hubbabubba
December 29th, 2005, 23:58
Hi guys!
Since we're close to New Year's Eve which is always a good time to look in our past, I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with my schoolbus driver when I was about 15 before it leaves my mind for good.
That old geezer - at least 60 year old! - was always telling me of his flying week-ends with one famous TV star (famous in Québec that is) and how easy it was to fly those Cessna, Bonanza and other "touring" a/c compared with his time during WWII when he was at the command of a "Mosquito".
Like most 15 years old boy, the mention of Mosquitoes and WWII was enough to keep me in the front seat of the bus asking question after question. I don't remember how long the conversation took. Maybe only one bus ride, maybe weeks.
But I do remember that the plane he went on describing was not the "Mosquito" I was aware of. He described to me a strange plane that had no ressemblance with that two-motor multi-crew I had seen in films.
It was a monomotor placed behind the pilot, it's only passenger. He told me that he was litterally riding over the prop shaft made out of solid wood, shaken as if he was sitting on a washing machine with an uneven load during the spin cycle.
He went on to told me that, everytime he was firing his guns, the cabin would fill with gunsmoke to the point of blocking any view from the exterior.
I was 15 and, like most boy of my age, thought I knew just about everything. That old bus driver was pulling my leg! I even started to doubt that he could fly anything, even a Cessna.
But now I'm 49 and I know that they're is a lot of things I do not know, and probably never will. But I now know of a plane that could fit his description : the Airacobra P-39. The nickname of "Mosquito" would aptly describe that bird with its dart coming from the spinner.
Back then I assumed that he was flying for the RAF or the RCAF, but he could have been flying under the American flag as did so many French-canadians at the time. Sorry, never thought to ask.
So guys, was he pulling my leg? Was he an old schoolbus driver trying to "showoff" a young impressionnable 15 years old boy or was he telling the truth? I'm asking because, each years passing-by, the story gets off my mind until a good snowstorm fell on us. That old bus driver took us to school once in such a huge storm that he was the only bus (out of about 75!) to get to destination. And he then went back and returned every students back to their homes!
I miss that old geezer...
Hubbabubba
Since we're close to New Year's Eve which is always a good time to look in our past, I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with my schoolbus driver when I was about 15 before it leaves my mind for good.
That old geezer - at least 60 year old! - was always telling me of his flying week-ends with one famous TV star (famous in Québec that is) and how easy it was to fly those Cessna, Bonanza and other "touring" a/c compared with his time during WWII when he was at the command of a "Mosquito".
Like most 15 years old boy, the mention of Mosquitoes and WWII was enough to keep me in the front seat of the bus asking question after question. I don't remember how long the conversation took. Maybe only one bus ride, maybe weeks.
But I do remember that the plane he went on describing was not the "Mosquito" I was aware of. He described to me a strange plane that had no ressemblance with that two-motor multi-crew I had seen in films.
It was a monomotor placed behind the pilot, it's only passenger. He told me that he was litterally riding over the prop shaft made out of solid wood, shaken as if he was sitting on a washing machine with an uneven load during the spin cycle.
He went on to told me that, everytime he was firing his guns, the cabin would fill with gunsmoke to the point of blocking any view from the exterior.
I was 15 and, like most boy of my age, thought I knew just about everything. That old bus driver was pulling my leg! I even started to doubt that he could fly anything, even a Cessna.
But now I'm 49 and I know that they're is a lot of things I do not know, and probably never will. But I now know of a plane that could fit his description : the Airacobra P-39. The nickname of "Mosquito" would aptly describe that bird with its dart coming from the spinner.
Back then I assumed that he was flying for the RAF or the RCAF, but he could have been flying under the American flag as did so many French-canadians at the time. Sorry, never thought to ask.
So guys, was he pulling my leg? Was he an old schoolbus driver trying to "showoff" a young impressionnable 15 years old boy or was he telling the truth? I'm asking because, each years passing-by, the story gets off my mind until a good snowstorm fell on us. That old bus driver took us to school once in such a huge storm that he was the only bus (out of about 75!) to get to destination. And he then went back and returned every students back to their homes!
I miss that old geezer...
Hubbabubba