Maurice B. Quirin has been a landscape and transportation photographer since 1972. He's a member of the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society and National Railway Historical Society. Mr. Quirin is co-author, with Edward W. Brouder Jr., of Manchester's Airport: Flying Through Time (ISBN 0-9721489-9-X). Mr. Quirin also worked as a freelance editor and anchor for The Wall Street Journal Radio Network and was news director at WBNS radio in Columbus, OH.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

B-29 "Fifi" and P-51 Mustang "The Brat III" in Lexington, KY

Thanks to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, thousands got a chance to view the nation's only airworthy B-29.  Some lucky folks paid nearly $700 for a 30-minute flight in the giant World War II bomber.







The Cavanaugh Flight Museum brought P-51 Mustang "The Brat III" to Lexington.


Those lucky enough to ride in the P-51 had to shell out nearly $2,000 for the chance!



A U.S. Airways' Bombardier Canadair regional jet dwarfs "The Brat III" as the P-51 returns to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky ramp while the CRJ taxis to the runway.



Thursday, May 17, 2012

B-29 Superfortress Visits Blue Grass Airport


  


Aviation Museum of Kentucky







May 18 - 20


 

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Dates and Times:
   Friday                  May 18                 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
   Saturday              May 19                 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
   Sunday                 May 20                 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Costs:
   $15 per person which includes Museum entry fee.   Children 12 and under free.
   Cockpit tours are included.  These tours are only available when the aircraft are not in motion.   This is generally from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm each day.
   B-29 rides start at $595.
   P-51 rides start at $1,995.
Ride Flight Times:
   B-29 will fly at 9:00 am and 4:00 pm
   P-51 will fly at various times throughout the day


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Photo by Kevin Hong

Monday, May 14, 2012

From RoadsideAmerica.com - B-17 to Texaco Station


Shortly after WWII, a guy named Art Lacey went to Kansas to buy a surplus B-17. His idea was to fly it back to Oregon, jack it up in the air and make a gas station out of it. He paid $15,000 for it. He asked which one was his and they said take whichever you want because there were miles of them. He didn't know how to fly a 4-engine airplane so he read the manual while he taxied around by himself. They said he couldn't take off alone so he put a mannequin in the co-pilot's seat and off he went.
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He flew around a bit to get the feel of it and when he went to land he realized he needed a co-pilot to lower the landing gear. He crashed and totaled his plane and another on the ground. They wrote them both off as "wind damaged" and told him to pick out another. He talked a friend into being his co-pilot and off they went.
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They flew to Palm Springs where Lacey wrote a hot check for gas. Then they headed for Oregon. They hit a snow storm and couldn't find their way, so they went down below 1,000 feet and followed the railroad tracks. His partner sat in the nose section and would yell, "TUNNEL" when he saw one and Lacey would climb over the mountain.
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They landed safely, he made good the hot check he wrote, and they started getting permits to move a B-17 on the state highway. The highway department repeatedly denied his permit and fought him tooth and nail for a long time, so late one Saturday night, he just moved it himself. He got a $10 ticket from the police for having too wide a load.

For more information, please check RoadsideAmerica.  And, here's a map courtesy of RoadsideAmerica.