Warbird Information Exchange

I am going to be in Denver next weekend, and will have a little time on Fri afternoon / Sat morning to go exploring. Any Warbird stuff on the must see list in the area?

Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum www.wingsmuseum.org is in Denver.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Dick Jones or Jack Cronin do good T-6 rides out of Centenial (APA) in south Denver and some pilots gather at the restaurant above the Jet Center fbo. The museum is only static, is in E. Denver. It's not warbirds but at Boulder, about 20 miles NW, Mile Hi Gliding does very good glider rides over the town which is pretty and over the edge of the Rockies, If you are a skier the snow is pretty good now. Aspen is open if you want first class, or Vail or Breck if you ski like a Texan.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Thanks for the tips. The glider thing would be right up my alley. That is one from of flight I have never experienced. As for skiing like a Texan...I am a Texan but I ski more like an avalanch, head over heels and hit EVERYTHING on the way down. If I want to play in the snow, snowmobiling is more my thing.

This Greenwood person is right, Dick Jones and Jack Cronyn are usually out and about at Centennial (Jones hangar is immediately south of the tower, usually a red pickup truck parked somewhere nearby) but you may also see Joe Thibodeau and either his Sea Fury or Mustang out and about (he is located near the other FBO on the southeast corner of the airport) or Pat Wiesner and his Staggerwing or any other number of vintage aircraft here and there, as Centennial is PROBABLY the busiest hub of vintage aircraft activity in Denver (Jeffco airport to the northwest is probably the second busiest)....you also might want to look into Gordon Page's facility near Lafayette, Gordon has the book out on recovering warbirds in Russia (www.warbirdrecovery.com) and is a frequent poster on this forum, he is building a museum at Jeffco to house his Mustang, hopefully a ME262, and a Hurricane and some 109's wrecks he salvaged out of Russia....

Lots to do in Denver warbird wise....maybe even make it up north to Ft. Collins to visit Ray Middleton's or Darrell Skurich's place where they are restoring a Zero for the Evergreen folks.

Mark

Joe Thibodeau in the Mustang with Dick Jones accompanying...


Dick Jones and Jack Cronyn high over southern Denver...

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Mark Morris

How about a little excursion north to Greeley, Colorado to better photograph the B-17 fuselage hanging in the bar called "The State Armory" ?

Take a note pad and get all the info you can on the origins, history, and maybe an i.d. of this seldom discussed relic.

See:

http://www.aerovintage.com/b17news4.htm

(January 2004 news)

Maybe a Saturday morning would be better for detective work than a Friday night.

Does anyone have better photos than was sent to Scott's Aerovintage site?

This time of year Airpower West activity is hit or miss, I would have to look at the our newsletter, I think the next big thing on our agenda is the christmas party. If you head out to KAPA, Mark is right Dick's hangar is south of the tower, look for an American Flag stuck in an old T-6 wheel. If you see the flag, the hangars open, stop in and introduce yourself. The restaurant Bill is talking about is called the Perfect Landing it is the 2nd story of the Denver Jet Center. It is a great place to eat, bring an appetite. Lots of pics of local aviators and Reno Air Race trophies from Thibodeau, Zayak. Latest, cool addition out at the airport is a 8/10 mile go-kart track, where you can drive a rental 13 hp 50 mph go-kart.

Centennial Airport also home to Jeppesen Sanderson, Adam Aircraft

Don't know if Adam has regular tours, but, I bet if you call ahead you might be able to arrange one. I work for Jepp and would look into the logistics of a Jepp tour. PM me if your interested.

Warren

It may take too long to get down there and back but you could consider visiting the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum/B-24 Museum. It has some very nice exhibits.

I have only started to list the aviation museum and sites in Colorado, but this would at least be a start...
http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.html#USA_CO

I will definitely be adding the tips found in this thread to the list.

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Mike,

Peterson is open to the public, but, I would call to confirm, if memory serves me, the musuem has limited hours for the public on Sat, if I remember closed promptly at 1300. Since, it is a base, proper paperwork (insurance, registration, DL) is required for access at the Main Gate.

Layfayette Foundation has a little musuem up at Platt Valley airport, between DIA and Greely, they have a WW1 collection, consisting of uniforms and a couple of flying a/c, SE5 and Fokker tri-plane.

Let me know if you need specific info

Warren

you need to give at least 72 hours notice for Peterson, unless you are active or retired Mil.



http://www.petemuseum.org/Direction.html

hey Mike - your link on your site that links to the B52 (is this a museum?) is the Wings Over the Rockies Museum

sounds like a challenge to me - I'm up for that!

Thanks. I am adding that to the file. I will upload an update tonight, and likely another tomorrow.

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

I happened to fly out to Platt 2 days ago. The WWI planes are replicas but nice. They have avgas at $2.85 self serve. There was a twin Beech outside and a friend stopped by in his beautiful Chipmunk, but nobody else there was very friendly, two old guys at a table didn't even say hello or answer when I did. Maybe they don't like the pubic or maybe my Bonanaza was not spiffy enough.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK