Warbird Information Exchange

ONTARIO — The Grumman F7F Tigercat sat out from under the hangar that houses it on Wednesday, polished to perfection and looking in tip-top condition as workers from a California-based aircraft restoration company inspected it.

The plane is set to take off for its new home in the near future while replacement parts for the plane’s hydraulic system are ordered and brought in to the Ontario Municipal Airport, where the Tigercat is kept.

The plane belonged to the Merle Maine, a longtime Ontario businessman and owner of one of the largest warbird collections in the United States at the time of his death in March 2013. The F7F Tigercat was one of the planes from Maine’s collection that was placed into a trust fund after his death, longtime friend Bob Gehrls said.

After an auction at which the plane sold for nearly $2 million, according to Sanders Aeronautics owner Dennis Sanders, the plane has remained in a hangar at the airport.

The airplane restoration company was hired by the Walton family of Wal-Mart, Sanders said, although he did not say which family member bought the plane.

When Sanders arrived to inspect the plane, he was amazed at the work that was done assembling it.

“He [Gehrls] did an amazing job putting it back together,” Sanders said.

The plan is to fly the plane out of the Ontario Municipal Airport to refuel in either Reno, Nevada, or Klamath Falls before heading to Sacramento, California, for upgrades to the plane’s radios and the addition of a new instrumental panel, Sanders said. The final destination is Bentonville, Arkansas, location of Wal-Mart headquarters.

Gehrls and another technician, Dave Reynolds, who originally worked on the plane from the ground up, sat back and watched the airplane restoration company go about its business.

“I’m just glad it’s not being trucked out,” Gehrls said to Reynolds, who nodded in agreement.

According to both, Maine never got the opportunity to see the Tigercat fly before his death.

The Tigercat is rare in the world of warplanes. Only 364 of the planes were been built late in World War II. The plane saw action in the Korean War as night fighters, Gehrls said.

Including Maine’s Tigercat, only seven remain that are actually active, according to Gehrls.

Gehrls began reassembling the plane between 2004 and 2005, he said. Reynolds joined him approximately three years later, after most of the fuselage had been built up.

“When I came on, I thought I was just going to be on part time,” he said.

Reynolds and Gehrls ended up working full time on the plane. They both recalled when Maine asked the pair to get the plane assembled in six months.

“Yeah, right,” Gehrls joked with Reynolds.

The pair said that warplane restoration could take a decade or more depending on the model.

Reassembly of the Tigercat was completed a few years ago, with help from the original military manual.

“I’ll miss it [the Tigercat] a little bit,” Gehrls said. “But I’m done working on airplanes. After working on them for 50 years, I’m done.”

ANCESTRY OF SAM WALTON

Samuel Moore Walton, aka Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, is a great grandson of Mary Ellen James. His pedigree is as follows:

Reuben Moore Lawrence Sr. and Rebecca Moore
. Reuben Moore Lawrence Jr. and Mary Ellen James
.. Thomas Gibson Walton and Nance Lee Lawrence
… Samuel Moore Walton