Thx Jean-Luc,
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ailes et Plumes
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ailes et Plumes
After
the successful completion of the flight test
program and some bureaucratic and weather delays, I
ferried the airplane from Paine Field, Washington
to Suffolk County Airport in Virginia. For the
last two test flights we had converted it to the
two-seat configuration, which allowed our lead
mechanic Mike Anderson to come along as crew
chief/navigator on this 2,500 mile trip. As our FAA-
operating limitations mandated 'Day VFR only', and the max
altitude of 18 000ft not exactly optimal for range, it took
us four days and six refueling stops across the
continent to reach our destination, with "WHITE 3"
performing flawlessly.
ATC
doesn't have a computer code yet for the Me262,
and controllers frequently asked me for the type of
airplane. They usually couldn't wait then to pass
the information on to 'their' airliners on the same
frequency, e.g. "Delta 123, you have a
MESSERSCHMITT!! at your ten o'clock, five miles".
One of the many funny replies: "Are we being
invaded?"...
After receiving its new airworthiness certificate and operating limitations (the initial ones were valid only for flight test and repositioning), I'll be flying "WHITE 3" from its maintenance base in Suffolk County to its final destination, a small airport south of Virginia Beach with a 5,000 ft grass runway, where it will join - as the first jet - the world's largest collection of privately owned warbirds in the "Military Aviation Museum." I am sure you'll be able to follow the operation of this airplane in the future on YouTube and in aviation magazines. Cheers, Wolf Czaia Jim Larsen took the picture of "White 3" with Mt. Baker in the background. |