Category: The Empire (Page 3 of 5)

On my way to the All British show in Bellevue I stopped to gawk at the Flying Heritage museum’s fly day…they were going to fly the Hurricane and Spitfire, but the Spit was grounded, so they flew the P51 in its place. All Merlin power, in any case, and I can’t say I feel too slighted.

Attended the Northwest Historics vintage races at Pacific Raceways yesterday. It was a nice day out. Below is a random sampling of photos, some identifiable by me, some not. I’m not a compulsive photographer, so after a couple of races I left my camera in my pocket and was content to simply observe.
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It’s not really anything like a “real” club, just an open-to-anyone gathering once or twice a month on a Saturday. Bring an interesting old car (doesn’t really need to be a sports car, either) for an enjoyable morning spent spreading bull and gawking at cars. My GT was was the sleaziest machine here, which is probably why it has everyone gathered around it.

Naming all of the cars should be pretty easy–but the one at the far end may give you pause.

If I had to place one car atop my “ultimate wish list,” the S-Type Invicta would almost certainly be the one. I had never seen one in the metal until today–this incredible machine was on display at the Vancouver All British Field Meet.
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I launched another new version of the “data” web sites, this one having to do with the Jaguar factory racing cars from the fifties and sixties, namely the C-Type, D-Type, XKSS, and Lightweight E-Types: Coventry Racers. Shown is one of the 1954 LeMans team cars, currently owned by Terry Larsen of Arizona, an expert on these machines.

I found this via a comment by “BitterOldPunk” on metafilter, which seems to be via manoverse. It surely has to contend for the world’s most perfect photo.

The “Wall of Death” was (is?) a common amusement park attraction in England. Lions were (are?) extra.

Went past the Flying Heritage Museum (again!) while running errands on Saturday. They were going to be flying the P-51 Mustang and the Messerschmitt 109…what they actually flew was a bit of a treat: They flew the 109 and three P-51s. The three Mustangs flew in honor of Captain Harrison “Bud” Tordoff, who was assigned the very P-51 the museum owns during Hitler’s war.
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Before picking the car up on Saturday, my friend and I stopped by the Flying Heritage museum to watch them take the Hawker Hurricane and Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 Rata up for a demonstration flight. The Hurricane is a beautiful aircraft, not as pretty as a Spitfire, perhaps, but quite handsome. The Rata is like a pug dog–squashed-nose and barrel-bodied but likable all the same.
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After visiting the air museum (see the post prior to this one) we took a jaunt to the 2008 All British Field Meet. We arrived as things were winding down a bit, a few cars were leaving…still plenty to see!
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Paul Allen, of Microsoft fame, has opened a museum–The Flying Heritage Collection–featuring a collection of World War II fighter aircraft in Everett, Washington, not very far at all from Rusty Heaps HQ. It’s tremendous. And the best part? They are all in flying condition, and are flown!
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