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Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:27 am

I am very familiar with Ken Laird's Val, but can anyone tell me where the other four Vals are and who owns them?


Chappie

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:42 am

Two are with the CAF Tora team in Texas.

One is with POF in Chino.

One is at the March Airfield Museum and apparently owned by the USAF? Can anyone explain the situation with this one? I thought it was owned by Tallichet?

One crashed during the filming of Pearl Harbor. Where's the wreckage of this Val? Any chance we'll see it restored to fly again someday?

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:34 pm

Ron Stone owned one. Any ideas what happened to that one?

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:45 pm

I was wondering the same thing. Back in 1989, I was at TICO when one of the landing gear was snapped off. in a T/O accident.

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sat Jul 20, 2013 11:26 am

I think that was Stone's at the time. I had heard the pilot tried to take off downwind.

Possibly a picture here:
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/93677397@N05/8556774858/

Apparently a t-28 went down that day too.

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:40 pm

Ober, didn't we watch one get chewed up only for it to be lost in a hangar fire later in Conroe??

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:25 pm

Yep............the one that got chewed up was lost in a fire in Conroe later. All gone.

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:28 pm

oscardeuce wrote:I think that was Stone's at the time. I had heard the pilot tried to take off downwind.

Possibly a picture here:
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/93677397@N05/8556774858/

Apparently a t-28 went down that day too.


Yes.

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief ... 7935&key=1

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:31 am

Obergrafeter wrote:Yep............the one that got chewed up was lost in a fire in Conroe later. All gone.

That was a privately owned one, the former Tom Kelley black one that was at San Marcos for a number of years. It was sold to Charles Angel and was repainted to the gray scheme. It was not CAF owned.
The Tora one now currently at Conroe was not a movie Val, but was a modified BT-13 in several stages in the late 80's and early 90's.

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:17 am

oscardeuce wrote:I think that was Stone's at the time. I had heard the pilot tried to take off downwind.

Possibly a picture here:
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/93677397@N05/8556774858/

Apparently a t-28 went down that day too.


Yes, everyone was using the North/South Runway that day for Take-offs and landings but for some reason, he decided to use the East/West Runway and within about 900 feet it ground looped. That was a bad day at TICO. :(

Re: Where are the five remaining TORA Vals?

Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:58 pm

How many p-40s were used?
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