Warbird Information Exchange

Stetz, what are the chances of me purchasing an autographed kid's book?

Stetz,



I do not think anyone here is passing along any judgements to this regards.

It's his $, his museum, his birds & his dreams.

As a canadian, I visited the Miami museum once & Polk City 3 times already.

I for one, am just glad his aspirations are focussed on WW2 birds.

We do need more of this breed. Period

Actually, he kinda reminds me of Ted Nugent, but a calmer version.

He seems like a stand up kinda guy who really has a passion for planes and is doing the best he can to keep them around.

Plus, us long haired guys have to stick together!

The math is simple for me...yeah, he has a lot of planes, yeah he can't fly them all at one time, but at least they are around and given a loving home and some of them would'nt be around if he had'nt taken them in....but I agree, it would be nice to see him hire a few pilots and make some of the planes a little more active on the airshow circuit....just my 2 cents...

Having Met Kermit a few times, he seems a nice guy, very approachable.....at the Aspen airshow a number of years a go I was talking with him and Howard Pardue and I asked why Kermit had'nt brought anything to the show to fly....he said he was waiting on his Wildcat to be finished at Nelson's shop and then he was hoping to fly that...Howard looked at him and said "Well, it's been finished for a while now..." and Kermit looked somewhat chagrined, apparently he could have had the Wildcat at that Aspen show but somewhere there had been a bit of a lack of communication....did see the Wildcat the next year at the Breckenridge show, in its white and grey scheme....well worth the wait!

Mark

_________________
Mark Morris

True, he doesn't fly them all but I've seen him fly several in one day.
Looked to me like he was having a good time as he rode off.








Actually this is not Mr. Weeks flying the Storch.

_________________
Bill


Website

If you make it to the resto shop get a pic of the L-1. I was there about four years ago and I'm interested in their progress. It should be a pretty sweet plane when its done.

Sorry, but I have to be devil's advocate here. If people with large collections who don't fly them sold the aircraft, then maybe a bunch of individual owners would fly individual aircraft. I'm not attacking Kermit, just saying that aircraft IMHO should fly if they can. It seems that more and more aircraft are being restored to flyable condition and then not flown. Yanks Air Museum, Champlain's stuff before sale, some of Cavanaugh's. There's enough old birds with rotted spars and longerons to be in "collections".

The other thing I'm tired of hearing (beside athletes "holding out" and refusing to play when under contract) is the "it costs us money to bring the plane to a show". With all due respect, Yeah?!!! It costs me money to drive to airshows, to take our Shelby to a car show, to play golf, etc, etc. Such is life. Personal peeve, but I'm so sick of everything in our society coming down to $. If you have $50 million in the bank as a result of selling a business, or capitalizing on investments, why do the aircraft have to be "revenue generators"?

Jerry Yagen, by the way, gets as many of his birds to airshows as possible, often at his own cost. I'm thankful of that.

Rich

_________________
Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

Can someone provide an example?

AFAIK there were no other buyers for the Sunderland when Kermit bought it. Certainly none from the UK.

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

I would call down to the gift shop at FOF and ask if they have one or ask them if they could get it for your. They seemed to be pretty nice the last few times I have been there. You could find a copy and run into him at Reno or if you know someone going, have them take it with them and do it then.

Good Luck,

Lynn

And it's amazing how many UK fans still cry "foul" over him having done so.

I guess I'm still not quite convinced the Sunderland would've vanished had the purchase not taken place--or is there knowledge to the contrary?

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

Some of this forum's posters keep crying "It is not a perfect world!"
It is not perfect. Never will be. Something to hope for, but please don't be disappointed when it isn't.
I choose to focus on the positive side of life and we Warbird fanatics have many positive things to be thankful for. This forum of Scotts is but one example of Warbird things I am thankful for.
As to Warbird owners and the general tone of this thread...
I am very happy that many people with means, and the many more with more limited means, choose to acquire, restore and display, flying or static, a/c that I am very interested in.
So many of these people are also good people and Kermit Weeks is one of the good guys. As has been stated before, he is approachable and personable. I have enjoyed my two very brief conversations with him. So many other a/c owners are also truly interesting and "real" people. Glad I have had the chance to enjoy my time with them and enjoy their a/c as well.
There are all different types out there and most of them contribute positively to the Warbird universe.
Not a perfect world by any means, but you get to choose if its 1/2 empty or 1/2 full.
(Yah, I know...to an engineer, either way, that glass is twice as big as it needs to be. )

Sure, in a perfect world, they would all fly and take us all for a ride, but no, that is not the case.

How would you like to be told that you can not do something you enjoy because you are not playing with all your toys? Would you give them away, regardless of how much you like them, because a few guys thing you should be playing with them all?

If it where me, I would do what he is doing, what he pleases and makes him happy! The very fact that he even has a museum vs. a locked away collection should be an indicator that he is doing what he can to share them.

Either flying or in a museum, I am just glad they are not rotting away in a jungle, junkyard or a dock!

Big money, middle money, I just appreciate all it takes to bring an aircraft to an airshow. The hours of maintenance, cost of up keep, oils and fuel, salaries to meckinecks...I am awed everytime I can even "see" a warbird, or hear the drone of a Radial, the buzz of a Rolls or Merlin. I appreciate it guys, and my heartfilled Thanks to everyine involved in preserving maintainin' and Flyin' our heritage. Peace out

_________________
Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

So how accurate is the 150 aircraft number?


Ryan

_________________
Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.