Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

[AAFO_WSagar]

So sitting here trying to get sleepy, the thought came to me "what is your happiest moment?" Just came to me as an idle thought among many passing through my trying to be asleep mind..

But then, I wound up sitting up and thinking what a profound question!

So, without a lot of deeper explanation of my admittedly overly complex thought processes..

I throw out the question..

Gives us something else to think about for sure!!

So... digging into my vaults...

As stupid as it sounds, about sixty eight, I was seventeen, my dad and I were driving along in his '57 GMC pickup.. (not, by any means, a classic at the time!... it was his livelihood!) I had become a smoker... yep at that young age, he was a smoker.. and as stupid as this might sound...

He said to me, I know you are smoking, I think you are too young to be doing it but, I understand... as we drove along and I remember this was northbound I5 by the south sound mall...

He offered me a cigarette..

At that moment, again, as stupid as the catalyst for the moment was, I knew he thought of me as a man..

Maybe I been inside too long!! LOL

I could upload a TP decoration photo essay on that subject but I suspect you've all seen it anyway..

BACK ON TOPIC!!

Do you care to share your happiest moment here just for chits and giggles??

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Off Topic? NOT OFF TOPIC Your Happiest Moment?

I shared one of mine.. if you all want to play, I bet I've got a lot of happy moments I can think of that would be a lot better to think about than any sort of dread!

I really look forward to responses!

It could be your first taste of ice cream, your first car, bicycle, flight lesson, girlfriend... I don't think I need go on I know you get where I'm going..

Anyone interested in sharing?

Again, I have a ton more!!

I know there are many stories waiting to be shared..

Done being bored!

[Rich W]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

There's a few.

Recently it was starting all four Rolls-Royce Griffons on an Avro Shackleton and sitting there as my friend taxied it at Coventry Airport UK. A bunch of us had done a lot of work, and worked a lot of long days leading up to it to get the beast running right. We'd also had to jack her up to change all the mainwheels and brake units.

For the first time it made it feel like an aeroplane again, and not just a sad old engine test bed sat in the corner.



A friend took this photo for a magazine. I'm sat behind the pilots at the Engineers panel with a big silly grin on my face.

One day we'll fly it.

[CubersWrist]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

"One Moment's" first win


We were all set to make a race of it in the 2017 gold. We had almost nothing to fix or work on all week and really just took it easy. On top of all that we could have coasted to a 2nd place finish. But we aren't racing for a points championship, so you go for the win. If you go back and watch the NBC show you can see us in the same camera shot as #39 the whole first lap. And to cap it all off, Andy was visibly gaining on the second lap until the mayday.

And that made 2018 all the more fun.

[Guest]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Forgive the length:

I'm named after my uncle (1st Lt. Owen Philip Walls) who was a B29 pilot in WWII in the 444th Bomb Group, 678th Squadron of the 20th Army Air Corp. I have numerous boxes of his items...uniforms, medals, diaries, photos, letters to/from home, everything. It's a priceless treasure...

May 29th is my birthday.
May 29, 1945 was my uncle's last entry in his diary.

June 5, 1945 my uncle's ship was shot down over Kobe Japan on his 14th mission out of West Field, Tinian. Crew was captured and was so often the case, they were tried for war crimes and summarily executed in small village outside Kobe. Crew was repatriated to the US and are buried in mass grave in Jefferson Barracks, MO. I visited with my aunt (Owen's widow) years ago. BTW, here name was Rose, and she worked on a wing-fitting crew for Boeing in Seattle during the war...ya' just can't make this stuff up.

Fast-forward: If I recall, the 50th anniversary of the 20th AF was in 1994 in Seattle. Don't recall if this coincided but in any event, CAF "FIFI" was also in town around this time undergoing a retrofit at Boeing Field in Seattle. I volunteered to help in the work and was assigned to rewiring the flight engineers’ panel. I spent over 120 hours on her and was award the opportunity to fly on her after FAA gave her the green light.

That flight was on May 29th, my birthday and the date of my uncles last diary entry. I'd given the pilot, Col. Tom Cloyd my uncle's wings to take with him on the flight. He knew my entire story and gladly did so. In flight, I was asked to crawl forward thru the "Tube" and join the flight crew. As I spit out onto the flight deck the Col. Cloyd reached into his pocket, grabbed my uncle's wings, pinned them on my shirt and said, "These are going to mean a lot more to you now, Owen. Have a seat." Until that moment, I don't know if I truly understood what tears of joy actually meant.

As I recall, on or about June 5th, the date my uncle was shot down in 1945, FIFI left Seattle for good. I see her once in while at shows or on her tours, and that same sense of joy wells up inside. It was an amazing coincidence of time and opportunity.

[Matt58]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Gosh, I feel like I have so many "happiest moments" of my life.

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I truly can't pick one moment.

I feel that all of my moments, combined, equal one giant happiest moment of my life. I've had a very fortunate and fulfilling life, full of very low lows, and very high highs. I have an amazing wife, amazing healthy kids, amazing job, amazing friends, and amazing family.

There are a lot of moments that come to mind, but I really think all of them combined equal my story.

I am a very lucky fella!

[SpinB]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Reno Related: The race I witnessed Tiger scream up behind Lyle and Lyle opened the squeeze and left Tiger in his wake! Unbelievable!

