Anyone know what F9F this is??

[Warbirdnerd]

Lifted from Facebook. Picture taken in Quartzite, AZ...

[mike furline]

Found this,

F9F-2 123517
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*1952: VF-821 as "A-213".
*Currently displayed at the Wasp Museum, Quartzite, AZ.
Photo of F9F-2 123517



F9F-5P 125316
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*VU-5.
*Was displayed at the Wasp Aviation Museum in Quartzite, AZ.
*Currently displayed at the USS Hornet Museum, painted as “123517”.
Photo of F9F-5P 125316

[Matt Gunsch]

http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Nort ... Museum.htm

[Warbirdnerd]

So it is this one:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/jetregis ... 23517.html
No longer on the Hornet I guess:
http://www.uss-hornet.org/exhibits/aircraft/jet/
Seems like an odd item for a W.A.S.P museum...

[airnutz]

Bryan, how old is that facebook pic.?

[Warbirdnerd]

The poster claims it was taken yesterday. It is in this group:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/gro ... 605388179/

[airnutz]

The old guy attached to this aircraft used have a website for the W.A.S.P. Museum, but I couldn't find it after a quick search. I have some notes from back in 2003 or 2004 when I visited his stuff. Back then the F9F was still with the Hornet folks(IIRC) and he was sueing to get it back. IIRC, first the Navy tried to seize it, then he loaned to the Hornet and then couldn't get it back, etc... It was a bit of a Lex Cralley saga with what the OG had to go thru wihen the Navy had it's issues with grab-itis. Across I-10 from where that map shows as the locatiuon of the WASP Museum he had a bunch of junque de aviacion...Beech SNB's, HUP helicopter airframes and bits, a gutshot Allison that looked like they dragged
it out of the desert somewhere, some kinda drone on a it's own trailer which was slightly bent from it's last flight from a high wind which lifted it off...like a Ryan or Northrop design. On the map in your link on the south side of I-10 you'll see the Desert Gardens RV Park and part of that area is where this stuff resided on the property of an old airstrip with a old restaurant (Desert Gardens something or other) and there was still a little corrogated tin cover for a Piper TriPacer residing there with deflated tires. There is a Desert Gardens used car lot(which the OG owned), which had the drone there on display for awhile. When Mike Henninger toured this area a few years back I tried to give him as much info as I could , but I don't remember if he ever had any luck with finding the museum open or if he visited the car lot to talk to the old guy.


EDIT

[JohnB]

I recall seeing the SNB while passing through on I-10. I must have missed the HUP...that I would have stopped for.

[Fearless Tower]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the one I used to play on as a kid at Pioneer Park in Mesa, AZ.

[Fearless Tower]

The old guy attached to this aircraft used have a website for the W.A.S.P. Museum, but I couldn't find it after a quick search. I have some notes from back in 2003 or 2004 when I visited his stuff. Back then the F9F was still with the Hornet folks(IIRC) and he was sueing to get it back. IIRC, first the Navy tried to seize it, then he loaned to the Hornet and then couldn't get it back, etc... It was a bit of a Lex Cralley saga with what the OG had to go thru wihen the Navy had it's issues with grab-itis. Across I-10 from where that map shows as the locatiuon of the WASP Museum he had a bunch of junque de aviacion...Beech SNB's, HUP helicopter airframes and bits, a gutshot Allison that looked like they dragged
it out of the desert somewhere, some kinda drone on a it's own trailer which was slightly bent from it's last flight from a high wind which lifted it off...like a Ryan or Northrop design. On the map in your link on the south side of I-10 you'll see the Desert Gardens RV Park and part of that area is where this stuff resided on the property of an old airstrip with a old restaurant (Desert Gardens something or other) and there was still a little corrogated tin cover for a Piper TriPacer residing there with deflated tires. There is a Desert Gardens used car lot(which the OG owned), which had the drone there on display for awhile. When Mike Henninger toured this area a few years back I tried to give him as much info as I could , but I don't remember if he ever had any luck with finding the museum open or if he visited the car lot to talk to the old guy.


EDIT

So, if I got this right, the airplane went from Pioneer Park to the Hornet and now it is back in AZ?

[ALOHADAVE]

Yes, it is the one from the Mesa AZ park. I believe the cockpit is filled with concrete.
Basicly, the City of Mesa sold it to private party without Navy permission. The Navy tried to reclaim it in a legal battle but lost.

Quartzite Panther is F9F-2, BuNo 123517
I have many more pictures of it, if interested, PM me.

Mr. Oldham is now the owner, his old web page was.
http://www.waspmuseum.com/faq.htm
http://www.waspmuseum.com/

He still has a number of other aircraft in his collection

Contact Information
The W.A.S.P. Museum
Post Office Box 6
Quartzsite, Arizona 85346