RIP Carroll Shelby

[Scratch]

Hey, Ken... So you met the man, eh? What was the occasion? Are you a racing fan?

Yep; always been a racing fan, Chaz. I've done some amateur road racing, autocrossing, drag racing, and road rallys back in the day. Had a couple vettes (66 & 67), a camaro (73 model), couple of nice old MGs, and lots of Mustangs from mild to wild. My fave was a 1970 Boss 302. Sure wish I had that one back...

Carroll Shelby brought a truck with six experimental Shelby Mustangs to an open house on Randolph AFB in 2008. USAF Thunderbirds were there and the weekend was built around speed. What fun... He had a black 2008 Mustang six cylinder there pulling 480 hp. Sheesh. He was definitely a legend and one of my all time favorite role models. A real country gentleman...

 

[twocorgis]

I know what you mean Sandy. Like the slogan says,,, They’re Driving Machines.

My sister just bought a new 5 series. I think I’ll probably get another one. :mrgreen: More than likely shop for a low mileage pre-owned 5 series.

Buying a new one put the hurt on my bank account last time. :shock:

George

Exactly what I did George. 2009 Certified car, 35K miles on it when I bought it. It's under factory (which includes scheduled maintenance) for another year, the Certified warranty until 2015, and was nearly half of what it stickered for new. Definitely the way to go. I haven't bought a new car since 1983, and probably won't ever again.

 

[chazmo]

Hey, Ken... So you met the man, eh? What was the occasion? Are you a racing fan?

Yep; always been a racing fan, Chaz. I've done some amateur road racing, autocrossing, drag racing, and road rallys back in the day. Had a couple vettes (66 & 67), a camaro (73 model), couple of nice old MGs, and lots of Mustangs from mild to wild. My fave was a 1970 Boss 302. Sure wish I had that one back...

Carroll Shelby brought a truck with six experimental Shelby Mustangs to an open house on Randolph AFB in 2008. USAF Thunderbirds were there and the weekend was built around speed. What fun... He had a black 2008 Mustang six cylinder there pulling 480 hp. Sheesh. He was definitely a legend and one of my all time favorite role models. A real country gentleman...

Well, that is just outrageously cool, Ken! A great memory, I'm sure.

BTW (and unrelated), I've never been down to Randolph, but I did get to several other bases in the southwest while I was a cadet at USAFA back in 1980. The Thunderbirds crash occurred a couple of years after I left, and affected me pretty deeply at the time. I'm really glad they're back doing their thing; they were insane to watch back then and I'm sure they're still amazing!!

 

[Scratch]

Didn't know you were once a Zoomie, Chaz! What a campus, eh?

It took many years for the USAF to fully recover from the Thunderbirds disaster. What a tragedy that was... I did exec officer duty for BG Dan Taylor in the mid eighties. He was a Thunderbird lead at one time and had great tales of his experiences. heckuva guy...

Appears you were at the USAFA the same time I attended OTS... That's pretty cool.

 

[chazmo]

Didn't know you were once a Zoomie, Chaz! What a campus, eh?

It took many years for the USAF to fully recover from the Thunderbirds disaster. What a tragedy that was... I did exec officer duty for BG Dan Taylor in the mid eighties. He was a Thunderbird lead at one time and had great tales of his experiences. heckuva guy...

Appears you were at the USAFA the same time I attended OTS... That's pretty cool.

I had no idea, Ken! That must have been VERY cool working with General Taylor. I'm really glad they've recovered from that disaster. It must've even hit closer to home for you, given your job!

Well, I was a short-timer at USAFA, Ken. It turned out I wasn't ready for a military career, and I bailed and went to civilian college after only being there for 4 months. But, you know what? That 4 months left an indelible imprint on my life. It may sound nutty, but it's true! I just couldn't look ahead at the ripe old age of 17 and plan the next 10 years of my life in USAF. Sometimes I regret it, but not often.

