{"id":2128,"date":"2010-07-17T02:02:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-17T02:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2018-11-08T13:49:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T18:49:17","slug":"flying-over-down-under","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/kermit-weeks\/flying-over-down-under\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Over Down Under!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Mercedes1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1548 colorbox-2128\" title=\"Mercedes\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Mercedes1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"344\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I recently returned from a trip Down Under and got a chance to check up on several projects. \u00a0My first stop was New Zealand where I got to visit Peter Jackson and his staff. \u00a0Two of the three Mercedes engines I sent down were overhauled with one destined for my Fokker D-7 project. \u00a0I have several other exciting engine\/airplane deals going at this time with Peter which I will report on at a later date.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 576px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Be-2c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1543   colorbox-2128\" title=\"Be-2c\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Be-2c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kermit flying a brand new Be-2c reproduction <\/p><\/div>\n<p>I first met Peter through Gene DeMarco whom I had known from vintage aircraft for many years. Gene used to fly at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York State and I got the chance to dogfight Gene flying a Sopwith Camel while I was picking up and flying my Fokker D-VIII on a show weekend. Peter shares a love of WWI aircraft and hired Gene when he began collecting airplanes. \u00a0Between films the technical specialists build airplanes and it&#8217;s amazing to see what they&#8217;re doing. \u00a0I only wish I had the wherewithall to do what they&#8217;re doing at the same level. \u00a0Maybe one day Gee Bee will be as big as King Kong! \u00a0In success, not size. Anyway, what they&#8217;re doing for WWI aviation history\u00a0is awesome and very inspiring!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1544\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 576px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Kermit-in-Avro.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1544   colorbox-2128\" title=\"Kermit in Avro\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Kermit-in-Avro.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kermit flying original Avro 504 with 100hp Gnome rotary engine<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Most of the time I was there the weather was not very good, but it cleared up one day and we headed up to where they keep their flying airplanes. \u00a0There I got to fly one of their scratch-built Be-2C&#8217;s, including a scratch-built RAF\u00a0engine. \u00a0I also got to fly an Avro 504 with a 100 Gnome rotary, as well as, be a gunner in their amazing Fe-2B reproduction with an original Beardmore engine! \u00a0Talk about a blast. \u00a0It was . . .\u00a0<em>literally! <\/em>I also got to taxi around their amazing WWI Albatross reproduction with an original Mercedes engine. \u00a0It sounds like a John Deere tractor and I can&#8217;t wait to be the first kid on my block to have one running!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1552\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 576px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Fe-2b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1552   colorbox-2128\" title=\"Fe-2b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Fe-2b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kermit, the Fe-2b Gunner, with Gene at the controls!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 576px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Kermit-the-Gunner.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1553   colorbox-2128\" title=\"Kermit the Gunner\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Kermit-the-Gunner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clearing the skies of clouds and enemy aircraft!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One day, we hope to do a WWI show at Fantasy of Flight. \u00a0With the way things are progressing, it won&#8217;t be long before we could do a great one with just the airplanes we have . . . even if nobody else shows up!<\/p>\n<p>Kermit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently returned from a trip Down Under and got a chance to check up on several projects. \u00a0My first stop was New Zealand where I got to visit Peter Jackson and his staff. \u00a0Two\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,20,15,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fokker-d-7","category-fun-travel","category-kermit-weeks","category-notable_friends_and_visitors","flying-over-down-under"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6353,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions\/6353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fantasyofflight.com\/collection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}