A Happy E-Type "Reunion" Story

Good to read a bit of happy news of late … :smile:

https://journal.classiccars.com/2020/03/24/my-classic-car-reunited-with-his-classic-kitty/?utm_source=marketingcloud-downshift&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=journal

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Great story. Thanks for posting.

That is a VERY happy story, so needed in these times! TFS!

“I always thought it must have been the sound of the resonators and engine that just helped him go right to sleep as Jane held him in her arms.”

My favorite airplane is the DC-3 so over the years I have managed to get rides in a few of them. Every time even though I am super excited to be in a -3 the wonderful drone of those radial engines makes me sleepy. The sound of an XK engine reminds me some of those radials.

I love that kind of story!!! I wish my dad was still around so we could find some of his first loves regarding cars. He was a car guy but never able to afford what he really wanted, what I’d give to be able to give him that. Does anyone know the VIN of this car, that car ought to be posted on xkedata.com
pauls

You’re not the only one: my Dad was at UA, early days, when it was there primary bird. I’ve always loved that plane!

Almost 100 years on, its still a productive and viable aircraft.

It’s the only plane I’m aware of that a song’s been written about, and that my band performs.

The first time I flew commercial it was on a DC-3. 1965, Central Airlines, Ft. Leonard Wood to Ft. Smith. I’d guess about 25 seats and it had a stewardess. IIRC the cockpit was behind a curtain. Exciting stuff for a 14 year old.

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John,
You were at Ft. Leonard Wood too!! When? My first commercial flight was also DC3 and headed home from Ft. Bliss. Then second DC3 was headed back to Germany at night, window seat near the engine, was not amused by the exhaust pipe turning red hot. The plane did have a problem and we had to land in Decatur IL they gave us a bus ride to Chicago. No idea what airline.
pauls

I’ve yet to take a flight in one. Dang it.,

Yes and no. My dad did the last 4 years of his 30 year army career at the ROTC unit at the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla; then he retired we stayed there. We drove to Ft. Wood for shopping and medical care Forney Field, at Ft. Wood was the closest commercial airport.

I lived in MO from '59 to '70, had basic at FLW, I didn’t like it much :slight_smile: In fact it was hard to believe it was MO because I liked MO a lot but FLW was a different experience !!
pauls

Hi Guys,
I was fortunate enough to fly our South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) DC3 ZS-CAI, in the late 70’s.
I was trained in the right seat as well as the left seat and was therefore authorised to fly as captain as well as co-pilot on the aircraft.
What a privilege.
I only did a 100 hours or so, before joining our national airline, SOUTH AFRICA AIRWAYS for the next 30 + years.
Regards
Chris

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That story got me a little choked up. I’ve always wondered what I’d do if the original owner of mine (1968 S1 1/2 OTS), whom I bought her from in 1976, contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in selling her back to him. I’ve looked for him a few times but as he shares the same name as the first black mayor of Birmingham Al. (Richard Arrington) I get an endless series of hits on everything that’s not related to him.

But you’ve got to love “The Strip” that ran from the main gate out to Route 66/ I44. Three or four miles of non-stop pawn shops, used car lots, junky furniture stores, porno stores and movie houses, liquor stores, trailer parks, restaurants and flesh peddlers. I knew of at least one coffee shop, not first hand, where a cup of coffee could cost you anywhere from a dime to $20,depending on what you wanted with your coffee.

We used to drive down there and check out the used car lots. That’s where I saw my first E-type, triple black. From that moment on I wanted one.

Missouri has changed drastically since then, at least from what I can tell.

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I went through Basic and ADT at FLW in 1956. Waynesville, Rolla, Columbia were the stomping grounds for young soldiers. Later went back in 1990 as a Colonel. None of the buildings I remembered were still there except the PX.

In 9th grade I was the evening bellhop at the hotel in Rolla. Every weekend the recruits getting their first overnight pass would flood into Rolla, God only knows why, it’s not a party mecca. Maybe they saw it had a university and figured hot college girls. Too bad it was an engineering school with about 4,000 guys and maybe 150 girls enrolled. The hotel would fill up. I also ran the manual control elevator, delivered room service and made runs to the grease ball pizza parlor across the street.

Here I am a 13 year old and these guys are asking me where they can find women and where can an underage dogface get a drink. Had they asked me where the best pool hall, hobby shop or slot car track was I could have been helpful. I will note that the soldiers were on average better tippers than the usual traveling salesmen we got during the weekdays.

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On a similar note, regarding crazy odds, last year I purchased a 1970 Triumph Bonneville. These bikes came with an ignition key and fork lock key ( not alike). My bike had an after market ignition key and no fork lock key. The bike didn’t need much but I was given the name of a gentleman who has been selling parts for these bikes out of his house for years after closing his own British bike business. A couple of weeks ago, after being done with all the required work and parts replacement, I thought it would be nice if I had the original keys for both ignition and fork so I asked him if by chance he had some old keys laying around. He said : I have only aftermarkets but one set of oem, ignition and fork, Union keys on an old key ring. They both matched my bike !! Triumphs used 50 different keys for the ignition and 50 different ones for the fork so what are the odds? To top it off he said ,” thats incredible” and gave them to me for free !!

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When Delta was doing their 75th anniv. tour with their DC-3 it stopped at our hangar in Houston for an overnight stay. I geeked out completely and brought out all my books with the history of that airplane that they already knew of course. The next morning they invited me to fly with them from Houston to San Antonio so I called my boss saying I had to take the day off no matter what. It was immaculately restored even down to 21 real 1941 issues of the same LIFE magazine in each seat back pocket. We had to wear gloves and booties to get on board. Wonderfully comfortable airplane to ride in. Much better than any turbo-prop I have ever been in. Toward San Antonio it did start getting a bit turbulent though. Not anything where I was going to throw up but it did make me realize why newer airplanes have yaw dampers. I could really feel it fish tailing.

https://www.deltamuseum.org/exhibits/exhibits/aircraft/dc-3-ship-41

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You fly a lot, I know. How did you enjoy that uphill trudge from the door to your seat? :smile:

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I’ve seen that site before, but it kinda confuses me … Are there really still 20K+ E-types on the road today? That has to be more numerous than XJSes, if so … :open_mouth: