Warbird Information Exchange

nice tube socks!! those are some hopped up b-26's too!!!

_________________
tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Holy COW.

Where and when was the XBT-12 Sophomore photographed?? Assuming it genuinely is the XBT prototype and not one of the two dozen or so BT-12 production versions, this is the airframe now owned by Walter Soplata. I have never seen a photo of it complete! At Walt's it's minus engine, outer wings and control surfaces, and the fabric is gone from the aft fuse.

The other stuff's fantastic too. The Jug looks like the razorback now in the NMUSAF World War II gallery, which was briefly flyable in the early 60s after restoration by Republic. The Spit XIVe racer (TZ138/CF-GMZ, winner of the 1949 Tinnerman race at Cleveland) was indeed restored to fly again, eventually, by Bill deStefani in California; it is now owned and stored at Vancouver airport by Canadian owner Bob Jens, who has it registered C-GSPT. It has not flown in a while but is in excellent shape.

What type (and I know either Nicolai or TJ will know this cold) of exec Invader conversions are the pair in the one pic? I'm guessing either LAS Super 26s or Rock Island Monarchs? Anyone?

Many thanx for sharing these...

S.

The B-17 is N3678G, B-17G-90-VE 44-8990.

After checking Appendix Five of Scott Thompson's great book: "Final Cut: Revised and Updated Edition", I discovered that only one B-17 had an "N" number that ended in '78G' and that was N3678G, 44-8990. If you look closely at the posted photo, there is a bright spot over part of the 6 that makes it look like a 3 or 5. Scott's book has a great picture of this aircraft on page 199 that shows the same propellor warning stripe and antenna arrangement although the nose section has certainly been modified.

Joe Baugher had the following information on his site
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/1944_1.html:
"44-8990 seems to have spent its military life as a VIP transport, being loaned by President Truman to Winston Churchill during Churchill's 1946 visit to USA. To Davis-Monthan 1956; bought by M. L. Alison 1959 and registered N3678G. To Clero Enterprises 1/9/59, to Multiple Management Corpn Nov 7, 1960 and converted to water bomber. Crashed near Fallon, Nevada Oct 11, 1962."

If I remember correctly, Scott Thompson wrote an interesting article on this aircraft that appeared in one of the aviation magazines, FlyPast I believe. I will have to check this evening.

Todd

[quote="Rob Mears"]
the only other early model that this could have been is Junior Burchinal's FG-1D BuNo.92433. [quote]

Rob;
Didn't Burchinal's FG have the rear seat and glass at the time of the "Blacksheep" shoots? I seem to remember it having the rear modification since the late 1960's.
Just wondering, not picking.
Jerry

_________________
"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

I have a couple of images dated '1975' showing that the modification had already taken place, but those same photos also show hand-painted writing on the cowling that reads "Baa Baa Blacksheep by Pappy Boyington". That leads me to believe that the photos might actually have been taken later on, after the TV series was filmed. I had always presumed that the plexi was added afterward as well since none of the series footage (that I know of) shows any of the planes with the plexiglass section visible on the aft fuselage. I'll give it another look.

_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

I will try and post pics of the corsair restoration as I can, The pictures from the carrier were from when I was stationed on The George Washington. Here are a few mnore pics, I have been scanning my negatives.




This is Vlado's Now

When Owned by Charles Osborne

Napolean Dynamite? I believe I was going with the Bruce Jenner look
Thanks again Jerry

Phil

What a joy to see a SLAM (AGM-84E), what a piece of crap that was! I hated that thing! The Mav was right behind it in giving me nightmares, but at least I did not have to deal with the morons for the "code room"

Tim

_________________
www.tailhookstudio.com

Back to the B-17, there is a photo of the same aircraft at:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0183185/M/

The "N" number in this photo is clearly readable as N3578G!!!

In an old note from Scott Thompson, he states that this B-17 was always registered with the FAA as N3678G. He thinks the owner at the time must have accidently painted on the wrong number.

I have not been able to find the article on this Fort that I believe was written by Scott, but I will continue to look.

Todd

Regarding the Fleetwings XBT-12, I am almost certain this photo was taken at the U.S. Federal Reformatory at Chillicothe, Ohio. The wing in the foreground is from the Curtiss O-52 Owl that is in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton. They acquired the O-52 from this reformatory in November of 1962 so this photo was obviously taken before then. Notice all the barbed wire along the top of the fence in the background.

Todd

The pair are Smith Tempo conversions of the A-26. Not the best looking conversion of the A-26 if I dare say so. It looks like the one on the right has the reg. N4204A, although in the registry 04A has the color scheme of the one on the left. Does anyone know how many a/c Smith built?

T J

_________________
Make my day, punk!

AH HA!
So I wasn't totally nuts...Interesting N-number quandry...
I found this info on N3578G
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001213X32596&key=1
Gotta be careful with your N-numbers...


Thanks for the info.

Z

_________________
Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Join us for the Texas Warbird Report on WarbirdRadio.com!
http://www.facebook.com/WarbirdRadio
Listen at http://www.warbirdradio.com

but is it possible that it actually is a 5?

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

I know Im dating myself by saying this but I recognize the pics of the a/c in the gravel lot as being at the old USAF Museum when it was on base. My dad used to take me there once a summer and it was the high point of vacation for me. Didn't know the Spit was out in the open then.

Last year when we did the P-51 flyover for the Tattoo at Wright Patt I walked over to the old building and parking lot to check it out...lots of good memories there.

_________________
Rauhbatz
Commemorative Air Force
CAF Ohio Wing/Airbase Georgia Member
PT-19/26, T-34 CAF Pilot


Favorite quote from Wind, Sand & Stars - A. St. Exupuery "friends are like trees...when they are gone we miss their shade"

Philo,
I think you still have those socks too.

_________________
"Hindsight is usually 20% off!"