- Thread starter Frank the Tank
- Start date
Old Dominican Air Force Planes
Are the Thiunderbolts, Mustangs and Mosquitos still even flying? Based on the real cost of maintenance and fuel, I somehow doubt it. I have a friend with shares in a P-51 based in Kissimmee and their annual maintenance bill is 6 figures....for maybe 120 hours of operation per year. And these a rich guys with very, very deep pockets.
JD, if you love old birds, go to Lakeland FL for a few days for Sun 'n Fun in April. The warbirds there are awesome. Last time there 4 years ago Bob Hoover did high speed low passes in a P-51...and then topped it off doing aerobatics in a Commander Shrike including an engine-off low altitude loop ending in a right gear/left gear tapdance to a full stop landing. Awesome! There was also some guy doing aerobatics in a Benson Gyrocopter. I never saw that before...:surprised
JD, if you love old birds, go to Lakeland FL for a few days for Sun 'n Fun in April. The warbirds there are awesome. Last time there 4 years ago Bob Hoover did high speed low passes in a P-51...and then topped it off doing aerobatics in a Commander Shrike including an engine-off low altitude loop ending in a right gear/left gear tapdance to a full stop landing. Awesome! There was also some guy doing aerobatics in a Benson Gyrocopter. I never saw that before...:surprised
Thanks for posting these Frank, my husband loved it. His cousin flew a lot of them [air force general] - he flew often to Puerto Rico and my husband used to tag along back in the day.... Mr.Ego wanted to follow in his cousin's footsteps and become an air force pilot, but the revolution interrupted everything. Same cousin was Balaguer's private pilot, and also piloted for Dominicana. First time I flew to DR [1975], he was the pilot, never expected I'd end up related to him!
The link was great, Mr.Ego was looking for a photo of an English jet they used to fly - canberra? {sp??}
AE
The link was great, Mr.Ego was looking for a photo of an English jet they used to fly - canberra? {sp??}
AE
I found these images almost by accident looking for fotos of something else on Google. I am a big history buff and found them very interesting and wanted to share them with everyone.
Lots of info on historical Dominican airforce
a good link
WELCOME ALL TO LATIN AIRFORCES: November 2007
a good link
WELCOME ALL TO LATIN AIRFORCES: November 2007
I believe they had some Catalina flying boats but not any CANBERRAs. I could be wrong though.
It's amazing to realize the performance of some of these WWII birds.
Compare the recent Brazilian planes the DR bought and the P-51 Mustang for instance. The Mustang has more than 130 mph top speed which put it close to 500 mph. Pretty amazing that a piston engine plane could go the speed of todays jetliners.
The P-38 was my alltime favorite though.
Compare the recent Brazilian planes the DR bought and the P-51 Mustang for instance. The Mustang has more than 130 mph top speed which put it close to 500 mph. Pretty amazing that a piston engine plane could go the speed of todays jetliners.
The P-38 was my alltime favorite though.
P-51s are still flying as well as some B-17s and B-24s. However the maintenance costs of the P-51 are extremely high. More than the bombers believe it or not. I just read an article about it. They are having an air show with the WWII planes at the county airport here.