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Roy Rogers...King of Cowboys was also a Pilot

WindOnHisNose

WindOnHisNose

BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
Roy Rogers has been one of my most cherished heroes since I was a little boy on the farm in Kansas. My parents weren't much into TV, but they let me watch the Roy Rogers show and I spent many hours "riding with Roy Rogers" on my pretend horse in the yard as Roy rode his horse, Trigger.

I just stumbled upon this youtube video of "This is Your Life", a show that I remember my grandparents watching every week. Watching this video about Roy brings back great memories. If you take a few minutes to watch this you will learn a bit about Roy Rogers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB6SSIUqQRg

I just learned that Roy was a pilot, flying a Cessna Bobcat.

I always thought Roy was from Oklahoma, but in fact he was born and raised near Duck Run, Ohio. Hell's Bells, he was probably a member of Ohio Bushplanes!

Randy
 
A43EA493-CC66-4991-875D-38A816114DAE.jpeg

I bought this at a Friends of the NRA dinner last fall. A cartridge and bullet from Roy’s .45.

Roy was also an original member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Roy and Dale were from a different era than we have today.
 

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Wow, you youngsters got to watch him on TV? We could only sit by the radio and listen to both Roy and Hopalong Cassidy, then use our imagination to "see" what was going on. Great days gone by too fast, thanks for the reminders and memories. We too terrorized the neighborhood with our six guns.
 
As a kid I always liked Rogers and Autry. As an adult I was a bit put off with that pink Cadillac convertible with the pistols and horns all over the place at Apple Valley. Autry preserved some railroad stuff, and I think he did some really good things at the end of his movie career. We used to overnight in his motel in PSP back in the PacEx days.
 
spinner2 said:
View attachment 34906

I bought this at a Friends of the NRA dinner last fall. A cartridge and bullet from Roy’s .45.

Roy was also an original member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

Roy and Dale were from a different era than we have today.
Click to expand...

Oh give me land, lots of land with the starry skies above...

We had one of the Roy Roger's pictures at ours also, but went out of my price range!

I was just appointed as Chairman for our FONRA dinner here Dan, would you like come up for it? Interesting the things that they come up with!

Didn't Roy fly the plane on one of his shows? Before my time so did not see much of it... heard stories.

Lots of the old time actors came to Alaska to hunt and fish, some even invested in property and would come every year. Still lots of land up here to get away from crowds! Wish the quality of people were as good.
 
Cessna Bobcat!! That must have been a popular surplus plane after the war. I believe that the Bobcat also was the original "Songbird" for Sky King (before the 310). Roy and Dale plus Sky King were my two favorites as a pup. The world misses entertainment that also taught morality. We sure could use some today.
 
Cessna Bobcat, Bamboo Bomber, T-50 love that airplane have owned three of them. You would be amazed at how short it would get out when very lightly loaded. My last one is in my avitar. On floats it would slightly out climb and cruise a little bit faster than a 185.

edit: At double the fuel consumption. :x
 
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IIRC Gene Autry owned that Bamboo Bomber.

EDIT: Weird, this was at the top of my "new messages" list...
 
skywagon8a said:
Cessna Bobcat, Bamboo Bomber, T-50 love that airplane have owned three of them. You would be amazed at how short it would get out when very lightly loaded. My last one is in my avitar. On floats it would slightly out climb and cruise a little bit faster than a 185.

edit: At double the fuel consumption. :x
Click to expand...

I got to taxi one that had just been restored, in the same hangar I had my T-Craft in. I felt like King of the Ramp, like sitting in a semi.....missed the first flight then it was moved out, but I'll never forget that taxi. As a kid, I never did get a handle on how Roy's sidekick's jeep, Nelly Bell I believe, figured in with people still riding horseback?
 
Many, many years ago there was a T-50 at Charlevoix Michigan, it was earning a living flying freight out to the islands in Lake Michigan.
 
Here's another T-50 on floats and a great book about Old Timer Alaskan pilot Paul Shanahan to read>

Gary
 

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Gary, Can you see the N number on that airplane? There is a T-50 in Maine N51354 which was on floats in Fairbanks. That paint job looks vaguely familiar. There was another one which had flipped over floating upside down in a lake north of Fairbanks. No doubt it has probably sunk long ago.

This was a Northern Consolidated T-50.
 
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WindOnHisNose said:
Roy Rogers has been one of my most cherished heroes since I was a little boy on the farm in Kansas. My parents weren't much into TV, but they let me watch the Roy Rogers show and I spent many hours "riding with Roy Rogers" on my pretend horse in the yard as Roy rode his horse, Trigger.

I just stumbled upon this youtube video of "This is Your Life", a show that I remember my grandparents watching every week. Watching this video about Roy brings back great memories. If you take a few minutes to watch this you will learn a bit about Roy Rogers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB6SSIUqQRg

I just learned that Roy was a pilot, flying a Cessna Bobcat.

I always thought Roy was from Oklahoma, but in fact he was born and raised near Duck Run, Ohio. Hell's Bells, he was probably a member of Ohio Bushplanes!

Randy
Click to expand...

He had a spread on the S. side of Lake Jessup (excellent pig hunting - excellent shellcracker & bass fishing) complete with his own airport (asphalt runway) hangar, big house (you'd think it was a county airport). We used to see him from time to time and he was a standard at all the Orlando (biggest city nearby) parades. We liked him as a person, he fit in with the regular "folk".
 
skywagon8a said:
Gary, Can you see the N number on that airplane? There is a T-50 in Maine N51354 which was on floats in Fairbanks. That paint job looks vaguely familiar. There was another one which had flipped over floating upside down in a lake north of Fairbanks. No doubt it has probably sunk long ago.

This was a Northern Consolidated T-50.
Click to expand...

The one on the cover is N64700 which may have been the crash you note, his second T-50 was N51354. That plane was flown on floats and skis in the book. Get a copy Pete it's a good read.I've had the good luck to have known Paul. His C-185 in the later chapters is now owned by Dave Larsen and parks next to me in Fairbanks on floats.

Gary
 
BC12D-4-85 said:
The one on the cover is N64700 which may have been the crash you note, his second T-50 was N51354. That plane was flown on floats and skis in the book. Get a copy Pete it's a good read.I've had the good luck to have known Paul. His C-185 in the later chapters is now owned by Dave Larsen and parks next to me in Fairbanks on floats.

Gary
Click to expand...
N64700 has a registration pending in Spenard. Maybe the museum has it? I borrowed the paperwork from N51354 which also included some papers from N64700 to get the pre1956 337s to install the floats on mine. That was a big project. I recognize Paul Shanahan's name in the paperwork.
 
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