless little "flight service" unit at Ciampino Air Base
> outside Rome after doing a year in Vietnam. There were two USAF C-47s at
> Ciampino, and he was able to fly me up there and back twice in the one his
> unit could use to log hours and get monthly flight pay.
>
> THAT was fabulous! A bucket seat in a shaking, vibrating and noisy WWII
> era aircraft looking out the window at the R-1830 and Ham Standard prop
> scant feet away, plus a few stretches where I got to take the controls in
> the pilot's seat as we headed North. And the absolute best part was
> sitting
> on the engineer's fold out jump seat just behind and between the two
> pilots'
> seats as we made a steep descent and landing approach, then touched down
> on
> the runway with those dramatic mountains off to the left. THAT's why I
> remember them so vividly. The sight is really burned into my memory.
>
> The two flights up and back in the C-47 were almost worth getting sick!
> They were never-to-be-forgotten journeys the way flight was meant to be
> experienced, versus the antiseptic, sardine can misery of flying
> commercial
> today.
>
> Brian
>

[Fabio]

Sorry but I cant find the C-47. Here is one of the first C-130 arrived in
the early 60s in Aviano
Fabio

"Fabio" > ha scritto nel messaggio
. ..
> Looks like the best part was worth the deal. I can't find a pic of the
> C-47
> you probably flew but it should be somwhere..
> Take care
> ciao
> Fabio
>
> > ha scritto nel messaggio
> g.com...
>> The bad part was that I got there from Rome (where I was living at the
>> time)
>> to have the medical personnel at the Base evaluate the case of Hepatitis
>> B
>> I
>> had contracted. Obviously, I got over it, though I was flat on my back
>> in
>> bed for 63 days straight during the school year, and after my return to
>> school was a good year getting my strength fully back.
>>
>> The great part was how I got to Aviano. My Dad was a rated USAF pilot
>> stationed at a pointless little "flight service" unit at Ciampino Air
>> Base
>> outside Rome after doing a year in Vietnam. There were two USAF C-47s at
>> Ciampino, and he was able to fly me up there and back twice in the one
>> his
>> unit could use to log hours and get monthly flight pay.
>>
>> THAT was fabulous! A bucket seat in a shaking, vibrating and noisy WWII
>> era aircraft looking out the window at the R-1830 and Ham Standard prop
>> scant feet away, plus a few stretches where I got to take the controls in
>> the pilot's seat as we headed North. And the absolute best part was
>> sitting
>> on the engineer's fold out jump seat just behind and between the two
>> pilots'
>> seats as we made a steep descent and landing approach, then touched down
>> on
>> the runway with those dramatic mountains off to the left. THAT's why I
>> remember them so vividly. The sight is really burned into my memory.
>>
>> The two flights up and back in the C-47 were almost worth getting sick!
>> They were never-to-be-forgotten journeys the way flight was meant to be
>> experienced, versus the antiseptic, sardine can misery of flying
>> commercial
>> today.
>>
>> Brian
>>
>
>
>

[Nicholas Bodley[_2_]]

On Wed, 13 May 2009 23:08:43 +0000, bdoneill wrote:

> The two flights up and back in the C-47 were almost worth getting sick!
> They were never-to-be-forgotten journeys the way flight was meant to be
> experienced, versus the antiseptic, sardine can misery of flying
> commercial today.

You remind me of the TWA trip from NYC to LAX (with a refueling stop in
Denver) in (iirc!) a DC-7 in 1955. I had enlisted, just graduated from FT
(Fire Control Tech) school in Bainbridge, Md., and was assigned to the
U.S.S. Eversole, DD-789. She was home-ported in Long Beach (amazing, huge
floating crane at the shipyard, back then).

I sat near the wing root, and the hours of noise and vibration were, in
all, rather difficult. Ofcourse, the flight took longer, too. Back then,
there was still some of the sense that flying was something special, and
the crew had a sense of pride in being part of flying.

Regards,

nb
who saw no action, only Taiwan patrol

[[email protected]]

Fabio:

I will have to check with my father (still alive in his 80s) to see if he
has any photos of the C-47s at Ciampano.

Brian