F8F Question

[NathanT24]

Sorry I have not been around been busy but I got a question. I see that the LSFMs F8F is in the paintshop which shop does anyone know and what colors does anyone know?

[C170BDan]

The paint shop is down in the Houston area.... sounds like a Blue Angels paint scheme. How about that for a Heritage Flight with one of the F18s!!

[Mark V]

I believe the shop is called 'Hooks' and its the same place that painted Spitfire MK959 recently.

[TimAPNY]

The paint shop is down in the Houston area.... sounds like a Blue Angels paint scheme. How about that for a Heritage Flight with one of the F18s!!

That will be a nice site; I hope I can see it. It seems like the Bear has very few unique paint jobs available.

That would be a nice site a Lawn Dart and a Bearcat

[O.P.]

It would be cool to see a Gulf Hawk Bearcat. There was talk awhile back that one might be painted that way. I can't remember which plane was being talked about though.

[bdk]

It would be cool to see a Gulf Hawk Bearcat. There was talk awhile back that one might be painted that way. I can't remember which plane was being talked about though.

Elmer Ward's Bearcat was painted in that scheme.

[RickH]

Hooks Airport- North Houston, the paint shop is located on the field and it is the same shop the Spitfire was painted in.

I always understood that Elmer Ward's Bearcat WAS Al Williams former aircraft and that's why it was repainted in the Gulfhawk colors. Is that incorrect info?

[Joe Scheil]

No, Gulfhawk IV burned on the runway at New Bern, SC in 1949. The aircraft was similar to an F8F-1 and was the 739th Model 58 built. The second G-58 or civil Bearcat is the last one, the "Redship" at the Palm Springs Air Museum, painted now as an F8F-2, which it resembles. The Ward Bearcat was a -2 Bu 121707 and was restored into a two seat F8F with the same registration as the original. Aside from the long canopy and the tall tail, it was a very good lookalike. Perhaps the Gulfhawk will be refinshed that way again when it is finished.

[RickH]

Thanks, Joe. You've refreshed my memory. I forgot that Williams' plane was a G-58. I hated to see the Kahn G-58 put in Navy paint. Especially since it has its own unique history. But I guess we're back to the old argument that the owner can paint it whatever color he wants.