Green Bay to Host '25 Draft!

Mondio

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anytime the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels are around, I'm a happy guy. Toss in a couple old War Birds, just the sound of 2-4 big radial engines roaring thru the sky gives me goose bumps every time just hearing it.

The B17 and P51 are probably my all time favorites to see and hear, but the last photo of Placid Lassie has a cool story. Pulled gliders on the D-day invasion and Operation Market Garden and survived her war time duties. Was sold off after the war and carried cargo, mail and people for a while and was eventually owned by Wells Fargo after a bankruptcy.

I think a guy over in England was looking for an old war bird to restore and eventually bought it and named it something to do with Union Jack. Maybe @buggybill2003 knows him :)

Anyway, they were at maybe the 75th anniversary of D-day invasion and a historian ran the numbers on the plane and realized it was one of the actual planes used that day and one of the crew members was still alive in the US. They flew that guy out there practically the same day, got a whole lot of first hand history and the Union Jack something or other was repainted in D-day war paint and given back her original name, Placid Lassie.

It's a pretty abbreviated story, but it's all I remember. I love that stuff.
 

DoURant

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One of my childhood friends was the leader of the Thunderbirds maintenance crew until he retired in 2005. He was known to be the smartest man in the room when it came to anything dealing with the F-16. Unfortunately he left our world due to health issues last year. RIP James.
 

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Mondio

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Oh man, sorry for the loss of your friend. What cool stories he must have had for all of you. My grandpa gave me a picture of the thunder birds as a kid. They were the first US military stunt team I ever went to see when I could finally take myself to one. Was around 1999-2000 in IA. No camera or lens to take pictures back then. He was probably leading the crew. Wish I could have known him.
 
I

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anytime the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels are around, I'm a happy guy. Toss in a couple old War Birds, just the sound of 2-4 big radial engines roaring thru the sky gives me goose bumps every time just hearing it.

The B17 and P51 are probably my all time favorites to see and hear, but the last photo of Placid Lassie has a cool story. Pulled gliders on the D-day invasion and Operation Market Garden and survived her war time duties. Was sold off after the war and carried cargo, mail and people for a while and was eventually owned by Wells Fargo after a bankruptcy.

I think a guy over in England was looking for an old war bird to restore and eventually bought it and named it something to do with Union Jack. Maybe @buggybill2003 knows him :)

Anyway, they were at maybe the 75th anniversary of D-day invasion and a historian ran the numbers on the plane and realized it was one of the actual planes used that day and one of the crew members was still alive in the US. They flew that guy out there practically the same day, got a whole lot of first hand history and the Union Jack something or other was repainted in D-day war paint and given back her original name, Placid Lassie.

It's a pretty abbreviated story, but it's all I remember. I love that stuff.
Can`t help on that one sorry.
 

GBkrzygrl

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I love air shows. Some pics I took of a smaller one in Chippewa Last year about this time. We've take the kids to the EAA museum a couple times, but never the EAA Fly in itself. Going to maybe go sit out on the lake this year and try and catch some of the action now that they're old and can spend more time out there.
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Great pics.
 

Voyageur

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Been to the Oshkosh fly-in. Good friend was part of the organizing committee for several years. He was a musician turned Mechanical Engineer. Enjoyed everything about it. Cost an arm and a leg for four of us, but worth it. A once in a lifetime event for us. A passion for Bill, who died just a few years ago.
 
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anytime the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels are around, I'm a happy guy. Toss in a couple old War Birds, just the sound of 2-4 big radial engines roaring thru the sky gives me goose bumps every time just hearing it.

The B17 and P51 are probably my all time favorites to see and hear, but the last photo of Placid Lassie has a cool story. Pulled gliders on the D-day invasion and Operation Market Garden and survived her war time duties. Was sold off after the war and carried cargo, mail and people for a while and was eventually owned by Wells Fargo after a bankruptcy.

