Monday, August 19, 2013

The tale of when I took a ride on a B-25....in 1989

This past weekend, I had the rare opportunity to take a ride on an actual Higgins Boat.  A landing craft vessel used during WWII to land troops from offshore naval vessels.
It was a blast and I feel very fortunate to have been able to done it.  But it reminded me of a time long ago when I was just 20 years old, still in school and living at home with the folks.  I was out back cutting the yard one day when I heard a very loud noise.  Thinking the mower was going to explode, I turned it off, but the noise was louder and overhead.  I looked up and saw it.  A B-25.  When I was a kid, I would always build those models...okay, they were the snap together models, but, those planes were my first love.  I mentioned something to my mom about it and she told me she saw an article in the paper that the plane was flying out of Akron-Fulton airport and giving rides.  Being in school, and broke, I begged and pleaded with Mom to borrow the $75 to take the ride.  She did.  I think I still owe here.  Anyways, the next day I sat all day waiting for my ride.  Finally, it came.  Wow.  I was actually up in this marvelous warbird.  I didn't have enough to ride up from so I sat to the rear of the plane behind with others.  All of us had the chance to crawl back into the tail-gun position and sit there for a few minutes.  I didn't have the camera I have today, but I took lots of pictures from the air.  I wish I had taken more of the interior.  Regardless, it was a day I won't ever forget.  Here's a few negatives I found of the ride.  They look terrible but still capture the awesomeness.
(And yes, I'm still working on the Conneaut pictures from this weekend.  They are just taking a while to save out to my hard drive.  Thank goodness for two computers.)
Click on the image to enlarge.



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