Yes, pilots must remain calm in the face of adversity or they won't be around to face adversity again.All I know is my dad pinged into ATC that we had encountered “moderate” turbulence on a flight back to S. california. He’d hit his head on the ceiling and the autopilot was thrown off and suddenly we were at an attitude on a collision course with a mountain. Not a big deal to him (cool, calm, and collected as pilots must be) but my leg went into an uncontrollable twitch and panic ensued. I couldn’t do it. My anxiety helps with OCD details but I’m just too tense for it. You need to be calm.
Not to belabor the point, but my hours now spent in ground school and flying lessons also brings home how complicated flying is in general. Its easy to take this for granted as aviation is now a normal aspect of daily life for everyone in some form. Back in the day, the level of danger in just flying one of the those old planes with old avionics, design, etc. without all of the modern safety features we have today is quite something to comprehend - let along being shot at by the enemy!!!!
IMO, an A-2 doesn't look 'right' at all unless there is some blousing going on.... Hence, the A-2's known description as a 'blouson':
So, IMO, no A-2 blousing=lacking in authenticity.....
Such refreshing words! I couldn't agree more, Technonut ... except if you cited the heavier weight of many high-end A-2's being a digression in authenticity.
My great grandfather (on my mother’s side of my family) was a tail gunner in a German reconnaissance plane in WWI. Unfortunately we don’t know much about him; it’s a shame that so much verbal history and personal recollections is being lost every day with the passing of our elderly veterans.How about flying a WWI aircraft, CBI? Pretty much strapping on an engine. So much was rudimentary, nascent aeronautical engineering, and pure educated guessing. Fires were common, as were blackouts and freezing. And no parachutes, at least for our side. Absolutely scares me stiff.
It's a shame WWI aviation has all but disappeared from historical accounts on the market as these aerial warriors really had some guts and were creating the basic tactics of the job.
J, I'm reasonably certain your friend is more exhausted with people who can not afford one of his planes wasting his valuable time talking to him about their hobby. The basics of flying are relativity simple. If you have average coordination you can fly a plane. It does not however require super human skills to fly any plane. This includes WW2 fighters. What makes pilots able to advance to more complex airplanes is training and practice. What makes good to great pilots is judgement. How judgement is gained is up to each individual. I've known pilots who have terrific stick and rudder skills, that I envied, die an untimely dead in an aircraft because of a judgement error. Do I now think, at my age , I could be trained to fly solo in a spitfire? Certainly not, as my basic skill set has diminished due to age. Do I believe I could have been trained to fly fighters when I was younger? No question. Flying is a worthwhile endeavor to pursue at just about any age. Besides it is fun as hell.
the goat SMW jacket is 2 oz hide so pretty lightweight. I do think thicknesses of leather were all over the nap as well. I have owned some pretty "heavy" original A-2's over the years. I have two original Aeros right now, one very lightweight, one rather thick/heavy.
CBI, I am not really talking about the thicknesses, though this can be a bone of contention with repro makers; rather it's the total jacket weight. It can, I think, have something to due with tanning methods available today, at least where the thickness seems pretty close to vintage but the weight is notably in excess. Please note that the hide thickness wasn't specified, just the hide weight in ounces/foot, so you could, in theory, have thicker hides that had the same weight as a thinner example. It may sound counterintuitive, but it could play out.
Vintage A-2's of the same approximate measures and with all elements being roughy equal, just aren't 3 1/2 lbs. Even 3 lbs is often hard to find! For me, usually a size 40 in vintage, seeing the majority weigh a few ounces under 3 lbs. is most typical. These were really nothing more than leather windbreakers, hence the designation Summer Flying Jacket, intended to keep water, gasoline, and oil from penetrating and soiling the under clothing and wind out, with some inherent degree of durability. Sweaters, sheepskin, and heated clothing (available in the 1930's) were for warmth.
Yes, pilots must remain calm in the face of adversity or they won't be around to face adversity again.
In the movies the pilots are often portrayed as yelling into the microphone. That just makes my skin crawl. I have never heard a pilot raise his voice while talking on the radio. Even those who are about to die don't shout. They are too busy figuring the next step so as to avoid death. I heard third hand once about a pilot friend of mine from flight school not staying calm, but he had good reason. Anti-aircraft fire had shot off his rotor blades, and he was falling like a rock. There wasn't much way out of that one, so might as well scream a bit on the way down. RIP Frank Murrietta.