Bombs away
In which we get a chance sighting of one of WWII's great bombers in action
I was picked up from the office this evening by some pals who happened to be passing my way on the road back from the Coachella Music Festival. The Yahoo! offices are adjacent to the Bob Hope (Burbank – Glendale) Airport. We see all manner of craft flying in and out all the time from our office windows, including Tom Cruise’s own P-51 Mustang, a WWII fighter plane known as the “Cadillac of the Sky” because of its extraordinary power and speed.
On the way to my place we drove past the end of the runway from which one usually sees Southwest Airlines 737s lumbering into the air. We were chatting when, in front and above of us, soared a four-engine bomber of WWII vintage, props roaring.
“Look! Look! Look at that!” I exclaimed, pointing from the back seat (no doubt annoying my even-tempered and less excitable friends).
As it banked slowly and majestically to the west, one of my friends asked what it was. I identified it, wrongly, as a B-17. I always get the 17 and the 25 mixed up. I hate that. It was a B-25 – a noble, fierce-looking aircraft that seems to bristle with an angry but just power.
Ten minutes after my friends deposited me at my door, I heard the droning growl of those engines again. Rushing outside, I looked up and saw her once more, flying away over the Hollywood Bowl and banking over the Santa Monicas toward the Westside. I count myself lucky for two B-25 sightings in a single day.
I don’t know what brought the 25 to Bob Hope, but I’ll give the airport a jingle on the morrow and find out. Stay tuned.
I was picked up from the office this evening by some pals who happened to be passing my way on the road back from the Coachella Music Festival. The Yahoo! offices are adjacent to the Bob Hope (Burbank – Glendale) Airport. We see all manner of craft flying in and out all the time from our office windows, including Tom Cruise’s own P-51 Mustang, a WWII fighter plane known as the “Cadillac of the Sky” because of its extraordinary power and speed.
On the way to my place we drove past the end of the runway from which one usually sees Southwest Airlines 737s lumbering into the air. We were chatting when, in front and above of us, soared a four-engine bomber of WWII vintage, props roaring.
“Look! Look! Look at that!” I exclaimed, pointing from the back seat (no doubt annoying my even-tempered and less excitable friends).
As it banked slowly and majestically to the west, one of my friends asked what it was. I identified it, wrongly, as a B-17. I always get the 17 and the 25 mixed up. I hate that. It was a B-25 – a noble, fierce-looking aircraft that seems to bristle with an angry but just power.
Ten minutes after my friends deposited me at my door, I heard the droning growl of those engines again. Rushing outside, I looked up and saw her once more, flying away over the Hollywood Bowl and banking over the Santa Monicas toward the Westside. I count myself lucky for two B-25 sightings in a single day.
I don’t know what brought the 25 to Bob Hope, but I’ll give the airport a jingle on the morrow and find out. Stay tuned.
posted by M2 at 6:06 PM
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even-tempered and less excitable?
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