Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:10 am
I was looking at some P-51's I have listed so here goes.
1. Kermit Week's P-51A last I knew Art Teeters was working on it.
2. The late Garry Beck's P-51A's full scale I talked to Garry in person at his place in North Dakota back in 2005 he was serious about trying to build 10 of them what took place after his untimely death.
3. P-51B Berlin Express at Pacific Fighters
4. Brent Hinsley's P-51C
5. Pat Harker's P-82 Twin Mustang I saw the project in person in September 2005 has to be pretty far along by now
Of course if other fellow Wixer's know of some interesting P-51 restorations going on chime in. Im really curious about the ones I listed so hope you folks can shed some light on what is happening.
1. Kermit Week's P-51A last I knew Art Teeters was working on it.
2. The late Garry Beck's P-51A's full scale I talked to Garry in person at his place in North Dakota back in 2005 he was serious about trying to build 10 of them what took place after his untimely death.
3. P-51B Berlin Express at Pacific Fighters
4. Brent Hinsley's P-51C
5. Pat Harker's P-82 Twin Mustang I saw the project in person in September 2005 has to be pretty far along by now
Of course if other fellow Wixer's know of some interesting P-51 restorations going on chime in. Im really curious about the ones I listed so hope you folks can shed some light on what is happening.
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:20 pm
Kermit Weeks P-51A 43-6178
Kermit Weeks acquired this P-51A in the 1980’s and has been having restoration work done on and off. He sent his P-51A to Art Teeters’ Cal Pacific Airmotive in California who did the restoration work on both his C and D model mustangs. His other two mustangs won Grand Champion Warbird at Sun ‘n Fun and Oshkosh fly-ins. There is currently no set date for the completion of this early mustang but when it is completed I think we can expect that it will be a prize winner, like the others in his collection.
Gerry Beck’s scratch built P-51A
This P-51 was involved in an accident with the late Bob Odegaard P-51D “Stang” that was being flown by his son Casey at the time. At EAA's AirVenture located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2007 the propeller of Gerry Beck’s mustang struck “Stang” his evasive maneuvers saved Casey Odegaard and he became inverted and then proceeded to crash near the side of the runway. Since 2007 this P-51 has been under restoration and was finally put back on its gear in 2010 and today it is still under restoration to airworthy status. I haven’t heard any information on the other 10.
Pacific Fighters Restoration P-51B “Berlin Express”
This P-51B is under restoration by Pacific Fighters out of Idaho Falls, Idaho by John Muszala and as of early February 2013 it is on its gear and in October of 2013 the Merlin engine has been installed. The restoration continues and as of today, with no publicly announced completion date. Pictures of the restoration work can be seen on the Pacific Fighters Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pacific- ... 6621845601
Brent Hisey’s P-51C 42-103740
This P-51C serial number 42-103740 is being restored in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and is owned by Brent Hisey who is also the owner of the P-51D “Miss America”. The mustang is under restoration by Warbirds Inc. As more information becomes available I will post.
Chris and Pat Harker's F-82E Twin Mustang 46-256
This F-82E was acquired by the late Walter Soplata of Newberry, Ohio in 1956 and sat in storage at his property until it was sold to David Arnold of Jersey, UK in 1997 but before it was shipped to the United Kingdom it was sold to Amjet/Polar Aviation Museum which is located in Anoka County, Minnesota. This twin mustang was sold again and restoration is being done by Chris and Pat Harker, C&P Aviation Services of St. Paul-Anoka County, Minnesota. Currently the F-82 is under restoration to airworthy status as it has been since 2000. So it shouldn’t be too much longer before she is back in the air.
-Thomas Reilly
Kermit Weeks acquired this P-51A in the 1980’s and has been having restoration work done on and off. He sent his P-51A to Art Teeters’ Cal Pacific Airmotive in California who did the restoration work on both his C and D model mustangs. His other two mustangs won Grand Champion Warbird at Sun ‘n Fun and Oshkosh fly-ins. There is currently no set date for the completion of this early mustang but when it is completed I think we can expect that it will be a prize winner, like the others in his collection.
