CAF SoCal Living History Presentation Series: Harnessing the Sky: Fredrick “Trap” Trapnell The U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer

From bi-planes to jets!

On Saturday, June 10th, local author Dana Trapnell Tibbitts presented her book on the nearly lost history of her grandfather,  the man called the “godfather of modern naval aviation.”

Dana Trapnell Tibbitts and John Torgerson

The excellent presentation of the  award winning biography, Harnessing The Sky: Frederick “Trap” Trapnell, the U.S. Navy’s Aviation Pioneer can be viewed on our YouTube channel at the following link:

After the presentation and a Q/A session, the author was  available for a book signing for the audience. Autographed copies are also available at the museum’s gift shop.

Despite a thick marine layer, the weather was cooperative enough to allow us to conclude the day’s activities by flying  Minisi III, CAF SoCal’s Zero killer F6F Hellcat, an example of an airplane whose expedited development under Trapnell was critical to U.S. victory in World War II.

Congratulations to Chris Liguori, our latest Zero pilot.  

Chris Liguori, post Zero flight

Chris was introduced to CAFSoCal a few years ago as a P51 warbird ride participant – a gift from his lovely wife.  

Since then he’s been at the wing, pitching in as time allows and has proven to be a more than capable pilot behind the controls of the F6F Hellcat.

Anxious to add to his repertoire, Chris  just had his first flight behind the stick of a Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero on June 3rd.

Way to go Chris! You’ve joined a small and distinguished group of people on the planet! Can’t imagine what that must feel like.

Following the flight, Chris was met by a proud ground crew and his ceremonial shot of sake!

Chris Liguori receiving his shot of Sake after his first flight on the A6M3 Zero

Great guy that he is, Chris has promised to give us a quick interview comparing what it’s like to fly the Zero vs the Hellcat. We’ll have that up soon. 

The B-25/PBJ and the Hellcat participated in the 2017 Memorial Day Weekend activities at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

Our aircraft arrived on Saturday and were on display at the museum for the weekend. The PBJ was made available for rides and took to the sky on multiple warbird ride missions to the delight of all involved.

The Holiday weekend ended with museum’s annual “Flower Drop” where hundreds of red and white carnations were dropped from the bomb bay of the B25 “Pacific Princess”. The red and white flowers against the blue sky was a spectacle to be witnessed in person. The airdrop was followed by a Missing Man Formation which included our PBJ and Hellcat as well as a P63 King Cobra and a P51-D.

Thanks to Scott Plummer or airshowvid.com for generously sharing some of the footage for the video.

What a great weekend and a privilege to have been part of the moving ceremonies honoring our veterans. Our sincere gratitude goes to the organizers and volunteers at the PSAM for their tireless efforts in putting on a great show as well as their unmatched hospitality.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Hellcat made a great photo subject on the return trip back to Camarillo, late on Monday.

[Show slideshow]

We all wish we could fly these beautiful warbirds.

Failing that, we are happy to settle for hearing first-hand from those skilled enough to fly a vintage WWII fighter.

In this candid video, CAF Col. Steve McCartney graciously shares his first impressions of the Spitfire Mk. XIV after his second flight ever piloting the sleek aircraft. It helped that the questions were coming from Ms. Caroline Sheen of the Air & Space Magazine who was spending a full day of her Southern California vacation at the CAFSoCal museum and hangars.

The impromptu session ends with Caroline asking us “do YOU want to get your pilot’s license?”  Well, yes. Maybe. But we’ll leave the warbird flying to folks like Steve!

Our B-25/PBJ will be at the Palm Springs Air Museum for the Memorial Day Weekend.  

While it is there we will be selling rides in the world’s only flying PBJ.  

You can purchase and schedule your ride on the PBJ in advance using our Rides webpage and choosing the Memorial Day weekend dates and times from the drop down list.