Comments on: Barnstorming

By: JarvisLoop

JarvisLoop — Thu, 25 May 2023 01:26:30 +0000

Finished.

By: DumbGuy

DumbGuy — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:36:12 +0000

[quote]frenchsnake said: “What are all the possible meanings of “flying circus”, anyway? I have a feeling it applies to a lot more things than those mentioned in this article, but I can’t think of what.”[/quote]

well, we have a flying squad in the cops, and we all know what a circus the cops are right?

By: The Thunder Child

The Thunder Child — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:07:20 +0000

Bessie Coleman did not really die in a barnstorming accident. She was the passenger of a plane, her mechanic was the pilot. She was scoping out the field where she was to perform her barnstorming the next day, when the plane lurched and she – who was not wearing a seatbelt – fell out and to her death. The pilot crashed the plane and was alive, but trapped in the wreckage. Some bright bulb lit a cigarette, leaking gas caught on fire, and he was burned to death. Later, a wrench was found in the controls of the plane, which supposedly caused both Coleman’s death and the plane crash.

By: gear

gear — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 17:45:43 +0000

As a boy, I visited the Curtiss museum in upstate NY near where I lived. In fact the place is nearly the same and the new museum is grand. Glenn Hammond Curtiss was the builder of the Jn-4d Jenny and he was an aviation pioneer. I remember see some of the shows that were closly watch by the faa. No matter how they have cleaned airshows up there is nothing like going to a grass field and watching. The barnstormer name came from the fact that many barns had their town's names on them for the fledgling air mail service. When these flying daredevils came to town they would fly so low as to cause a small storm in the barnyards . Many flew through the big barns and yes, they crashed into them from time to time. If you want to see a great show of this nature, try the Rheinbeck airshows, every weekend in Reinbeck, NYduring the summer. Just north of NY city by an hour. They have a great demonstration of bi and tri planes, hot air balloons and more. When I was 18 I got to meet the man who started it. He has left something great for us all. Make the trip!

By: fvngvs

fvngvs — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 03:40:18 +0000

adastra said: "... then there's the drunken Cessna pilot, who decided on the way back from Aspen to Denver, that he could fly his plane through a short, mountain hwy tunnel. He made an excellent approach to the tunnel mouth; you could see he was centered because you could see the marks on the concrete. about six inches on each side. The wings stayed there but the fuselage slid right through the tunnel and out the other side, containing a dazed but unhurt pilot."

Hey adastra; do you have any cites for this? It sounds riotously funny!

8.2 on the DI-meter. Thanks Marisa

By: JPF

JPF — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:54:23 +0000

adastra said:

That removes the wings, the impact slows the fuselage, and it slides out of the other end of the barn decelerating rapidly, but not too rapidly.

This technique has also been used by small planes in emergency landings in rough country with fuel on board. Try to put it down between two trees that will shed the volatile wings.

Then there is the story about the student pilot who had been told the technique of landing between two trees to slow the plane if he had to land in a forest. When he did have an engine failure he put the plane down between the only two trees on a 160 acre flat field.

By: qhperson

qhperson — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:20:55 +0000

Go here for an excellent article about Lindbergh before, during and after WWII.

http://www.traces.org/charleslindbergh.html
It covers everything.

By: Marisa Brook

Marisa Brook — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 05:32:01 +0000

Misfit7707 said: "What kind of clothing did they wear? Maybe it's just my imagination, but in the 20's, were women still normally expected to wear dresses? Big poofy ones? Or had the change to skirts already come forth?

Heh. Like women pilots of the time, they tended to wear pants. Yet another way in which barnstorming was years ahead of its time in terms of equality!

Also, I'm guessing there HAD to be some kind of harness, right?

Couldn't find enough information about this, but certainly there wasn't always!

One more thing and then I'm gone. How exactly did the audience see the whole thing?

From the ground. They flew pretty low, which is one of the reasons the government's 1927 laws were so effective in basically putting barnstoming to an end. Once pilots couldn't fly within reasonable viewing range, all the excitement was gone.

Metryq said: "Was that the same Joseph Kittinger who "jumped from orbit"?"

Yep! I actually didn't realize this until the very end of the research I did here, but this article complements Daniel's earlier one about Kittinger quite nicely! (Linked at the bottom of the article, if you hadn't seen it.)

mensadave said: "And the "notorious" Charles Lindbergh? Hmmm, that's debatable. Sure, some of his views weren't the most enlightened, but he WAS the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, and he did fight against the Japanese during WWII. "

That's true. I was just being (over-)cautious. Thanks for pointing it out!

Misfit7707 said: "By the way, amazing article, Señora Brooks!"

Misfit7707 said: "AHH Brook"

Thanks! (No matter. Believe me, I've had my name mangled in far worse ways. * grins *)

By: ke4roh

ke4roh — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 18:56:37 +0000

Sen.McCarthy said: “Interesting article…but last time a checked, the term “flying circus” is used when a group of fighter planes lures enemy fighters out to dogfight, most notably Baron von Richtoven’s (spelling?) flying circus in WWI. It was also common in WWII I believe.”

Yes, the Red Baron (a.k.a. Manfred von Richthofen) led the WWI Flying Circus, and Joe Foss led the one for WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Baron#The_Flying_Circus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Foss

By: mensadave

mensadave — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:28:27 +0000

Good article. I was going to mention The Great Waldo Pepper movie, but somebody already did. And the "notorious" Charles Lindbergh? Hmmm, that's debatable. Sure, some of his views weren't the most enlightened, but he WAS the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, and he did fight against the Japanese during WWII. Also, this article reminded me of some guy who flew a plane through the Arc de Triomph in France (I think it was in the '70s), just barely making it with a few feet to spare on either side.