Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧

Retired American Airline Pilot, A&P mechanic, DC3 atmospheric research pilot. Docent Museum of Flight. Descendant of John Griffith Pvt in the Continental Army.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

I know it's corny, but the thought keeps running through my head that after 60 years of flying I might have had my last waltz in a Cessna 172 on floats... and no the song is not about the flight instructor it's a metaphor about ♥️ #aviation
Volume up
#avegeek #airplane #oldduffer

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

The Tupolev with its anhedral wing looks like a giant bird swooping in for a landing.

[Aviation Archive - Tim Farmer @aviationarchive]

The Tupolev Tu-114 was the Soviet giant based on the Tu-95 Bear. First flown in 1957, it entered service in 1961 with four Kuznetsov turboprops. It cruised at 480mph, over 5,500mi range and seated up to 220. It was the fastest prop airliner ever and largest at the time.👀

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@box_david Excellent memories David

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

Having someone take of picture of you air to air is really cool but to have both a DC3 and a 777 picture of an aircraft you are flying is special. The picture of the DC3 was taken in 1974 from a Cessna 411 as we were flying in very loose formation heading to St. Louis. The 777 air to air happened serendipitously. We were flying from ORD to NRT. The ANC ATC controller said at the point he was terminating radar coverage that we would be joined later by another 777 at a point further along the track. Sure enough later we saw a converging aircraft on TCAS that eventually slid in directly below us. We flew together like twins with our Radio Altimeter bouncing off of the United 777 below us. We started chatting and the United pilot said that he was getting good pictures of us. He later shared them.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

What was an U.S. pilot doing flying a British registered @BoeingAirplanes 737-4Q8 In Juneau Alaska? For one thing he was lying on the cabin floor trying to free a stuck airstair door as 170 or so passengers looked on. The 737 was on wet lease from Air Europe. Nobody including me knew how the airstair worked. I was laying on the floor trying to figure out the operation and talking to the ground crew when I asked the flight attendant to make an announcement to explain to the passengers what was going on and she said to me "they can see what is going on" Obviously the people in the back had no idea what was happening so I got up and made the PA and then got back to trying to solve the problem. We ended up finding a portable airstair and the passengers deplaned.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@Patrciamq3 A Beech AT11

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@penahening Love it!!!!

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@NaviGoBoom My Windham Weapon VEX shoots both 556 and 223 according to the manufacture.
5.56 AMMO in a VEX - Windham Weaponry Inc.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@alvaro_giarola @CigsMake On average, drinkers and smokers live longer than porcupines

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@Chris_arnade How many years ago did you first post pictures of Reginald eating hot dogs on X

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@InfantryPilot They never give up.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@MCCCANM If it ain't departin you ain't parkin
You burn the paint off of your plane crossing the Pacific only to wait until scheduled arrival time for your gate to open up.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@johnkonrad Go big or go home.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@DocStrangelove2 Paul was a national treasure. He is missed

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@MikeyDiMercurio Mine too

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

Zuckerberg’s boat is in town it’s registered in the Marshal islands.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@jpr747 It looks like a mountain out of mole hair

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

The most unusual Flight Attendant accoutrement is this Mink stole worn by Northwest Airlines flight attendants in 1945. See this and many more fight attendant clothing items at the @museumofflight from now until January 2027 at the Runway to Runway exhibit in the Red Barn

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

Touching an artifact at the @museumofflight is a no no so it’s refreshing that in our new exhibit called Runway to Runway visitors are encouraged to touch the materials that flight attendant clothing are made out of.

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

@MikeyDiMercurio @EQuest38190 Good Grief 😵‍💫

[Bill Griffith 🇺🇸 🛫 🔧 @BilGriffith]

And then there are people like me who have a leather-bound autobiography published in 1781 that was written by my direct paternal ancestor's brother which is filled with family details. On my maternal side I have a recording from BBC Shetland in which an old timer tells the saga of my great great grandfather's death in 1860. He got up early and went to the steep cliffs on the island of Noss to collect birds' eggs. His shoes were found at the top of the cliff, but he was never seen again. When the family woke up and went outside there was a Sea Eagle in the front yard staring at them. The old timer who told the story said that the family was superstitious, and they believed that the Sea Eagle was sending a message.