Gerry Beck’s scratch built P-51A
This P-51 was involved in an accident with the late Bob Odegaard P-51D “Stang” that was being flown by his son Casey at the time. At EAA's AirVenture located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2007 the propeller of Gerry Beck’s mustang struck “Stang” his evasive maneuvers saved Casey Odegaard and he became inverted and then proceeded to crash near the side of the runway. Since 2007 this P-51 has been under restoration and was finally put back on its gear in 2010 and today it is still under restoration to airworthy status. I haven’t heard any information on the other 10.
Pacific Fighters Restoration P-51B “Berlin Express”
This P-51B is under restoration by Pacific Fighters out of Idaho Falls, Idaho by John Muszala and as of early February 2013 it is on its gear and in October of 2013 the Merlin engine has been installed. The restoration continues and as of today, with no publicly announced completion date. Pictures of the restoration work can be seen on the Pacific Fighters Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pacific- ... 6621845601
Brent Hisey’s P-51C 42-103740
This P-51C serial number 42-103740 is being restored in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and is owned by Brent Hisey who is also the owner of the P-51D “Miss America”. The mustang is under restoration by Warbirds Inc. As more information becomes available I will post.
Chris and Pat Harker's F-82E Twin Mustang 46-256
This F-82E was acquired by the late Walter Soplata of Newberry, Ohio in 1956 and sat in storage at his property until it was sold to David Arnold of Jersey, UK in 1997 but before it was shipped to the United Kingdom it was sold to Amjet/Polar Aviation Museum which is located in Anoka County, Minnesota. This twin mustang was sold again and restoration is being done by Chris and Pat Harker, C&P Aviation Services of St. Paul-Anoka County, Minnesota. Currently the F-82 is under restoration to airworthy status as it has been since 2000. So it shouldn’t be too much longer before she is back in the air.
-Thomas Reilly
Last edited by Thomas Reilly on Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:12 pm
Welcome to WIX Tom!
Robbie
Robbie
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:04 pm
Correction Gerry Beck's accident occurred at Oshkosh not at Reno
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:31 pm
Robbie Stuart wrote:Welcome to WIX Tom!
Robbie
Thanks
-Thomas Reilly
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:37 pm
cg51 wrote:Correction Gerry Beck's accident occurred at Oshkosh not at Reno
Thanks for the heads up.
-Thomas Reilly
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:00 pm
Ed Likes wrote: ...Of course if other fellow Wixer's know of some interesting P-51 restorations going on chime in...
I suppose John Morgan's XP-51G project might fit that category.
And then there's this new guy, Thomas Reilly. Perhaps he's familiar with some other projects.
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:22 pm
And then there's this new guy, Thomas Reilly. Perhaps he's familiar with some other projects.[/quote]
Take a look at my blog, its called The Warbird Watcher, I have put together a full list of mustang restorations that are currently taking place around the world.
http://warbirdwatcher.blog.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352
-Thomas Reilly
Take a look at my blog, its called The Warbird Watcher, I have put together a full list of mustang restorations that are currently taking place around the world.
http://warbirdwatcher.blog.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352
-Thomas Reilly
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:54 pm
Welcome to the wix Tom. Tom
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:59 pm
Thomas Reilly wrote:And then there's this new guy, Thomas Reilly. Perhaps he's familiar with some other projects.
Take a look at my blog, its called The Warbird Watcher, I have put together a full list of mustang restorations that are currently taking place around the world.
http://warbirdwatcher.blog.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352
-Thomas Reilly[/quote]
My bad, Tom.
I thought you were this Tom:
http://xp-82twinmustangproject.blogspot ... eilly.html
Nice blog by the way...welcome to WIX...
And Happy New Year!
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:59 pm
There is a P-51K being built/rebuilt that is intended for now to be painted as WWII 7th Air Force pacific Ace Roger Moore's "Stinger 7". Last I heard the fuselage was pretty well done, wings up next.
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:22 pm
Can you tell us where abouts this P-51K is 4R.G.I.'s?
Andy
Andy
Re: Any updates on some interesting P-51 projects
Mon Jan 06, 2014 4:56 pm
I'm sorry, I really don't know much of it other than a few things the owner shared. He seemed reluctant to provide much detail and I respect his privacy. I had hoped to get permission to photograph, document and post here (for those of us that would enjoy seeing) the progress but so far it has been unsuccessful. If I am allowed in the future I'll post anything I can.