Active Hellcats question

[Mike]

Are we really down to just 2 Hellcats currently active (CAF & Friedkin's)?

With TFC's example having been grounded for the past 3 years or so, Pond's, Kalamazoo's and Paul Allen's all being parked, and I don't believe that Lone Star's is presently flown (although I'd be very happy to be corrected on that), are there any other ones being flown at the moment that I'm missing?

[T-28mike]

Lone star's hellcat is presently at the paint shop @ "lone-star north" (KDWH) and was flown in.

[The Inspector]

All the control surfaces on P.Allens F6F are off and being recovered and the maintenance folks are working on the airframe so it should be airworthy soon (based upon the Vulcan timescale where time is a flexible thing)

[kalamazookid]

Lone star's hellcat is presently at the paint shop @ "lone-star north" (KDWH) and was flown in.

GREAT news. Can't wait to see its new paint scheme.

Kalamazoo's Hellcat has been moved to an addition on the new facility that doesn't have runway access, so it would appear that its flying days are over for the foreseeable future. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't think we'll see that one in the air again unless the Air Zoo has financial trouble and has to sell off part of its collection.

[Mike]

Kalamazoo's Hellcat has been moved to an addition on the new facility that doesn't have runway access, so it would appear that its flying days are over for the foreseeable future. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't think we'll see that one in the air again unless the Air Zoo has financial trouble and has to sell off part of its collection.

At least there's hope, with the Bearcat and Tigercat escaping into the wild again, that we might see the Hellcat move on at some point in the future. Nothing against the Kalamazoo folks, and I've yet to visit there myself, but a friend who recently visited described it as more of a theme park than an aircraft museum and was seriously unimpressed. I just hate to see collections of previously-airworthy aircraft being parked up (Pond, Champlin, Kalamazoo, Weeks, Yanks, etc)

[Mike]

Lone star's hellcat is presently at the paint shop @ "lone-star north" (KDWH) and was flown in.

Will we be seeing it on the Courtesy website before long, I wonder? Paging Mr Lewis...............

[BenG]

... or Mr Slattery!

[Ryan Harris]

The reason that airplanes like the P-38, Bearcat, A-20, Tigercat, and Wildcat were sold is due to the fact that they were still registered to Bob Waltrip. The Hellcat is under the ownership of the museum. They have wanted to get her repainted for quite sometime, so I wouldn't expect to see her on the market anytime soon. If the paint job I had last heard about comes true, you guys should like it.

[Mike]

The reason that airplanes like the P-38, Bearcat, A-20, Tigercat, and Wildcat were sold is due to the fact that they were still registered to Bob Waltrip. The Hellcat is under the ownership of the museum. They have wanted to get her repainted for quite sometime, so I wouldn't expect to see her on the market anytime soon. If the paint job I had last heard about comes true, you guys should like it.

I hope they paint over the hideous greenhouse behind the cockpit!

[Warbird Kid]

I hope they paint over the hideous greenhouse behind the cockpit!

Well now... even I wouldn't go that far. More windows usually means an extra seat. And I would love to grab a ride in a Hellcat. Probably the only you could.

[Jack Cook]

... or Mr Slattery!

[Obergrafeter]

Glad the "Chrome Cat" is getting a new paint job. More authentic would be nice. Not complaining they can paint it anyway they like..............just saying.............

[Warbirdnerd]

Does anyne know where all those drone leftovers ended up? I had pictures of them 10 years ago. They where in storge in Milwaukee and if I rember an old thread answer correctly they were part of the Jim Fry collection of projects.

[Iclo]

The TFC one, is it grounded for technical issue or owner choice, or it's always the same conflicts with the CAA, ?

Their Corsair is still grounded, if I'm not wrong

[kalamazookid]

Kalamazoo's Hellcat has been moved to an addition on the new facility that doesn't have runway access, so it would appear that its flying days are over for the foreseeable future. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't think we'll see that one in the air again unless the Air Zoo has financial trouble and has to sell off part of its collection.

At least there's hope, with the Bearcat and Tigercat escaping into the wild again, that we might see the Hellcat move on at some point in the future. Nothing against the Kalamazoo folks, and I've yet to visit there myself, but a friend who recently visited described it as more of a theme park than an aircraft museum and was seriously unimpressed. I just hate to see collections of previously-airworthy aircraft being parked up (Pond, Champlin, Kalamazoo, Weeks, Yanks, etc)

Alas, he is correct. I checked out the new addition and it's just as crowded as the aircraft were at the old facility. It's nice that most of the aircraft are together now at the new facility, but in parts it seems as if the aircraft are simply being used as set dressing. Again, nothing against the people at the museum, but it seems to be less of a museum and more of a tourist attraction these days. I guess I just miss the low-key flying museum days. I'd rather see a couple airworthy aircraft in a dirty, working hangar than a bunch of static aircraft in a shiny, pretty building.

As for the Hellcat, I was told by a museum docent once that the aircraft does have combat history and actually served on the USS Shangri-La. I don't know whether that's true or not, but I'd be interested to hear more if anyone knows the full story. The Air Zoo Hellcat was a big reason I got hooked on warbirds (and not jets) as a kid and I really miss seeing her flying around town.