Warbird Information Exchange

Man, they had all the good stuff and p i s s e d it away

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

I noticed that the bird still has the gun ports in the wings.Now that is cool.

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Hang The Expense

The right wing ammo bay had radio gear in it and the left one might have been for a RON bag. intake/exhaust plugs.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

That's definately a G-21, G-44 Widgeons have squared off vertical fins and sharper edged elevators/horizontals that aren't externally braced.
Rajay can probably provide more data about N 702

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

What are those external tanks off of?

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

Here is another photo of N5448V taken in Alaska in July 1960. Photo by
William K. Seawright.

In the summer of 1965 my family moved to Anchorage, Alaska when I was 11 years old. We lived at 135E 11th Street in downtown Anchorage. My father was a private pilot who flew out of nearby Merrill Field as a hobby in rented Piper Cub's, Cessna 150's, 172's, 180's and sometimes 182's. On occasion he flew over to Flat Lake (near Big Lake) out of Hood lake in a 172 with floats. While living in Anchorage I recall a P-51 Mustang based at Merrill Field. For me, it was distinctive from all other planes in three ways. First, it was painted entirely bright pink. Second,it sported the distinctive glass bubble over the pilot. And third, the throaty engine roar of that P-51 was unlike any other aircraft. While in Anchorage I went to a small church school in downtown at 637A Street near 7th Ave across from where the Anchorage Museum now sits. While playing outside for recess we children often heard and saw the pink P-51 flying overhead as it was either taking off or coming in on approach for landing. The unusual pink color and throaty roar was like a beacon whenever it flew overhead. As a youngster the image was vivid and I recall sometimes holding my arms out running across the playground pretending I was flying that P-51. On many weekends our family would drive over to Palmer on Saturday's via the old Glenn Highway which went by Merrill Field out of Anchorage. The pink P-51 was easily visible and generally parked near the Merrill tower. As a youngster I would always look for it as we passed by. Growing up in Alaska was a grand adventure. We lived there until January 1969 and the pink P-51 was a signature aspect that added to that adventure. Over the years I've always wondered what happened to that P-51. About 2007 on a return holiday visit to Anchorage I drove by Merrill to see if the pink P-51 might still be there. Alas, it was no where to be seen. I'm very appreciative to have found this site with pictures of the same plane and its history.

Welcome aboard, interesting story...

Phil

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A man's got to know his limitations.

Thank you. By the way, due to the P-51's pink paint job the plane was known as "Miss Pinky."

I may be mistaken but I believe that P-51 appeared briefly in the movie: "A New Leaf"

There's a thread on that around here somewhere.

I remember when that went down in 1984. The plane was taken in the middle of the night from Tonopah, Nevada. Mike Coutches owned it at the time. It was all over the 'trade magazines', and everyone had their own theories as to who took it (I know I had my own...which ended up being wrong), but by the time it was 'found' in a hangar in Merced, CA, the story had pretty much died down and nobody wanted to talk about it. Just one of those things, I guess.

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......