Cool pix!

Young man, front row, center, looks all grown-up with that pipe.

 

And today we'd have that long grey line and troops fresh from the cookie cutter.

 

The numbers on the bulkhead are probably frame numbers. (Ribs, sorta.)

 

This reminds me of that time I thought I was seeing things. At the end of the Gulf War in 1991, I watched Air Force Groups and Wings flying West over the Illinois River valley just south of my house. Several hundred aircraft heading home.

 

I was at a convenience store in Indiana one day. Waiting for brother-in-law to get something cold to drink. I'm sitting on the rear bumper when I hear a plane over head. Airport's within sight so that's no big deal. BUT this wasn't a Piper, it was a Zero. There was a P-51 not far behind him. A long line of planes behind the Mustang. Light bulb moment. I ran into the store and said "Terry, I'm leaving with your care in two minutes." He got the idea and we immediately shagged it for the airstrip. Confederate Air Force doin' a pit stop. This was 1980s.

 

Guess who? (No googling.)

 

Yep. Their moms are saying "Get out of those dirty clothes before you come into my kitchen!"

 

'Cause, you know, the Moon is really dry...

 

What's a quarter million miles among friends?

 

The great part was they were told they were getting training for all kinds of environments because they could literally come down anywhere on the planet. "Best to be prepared..."

 

Is that how it's supposed to go?