I think a guy over in England was looking for an old war bird to restore and eventually bought it and named it something to do with Union Jack. Maybe @buggybill2003 knows him :)

Anyway, they were at maybe the 75th anniversary of D-day invasion and a historian ran the numbers on the plane and realized it was one of the actual planes used that day and one of the crew members was still alive in the US. They flew that guy out there practically the same day, got a whole lot of first hand history and the Union Jack something or other was repainted in D-day war paint and given back her original name, Placid Lassie.

It's a pretty abbreviated story, but it's all I remember. I love that stuff.
Thank you. Love history like that. Especially related to war history.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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Sounds like I need to set up some cots in the barn amongst the raccoons and pigeons. Need to watch out for the coyotes when you step out behind the trees for the 2am bladder drain.
Make sure to clean that pool before the raccoons arrive!

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Voyageur

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Great pics!! Really. The year the Thunderbirds were in Oshburg ... the street my son's house is on runs right in line with the BIG runway, so during their show, I was standing in the middle of his street as these guys flew over and my gawd ... talk about whiplash - they're there one second and gone the next ... sorta like my paycheck ... I could FEEL not only the sound, but, the heat trail. THAT is really awesome (a term I seldom use)
Maybe you remember a guy named Bill Dalton, who was involved with EAA back years ago? That's my old friend who passed away.
 

weeds

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Maybe you remember a guy named Bill Dalton, who was involved with EAA back years ago? That's my old friend who passed away.
You know, I don't recognize the name but, feel like I should and it's driving me crazy. Glad I didn't read this before I went to sleep last night.
 

Voyageur

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You know, I don't recognize the name but, feel like I should and it's driving me crazy. Glad I didn't read this before I went to sleep last night.
Bill was a musician. He was a member of a rock group from the 50s, called The Royal Teens. They put out a song named; "Short Shorts." It's been popularized in the not too distant past as well, with a TV ad for Nair.

Bill knew Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens, who died in Iowa when their plane crashed. It was when he heard of it, and they were on tour, that he decided that the money he made from music would put him through school. He went on to become an engineer. I worked with him, and was his friend for quite a few years, long after his music career was history.

I would guess he was doing the same thing as he did when he'd go to Blackhawk Farms race track. He'd sit around his camper, and play music at night. People would gather and enjoy it. Some was songs he'd written, and didn't want to publish. They were very good. He could play guitar as good as anyone around. I miss him.
 

weeds

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Short shorts ... I'm familiar with the song, again, for a different reason ... I grew up a fan of The Four Seasons and then of course The Jersey Boys (NOT the Clint Eastwood production, the Broadway musical), made me dig a little into their history and I had read some where that Bob Guadio was one of the credited writers of Short Shorts, along with none other than Bill Dalton and 2 others - I find out today.

I remember thinking that Guadio, like Barry Manilow, wrote commercial jingles before hitting it big? I was twisting myself into a mental knot.

That's neither here nor there ... it's all over the frigging place ... and even though I don't know your friend, I'm sorry for your loss, he was obviously a very cool guy.
 

Voyageur

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Short shorts ... I'm familiar with the song, again, for a different reason ... I grew up a fan of The Four Seasons and then of course The Jersey Boys (NOT the Clint Eastwood production, the Broadway musical), made me dig a little into their history and I had read some where that Bob Guadio was one of the credited writers of Short Shorts, along with none other than Bill Dalton and 2 others - I find out today.

I remember thinking that Guadio, like Barry Manilow, wrote commercial jingles before hitting it big? I was twisting myself into a mental knot.

That's neither here nor there ... it's all over the frigging place ... and even though I don't know your friend, I'm sorry for your loss, he was obviously a very cool guy.
They too were Jersey Boys. They got their start on the Boardwalk, where so many of them were performing. A real hotbed of talent went through there. To the very end, he was in contact with so many of the stars of that era. They all became friends, and helped each other with their music. A great story, not covered as well as it should have been in the movie, from what I understand. I haven't seen it to be honest.

During my lifetime, I've been around so many people, and carved out so many different careers. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
 

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