Aero Nostalgia, B-25's in Stockton, Ca in 1985?

[RandolphB]

Does anyone know of a company that was (is?) in Stockton, Ca named "Aero Nostalgia"?

In the mid 80's I moved into town and soon after saw a B-25 fly overhead. I dropped what I was doing and followed it to the airport and managed to see it parked at hanger there. Checking with the office, they told me it was at this business and gave me their phone number. I called them to see if I could come see the aircraft.

The aircraft in question was painted blue, with a tiger and the word "Esso" on the front, and was being worked on before going to Austraila. I was told it was only in town a few more days, as it was being filmed for a movie about going to Austraila, and was then told to meet them early on a Sunday morning.

My roomate at the time was a film major and went wild with the chance to meet a working film crew, so we headed out to the airport that morning. The director had worked on "Mad Max" ( I can't recall his name), which was still a very unknown film in the USA. My roomate tried to get the director all involved in talking about film and got nowhere. I spoke to the fellow telling him I hadn't seen a B-25 fly until seeing this one, and we ended up chatting at length about aviation. He was really into it. The day was a blast, and somewhere I have pictures of the event.


The business had a business card that was silver, with a profile drawing of a B-25 on it. Years later I tried to track down who they are/ where. I haven't been able to find anything to speak of about it. So I have two questions:

Does anyone know who this company and people are, and if they are still in business?

Does anyone happen to know anything about the aircraft and where it may be today?

[Speedy]

Does anyone know of a company that was (is?) in Stockton, Ca named "Aero Nostalgia"?

In the mid 80's I moved into town and soon after saw a B-25 fly overhead. I dropped what I was doing and followed it to the airport and managed to see it parked at hanger there. Checking with the office, they told me it was at this business and gave me their phone number. I called them to see if I could come see the aircraft.

The aircraft in question was painted blue, with a tiger and the word "Esso" on the front, and was being worked on before going to Austraila. I was told it was only in town a few more days, as it was being filmed for a movie about going to Austraila, and was then told to meet them early on a Sunday morning.

My roomate at the time was a film major and went wild with the chance to meet a working film crew, so we headed out to the airport that morning. The director had worked on "Mad Max" ( I can't recall his name), which was still a very unknown film in the USA. My roomate tried to get the director all involved in talking about film and got nowhere. I spoke to the fellow telling him I hadn't seen a B-25 fly until seeing this one, and we ended up chatting at length about aviation. He was really into it. The day was a blast, and somewhere I have pictures of the event.


The business had a business card that was silver, with a profile drawing of a B-25 on it. Years later I tried to track down who they are/ where. I haven't been able to find anything to speak of about it. So I have two questions:

Does anyone know who this company and people are, and if they are still in business?

Does anyone happen to know anything about the aircraft and where it may be today?

Oh, I know, I know, I know!!!

That B-25 is now at Aero Traders, still in a RAAF paint scheme with the Esso tiger on the nose. I think it may have been purchased by the Yanks Air Museum at Chino.

Jim and Jan Ricketts owned Aero Trader at Stockton. They had a beautiful B-25 called Dream Lover that had suffered a nose gear collapse in 1982 at Reno. I think that B-25 is still around as Old Glory. There was a PBY at the Aero Trader hanger, as well as Bob Reiser's P-63 (the old Tipsy Miss), and a B-17 outside. Milo DeGrassi, for some reason, is a name that sticks in my mind as one of the mechanics.

Anyhow, the blue and white B-25 of which you ask was called Tite P*ssy, and had been purchased by the RAAF Musuem. Esso and Quantas Airlines helped 'sponsor' the flight over, and PBS did a documentry on with with Glenn Ford narrating. They followed the outfitting of the plane with long range tanks, had a nice 'sendoff' over the Golden Gate Bridge with Lloyd Hamilton in Baby Gorilla, Reiser's Cobra, and I think Bob Love in his white Mustang. Then the film crew documented the flight to Sydney.