In General: My fini-flight in a T-38 backseat through Star Wars Canyon and then Supersonic! A little less was flying Toulouse Nuts (TF-51D) and Jaws (TP-40N)! I've many other memorable 'highlights', but these mentioned will do...

[airtj]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Getting married, watching the birth of my 2 daughters.

Aviation Related:
Riding in Russ McDonald's P-51 Mustang ( now Mormon Mustang )
Flights in a T-6, B-25 Supper Rabbit (KTVY)
Flight in a DC-3 (U42)
Flying in the EAA Ford Tri Motor Oshkosh and KBTF

Reno Air Races
Watching Dago Red and Rare Bear (3 bladed prop) race
Dago Red 500 MPH attempt & 507 MPH race record
Bob Hoover perform in his Shrike Commander
Delmar Benjamin perform in the Gee Bee

[TWD]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

I will start with a recent racing anecdote.
I was crewing on Dreadnought. Last year or the year before (they all kind of run together). Sunday after the Gold Race. I drove the Blue Van from the grand stands back down the flight line to retrieve something and there was a bunch of rowdy folks in one of the boxes close to the unlimited pit. They were hooting and hollering about the blue van. Wanting to know what year it was, that kind of thing. On the return trip to the grand stands, I stopped and frisbeed my autographed Dreadnought hat into the group. Finally, the crowd started to thin out in front of the grand stands, so we hooked up Dreadnought to tow it back to the pits and get serious about the beer drinking. Well, what do you know, the only box still occupied was this rowdy group, so I stopped the tug and got them all over the wall to take a group photo in front of #8. You see, they showed up, paid for the box and stayed till most everyone else had gone home. So they got the photo op. I consider that "the least I could do" for some air race fans and actually, that kind of move is par for the course with the Sanders Racing Team.
TJ

[Desertdawg]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Of course for me it was when both my son and daughter were born.

But now that I am retired and happily single, all it takes is a nice smile to make my day.

[Reever]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

The happiest day of my life, is the last fifteen years of my life with my wife. A lady that is more than happy to RV out on the road during race week and totally enjoy the racing and the partying with the great people that we see every year. Just as long as she has plenty of water to shower.

[planecrazy2]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Happiest moments in my life. Well I am one fortunate S.O.B. and could fill a small book with stories.

Passing my drivers test in 1975 opened up the world to a 16 year old with his own bitchen 1956 Chevy BelAir.

Getting laid for the first time was a standout happy moment.

Being behind a P-51D in the pattern as I soloed my C-150 for the first time.

Flying back home to Gillespie field from French Valley after passing my GA flight test.

Taking my Dad to Chino on his 51st. birthday, and as we were walking around the POF museum having John Maloney ask him if he was ready for his surprise ride in Lady Alice. I sure never saw him so happy!

Watching John Penny land the Bear after trying to get the gear down and locked after a heat race back in 2000 or so? He had about gone to bingo fuel and was preparing to bailout when the gear finally locked and he was able to land. Shear terror and fear followed by a super happy moment.

And then there is every day when I wake-up and look at the wife and know the happiest day of my life is about to begin....

[Guest]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Of course for me it was when both my son and daughter were born.

But now that I am retired and happily single, all it takes is a nice smile to make my day.



[ATTACH=CONFIG]24632[/ATTACH]

Could not agree more!

[Leo]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Maybe not happiest but definitely air race related.
During the Great Recession I had to take a second job as a security guard. I was at my post at Virginia Street and Second Street for the Wing festival downtown, trying not to melt in a rare over-100-degree day when this gorgeous couple, blond, fit and Scandinavian, walked up to me and in VERY broken English asked if I knew how to get to the Air Races. This was in late June so I told him they were not for several months. He told me that on their trip through the united states their number one bucket list item was to visit the site. Left my post (boy did I get yelled at later), got them a cab and directed him to take them to Stead, onto the airport and to the stands, show them around.
Thought Jeez, all the way from Norway (they said) just to visit what they considered a shrine!

[lowpasskid]

Re: Off Topic? Well maybe. Your Happiest Moment.

Hello All, long time member not a lot of post's, first races in 93, heard about them in the late 70's from a neighbor who rode Harley' and I later worked with. first time at the races was 93, the hook was set deep and i missed the last few years, went for last years finals and the memories flooded back. married in 96, daughter was born in early 98. wanted to go for a ride in those "dog fight" rides they were doing over the Bay Area where we were living at the time for my birth day in March but neve never happened. My Mother passed away in February in 99. my Wife at the time worked in San Jose CA and found a guy who knew a guy who Knew Stu Eberhart, race 22 Merlins Magic owner/pilot and booked me a ride. She asked the guy about the races as she was concerned there were a lot of Women there. he laughed and said " 125K people there and 120K are men! Stu calls me,OMG! come out to LVK on such and such a date and time.met him' " what do you want to do on you flight?" "uh, can we fly over the AC fairgrounds where a good friend is at a Flea market? "sure, any thing else?" " ca can you do a four point hesitation roll? Laughter from him and he said " of course!" over the Fairgrounds we go then out to the Central Valley of CA. four point roll done, " how was that?" I was laughing so hard because I loved it he said " are you ok back there?" "yes, that was the best!" .
I sent a longer story of my flight to my Buddies whom I went to the races at the time and they dubbed me " THE LOWPASS KID!