Warbird Information Exchange

Despite the threatining weather, Saturday turned out to be a great day for an airshow. I had a great time, and even got to meet a few fellow members.

I'll add captions to these later, when I have time.

AD-5 BuNo 135178


P-51D 44-73264 Gunfighter


P-51D 44-74404 Dazzling Donna


P-51D 45-11586 Little Horse


RV-1D 64-14262


Widgeon N141R


CJ-6A N273SC


Sea Fury FB.10 N71GB



P-51C 42-103645


AC-47 N88874

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Dan Johnson

Dan, very nice pictures, espeacially the Seafury, very classic.

Thanks for sharing!

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Dan,

It was nice to meet you and your father, and I hope you enjoyed the airshow.

Steve

Great shots Dan!
Glad you enjoyed the show! Our pay is customer satisfaction that and benifits that rock
Thanks for showing off the progress on the Red Tail Project, stayed tuned for some exciting news.
Really enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.
For those of you that have not seen it the webiste for the Redtail Project has been revamed you can find it here...
http://www.redtail.org

Steve, it was great to meet you and Eric Downing, hopefully they bring you back next year, it was nice to have a Sea Fury and Skyraider around again.

Rob, the Widgeon is Walt Frickie's. We didn't do an organized gathering photo, but I thought I saw my dad shoot a few frames shortly after Steve and Dave Dennis showed up, so there may be a shot of four or five of us.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Here are a few more shots. I didn't get too many usable in flight shots, I really need to get a Rebel XT so I can get a decent zoom.


AD-5 BuNo 135178


B-25J 44-29869 Miss Mitchell


B-25J 44-31385 Show Me


P-51D 44-73264 Gunfighter


P-51D 44-74404 Dazzling Donna


P-51D 45-11586 Little Horse


Tora Kate N3242G


John Mohr doing the "Hairy Pass"


Tora Val N67208


Sea Fury FB.10 N71GB

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Dan Johnson

Dan,
Beautiful pics! My favorite is the P-51C... big suprise! You don't see too many of those around. What scheme are they painting it? I cant see details of the poster from the picture.

Srpatterson,
The Fury looks great as always. My humble opinion is its the nicest looking one around. Hopfully I'll be able to sneak out to a show and see you two in person. Keep her up!

I suspect they'll probably return it to the paint sceme it had before the accident. Or at the very least, will return it with the red tail painting, since the plane is meant to be an educational tool about the Tuskegee Airmen. The photos in the registry show it pre-accident.

Any news on what problems the Skyraider was having? It seemed to have a little problem with start-up on Saturday, then returned to the ramp after idling for a while. On Sunday, it started up and taxied to the end of the runway, started it's takeoff run (or appeared to), but quickly aborted and returned to the far end of the ramp (where spectators weren't allowed). It later started up again for what seemed to be a test run, sounded a little rough (or maybe that's just the way the Skyraider sounds when idling), then shut down after a few minutes. Hope they figured out the problem...

Sunday was definitely the better day for photography, with the sun peeking through white puffy clouds. (Dan - what camera and zoom were you using...just curious so I can compare to my shots)

Regarding the Red Tail Mustang, the announcer made a comment that $250,000 is needed to get the wing into the jig for rebuild. With luck and lots of financial help, it will be flying in a year. You can help by purchasing a rivet certificate (starting at $20). Visit www.redtail.org for details.

Hats off to air boss Doug Rozendaal and the rest of the CAF for putting on a fine show. After several years of bad luck with the weather, the weekend wasn't a washout (despite forecasts to the contrary). The clouds and light drizzle might have kept the crowds down a little on Saturday, but I'm hoping all the cars I saw in the parking area on Sunday was an indication of a successful show for the CAF. Heck, hopefully they even made some money!

Mark

Dan
thanks for posting these very nice pictures.
I particularly like the Sea Fury.
It's a very nice machine indeed but I hear the owner's a real tart.

Cheers
Andy

Thanks for the kind words guys.

mjanovec, I was shooting with my Canon G3(I still need to order an XT), a fairly feature packed point & shoot camera with a 4x zoom(I'm not sure what the 35mm equivalent is). All the action shots were taken at max zoom. As for the Skyraider, it had an electrical issue on Saturday, and while I didn't get a chance to go back Sunday I understand the rough running engine was not normal.

Cadillac, I haven't heard any discussion of the paint scheme, I assume it will return to the scheme in this photo,

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Dan Johnson

Hi guys,

Thanks to everybody that made it out to the Wings of Freedom airshow in Red Wing this past weekend. Your patronage was certainly appreciated. Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet many wixers or air crewmen that came to the show but my hands were full out on the flightline. If you saw a very sunburned 6'2" guy wearing a dark blue Red Tail Project hat and a day-glow green safety vest with orange bars on it out in front of the crowd line who looked PO'd most of the time, that was me. I wasn't PO'd, that's just the way I look to keep my guys motivated but don't let them know that!

At times it was a very emotional weekend for a lot of us. One of the most moving moments came when the Ellsworth firemen unveiled and dedicated a monument by their firehouse in memory of Don Hinz. One of the kindest gestures I've witnessed. Probably none of those firemen or officers of the Pierce County Sheriffs department will ever see this post, but a huge debt of thanks goes out to all of them from all of us involved with the Red Tail Project and the Minnesota Wing of the CAF for their help last year and support again this year.

Anybody who has not seen Steve Patterson’s Sea Fury in person must do so. In a word it's gorgeous! The real bonus is when he fires up that big 'ol 3350, grabs a handful of throttle and unleashes the beast....nuthin' but nice! God I love big radials and BIG power! Don't be mistaken either, Steve is not timid of that monster and made the best passes at the show...in fact they were some of the best passes I've seen in a heck of a long time! Thanks for coming Steve. I really enjoyed meeting you and on behalf of myself and the rest of the wing, we really enjoyed having you.

The C model Mustang will be painted in the identical scheme it was in pre-crash with the exception of transposing the squadron markings on the right side of the fuselage (For those of you who never caught it, they were on backwards! ...Oops). As you can see from the photos above, the Tri-State crew along with me and my crew have been bustin' some serious a$$ to get her back in the air where she belongs. Checkout our website for more details www.redtail.org . As the restoration continues to move forward, we are still seeking sponsorship to keep the wheels turning. Please feel free to contact me or the website listed if you would like to support us in this project.

I was told on Saturday that the Skyraider was having a gear indication problem and the crew rightfully did not want take any risks. Sunday they were having problems with the engine. I saw an ignition coil being changed on one of the front cylinders and after a test run, it was determined that there was a problem with the carb. Sorry to have disappointed those who wanted to see her take the air...myself included, but that’s the way she goes when yer playing with antiques! The crew of that airplane is obviously very heads up and safety conscious. My hat is off to them for that!

Thanks again to all the performers/pilots who came to the show and made it a success. It was a pleasure working with you.

John Beyl
CC Red Tail Mustang

Thanks to everyone who put the Red Wing airshow together, it was a great show. I am still working on the mait. problems on the Skyraider and will advise when we have something to report. It was nice to meet the wix'ers in person and I really appreciate the pics and kind remarks.

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Eric

"I spent most of my money on alcohol, women and skyraiders....and the rest of it I just wasted."