The Most Beautiful Thing Ever

Does the Piper Cub and all of its avatars compete for being the most
beautiful thing ever ?
It's a legend and it's wonderful to fly (and a bit nasty to land), but I
wouldn't say it's beautiful !

Piper Cub.

Subject: The Most Beautiful Thing Ever
From: "Yann D"
Date: 10/26/03 4:42 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Does the Piper Cub and all of its avatars compete for being the most
beautiful thing ever ?
It's a legend and it's wonderful to fly (and a bit nasty to land), but I
wouldn't say it's beautiful !

Piper Cub.



Cubs were beautiful because they were there.I think every American airbase had
one or more. They were used as "puddlejumpers" to run errands. When you had to
run down to a parts depot to pick up some small parts, you took the Cub. When
a couple of guys had a three day pass to Paris, you didn't take a B-26, you
hopped in the Cub. Unfortunately some hot shot fighter jocks borrowed one of
our Cubs one day and eneed up crashing into the Alps while trying to run the
tight passes through the Alpine gourges. Anybody can fly a cub except a
fighter pilot who thinks he is a lot better than he really is.I think for many
of us who flew in the war, Cubs will always be a fond memory. And that is
beautuful in it's own sense. So we can say Cubs are beautiful. But the most
beautiful of all is a B-26 Marauder coming home from the Ruhr Valley, war
weary,with one engine pouring oil, smoking and barely turning that crash landed
so badly damaged it had to be junked. It's beautiful because it it brought its
entire crew home safely And that is true beauty,


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Trump! My first child, born 12/28/1961.

George

Gordon wrote:

Porsche 550 Spyder with Halle Berry in the passenger seat, dressed for the
Oscars.

Beat that.


G

"Yann D" wrote:
Cub Driver wrote:

Piper Cub.

Does the Piper Cub and all of its avatars compete for being the most
beautiful thing ever ?
It's a legend and it's wonderful to fly (and a bit nasty to land), but I
wouldn't say it's beautiful !

Nothing beats a military jet fighter and it really doesn't matter
which type because they're all extremely beautiful machines.
But the problem is that only a small fraction of the human race
actually gets to fly a fighter. Even then, all good things must come
to an end and before they know it, the lucky *******s must
join the rest of us lowly humans stuck down here on terra firma.

Thus, when it comes to flying machines, I have to agree with Cub
Driver and in my view the "most beautiful thing ever" is whatever
I myself happens to be flying at the time!

Granted, a Cub (or in my case, a Trike) is nowhere near as impressive
looking as that neato warbird or the Concorde you see parked on the
ramp at some big fancy airshow. But Cubs, Trikes and other affordable,
fun little airplanes weren't designed for spectators and wannabes to
drool over while standing around with cameras in hand, wearing
sunglasses and lip balm to protect their noses from the hot sun.

Cubs, Trikes,T-Crafts, Luscombes, Lancairs etc. were designed for
active participants who wish to engage in some SERIOUS recreation.
Afterall, if you ain't flying it yourself, who gives a rat's ass about
that multi-million dollar F-16 screaming by overhead?

Now please excuse me...gotta' fly!

Subject: The Most Beautiful Thing Ever
From: George Shirley
Date: 10/26/03 5:59 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Trump! My first child, born 12/28/1961.

George

Gordon wrote:

Porsche 550 Spyder with Halle Berry in the passenger seat, dressed for the
Oscars.

Beat that.


G



That is easy to beat. A Stinson stretcher bearer plane taking a badly wounded
aircrew member who can't be treated at the small hospital on our airbase to a
large hospital in London for care. Just watch the Stinson lift off with one of
your aircrew in the stretcher, clear the pattern and head for London to save
the life of one of our own. That is true beauty.

Simon Robbins wrote:
"Scott Ferrin" wrote in message
...

Linda O'Neil (DAMN!)

Who?

http://lindaoneil.com/portfolio/lon02.html

Her.

