Nick at Hickory NC

[uboats]

:thumbup:

 

He is visiting Hickory NC now

 

The one in the cockpit is Nick

 

 

 

 

 

[BlackLion213]

:thumbup:

 

He is visiting Hickory NC now

 

 

It's great that you guys found a reference cockpit that is in great shape and not totally dilapidated (like so many others). That cockpit looks almost operational save for the slightly askew glare shield. :)

 

This one that I found in Alameda on Tuesday had not faired so well....mostly due to some dubious modifications.

 

 

 

Reportedly for a movie set...sigh...

 

Anyway, good luck with the trip! :thumbup:

 

-Nick

[BeachAV8R]

I had a chance to meet with Nick and his partner up in Hickory yesterday afternoon. It is only about a 45 minute drive from my house. They have two F-14s up there in what is a surprisingly nice aviation museum (LINK).

 

One of their F-14s is on static display outside. Crawling around it is fun and it is just incredible how large the aircraft is. The slabs that make up the elevators are just incredible and the whole thing looks like a maintenance nightmare. The one outside is obviously getting a bit weathered, and there was not access to the cockpit available at that time, so no idea on the state of that cockpit.

 

The cockpit that Nicholas is spending time with is a beautifully restored one..I mean, it looks fantastic. The guy in charge of restoring it was there and he is a super cool dude that travels around the country helping restore all kinds of aircraft. Extremely knowledgeable and interesting - Nick is lucky to have access to such a great cockpit.

 

I tell you - those guys have traveled a long way to get this aircraft done right. It was a shame that North Carolina greeted them with such an awful display of weather yesterday - it absolutely poured rain. Skies have cleared today though, so hopefully they will get an opportunity to get some ideal lighting that they might require. I wish I could have hosted them at my house, but unfortunately I have some relatives taking up residence for two weeks, otherwise I'd have invited them to stay with me. It was a real pleasure meeting them and I can't tell you how nice and genuine Nicholas is. I brought my 7 year old son with me (I mean is there any better reason to play hooky from school than to go sit in an F-14 cockpit??) and it was a great opportunity for him to see some iconic aircraft up close.

 

 

BeachAV8R

[westr]

Really good story, hope the weather gets better for the rest of your stay....

[OnlyforDCS]

Great looking cockpit. Unlike most NATO planes, it has that nice uncluttered look.

 

I guess having a man in the back seat to operate the radar, and who knows how many other switches is pretty beneficial from an ergonomical standpoint. :)

[BeachAV8R]

I regret I didn't hop in the back seat too. The boys were so busy working though I didn't want to delay them for a single minute. I mean, they are working on the module for us...so I knew you'd all flog me for getting in the way! <g>

[SkateZilla]

hold on... so you was in town and didnt stop by for some Popeyes Chicken?...

 

Flight Deck Veterans Group has been going up and down the east coast restoring tomcats lately, they have a FB group, I went to 2 of the Restorations last year.

Edited April 7, 2017 by SkateZilla

[spiddx]

Maybe you guys could also visit this one:

 

 

Seems to be a nice hands on experience. :music_whistling::lol:

[SkateZilla]

^ IIRC, There was a Temp field/Storage Facility There.

 

The Trees/Foliage appear to be very young, but the fact that there are Tomcat Airframes sitting out in the open w/ part readily accessible is a bit of a head scratcher.

[Vitormouraa]

Really cool!