Warbird Information Exchange

Found this online, little history and wartime pics on Witchcraft. Pretty neat.

http://www.467bg.com/witchcraft.html

enjoy. brian.

Excellent choice, and let her weather somewhat. That would make a great sight.

Cheers

Cees

Good to hear. I will certainly miss the Dragon and poking fun at those that get worked up over the nose art! However, I think it is wise to change the paint scheme every once and while, as it will keep drawing crowds at airshows even thought it is the same airframe. Looking forward to seeing next time. When will it be repainted?

Regards,

Mike

_________________
Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Paint stripping is set for Mid-January and paint work completed through February. Will be ready for launch Mid-March.

Ryan Keough

Any chance of the Collings Foundation doing a tour of Australia in the future? The warbird community out here would go nuts over 909 and the B24. 5th Airforce B-17s operated against the Japanese from places like Townsville and Port Moresby so they have some history here. The B24 is considered the aircraft that did the most to protect Australia. The RAAF didn't have B-17s, so the Libs took on the tasks of bombing the bejezuz out of Japanese positions at places like Balikpapan and Palembang.

The thought of getting examples of these two back in Australian skies gets me salivating. It would be nice if it could happen whilst some of the men who crewed the bombers are still alive. How about the Avalon airshow in 2007?

Walrus

_________________
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name

I can't think of many things I'd like to see more than perhaps at some stage either or both of 909 and Dragon done up in the colours of some of the allied forces who used the aircraft to commemorate the achievements of some of the allies who used them.

except perhaps the B24 in victoria doing a fast taxi as Dragon goes past over head.

I will miss The Dragon, but look foward to seeing it in new colors.
Ryan what maintenence is being done to the B-24? I know it got new fuel tanks recently as well as the doubler over the wing box. Any major work to be completed before the paint? The Florida tour should be exciting with the B-25 and the B-17. Was there more demand, the tour starts almost 2 weeks prior to last years tour.[/img]

No major stuff really... just yearly refresh/maintenance work. Paint does take a while, as does reapplying the markings and names on the side of the aircraft, thus the extra time. We want to make sure she is in the best of condition and the extra time will help to make this possible.

The tour dates are determined based on the requests of stop organizers and we adjusted the schedule to their needs.

Remember everyone! Take advantage of the "WWII Victory Special" where you can book a ride on the B-17 & B-25 at the same time on the Florida tour and you get a $50 discount on the package and your name is added to a drawing for a Collings Foundation nylon flight jacket awarded at the end of the Florida portion of the tour. See http://www.collingsfoundation.org for tour locations and call 800-568-8924 for reservations!

Ryan Keough

Hello Ryan!

Will the Tour stop in Fort Myers this year again? When will it be there?

_________________
Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

I can't wait for the Olympia airshow next year to see the B-24 in OD green! So few warbirds are painted OD green, it'll be great to see the B-24 painted up that way.
Now, why did they decide on doing this? It's an economic thing. Most folks won't pay to see the same plane every year. So they change it a little every few years so it gives Dad an excuse to take the kids down to see the "new" plane. Only the serious die-hards will pay to see the same airplane every year no matter what, and by itself just won't pay the bills.
Phil Haskel (sp?) once told me that after they re-painted the B-24's tail markings the first time, the next year they stopped in certain locations, some people told him that there was ANOTHER B-24 that had come through there last year, and they didn't believe Phil when he told them it was the same one! Think of what he's going to hear when the paint job is as different as it's going to be now!
The funny thing for me is when I used to volunteer time when they came through Florida when I lived there, I went on free rides often when they had an open seat. But the B-24 I've flown on (twice) was painted as "All American" back then.
I just hope they don't re-paint the 909. I'm a huge 91st fan and a life member of the 91st BG association.

_________________
Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Oh Ryan, forget about my question, I won't be able to make Fort Myers this year!

Bummers!

_________________
Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

If I had more ambition I would record how many times people are going to ask..."where's your other B-24?"

JimH

P.S. Phil has retired...going to be a huge void on the tour this year!

Wasn't Ol' Gappy from the 379th BG the B-17 that ended the war with the highest mission tally? I think it ended up having flown 165 missions.

The Nine-O-Nine's claim to fame was out of its 140 missions, it did 126 of them consecutively without an abort.

Of course, the B-26 Flak Bait ended up with 202 missions, more than any other American bomber in the ETO. In J.K. Havener's book on the B-26 Marauder, he reports of a "mystery ship" from the 17 BG in the MTO that may have flown 300 missions.

An F-14 would no doubt be cool but....WOW!!! what a maintenance machine. People have said that F-4s can be bad but I'm not sure it could come close to a Tomcat. I know, same number of engines, same number of cockpits but swing wings!!!. I dunno about that.

I love the F-4 for what she is though. Everytime she starts up I can't believe I get to help (when I can of course) on the last F-4D flying. The whole machine is amazing.

That being said however......BRING ON THE SKYHAWK BABY. I've been waiting for this thing since I saw "Touch the Sky" with the Blues for the first time. The first shot of Christopher Reeve's getting in the 7 jet did it for me completely.

Speaking of the 7 jet, the Blues official 7 jet for the entire 13 years was BuNo. 158722. Guess where she now lives......on the deck of the USS Lexington in grey paint. What a shame.

Ryan

Awesome,
the metallic silver was getting to me anyway,

Hey Ryan,
How long is it going to take to strip and paint it?
Is the 24 wingspan smaller than the 17(if I remember right the 17 was 100')
and Where is it gettin done, can we go see it in progress?

_________________
"Hindsight is usually 20% off!"