Are there any pics of F2G-1 88454 Ferry Flight in 1981?

[Matt_in_NC]

Hello all. I was killing time on the Seattle Museum of Flight website...awesome website, by the way! When I came across the entry on Super Corsair 88454, I read something interesting...it said that not only was the a/c traded (along with a Skyraider!) to Doug Champlin for a Dauntless, but that it was ferried from Oklahoma to Mesa, AZ in 1981 by none other than legendary air racer Ron Puckett! I saw this a/c many years ago at the former Champlin Fighter Museum and was told by one of the employees there that "everything was airworthy." Even then, I took that statement with a grain of salt...but I digress! Does anyone have any photos of that ferry flight? Or even of the plane with the engine running? Here is the link to the MOF page on 88454 http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/goodyear-f2g-1-super-corsair

[Matt_in_NC]

P.S. I always wished they would install the pilot's head rest/ rollover bar in the cockpit, as I always thought that was the only thing that killed the stock military look of the plane...hint hint

[Speedy]

The only pic I have of that airframe 'flying' is one of it slung beneath a Sikorsky Sky Crane around 1972 or so after Walt Olrich's abortive attempt to make it a flyable racer. And that is in an Air Progress magazine. To my knowledge, that airframe did not fly to/from anywhere going between the Marine Corps Museum (Quantico, I think), Champlin's, and the MoF.

But as plenty on-line are wont to point out, I've been wrong before....

[C VEICH]

To my knowledge, that airframe did not fly to/from anywhere going between the Marine Corps Museum (Quantico, I think), Champlin's, and the MoF.

But as plenty on-line are wont to point out, I've been wrong before....

I have heard the same bit of trivia, that the airplane was ferried from Oklahoma to Arizona by Ron Puckett. Might have come from somebody at Gosshawk but I don't remember exactly where I heard said information. If in fact it did happen then somebody must have photographed the event, no?

[Jerry O'Neill]

This F2G slipped through the New England Air Museum's hands back in 1966. The F2G and the XF4U-4 were in storage containers at Norfolk and were offered to the then, Bradley Air Museum. They took both, but never picked up the F2G. They decided they only needed a Vought Corsair for their purposes and the F2G was realitivly insignificant compared to a prototype Dash 4. If that F2G was a Thompson Racer, they would' grabbed it for sure. It would have, however, only been on loan to NEAM, so it wasn' liked they actually owned it.
Jerry

[Matt_in_NC]

It amazes me that the Pensacola Museum didn't consider the aircraft important enough to keep. I guess back then, the museum was in its infancy and was just beginning to collect aircraft. 88454 seems to have had an interesting history. I have seen pictures of her in the all white paint scheme in VA from the '70s but had no idea until recently that the Navy "confiscated" the plane after learning that then owner Walter Ohlrich intended to race her. There is a b&w picture of 454 dressed in white on the registry. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairregistry/fg2-88454.html

[kennsmithf2g]

To my knowledge, that airframe did not fly to/from anywhere going between the Marine Corps Museum (Quantico, I think), Champlin's, and the MoF.

But as plenty on-line are wont to point out, I've been wrong before....

I have heard the same bit of trivia, that the airplane was ferried from Oklahoma to Arizona by Ron Puckett. Might have come from somebody at Gosshawk but I don't remember exactly where I heard said information. If in fact it did happen then somebody must have photographed the event, no?

I remember hearing the same thing at the time (I live in Cleveland) about her being ferried by Ron Puckett.

[krislhull]

The current issue of Warbirds International has a history of the F2G, and it does mention in a quick blurb this ferry flight...

Kris

[mike furline]

IIRC there was a For Sale ad in Trade a Plane which included a pic of it flying, late 70's - early 80's.

[kennsmithf2g]

A friend jogged my memory about the ferry flight. At one of our Air Racing Symposiums, Ron talked about it. Before the flight, he obtained a CO badge and put it in the cockpit with the engine running. It turned black....... He went a purchased a medical oxygen tank and mask and used it for the flight.

good times.....

[Matt_in_NC]

That's an awesome story! Smart man...had self preservation on the mind. An oxygen tank would have probably saved the life of Tony Janazzo and F2G 88457. Thanks for all the replies, guys. The F2G is one of my favorite "warbirds, and it intrigued me to know that 454 was airworthy...albeit briefly...as recently as 1981.

[RMAllnutt]

A friend jogged my memory about the ferry flight. At one of our Air Racing Symposiums, Ron talked about it. Before the flight, he obtained a CO badge and put it in the cockpit with the engine running. It turned black....... He went a purchased a medical oxygen tank and mask and used it for the flight.

good times.....

I remember that same symposium. Ron was a fascinating chap. His daughter Judith came along to the symposium as well. She's now the photo editor at New York Times Magazine. Perhaps she has some of Ron's photos of the flight.

Cheers,
Richard

Edit: Judith just became Director of Photography for Vanity Fair magazine in January.

Last edited by RMAllnutt on Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[T J Johansen]

From the posts here I take it Puckett is no longer with us? I spoke with him on the phone some 20 odd years ago. One of the things he said at the time was that he had (then) recently been informed that the remains of his old F2G had been found in a scrapyard in upstate New York. Sceptics might say that this would have been an error, and that the sighing would have been either Soplata's or the derelict N5588N. Unfortunately, as the F2G didn't appeal that much I never got back to him in order to search out the details of his story nor who had supposedly found it. I have never read any details as to the fate of #18, and there was no clue in the latest WI either. This leaves me wondering, is there any official verdict as to what happened to this aircraft?

T J

[kennsmithf2g]

Engine was sold, the rest was scrapped. Only the data plate remains. A group claimed that they had it but no evidence was ever presented...

The remains of #94 are buried near me at Hopkins Airport after she was used for fire practice. Quite a few parts of #94 were "saved" before the fire and are in private collections........(not mine...drats!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kenn

[RMAllnutt]

From the posts here I take it Puckett is no longer with us? I spoke with him on the phone some 20 odd years ago. One of the things he said at the time was that he had (then) recently been informed that the remains of his old F2G had been found in a scrapyard in upstate New York. Sceptics might say that this would have been an error, and that the sighing would have been either Soplata's or the derelict N5588N. Unfortunately, as the F2G didn't appeal that much I never got back to him in order to search out the details of his story nor who had supposedly found it. I have never read any details as to the fate of #18, and there was no clue in the latest WI either. This leaves me wondering, is there any official verdict as to what happened to this aircraft?

T J

Sam Goldman (Chesapeake Aviation in Salisbury, MD) was the final owner of Pucket's aircraft. He told me that he bought the F2G with the intentions of racing it, but ended up scrapping it (much to his later regret) when the races were cancelled. I visited him back in 2003. In his office, he had the data plate clipped to a framed photograph of the corsair. He still had all the paperwork and said it was for sale, but never said at what price... just that it would be huge. I was told by a friend who had enquired about the dataplate some time after Sam's death, that the people who took over his business were looking to sell it, but at a significant price. So, I suppose it is possible that this F2G might be resurrected some day... I sure hope so, even if it is a re-creation it would be cool to see.

Cheers,
Richard