Rodger Pettichord Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Hi all. A professional pilot friend recommended a novel, The Couriers of Herodotus by Steve Williams. It's about a guy who loves flying. He starts as a hangar rat kid and works his way up the ladder in aviation. Along the way, he is mentored by mystical men who help him develop his skills and love of the air. Really good book if you love flying. (My pilot friend started his career the same way -- he fell in love with flying and started as a hangar rat kid). I get it, but I never got beyond hangar rat stage. I'm still just a kid who loves hanging around planes. And that leads to this week's topic. THIS WEEK'S MEANINGLESS TOPIC: How much is being a "hangar rat kid" part of your enjoyment of flight simming? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 I'll have to google that term and come back again...😁 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 33 minutes ago, wain71 said: I'll have to google that term and come back again...😁 Wayne, a hangar rat is someone who likes hanging around planes. Could be an old retired guy, an aspiring pilot, a kid who has caught the bug, and so forth. If you go to a private airport, you often will find a coffee pot and a gathering. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 46 minutes ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Wayne, a hangar rat is someone who likes hanging around planes. Could be an old retired guy, an aspiring pilot, a kid who has caught the bug, and so forth. If you go to a private airport, you often will find a coffee pot and a gathering. Thank you Rodger, I googled and got some kind of a model plane... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 1 hour ago, wain71 said: Thank you Rodger, I googled and got some kind of a model plane... If you Google "Defn Airport Hangar Rat" you will get a military defn of the term. Civilian version includes non-employees. 🤤 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Absolutely nothing at all. 🤔 my home is my castle and a hanger isn't my sanctuary. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 (edited) Never was a hangar rat. No opportunity. As a kid I loved just about any man made thing that moved. I was obsessed with sailing vessels and trains, and I loved airplanes too. Only things that did not get my attention was motorboat and automobiles (except as convenient transportation). As a "boomer" kid I was free to roam where I pleased, as far as my bicycle would take me. So I rode down to the harbor or the beach and watched and lusted after the boats I saw. At 13 I had one of my own, and regularly rode my bike, loaded with all sorts of gear, the three miles from home to the marina. Then, for years there was the Tuesday evening ritual. A bit more than a block away there was a small freight yard, long since gone and now the site of a supermarket. Every Tuesday it was served by the local freight train, and at the first roar of the diesel or squeal of the brakes my friend Larry and I were racing across the highway to watch the switching. We were tolerated and eventually befriended by the crew as long as we stayed a safe distance. But as for hanging around the airport, there just wasn't the opportunity. Although my bicycle, an old heavyweight Sch win that I used like a pickup truck could take me quite far, the airport was out of my range. But if I could have, I would have. As I got older I had friends who were (and are) pilots so I've had a bit of time flying and enjoying part of the airport mystique. Although it's not very often, it does help keep the interest in flight simming fresh. Ken Edited June 5 by Ken Q 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 4 hours ago, adambar said: Absolutely nothing at all. 🤔 my home is my castle and a hanger isn't my sanctuary. I thought you had a hanger to store important supplies.🍻 cheers Gumby 2 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Back when I was just a teen I would be dropped off out the airport for a whole day of a Saturday and just watched planes, sat around the airport like a bad smell. One day a ground staff member noticed me and took me out to the ramp and gave me an inside out tour of a parked DC9. That made my day. cheers Gumby 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 I grew up loving airplanes. Never had a chance to be around a hangar community, but our family dentist was a pilot who took my dad or me up with him often in his little Cessna. My father-in-law, first marriage, had been a Navy PBY pilot during the war and would take me up with him whenever he did stay-current flights. One of my co-workers at my summer job with ALCOA was training to go up to Alaska as a bush pilot and would take me with him to do practice lake landings in his float Cub. After college, I spent eight years overseas as a civilian with the military and was stationed mostly on Air Force bases, where I was able to fly in a variety of planes and salivate over the rest. My first flight simulator years were spent gathering a library of every plane I could get for free -- those were the days when amateur developers could still put out decent if simple planes -- and I played with them all. Nowadays, I live under the final approach for Fairchild AFB and just a few miles north of Spokane Intl Airport, so I spend a lot of time looking up and watching and envying. I still have the little kid airplane bug. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 My first exposure to air travel as a little tyke was flying to the Mid West on a DC3 and DC6s to visit Grandpa (paternal). But then I was living with my grandparents (maternal) right under the approach/departure of runway 22 at Idlewild, later JFK. The DC6s, DC7s and Connies flew right over the house, and the big prop liners flew approaches and especially departures much lower than today's jets, so always had good view. But the noise! As a Cub Scout I went on a field trip to Idlewild to see the brand new Pan Am B707, before it even entered service. And occasionally Grandpa would load up the family car and take us all to LaGuardia Airport to go up to the observation deck (cost 10 cents now long gone) and watch the planes take off and land. Aviation was still a novelty and a wonder. Later there was the Ho Hum commercial flights. The adventure was mostly gone. But then in the Navy, assigned to an aircraft carrier I was invited to fly along while the Assistant Navigator flew a currency night flight. That was in a Grumman C1A (same airframe as the S2F "Stoof"). Then friends who flew Cherokee and Skyhawk. Incidentally I just got my June issue (digital) of Plane & Pilot Magazine today. Ken 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 3 hours ago, gumbypickett said: I thought you had a hanger to store important supplies.🍻 So I have and it's very cold in there.. k 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 3 hours ago, gumbypickett said: I thought you had a hanger to store important supplies.🍻 cheers Gumby Several of them as a matter of fact for emergency only mind you. There's nothing like a nice cold beer after a nice cold beer. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 14 minutes ago, adambar said: Several of them as a matter of fact for emergency only mind you. There's nothing like a nice cold beer after a nice cold beer. And another just to wash them down with. cheers Gumby 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, adambar said: Several of them as a matter of fact for emergency only mind you. There's nothing like a nice cold beer after a nice cold beer. 1 hour ago, gumbypickett said: And another just to wash them down with. cheers Gumby And so another topic falls off the wagon. 😄 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 never really hung around airports, people thought I was a bit weird having a mild obsession about flying, but never actually flew until I was 18 and in the Army....I remember though it was a big thing if a family member, cousin or whatever was going on holiday abroad, we would all go up to Bristol Airport in a convoy of cars and see them off, back then it was a very small place and the tiny building had a viewing platform on it, we'd stand there waiting and then waving like mad as they walked out to the plane.....I'm now one of those that is constantly looking up at a passing plane or seeing where they are going on Flightradar24.... 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 3 hours ago, wain71 said: never really hung around airports, people thought I was a bit weird having a mild obsession about flying, but never actually flew until I was 18 and in the Army....I remember though it was a big thing if a family member, cousin or whatever was going on holiday abroad, we would all go up to Bristol Airport in a convoy of cars and see them off, back then it was a very small place and the tiny building had a viewing platform on it, we'd stand there waiting and then waving like mad as they walked out to the plane.....I'm now one of those that is constantly looking up at a passing plane or seeing where they are going on Flightradar24.... I geeze at flightradar24 at least 10 times a day. We are a weird mob. cheers Gumby 2 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 3 hours ago, gumbypickett said: I geeze at flightradar24 at least 10 times a day. We are a weird mob. cheers Gumby Watch Monkey Werx on the tube. He track planes, drones satellites, balloons, ships from all over the world, great podcast. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, adambar said: Watch Monkey Werx on the tube. He track planes, drones satellites, balloons, ships from all over the world, great podcast. Adam, this guy strikes me as like my ham radio friends, really enjoying a hobby that most people don't even know exists. Good on him! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Thats some fairly in depth stuff that's going on. Nothing is secret these days. Not even Tasmania. Oh that's right he mentioned us. Now we are doomed. Thanks for sharing Adam, very interesting. cheers Gumby 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 4 hours ago, gumbypickett said: Thats some fairly in depth stuff that's going on. Nothing is secret these days. Not even Tasmania. Oh that's right he mentioned us. Now we are doomed. Thanks for sharing Adam, very interesting. cheers Gumby Hypersonics - The Real Game Changer SITREP 6.6.24 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuFun Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 My father was a USAF 22-year veteran so I was exposed to mostly military aircraft with base open house. Seeing a B-47 and B-58 Hustlers flying demonstration was truly a rare sight! Built a bunch of WW2 plastic aircraft models was my hobby. Then it was my turn to serve 8 years with the USAF. Sitting in cockpits like F-105G, F-4, B-52, A-10, and F-16! And by the way, working on the same B-52 my dad worked on. During that time I got to experience F-4, B-52, and KC-135 military flight simulators! The controls on the B-52 are heavy! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 1 hour ago, adambar said: Hypersonics - The Real Game Changer SITREP 6.6.24 You can't help but feel this is a very unstable world we live in. The military is so far advanced. I hope a lot of this doesn't come into play any more than what it is. What's wrong with people? you've got to wonder. cheers Gumby 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 2 hours ago, gumbypickett said: You can't help but feel this is a very unstable world we live in. The military is so far advanced. I hope a lot of this doesn't come into play any more than what it is. What's wrong with people? you've got to wonder. cheers Gumby Yep, you've got to wonder. But as long as we have people like Gumby and the forum bunch, there is hope! 4 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfko Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 3 hours ago, gumbypickett said: You can't help but feel this is a very unstable world we live in. The military is so far advanced. I hope a lot of this doesn't come into play any more than what it is. What's wrong with people? you've got to wonder. cheers Gumby Also reading many of the Youtube comments on this video made me wonder "What's wrong with this people?" 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 As a kid my favourite family outing was a trip to Salibury International Airport in Rhodesia. It had great viewing platform/bar/restaurant where the family would spend the afternoon. Here's a photo of it just above the fuselage, great spot. Those trips planted the seed of my interest. Cheers Graeme ps 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 1 hour ago, boetie said: As a kid my favourite family outing was a trip to Salibury International Airport in Rhodesia. It had great viewing platform/bar/restaurant where the family would spend the afternoon. Here's a photo of it just above the fuselage, great spot. Those trips planted the seed of my interest. Cheers Graeme ps Graeme, I recognize Gumby, but who's the other guy? 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boetie Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 9 minutes ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Graeme, I recognize Gumby, but who's the other guy? No beer in sight so not Karl 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Glad you enjoyed Monkeys Sitrep, he is on three times a week. If you really want to know what's reaally going on in the world as well go to The Gateway Pundit.com, he gives you all the videos or documents to prove what he says, quite scary it will sure open your eyes, you won't ever see this stuff on the regular news or newspapers. Guys another thing I've noticed from my observations is people aren't the same since the pandemic. I Don't see neighbors or kids out much anymore, people in grocery stores aren't standing around talking and laughing like they used to and I'm not the only one saying this, seems they just want to be left alone and leave as soon as possible, so darn strange. I go outside and it's dead quiet like I'm the only one living here. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/ 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 22 hours ago, wolfko said: Also reading many of the Youtube comments on this video made me wonder "What's wrong with this people?" They want us gone and replaced so they say. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 16 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Graeme, I recognize Gumby, but who's the other guy? That's my twin identical brother. His career is walking the cat walk. I guess I was lucky to be born with the same handsome looks.🙊 cheers Gumby 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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