War Eagles Museum

[Tulio]

Today, I visited the War Eagles Museum in Santa Teresa, N.M.

Great collection! Photography is somewhat awkward due to many displays being too close to the aircraft, and the very limited angles imposed by the displays and the ropes that circle the aircraft.

TWO, count'em, two each North American P-51D Mustangs, one modified by TEMCO as a two seater.

Other aircraft:


F4U-4 Corsair
P-40
Fi-156 Storch
T-28B
TBM-3E
P-38

Assorted MiGs, an A-26, T-38, F-86, FJ Fury, C-47; A-7, F-84.

Elsewhere in the airport, a Douglas C-117, and an On-Mark A-26 (the one with the pressurized fuse) which is in pretty bad shape, and happens to be for sale.

At Las Cruces, NM Airport, another two A-26s, one on the gear (and some engine work being carried on) plus a fuselaje and wings on the side.

Pictures, later.

Saludos,


Tulio

[Chuck Gardner]

It is a great collection of warbirds. Its too bad there is no future for any of them to fly again or to move to a place more suitable for public access.

[Matt Gunsch]

It is a great collection of warbirds. Its too bad there is no future for any of them to fly again or to move to a place more suitable for public access.

I don't know how much more suitable you want ? It is outside a major US city ( El Paso ) along a major interstate ( I-10), and at a public airport.( Dona Anna) The only thing they need to do is advertise more.

I will agree that it would be nice for them to fly them.

[cg51]

I would like to see there aircraft fly, but since John died I do think they will fly much in the future. My dad did alot of work for John back in the day, he custom built the sccop and doghouse units for John's Mustangs
all five+ of them. If I had the $$$$$ I would try to buy all of the collection of planes
Here are a few pics from my collection!

[Tulio]

Santa Teresa, NM:

All photos ©2006 Tulio Soto
















Hey, Virginia! Do you know what airplane this is?




These, were shot at Las Cruces, NM:








Saludos,


Tulio

Last edited by Tulio on Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Randy Haskin]

TWO, count'em, two each North American P-51D Mustangs, one modified by TEMCO as a two seater.

Check out Warbird Digest #9 for more info on this airplane. It my hypothesis that this is a Cavalier TF and not an original TEMCO TF.

[Tulio]

I am afraid that I do not have that magazine issue.



There is a sign at the museum, stating that the airplane was modified by TEMCO.

Other than that, I don't have more information on this subject.

Saludos,


Tulio

[Randy Haskin]

There is a sign at the museum, stating that the airplane was modified by TEMCO.

This airplane was a basket case when it was returned from Indonesia by Steve Johnson. When they were rebuilding it, the airplane had no firm identity, and their resarch showed that the TEMCO TF-51 44-84658 (owned by Cavalier) had been sent to Indonesia. My understanding (3rd or 4th or 5th person) is that the owners/rebuilders were not aware that two other Cavalier-built TF-51s had been sent to Indonesia, too. I imagine that the Indonesian government may have given Johnson and Stagg some info about the identities of the airplanes, but I don't know that for a fact. Anyway, the guys rebuilding the TF believed it to be the TEMCO aircraft (unknown what evidence they used in making the decision) and that is how it was registered after rebuild.

Based on a bunch of datapoints -- photos and testimony from the time when it was built up by Cavalier in Sarasota, to photos of the aircraft when it was in Indonesia, to evidence that the actual 44-84658 was destroyed in a crash in Indonesia, and a lone photo of the airplane fuselage when it was being imported -- a number of people (myself included) believe that is not the airplane's actual ID.

Now...I wasn't there when Johnson, MacGuire, Letcher, etc, were rebuilding this airplane originally. There may be parts of N851D/44-84658 in the rebuild and that's why they registered the airplane this way, but it's my opinion that the fuselage (which includes the area that TEMCO would have rebuilt) is not a TEMCO conversion, but a Cavalier conversion.

A long story with no point.

[Ryan Keough]

That last intact Invader, the black one with the silver gun nose... anyone here know if that was the one that was located at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo around 1989 to 1991? It was removed from the museum before the museum got the example that they currently have from Calspan. Thanks.

[AirJimL2]

Ryan,

Yep...

Jim

[TimAPNY]

That last intact Invader, the black one with the silver gun nose... anyone here know if that was the one that was located at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo around 1989 to 1991? It was removed from the museum before the museum got the example that they currently have from Calspan. Thanks.

I was going to ask the same question. Those Invaders we're being discussed on the HAG board and the Meeting we had a few weeks ago. I never realized that 2 A-26s filtered through the museum. Now I have to go back and fix the incorrect IDs on my pictures.

Tim

[AirJimL2]

Tim,

Give me a few days and I'll dig out some pics of each Invader while at Geneseo.

Jim

[T J Johansen]

You will find photos of the planes at Geneseo here.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26regis ... 39516.html

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26regis ... 34713.html

T J