trivia... a little about Cliff Robertson.
As a boy, Cliff Robertson was fascinated with airplanes, and would often hang around the hangers at a small airport nearby, where he traded odd jobs for an occasional quick flight. As a young man, he tried to enlist as a Navy flyer but with less than perfect vision he joined the Merchant Marine instead, serving during World War II. He saw action in the South Pacific, Mediterranean, North Atlantic and France. After the war Robertson became a reporter. He wrote for the Springfield Daily News in Ohio...
Robertson was a collector of airplanes, and an avid pilot, who held single-engine land and sea, multi-engine, commercial, instrument, balloon and glider ratings. Aviation was, he said, more of a passion to him than acting. He was a close friend of Burt Rutan, designer of the Voyager airplane and SpaceShipOne. In 1969, as Nigeria was ravaged by civil war, Robertson helped organize flights bringing food and medicine into the area. And in 1978, when Ethiopia was hit by famine, Robertson again organized incoming supply flights for charity.
The aircraft Robertson once owned but has since sold include:
Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX - The most famous military aircraft of all time and one of the most beautiful ever built. It went up against the vaunted Messerschmitt during World War II and beat back the German threat in the Battle of Britain. By the time production ceased in 1949, over 22,000 Spitfires (and Seafires) had been made. Robertson sold his after getting "an offer I couldn't refuse."
12-12-2011, 06:15 PM
Hybrid Mode
