When Lockheed built the PV-2 Harpoon for the U.S. Navy, the last thing they were thinking of is how one of their aircraft would help a family spend quality time together, but that is exactly what the aircraft is doing for 25-year-old Sydney Ramey, who finds being around warbirds a typical atmosphere.
“A lot of my friends grew up around cars,” Sydney said. “Then they come over here and there are airplanes everywhere. They are usually in disbelief and exclaim, ‘This is so cool!’”
Sydney is the daughter of dedicated aircraft restorer Taigh Ramey, EAA 288520. Taigh is a wealth of information on World War II era aircraft. He is a skilled craftsman restoring Twin Beech aircraft.
Taigh also runs the World War II Bomber Camp. This camp allows you to step back in time and into the shoes of a bomber crew during the war, and is a part of the Stockton Field Museum. On top of all of that he is a judge for EAA Warbirds. His daughter Sydney is right there, a part of all of it.
Sydney’s exposure to airplanes happened before she could remember. “I took her flying when she was just a few months old,” Taigh recalls.
The love affair of flying for the family started with one of Taigh’s restored Beeches. “We’d load up the whole family and go flying to an air show,” Sydney said. At the time, Sydney had to sit on extra cushions to see over the glare shield.
“I really enjoyed the air shows,” Sydney said. “We’d have this circuit of shows we’d always hit, and I made friends at each of these stops. A lot of them I’d only get to see at these air shows.”
History was always a love of Sydney’s, and she would “take over” whenever WWII became the subject of that day’s lesson in school. For Taigh, it was special to get to involve his family in his love of aviation.
“We had a RC-45J,” Taigh said. “It had a camera bay in the belly. We had the camera gear out and had this thick glass installed. As we would fly, the girls would go and look out through this.”
“It was almost like having a glass bottom boat in the sky,” Sydney added. Taigh recalls looking back and seeing the girls play with toys in the air coming in through a vent.
“I’d open this panel in the floor and they would have fun seeing which toys would get caught in the air and fly around,” Taigh said. “It would be funny to look back there and see what they had flying around.”
A few years ago Taigh and a small group went and rescued a derelict Lockheed Harpoon. The Harpoon was a twin-engine, twin-tailed patrol bomber used by the Navy. They slowly restored it back to flying condition and returned the old firebomber back to its wartime configuration. Now this aircraft attends shows to honor a group of veterans and tell a story that a lot of people have never heard.
According to Sydney, telling this lesser-known story is part of what makes the experience special.
“The older I got, the more into it I get,” she said. “Each moment I get to fly with dad is really pretty epic. Then we bring the Harpoon into a show and we get to share it with them. You can tell just by the look on some of their faces just what seeing this airplane again means. For a lot of the vets, this is their aircraft. And it’s one that you don’t always see at an air show.”
The story of those who fought in the Aleutians and patrolled at sea is told with this aircraft.
“You can tell as their eyes light up looking at the equipment inside the airplane, that this means so much,” Sydney said.
The appeal extends beyond those who flew the Harpoon. Sydney said reaching out to younger generations through the aircraft is also a special part of traveling with it.
“You can really tell when a kid is really captivated by the plane,” she said. “I try to make sure I notice them and then bring them up to the cockpit, let them have a chance to touch the controls. You never know who you might have a chance to inspire or what they may go on to do.”
Flying the Beech 18 and Harpoon are not the only ways Sydney works to keep the past alive. When bomber camp starts, she can be seen right there along with the gang, doing everything from towing aircraft to checking in guests. Anything she can to help set the tone of the 1940s.
“The camp is really special,” Sydney said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience.”
She also spends time during AirVenture with the Warbirds judges, learning what makes a truly special restoration. “She’s definitely not your average kid,” Taigh proudly said. Sydney’s hope is that they are giving life to these airplanes and the stories of those who flew them.
“I feel like we are keeping this part of history alive,” she said. Sydney also has advice for those thinking about becoming active in any area of vintage aviation.
“This is the perfect time to get involved,” Sydney said. “We still have some of the people who were actually there still with us. It’s the perfect time to dive in and not wait.”
