Whud'ya get fer Christmas?

[Rittm]

Well, I'm not about to turn 55 yet, but I will be 33 in January. Whoopee! Being born in January is bad because everyone is so tired from all the holidays that they don't even want to think about another party. I should change my birthdate. Well, back to the topic...I was lucky enough to get Eagles of the Black Cross thanks to my Mom and someone who posted several locations where it could be found. I also got a replica of an Iron Cross second class and a lovely 18 inch parring dagger.

Al, you lucky dog!

Rittm

[Barrett]

Al: 43 is NOTHING! Hell, I can almost remember being 43!
I don't know what became of Ken Taylor. George "Wheaties" Welch was killed testing an F-100 in 1954. But how's this for consistency? He scored his fifth, sixth, and seventh victories one year after his first four: 7 December 1942 (in a P-39 over New Guinea.) His next 9 kills were in P-38s during 1943.

[Billy_Bishop]

The trick with January birthdays is you gotta be born far enough away from Christmas to matter. Me, it's Jan. 31. And that was really great when I was younger. First I'd get some of the toys I wanted for Christmas, then I'd get more on my birthday the following year.

As for being lucky, well, um, I'm trying to keep this clean, but I gotta rest up for New Year's Eve now.

Sometimes it's fun when your mate is 10 years younger. But sometimes it's downright exhausting too.

VBR,

Al Lowe
Propagating the world with a new generation
of PRO-Bishopites.

[Billy_Bishop]

Welch's callsign was "Wheaties"??

I was just curious, as I can find no more evidence of Taylor ANYWHERE. It's like he flew into the Bermuda triangle and disappeared

That is weird for Welch, getting his next 3 one year to the day after his first 4. And he did it in a P39? Shows that either he was an excellent pilot, or he went up against rookies. Considering the date, I'd vote for the excellent pilot myself.

I wish I could remember 21.

Later, you old fart.

Al Lowe
catching up to old fart hood too fast to suit me.

[mike_baram]

Al,
It's not the age of your partner, it's attitude.
My g/f is going on 51, and ..... well.....let's put it this way. Neither of us is complaining.
Libidinously yours,
Mike

[Billy_Bishop]

"It's not the age of your partner, it's attitude"
That explains a lot. If there's one thing that my mate isn't lacking, it's attitude. Sometimes I think she has more than she knows what to do with. But then she surprise me.

Later,

Al

Stephen,
What I got for Christmas was...
1. I got separated from my family due to deployment.
2. I got a lousy meal served that day.
3. I got really depressed.
4. I got to go by the Island of Iwo Jima that day.
5. I got no e-mail on that day.

VBR,
Jim

This year, the best gift by far, was meeting Canadian Camel-driver Henry botterell! My trip across the pond also included a visit to a Southern Belle in North Carolina, well one is only young once, besides it only comes natural to do a spot of hunting when going across the line...without crossing it however! Greetings all!

I got lotsa books, some of them even on WWI subjects. A number were memoirs (An Airman's Outings, Wings Over the Somme), a couple were bios (Barker VC, Gentleman Ace) and one was Kilduff's book on JG 1 (among other things). I was hoping for the Robert Taylor Botterell Camel (to go with my Taylor of Bishop's SE) but that was undoubtedly too much to hope for. My fave non-WWI gift is the reproduction minor-league baseball jersey my wife bought me from Ebbet's Field Flannels in Seattle.

I also got diagnosed with an ulcer, so Christmas dinner was a mixed blessing.

Nothing specifically focused on aviation, but i did get a couple books on WW1,
"A Western Front Companion 1914-1918" by John Laffin, and "No Man's Land 1918 - The Last Year of the Great War" which offers up a slightly different variation on von Richthofen's death.