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

(Autocollimator) wrote:

Subject: The Most Beautiful Thing Ever
From: George Shirley
Date: 10/26/03 5:59 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Trump! My first child, born 12/28/1961.

George

Gordon wrote:

Porsche 550 Spyder with Halle Berry in the passenger seat, dressed for the
Oscars.

Beat that.


G



That is easy to beat. A Stinson stretcher bearer plane taking a badly wounded
aircrew member who can't be treated at the small hospital on our airbase to a
large hospital in London for care. Just watch the Stinson lift off with one of
your aircrew in the stretcher, clear the pattern and head for London to save
the life of one of our own. That is true beauty.

Yea, really tugs at the heartstrings! Gosh.

Grantland

Subject: The Most Beautiful Thing Ever
From: (Autocollimator)
Date: 10/26/03 11:08 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Subject: The Most Beautiful Thing Ever
From: George Shirley
Date: 10/26/03 5:59 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Trump! My first child, born 12/28/1961.

George

Gordon wrote:

Porsche 550 Spyder with Halle Berry in the passenger seat, dressed for the
Oscars.

Beat that.


G



That is easy to beat. A Stinson stretcher bearer plane taking a badly
wounded
aircrew member who can't be treated at the small hospital on our airbase to a
large hospital in London for care. Just watch the Stinson lift off with one
of
your aircrew in the stretcher, clear the pattern and head for London to save
the life of one of our own. That is true beauty.



Sounds like you have some military WW II flying experience. Were you aircrew
or a paddlefoot? Where did you fly, what and when? Let us know.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

(Grantland) wrote:
(Autocollimator) wrote:

That is easy to beat. A Stinson stretcher bearer plane taking a badly wounded
aircrew member who can't be treated at the small hospital on our airbase to a
large hospital in London for care. Just watch the Stinson lift off with one of
your aircrew in the stretcher, clear the pattern and head for London to save
the life of one of our own. That is true beauty.

Yea, really tugs at the heartstrings! Gosh.

I recall landing a Cessna 206 once on a mud strip on the vast
Navajo Indian Reservation (bigger than the state of New Jersey!)
to pick up an almost-dead-beat-to-****-drunken Navajo Indian who
had been rolled the night before.

Throughout the 157 nautical mile flight from Chinle to
Albuquerque, I'll never forget the stench of stale, cheap whiskey
mixed with old, caked-on blood that permeated my cabin.

IIRC, he died on the gurney enroute, but of course for "CYA"
reasons the ACLS nurse declared that he died on the ground while
the paramedics were wheeling him from my airplane to the waiting
ambulance.

It certainly wasn't the patients laying in the stretchers -- it was
the spectacular Rocky mountains and Southwestern U.S. scenery
that tugged at my heartstrings.

Signed,
Still waiting for the hooded coward to take off his "anonomator"
Halloween mask and reveal his real name....

Yea, really tugs at the heartstrings! Gosh.

I recall landing a Cessna 206 once on a mud strip on the vast
Navajo Indian Reservation (bigger than the state of New Jersey!)
to pick up an almost-dead-beat-to-****-drunken Navajo Indian who
had been rolled the night before.

Throughout the 157 nautical mile flight from Chinle to
Albuquerque, I'll never forget the stench of stale, cheap whiskey
mixed with old, caked-on blood that permeated my cabin.

IIRC, he died on the gurney enroute, but of course for "CYA"
reasons the ACLS nurse declared that he died on the ground while
the paramedics were wheeling him from my airplane to the waiting
ambulance.

It certainly wasn't the patients laying in the stretchers -- it was
the spectacular Rocky mountains and Southwestern U.S. scenery
that tugged at my heartstrings.

I wonder if we have flown for the same outfit. They used to do a lot of 206
flights around the reservation there. I have done some 206 flights into
Chinle...

I have done air med flights into Chinle too, not one of my favorite locations,
but they do have a paved runway now though. Taking a 414 into Zuni at night,
now thats interesting.


Ron
Pilot/Wildland Firefighter