Hi, I am Sig (junge1),
I was born in Dominikus- Krankenhaus in Berlin-Hermsdorf, Bezirk Reinickendorf in December 1939. Bezirk Reinickendorf was one of 20 Bezirke that made up Gross-Berlin before World War II and one of 12 Bezirke that made up former West-Berlin, the other 8 Bezirke were Russian occupied and became East-Berlin after the war. Moved from Berlin to Neurohlau (Nova Role) Sudetenland (now Czech Republic), in August 1943 (our entire block of apartment buildings was bombed out in November 1943) and returned back to Berlin in November 1945. Saw my dad the first time in my life in August/September 1946 after he returned from POW camp. Attended elementary school in Berlin-Waidmannslust, high school in Berlin-Hermsdorf, and trade school in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Was an apprentice for the trade of Klischeeaetzer (photo engraver) at Burrath & Schmidt on Friedrichstrasse between U-Bahnhof Kochstrasse (near to what later became Checkpoint Charlie) and Hallisches Tor.
While watching Allied planes supplying West-Berlin by air during the Berliner Luftbruecke in 1948-49 I developed my love for aircraft. I guess I could be considered a 'Berliner Grosschnauze", or at least I used to be.
'Wanderlust' led me to leave Berlin in summer 1960 to emigrate to Toronto, Canada and in February 1962 to move from Canada to New York City, NY, USA. In January 1963 I joined the United States Air Force, one step ahead of Uncle Sam drafting me. Became a United States citizen within 7 weeks after it became a security issue because of my military career. One day after I was sworn in as a citizen in Seattle, my entire unit left for Southeast Asia in June 1966. After nearly 5 years of active duty (extended 11 months to make it an 18 months overseas deployment) I got discharged and moved to New York City. In 1973 I moved to Phoenix, Arizona and two years later joined the Arizona Air National Guard.
Received my higher education at Arizona State University and the University of Georgia and worked for 22 years for the Arizona Department of Water Resources in various capacities. Upon military retirement in 1999 and State retirement in 2005 I looked at a number of things to keep me occupied. Traveling and joining 'renderosity' in September 2007 were a couple of them,
Sig..
Comments (31)
lyron
Fantastic image!!
alessimarco
~Super cool!!!~
flavia49
what a beauty!! great capture!!
drifterlee
Wonderful shot!
dragonmuse
Not every day one gets such a close up view of such an interesting subject.
farmerC
Shining shot.
Faemike55
Fantastic shot Great specs
blinkings
Very nice mate. Super shot.
nefertiabet
Klasse Flieger, mit sowas würde ich gerne mal mitfliegen. Bist du Pilot??? Mein Vater war Pilot, finde das so toll!!!
lior
Impressiv: excellent capture!
emmecielle
Fantastic image! Excellent shot! :)
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
neiwil
OK ! had me a little confused but I think I've worked it out. The little old lady was driving her golf buggie to the next tee when this landed on the fairway.Needless to say she was not happy and began to tell the pilot exactly were to put his Flying Fortress or whatever they call them these days.Then up strode the club commitee to remonstrait with the rest of the crew.....Either that or the USAF have 'REALLY' relaxed their age restriction and dress code. One other possibility....you got a quite unique and brilliant shot of a real smart piece of kit, and a young lady who was probably equally hot...in 1940.(If she is in any way related to you I meant that in the nicest possible way :-)
carlx
Fantastic capture, Sig!!!
annie5
Impressive capture..well taken Sig! :)
sandra46
SUPERB CAPTURE
bazza
Great capture!!
bebopdlx
Great plane, worked on all off them. Nice shot.
junge1
@neiwil: I like your commentary. This is the real deal. Luke AFB had an 'open house' last weekend and this, among other aircraft, was on static display. There were oodles of people lined up to get a look at the cockpit. This particular picture was taken when they cleared the flight line of civilians. This picture was taken on Friday before the open house because I wanted to avoid the crowds.
tennesseecowgirl
I agree loved his comment too... Nice capture ~ reminds me of this song: Out on runway number nine, big 7-0-7 set to go And I'm stuck here in the grass with a pain that ever grows Now the liquor tasted good and the women all look fast And now there she goes my friend, she's rollin' now at last This old airport's got me down, it's no earthly good to me And I'm stuck here on the ground, as cold and drunk as I can be You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train So I best be on my way in the early mornin' rain
ysvry
great foto.
jocko500
this is cool. there a e book you may like 'God in fox hole" by Charles W. Sasser
bimm3d
fantastic POV and photo!!
casmindo
if you see this view you were not the target! Nice shot
debbielove
Drool mate! Once again, was sitting (this time lol) in Deal, Kent, England.. enjoying a quiet tea on the beachfront when suddenly appeared one of these! Flew straight over along the coast and was gone.. Obviously going to an airshow somewhere.. There is a very big USAF base in the UK...Lakenheath.. You may have heard of it recently.. The F-15 Strike Eagle that came down in Libya came from there.. (I may add it was a mechanical fault not shot down....) Great shot Sig! Rob
Rich2
Superb shot that cold-war era bird. I had the honor having a part of its construction when Rockwell sold it to the military back in the early '80s. Yup - that bad SOB had every accoutrement to level a third world country into a Wal-Mart parking lot. Might makes right but at what cost?
Minda
another excellent capture sig..
auntietk
JUST in case you were wondering what I would find interesting about this plane ... LOL! ... I love the swoopy bit between the fuselage and the wing where the engines are attached. It's the fluid angles ... outstanding!
danapommet
Wonderful POV of the Lancer. Have not seen one from this end. Dana
amanda_a42
Very impressive, great capture!