Big news from the Collings Foundation

[Warbirdnerd]

According to their news letter the ex Pond/Lone Star/Amjet/Olympic/Hisey Skyraider has joined the collection. I hope to see it on tour in the new markings.

Last edited by Warbirdnerd on Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[SaxMan]

If it is up to the same standards that they have for the rest of their collection, that is going to be one impressive SPAD.

[Warbirdnerd]

In the same newsletter the 262 is going to debut at Moffet on May 18

[Mike]

In the same newsletter the 262 is going to debut at Moffet on May 18

But static only, as they have yet to get the necessary approvals to sell rides in it.

[kalamazookid]

Wow! Great news for the CF. Hope to see it somewhere in the near future. Maybe they can send it to Winston-Salem along with the TA-4F...

[Warbird Kid]

Sure enhancing their Cold War / Korean War / Vietnam War collection huh? Congrats to the new purchase. Definitely could be a ride aircraft!

[kmiles]

The Skyraider moved from Oklahoma City to Florida a couple of weeks ago to get its annual inspection and a few small items that were found on the pre-buy addressed. JimH and the rest of the crew were in Oklahoma City for the last weekend that the plane was there, so maybe JimH could post some photos of the aircraft here that he posted on facebook. Once the annual is done the plane will be moved to New England. It may be stored in a hangar at Beverly, MA between shows, or it may be at the Quonset Air Museum. The skyraider wears the markings of its last military duty which was with a unit that was based at Quonset, so it would kind of be a homecoming for the aircraft. There are no plans at this time to add it to the Wings of Freedom Tour. It will just be attending air shows up and down the East coast like the F4U. At some point we will work towards getting a ride exemption for it so that we can offer rides when it goes out to shows.

As for the Me 262, we plan on having it at our stop at Moffett starting on the 18th as long as we can get a couple of pilots trained. It will travel to select stops on the tour, but will not be at every stop to start with. It may do a short flight at some of the stops, but it will mostly be static except for the flight in and flight out. The number of stops will be determined by the number of pilots we get trained, and what their availability is. We are looking to get some more hours on the aircraft this season and get some operational experience with the aircraft on tour before we roll it out full time on the tour, possibly as early as 2013.

[JimH]

This news is just the tip of the iceberg for Collings. The Skyraider is an awesome machine. We exercised her a bit before she was flown to Florida. Dare I say this airplane flies better than a 51? This airplane is a dream to fly!

Jim


Cockpit fam

my first t/o it really gets up and goes

[Warbird Kid]

I saw this one at Michigan a few years ago. Great looking bird! Never knew those markings were Quonset. Hey if Collings doesn't mind having some of their collection at other museums I know someplace where we can stick the F4U-5NL.

[Ken]

Was she modded with dual controls??

Ken

[Fouga23]

Always wondered why SPAD's had blue glass?

[bombadier29]

I saw thIs plane when it was at the Abbotsford Airshow several years ago. It had dual controls in it then. The blue glass In the back was for the radar operators as I understand it. It made it possible to see the scope.

[kmiles]

Was she modded with dual controls??

Ken

The AD-5 was built as a dual control aircraft with the side by side seating. I believe it was done because of the long missions that it was capable of. If you put all 3 drop takes (1-350 gallon centerline, and 2-300 gallon on the wings) the airplane will actually run out of oil before it runs out of fuel. They had an auxiliary oil tank in the back of the aircraft that could transfer oil into the oil tank for the engine. There is another WIX member that owns and has been operating a AD-5 for much longer than we have been, so I am sure that he can give you more details.

As for the blue glass, that is the same exact question that I asked. Originally that section had a lot of sensitive radio equipment, so the thought is that the blue glass would help cut out some of the sunlight that may damage the equipment. I am not sure why they did not use the more traditional grey tinting. Maybe that is something that EDowning can answer.

[kmiles]

I saw this one at Michigan a few years ago. Great looking bird! Never knew those markings were Quonset. Hey if Collings doesn't mind having some of their collection at other museums I know someplace where we can stick the F4U-5NL.

Quonset is not exactly local, but when we need to go and pick it up for an air show, it is a lot closer than driving all the way to Bridgeport. The person who flies our Corsair lives in Southern ME, so having the aircraft in Bridgeport would be pretty difficult.

[bombadier29]

AD-5s were originally built as single control/single panel airplanes. Some have been fully modified as dual on right and left sides. Others have been retrofitted with just the stick and pedals and some are still single. I don't remember how this airplane was configured but it was built as a single control.