Rod Lewis is getting an A-20!

[BenG]

Howdy Ryan

Which P-40 are you talking about ?

Lightning

P-40C AK295 - ex-Russia. Formely owned by Chris Gruys, sold by Provenance Fighter Sales and under rebuild with Avspecs, Ardmore, NZ.

[Lightning]

Howdy All

"I heard that the A-20 will be taking a number of months to be completed, but can confirm it is coming, as well as a P-40 in about a year."

The word is that the P-40C should be in Texas in a couple of months, not a year!

Lightning

[12XU2A3X3]

any chance that it's going to be brought back to it's J model glass nose configuration?

[CrewDawg]

I had the priviledge of touring Aero Traders in 2009 while visiting SoCal for some museum business. Here are few pictures I took of the A-20 as it was then. It was stored in a hangar with Kermit Week's A-26.







Sorry, it was a cramped hangar with a lot of cool stuff in it!!

[Stornblom]

When I was at Chino Friday morning photographing Aluminum Overcast, I stopped at the Aero Trader hangar and briefly spoke with a guy inside the hangar with the A-20. He said it will take 1-2 more years before the plane is finished. It looks good so far. Next time I'm out there, I will try and get a shot of it for you guys.

Stephen

[Richard Green]

As a personal friend of the Farrah family, I watched this A20 project develop from 1972 through 1975. The airplane was purchased from Howard Hughes, who used it as a personal transport (fast transport). The bomb bay had been configured as a "luxury skybox". The bomb bay doors had been sealed and Hughes ordered a thick application of closed cell foam be sprayed throughout the compartment. That material was unbelievable to remove. No expense was spared. "Frame Off" doesn't come close. The bird was taken down to the axles and brought back using the original components, however all of the fasteners, bolts, hoses, wiring, etc. were upgraded to state of the art for that period. It was the first time I had seen an Imron paint application. If you leaned against the fuselage, you would slide down the side. When finished, it was a piece of art. It takes a while to cover the nuances of the build.

A Word on Willy

He takes no prisoners. Business or pleasure, he was all business. Upon completion of the A20 project, he had to deal with the Farrah Corporate BOD and the insurance company in order to fly the plane. After several skirmishes, he was flying the plane. Noteworthy is that he flew an A20 in Korea. After my 41 years in corporate America (and still going), I can say that I have never met a man more driven or focused than Mr. Farrah. He and his wife also raised three sons who, despite their privileged status, are well grounded, smart and just as interested in others as they are themselves. Through their generous attitude, I was able to fly a Cessna T210, Rockwell 690A, and left seat a Lear 25 (for about 30 minutes). These are real people and worthy of meeting if you ever get the chance.

[Chappie]

As for voting on nose art in the previous pages? I'll go with "Hard To Get", love the girly nose art.

Are there currently any airworthy A-20s?

Great picutres on this thread, the shots taken from the rear facing strike cameras have always fascinated me.


Chappie

[AHancock51]

Chappie, none airworthy yet. This is the only active restoration to airworthy.

The next closest in terms of work accomplished is A-20H owned by MARC and located at the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum in New York. Work has seemed to stop on this one, other than what was required to assemble it for display there. Any news on its status? http://www.1941hag.org/
WIX Warbird registry has not been updated on this one. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a20regis ... 40020.html

The MARC A-20 was put together about 1.5 years ago in our hangar and is in static display status. The plan is to one day get her airworthy, but work seems to have stopped on that for now. I can tell you though, it looks very nice!

[Dora9a]

These are from my trip to Chino in late May 2011. I also got a look at Rod Lewis's B-25 after it's accident, it's a miracle nobody was killed when those prop blades broke off and entered the cockpit!

Cheers


IMG_0105 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0103 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0064 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0061 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0058 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0056 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0048 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0053 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0052 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0046 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0045 by Dora9a, on Flickr

IMG_0042 by Dora9a, on Flickr

Last edited by Dora9a on Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Chappie]

Is there a second A-20 in that hangar?


Chappie

[gary1954]

Is there a second A-20 in that hangar?


Chappie

Looks Like an Invader To me.

[T-28mike]

Kermit Weeks A-26, damaged in Andrew.