Looking at the various photos of the Planes of Fame"s P-26 that have been making the rounds of the Warbird mags and websites lately.I have been reminded of what is probably my all time favorite story from the old Air Classics magazine.This story was written in the sixties when Air Classics was still worth the money you paid for it and was also the only game in town when it came to the just emerging Warbird scene.It was written by the famous fighter pilot Mr. Bud Mahurin and it told the story of the resurrection/restoration of Mr. Maloney's P-26 back to flight worthiness and his hair raising test/delivery flight to Las Vegas,Nev.The way he describes the flight and his situation is both hilarious and frightening at the same time.He left from the Los Angeles area just as the sun was going down,Vegas is fairly close to L.A.and he figuered "Hey,No Biggie!" I'll just hop on over the mountains and be there in no time!The plane had to be there the next day for some airshow that it had been promised to and they had just finished with it.The flight to Vegas was also the first test flight.He had no radio,no lights,no jacket.(maybe no sense?)His glasses were sunglasses and it got mighty dark,might quickly.The 30 plus years of dust,grit and restoration residue were flying around the cockpit and into his face.I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.If possible all should somehow read this funny story starring both a great man and a great plane. Tim
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
