The Military Aviation Museum has an annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. At these shindigs volunteers are given rides in some of the planes. Which plane you get to ride in is based on the number of hours the volunteer has accumulated.
This year I qualified for a ride in my choice of the N2S Stearman or the SNJ Texan. Since the Missus bought me a ride in the Stearman as a Christmas gift two years ago, I chose the Texan.
I climbed into the rear cockpit, got briefed by the ground support crew (also volunteers), then got further instructions from yet another volunteer...the pilot. We had to wait for the P-51 Mustang to land with the lucky volunteer (who has at least twice as many hours as I do to get a ride in the Museum's hotrod). This is what is pictured here - the Mustang landing with the Texan's wing in the foreground (the Texan is an advanced trainer and all trainers of the era had a lot of yellow on them to warn other pilots that it was being flown by a student).
After it landed, the pilot started the Texan's big radial engine. After a minute or so, he shut it down, climbed out of the cockpit onto the wing, opened the gas filler cap and peered in. It was, as he suspected, full. But the fuel gauge on the instrument panel said it was empty. After another start the gauge still read empty. This was taken as a sign that the 80-year old aircraft had had enough and didn't want to fly any more today. So I didn't get my ride, but I do have a raincheck and will get it later.
