Warbird Information Exchange

opinions............
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=585&item=6531805012&rd=1

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Don't touch my junk!!

I think it is fake look at the back and the stringer! If he cut it out it the stringer would have been flush with the skin'!

fake as can be. this is the whole problem with ebay now a days. full of fly by night con artists etc, & increasingly full of garage sale class stuff, fakes etc. like some swab jockey cut that off the aces plane 60 + years ago, before it was scrapped, with the historical foresight that it would be worth a fortune in the future ebayer lister...... don't insult my intelligence. regards, tom

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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!!

It looks alright to me, and I don't see anything wrong with the stringer.

when i'm shelling out that kind of $$$$ there should be a provinence, or a documented certificate of authenticity offered with an investment grade antique that has a historical significance . plus did you see the size of the letters in the listing???? "talk about read the small print"!!! an arist on the west coast makes those out of sheet metal w/ rivets & does nose art victory kill markings of 25 or more of ww 2 famous planes & aces planes. sells em at airshows, & advertises them in most aviation magazines. i think his name is velasco, goes by velasco enterprises & he does a great job. most sell in 4 to 5 hundred range. best, tom

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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!!

To be fair, if this guy's story was true -- that he watched his dad physically cut the piece out, and it's been in storage for a long time -- where exactly along the line would there be a certificate of authenticity?

When you are asking that kind of money for something, the truth is irrelevant. You have to be able to prove it or it's worthless. That simple.

If his story is true (and thats a pretty big if) it has only sentimental value and he should just hang it on his own wall or sell it at a yard sale for ten bucks because without proof thats all it's worth.

My two cents.

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It's you and me against the world.

We attack at dawn.

I wonder if a Hellcat expert would marry up the composition of the metal, where the rivets are, where the markings are, etc, to give it some measure of authenticity.

What gets me about this kind off stuff is that it's never the lowest ranking guy you never heard of. It's the A #1 top dog. That automatically sets off alarms. I believe Minsi I was either lost in combat or pushed over the side. Someone needs to ask NHC (Rob??) for thye history card.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Here's a different line of thought: Did Dave McCampbell do any stateside bond touring? In other words, did a stateside "Minsi" exist (similar to Maj. Bong's stateside "Marge" and Gentile's "Shangri-La")?

I agree with the previous posters: Without more substantial provenance, it's $10 worth of sheet metal, rivets, and paint (Ok, another $20 for the labor).

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

5/ 16 / 05 still no bids....... the suspense is building....... who will the all day sucker be???

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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!!

McCampbell told me personally that there was a
War Bond Tour Minsi III that he flew around in the
states. He said it was the source of the then con-
troversy about whether "Minsi III" was in yellow or
white. I asked him a couple of times to get me the
BuNo from his logbook. He always promised to do
it but I guess he just forgot.

Blue skies,
Owen

...first, let's assume the basic story of the incident is possible; an old Hellcat could have been put on display on the boardwalk after the war and then brought back to Lakehurst and burned in a demonstration. This plane could have been painted up like Minsi for the display, certainly, but that doesn't mean it had any connection with the original pilot.

Second, the kill markings look like silkscreened water transfer decals to me; would several years of exposure have faded them more? Were decals available for applying kill marks during the war, or were they always stenciled?

Finally, as far as value, a similar thing happened to me: I found an old Rolodex in a Goodwill store that was full of phone numbers and addresses of over 200 actors and other celebrities that dated back to the 1960s. I took it to a movie memorabilia auction house in Hollywood whose representative said basically the same thing we've heard on this thread: it was a neat thing to have, but a collector wouldn't pay for it without provenance...

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Chris,
Yes they used decals.
A friend here flew in VBF-83. In his logbook for VJ-Day he pasted one on the proper page. I borrowed and used it to have the kill flags made for our B-25 and Crash Williams's TBM.

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Don't touch my junk!!

it's fake, a repro wall hanger as i stated. if it sells i'm gonna find a 1930's era douche bag & list it on ebay as being once owned by amelia earhart, starting bid..... 10 grand

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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!!