West Pac

Seafury1 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:26 am

Looks like West pac has some cool stuff going on. Here is an article that talks about the museum that is going to open in the springs. Flip through the photos on the right.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/museum- ... r-war.html

JimH · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:38 am

Really? flown by Bong? did they find this next to Amelias' shoe? but seriously, anyone know the history of this machine?

jim

Mike Bates · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:46 pm

Bong flew with the 39th FS for a short period. Would it be White 33 "Japanese Sandman II" flown by Lt. Richard Smith?
Would be interesting to have more info on this. Any one have any?

Mike

Speedy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:07 pm

JimH wrote:

Really? flown by Bong? did they find this next to Amelias' shoe? but seriously, anyone know the history of this machine?

jim

I read it as "the" P-38, meaning the aircraft type, not "this" P-38, as in the piece he was working on.

And as anyone who knows me knows...my ego wouldn't allow me to be wrong. :wink:

Oh, wait...did I say that OUT LOUD??? darn! Sorry.

Zachary · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:08 pm

The caption in question: "Larry Goodwin of WestPac Restorations, a firm that specializes in refurbishing World War II aircraft, worked on a trailing-edge spar from the wing of a P-38 Lightning fighter plane at Colorado Springs Airport on Wednesday. The P-38 was flown by U.S. Army Air Forces ace Maj. Richard Bong, who led all American pilots by shooting down at least 40 Japanese planes. In the background is a B-25 Mitchell bomber."

The caption doesn't say that THAT particular P-38 was flown by Bong, just that the P-38 in general was flown by him. At least that's the way I read it.

Zack

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:24 pm

The interesting thing to me is that the Corsair shown in the pictures is almost certainly the one that Nelson Ezell was working on for a number of years for Jim Fry. I found it interesting, because I thought that this aircraft was forcebly put up for auction last year, along with the rest of Jim Fry's collection when he got into legal difficulties associated with a Ponzi scheme. I heard that Fry was going to get jail time too. Jim Fry is also listed in the article as being the primary instigator for establishing the new museum, and for getting Westpac to relocate to their current location. I wonder how his legal difficulties affected the foundation of the new museum; hopefully not too much. They certainly have some good people on the board by the looks of things. It's great to see that the Corsair's being worked on again, and I'd love to know who owns her now (along with the rest of Fry's collection)!

Cheers,
Richard

PS. I also took the author to mean that Dick Bong flew P-38's, rather than the specific aircraft in the images (most likely Lt. Richard Smith's "Japanese Sandman II", as I recall that Westpac were restoring it). Still, the wording in the article was very ambiguous, and could have been taken either way. Doesn't anyone know how to write any more?

flyboyj · **Joined:** Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:01 pm **Posts:** 157

The P-38 is "White 33" flown by Ken Sparks and a few others, including Bong. They are currently doing work for my company, I've been going in there about two times a month.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:47 pm

Am I out to lunch or I am I the only one who finds it odd that a Corsair (with, presumably, a Ham Standard prop) used a Curtiss prop governor? Looks more like a governor for the P-38.

Dan :rolleyes:

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:54 am

Dan Jones wrote:

Am I out to lunch or I am I the only one who finds it odd that a Corsair (with, presumably, a Ham Standard prop) used a Curtiss prop governor? Looks more like a governor for the P-38.

Dan :rolleyes:

I noticed that too! I think you are correct as well.

Cheers,
Richard

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