F2G Test Run coming soon...

[mustangdriver]

Yeah, that's just awesome....

Somewhere Cleleand and Becker are hoisting a brew over this one.

I am sure soplata is right there pouring.

First off it looks great, and I wish them the best of luck. As for Walter, I am not sure he would be very pleased. He wanted this aircraft to be restored and kept static in Cleveland.

[hstandard4]

She needs to fly..........and fly often

[Chappie]

She needs to fly..........and fly often

Amen. They should all fly.


Chappie

[robkamm]

O my!! she looks great. there is a video of the engine running up in a test cell i think,. ill post the link. its on the aehs web site. thanks for the update .

[oscardeuce]

Yeah, that's just awesome....

Somewhere Cleleand and Becker are hoisting a brew over this one.

I am sure soplata is right there pouring.

First off it looks great, and I wish them the best of luck. As for Walter, I am not sure he would be very pleased. He wanted this aircraft to be restored and kept static in Cleveland.

I agree, should have gone to MAPS....... then again i am a bit biased

[CH2Tdriver]

What's the status of her sibling #57? We used to see a lot of her?

[Speedy]

?........Galloping Ghost still flying.

I thought we were talking about Cleveland racers.

Ummm... Galloping Ghost was a Cleveland Racer.... flown by the late great Steve Beville.

Cheers,
Richard

Here we go again with the Galloping Ghost/NX79111 debate again. Is it Leeward's or isn't it?


I know what camp I'm in...but my opinion has never mattered much.

[Mike]

What's the status of her sibling #57? We used to see a lot of her?

With a new owner in Arizona who tends to keep his toys to himself. Whilst a shame to those of us who like to see these rarities out and about (he also has an airworthy Ford Trimotor IIRC) I'm sure it's in good hands.

[Randy Haskin]

Yeah, that's just awesome....

Somewhere Cleleand and Becker are hoisting a brew over this one.

I am sure soplata is right there pouring.

More like sitting over in the corner cursing.

He'd very happy to see it preserved and rebuilt, but not the next natural event which is the airplane flying again.

I give great credit to Soplata for saving these airplanes, but when I spoke to him in 2002 he said, in no uncertain terms, that he despised warbirds that fly because it risked their destruction.

In fact, I believe that the handshake deal that got this Corsair off his property included saying that it wouldn't fly.

[Randy Haskin]

?........Galloping Ghost still flying.

I thought we were talking about Cleveland racers.

Ummm... Galloping Ghost was a Cleveland Racer.... flown by the late great Steve Beville.

Cheers,
Richard

Again, there is a decent camp of Mustang enthusiasts and historians who do not believe that the current Galloping Ghost is the same airframe as the Cleveland racer.

...this despite Beville's 60-year-later recollections of an airframe patch that he felt solidified the airframe's identity (and inexplicably by his account appears to have survived a number of significant airframe modifications, rebuilds, and overhauls since the 1970s).

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... p?p=409840

Several years ago, Steve Beville, one of the pilots that raced and worked on her in the Cleveland races, looked over the airframe and found a patch that he said that he put on back in the day. That's good enough for me.

[Chappie]

Yeah, that's just awesome....

Somewhere Cleleand and Becker are hoisting a brew over this one.

I am sure soplata is right there pouring.

More like sitting over in the corner cursing.

He'd very happy to see it preserved and rebuilt, but not the next natural event which is the airplane flying again.

I give great credit to Soplata for saving these airplanes, but when I spoke to him in 2002 he said, in no uncertain terms, that he despised warbirds that fly because it risked their destruction.

In fact, I believe that the handshake deal that got this Corsair off his property included saying that it wouldn't fly.

I can respect those who feel this way, but I just can't understand it. There is no better place than to see a warbird than in the air.


Chappie

[mustangdriver]

I am from the camp of we need a balance of example to fly and examples to be on static. I was just commenting on Walter and how he would feel since it was brought up. Having been to Walter's in the hay day, and talking to him I can tell you that he would be jacked knowing the Crawford Museum went back on their deal. This in no way is meant toward those who currently own, are restoring, or are going to fly this airplane. I am sure they are going to give her the best of care, and it looks beautiful.

[Django]

I would say in the ongoing flyer vs static battles, the flyers won this one since of the 3 left, 2 will be flyable. Can't ask for much more than that if you support the "they all should fly" argument, right?

[SaxMan]

Lastly- the website shows an F2G in military colors with the captions they visited the last surviving F2G in a museum. So there are only three F2Gs in the world?


Chappie

Considering there were only 10 F2Gs produced, the fact that 3 of them still exist more than 65 years later is pretty remarkable. Could you imagine if 30% of any other World War II type was still extant?

[Dan K]

Lastly- the website shows an F2G in military colors with the captions they visited the last surviving F2G in a museum. So there are only three F2Gs in the world?


Chappie

Considering there were only 10 F2Gs produced, the fact that 3 of them still exist more than 65 years later is pretty remarkable. Could you imagine if 30% of any other World War II type was still extant?

Yeah, I could still buy a B-24 for $450.