Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Jul 18, 2012 8:31:24 GMT 9
On this day in 1938, Douglas Corrigan, the last of the early glory-seeking fliers, took off from Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, ostentatiously pointed west. However, a few minutes later, he made a 180-degree turn and vanished into a cloudbank to the puzzlement of a few onlookers Twenty-eight hours later, Corrigan landed his plane in Dublin, Ireland, stepped out of his plane, and exclaimed, "Just got in from New York. Where am I?" He claimed that he lost his direction in the clouds and that his compass had malfunctioned. The authorities didn't buy the story and suspended his license, but Corrigan stuck to it to the amusement of the public on both sides of the Atlantic. By the time "Wrong Way" Corrigan and his crated plane returned to New York by ship, his license suspension had been lifted, he was a national celebrity, and a mob of autograph seekers met him on the gangway. It is interesting that his plane was not deemed capable of flying across the Atlantic, and barely cleared to fly across the U.S. I don't know if he had a mug of Guiness Stout or a glass of Bushmill's after he landed in The Fair Green Land, but the people of Ireland welcomed this American of Irish descent, as one of their own. Just thought you would like to know this bit of history. Jim Too
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Post by Jim on Jul 18, 2012 9:16:44 GMT 9
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 10:29:34 GMT 9
i heard there was a rumor that brother Scanlon was his navigator, and that there was a 50 gallon barrel of suds in the back of the compartment with two long tubes to the front, just like NASCAR drivers. : :patties_day :leprechaun :green-beer
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Jul 18, 2012 11:22:46 GMT 9
'Tis but a wee bit of a rumour, Ron.
However, Corrigan was a hero in every Irish neighborhood in America, even during WW2.
He was still a celebrity many years later, and appeared in parades and on TV shows.
If you should believe he got lost in the clouds, well, you probably drank too many pints of Guinness Stout.
The men and boys, some ladies, in Irish neighborhoods had two heroes at the end of the Depression, and in to the War: Corrigan and James J. Braddock. You may have seen the movie about Braddock, Cinderella Man.
Jim Too
:god_bless_usa
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 11:25:24 GMT 9
wasnt gentleman jim braddock the guy who beat james earl jones in some MARQUIS DE SADE boxing match? ? :rofl : :leprechaun :green-beer
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Jul 19, 2012 8:15:35 GMT 9
"Jimmy" Braddock and Darth Vader (James Earl Jones)?
I hardly think so.
Braddock was heavyweight champion before Joe Lewis, so that was before Darth Vader came about.
Jim Too
:god_bless_usa
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