Zachary wrote:
Curious to know what airplanes were there and who the speakers were.
Thanks for any info!
Zack
It was very disappointing compared to previous gatherings, only the two P-47s and a visiting T-6 flew. The weather was perfect so I don't know what happened other than there were other shows the same day that kept aircraft from attending. The 47s did fly three separate times. The museum's T-28 was minus a prop (getting worked on in CO) so it couldn't fly. Don't know why the SNB and Albatross (had oil pans under it) didn't fly. A flight of five T-34s were formation practicing when I got there.
WWII P-47 pilots Frank "Lucky" Luckman 368th FG and Bill Hartshorn 56th FG both gave great talks. I had met both before and I think you interviewed Bill your last trip down here. I overheard someone say Lucky drove himself down from PA in his Z-28 with license plate P-47.

The star of the day for me was crew chief Bert Lok 358th FG. His talk was very emotional, funny and heartbreaking. A small group of us got to listen to him "preach" after the crowd thinned out. He has opinions and is not afraid to share them. Zack you need to record this guy. He said he and his wife were moving down here so maybe the next time you visit you can talk to him.