Funny, somewhat embarassing story... USAFA was considered active duty in 1980... I resigned and got an honorable discharge from USAF. I was actually considered a veteran at 17 years old! I wonder if that's a record? I was young for my grade to begin with (obviously).

 

[West R Lee]

Didn't know you were once a Zoomie, Chaz! What a campus, eh?

It took many years for the USAF to fully recover from the Thunderbirds disaster. What a tragedy that was... I did exec officer duty for BG Dan Taylor in the mid eighties. He was a Thunderbird lead at one time and had great tales of his experiences. heckuva guy...

Appears you were at the USAFA the same time I attended OTS... That's pretty cool.

I had no idea, Ken! That must have been VERY cool working with General Taylor. I'm really glad they've recovered from that disaster. It must've even hit closer to home for you, given your job!

Well, I was a short-timer at USAFA, Ken. It turned out I wasn't ready for a military career, and I bailed and went to civilian college after only being there for 4 months. But, you know what? That 4 months left an indelible imprint on my life. It may sound nutty, but it's true! I just couldn't look ahead at the ripe old age of 17 and plan the next 10 years of my life in USAF. Sometimes I regret it, but not often.

Funny, somewhat embarassing story... USAFA was considered active duty in 1980... I resigned and got an honorable discharge from USAF. I was actually considered a veteran at 17 years old! I wonder if that's a record? I was young for my grade to begin with (obviously).

Chaz, in talking with Ken, you can't imagine what all you missed. How many all expense paid trips to beautiful Vietnam Ken? And the accomodations in Hanoi? :wink: Ken's been to the Hilton.

West

 

[chazmo]

Didn't know you were once a Zoomie, Chaz! What a campus, eh?

It took many years for the USAF to fully recover from the Thunderbirds disaster. What a tragedy that was... I did exec officer duty for BG Dan Taylor in the mid eighties. He was a Thunderbird lead at one time and had great tales of his experiences. heckuva guy...

Appears you were at the USAFA the same time I attended OTS... That's pretty cool.

I had no idea, Ken! That must have been VERY cool working with General Taylor. I'm really glad they've recovered from that disaster. It must've even hit closer to home for you, given your job!

Well, I was a short-timer at USAFA, Ken. It turned out I wasn't ready for a military career, and I bailed and went to civilian college after only being there for 4 months. But, you know what? That 4 months left an indelible imprint on my life. It may sound nutty, but it's true! I just couldn't look ahead at the ripe old age of 17 and plan the next 10 years of my life in USAF. Sometimes I regret it, but not often.

Funny, somewhat embarassing story... USAFA was considered active duty in 1980... I resigned and got an honorable discharge from USAF. I was actually considered a veteran at 17 years old! I wonder if that's a record? I was young for my grade to begin with (obviously).

Chaz, in talking with Ken, you can't imagine what all you missed. How many all expense paid trips to beautiful Vietnam Ken? And the accomodations in Hanoi? :wink: Ken's been to the Hilton.

West

Hehehehe.... I would love to knock back a beer or two with you guys and revisit these stories. One of these days...

In 1980, I was one of only three in my class of 630 that went the route of joining up in peacetime. I wanted to be a pilot in order to be part of the deterrence that ultimately ended the cold war. Like I said, I can't say I regret my decision to go (or to leave), but my life was shaped in incalculable ways by my short time there. And, yes, that is an amazing campus, isn't it, Ken? Millions of beer cans to make that chapel.

I was a member of the drum and bugle corps (I played 1st bugle) for the short time I was there. We traveled around with the football team, but while they were hopping around on commercial flights we were strapped into hammocks in C130 Hercules. I actually loved those times.

 

[Scratch]

Another interesting Carroll Shelby fact: He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941 and eventually became a flight instructor at what is now Lackland AFB, TX, then became a test pilot. His assigned flight instructor was Chuck Yeager.

He was hooked on speed and racing. Tried to link up with Chevrolet to build race cars, but the GM brass didn't want him so he turned to Ford who sent him two prototype 260 ci engines to play with and the rest is history. Quite the legendary character.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/cons ... _timeline/