Overall, pretty nice documentry that I videotaped off of PBS many years ago.

But the Museum in Australia decided to sell the B-25 again, and as I said, it is now in Chino--as far as I know. Not sure whatever happened to Aero Traders, but I'm sure they are long gone.

[Warbirdnerd]

Does anyone happen to know anything about the aircraft and where it may be today?

It is back from OZ and part of the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
More info here:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b25regis ... 86791.html

[RandolphB]

Wow!

All these years of wondering, and in less than an hour an answer! I love WIX for this sort of information....

Also, how very interesting that this same bird is about 30 miles away from me at Chino. I wonder if I show my wife the thread on the Doolittle Raid and this thread if I can turn it into "We HAVE to go see this airplane....TOMORROW"...?

Now that the B-17 was mentioned, I wasn't aware it was hangered there also. I think we never got inside the hanger that cold morning. I do remember bolting madly out of the house of some friends when the B-17 flew over one day...and then not being able to find out anything about it afterwards. All that anyone wanted to talk about was the "A.G. Spanos Jet Center" back then.

Now if only somebody could explain the row of full size fiberglass F-86 clones (I think they were F-86's, been a long time) sitting there at the airport I could really be surprised....

Thanks for all the answers so far!!!

[aerovin]

The B-17 was 44-85778 (N3509G) now flying with the Palm Springs Air Museum.

[rmcf]

The "Esso" B-25 was mine and I was flying.....

man how time flies..

we flew to Oz in Dec '83.

The movie is called "Ghosts of the Sky". If anyone can find it, let me know.

[Matt Gunsch]

The "Esso" B-25 was mine and I was flying.....

man how time flies..

we flew to Oz in Dec '83.

The movie is called "Ghosts of the Sky". If anyone can find it, let me know.

I think I have a copy around here. That must have been a adventure, closest I have to that was trying to fly a DC-3 from Florida to Arizona.

[Jay]

Speedy,
A few mistakes in your post about the B-25. Aero Trader was never owned by Jim and Jan Ricketts of Stockton, CA. Aero Trader has always been owned by Carl Scholl and Tony Ritzman of Chino, CA. Aero Trader is currently one of the leading restoration shops in the US. The Ricketts business was called Aero Nostalgia in Stockton back in the mid 1980s.
Jaybo

[mrp]

Here is shot of the B-25 back in October. Tony's still there !

Mark

[rmcf]

thanx for the pic of my old girl..

a highlight of our Oz trip in '83 was the formation flight over San Fran and the Golden Gate with the B-25 leading plus P-63 [Bob Riser] P-51 [Bob Love] P-40E [John Paul] Sea Fury [Lloyd Hamilton]. John Crocker did my type rating in the '25.

[Hal B]

Somewhere, I've got a pic of "Dream Lover" after the off-field landing near Reno; which caused the nose gear collapse. I remember looking down out of the airliner as it was getting close to Stead and wondering what a B-25 was doing parked out in the middle of nowhere.

[rmcf]

nose gear didn't collapse. aircraft towed to Reno. Ricketts and pilot Milo Ticek flew down minimum fuel to get "free" fuel...oops!

[Jerry O'Neill]

I think the line of fiberglass F-86's that you asked about were built for the film "Raid on Entebbe".
Most were destroyed in the attack scene.
Jerry

[Hal B]

nose gear didn't collapse. aircraft towed to Reno. Ricketts and pilot Milo Ticek flew down minimum fuel to get "free" fuel...oops!

Well, whatever happened; it destroyed the plexi-glass in the nose and ruined the tire on the nosewheel, IIRC.

And you are right about the "oops"

[Hal B]

Dreamlover


Reno, 1982

I believe they used the Skycrane in the background to haul it over to Stead.

Well, watta ya know; I actually managed to scan a couple of my old photos and post 'em here [/img]