Another long-gone high school warbird

[Chris Brame]

From the 1946 Canadian, Texas High School Beargrass yearbook. They got an FM-2 to play with:



Their sports teams were called the Wildcats, so it was fitting. I've been going through the rest of the yearbooks and have found no other images or mention of it; an aerial photo of the school from the 1951 yearbook doesn't seem to show it so it must have been very short-lived, or it might have been somewhere else in the town. Anyone know more?

[C VEICH]

Although I cannot help with info on the FM-2 I thought this might be a good place to post of another high school warbird. I attended Agua Fria Union High School in Avondale, Arizona and during my time there (1986-1990), and for some years after, the school's ROTC compound was home to a Lockheed T-33 which had supposedly been donated by the USAF and had come from Williams AFB. I'm not sure when it disappeared but I suspect it must have been in the early 2000's. While I was there the aircraft seemed to be in reasonable condition externally. I don't recall ever looking in the cockpit to see if it was complete or not. I know there was no engine installed but I was told that it was kept somewhere on campus. Anyway, just wondering if anyone is familiar with the old T-bird and knows where it may have gotten off to?

[Chris Brame]

I attended Agua Fria Union High School in Avondale, Arizona and during my time there (1986-1990), and for some years after, the school's ROTC compound was home to a Lockheed T-33 which had supposedly been donated by the USAF and had come from Williams AFB.

Looks like this one?

T-33A-1-LO s/n 51-8708
*2/1970: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Transferred to the US Navy as QT-33A b/n 156039.
*9/1978: Assigned as a ground trainer to 61st AFROTC in Avondale, AZ.

Edit: Maybe not. Just spotted some images in the '85-'86 yearbook that show a partial tail number "0-49". Also spotted your freshman year photo in the '86-'87 yearbook but I won't embarrass you...



'87-88 yearbook:

[C VEICH]

I attended Agua Fria Union High School in Avondale, Arizona and during my time there (1986-1990), and for some years after, the school's ROTC compound was home to a Lockheed T-33 which had supposedly been donated by the USAF and had come from Williams AFB.

Looks like this one?

T-33A-1-LO s/n 51-8708
*2/1970: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard.
*Transferred to the US Navy as QT-33A b/n 156039.
*9/1978: Assigned as a ground trainer to 61st AFROTC in Avondale, AZ.

Edit: Maybe not. Just spotted some images in the '85-'86 yearbook that show a partial tail number "0-49". Also spotted your freshman year photo in the '86-'87 yearbook but I won't embarrass you...



'87-88 yearbook:

Was searching for more info and came across this thread. Sorry I missed your reply way back in September Chris. And thanks for not embarrassing me! If you think my freshman photo was bad you should have seen my junior or senior year pics! At any rate I've still not been able to pin down where the T-bird ended up but I did find reference to it being auctioned off by the high school. Be nice to think it went to a good home.

[Pooner]

The Arizona T-33 survived and I last saw it headed down south under the care Bill Muszala of ATW Aviation in Marana.

The school district had sold or donated the airplane pending some renovation work of the campus and area where the ROTC program had been located. The team that originally acquired the T-33 from the school had limited skills and attempted but could not successfully demate the wing section from the fuselage. The had trouble as well trying to remove the tail section from fuselage and ultimately used a hot saw to cut this section off in crude fashion. They'd left it in something of a sad mess but still sitting on its gear.

IIRC they got behind on the time permitted to remove the airplane. The school district then planned to scrap it on site so as not to stall the renovation project. At the stroke of the 11th hour it was donated to the Wingspan Air Heritage group out of Mesa, AZ, and a team went in and parted fuselage from wing and it was trucked out to Falcon Field (KFFZ) across town.

Wingspan had first stored the project outdoors at the airport but quickly got nasty comments from airport administration that this sort of thing was not permissible. The current administration there discourages project airplanes, particularly large ones. The T-33 in two trailer loads was stored at the airport in a variety of spots for the next several years intended as a cockpit restoration and eventual re-assembly. The group lacked a permanent hangar to put it in and the project was shelved. Part of the issue was the size and weight of both components and they took up a considerable amount of room. Group had made queries about a replacement tail section but don't recall that they procured one.

The group's director made an arrangement with Muszala for this airplane and two Cletrac airfield tractor projects and they were moved off of the field sometime last year. I don't know any more about the current status of the airplane or future plans for it.

- Robert in PHX

PS - I'd been told that the T-33 had been hauled intact and on its gear to the school four or five decades previously from the Navy storage yard at Litchfield-Goodyear. The data card information is of interest and it doesn't seem to support this statement from those in the area who remembered it given the years posted. Another mystery.

[Chris Brame]

Robert, is there any confirmed serial on this one?
If the owner is still looking, Forgotten Field has a complete aft fuselage still listed on his site.

[C VEICH]

Thanks for the fantastic update Pooner, much appreciated. Good to hear that the T-Bird may yet still have a bright future.

[marine air]

I'm pretty sure that FM-2 is still around. I remember talking to William R. "Bill" Ross about the P-40E he bought immediately postwar and used for commuting between Yale University and his parents home in Chicago. The fighters were extremely popular back then. His P-40E is now on display at the Smithsonian.
No doubt when a photo is located of that aircraft and the serial number can be read on the vertical fin, the mystery will be solved. It either ended up as a cloud seeder, or with Mr DuPont, Champlin,Younkin,Maloney the CAF, or?

[Chris Brame]

Maybe - it's hard to tell, since most of the known histories of the surviving FM-2s don't go back that far, either from the Registry here or on Geoff Goodall's site.

[JFS61]

Shame this thread did come up earlier, as a former boss of mine was from Canadian, and would have been old enough to have remembered this. Unfortunately, she passed away last year, so it's too late to ask her anymore.

Will be curious to see just where it ended up.

[Chris Brame]

Yet another, maybe - From the 1948 Grant Union HS (Sacramento, CA) yearbook:

No further info on this scruffy P-38 - anyone know more?

[Left Seat]

Not to hijack the thread...

But, does any one know when they scrapped the jet (F-86D?) in the Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz?

I spent a lot of time crawling in and around it as a kid in the early '60s.

I still remember the feel of flush rivets.

[jdvoss]

Attached is a photo of a very rare warbird.... the Martin A-30 Baltimore. This particular aircraft was the only one of its type that displayed the U.S. insignia and was given a USN serial (Bu 09804) but it carried the USAAF designation of A-30. Strange indeed. Apparently it was retained by Martin for a specific testing purposes as the rear turret was faired over and some odd equipment externally installed. I noted in Bill Ginter's book on the P4M Mercator that this very aircraft can be seen in the distant background with the apparent updated insignia (red line in the roundel bars...i.e. 1948). Some years ago I sent a letter to the Martin Aircraft museum inquiring about its usage and ultimate disposition. They responded that the aircraft was retained until 1949 and "THEN IT WAS DONATED TO A SCHOOL". That is the only information they could offer. It's probably gone by now but perhaps if any WIX'ers live in the Baltimore area a search of local period newspapers may provide more information.

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

[Chris Brame]

One from a park rather than a school, but still long-gone:


(Credit: Leon Cleaver)

This F9F-8P Cougar was in Packard Park in Warren, Ohio, then shorn of its wings and sent to a local scrapyard, where this photo was taken in July of 1974.

The little rugrats left their marks on it, but other than the ghost of the star-and-bar I couldn't discern any other markings. Anyone out there have an ID?

[Nathan]

One from a park rather than a school, but still long-gone:


(Credit: Leon Cleaver)

This F9F-8P Cougar was in Packard Park in Warren, Ohio, then shorn of its wings and sent to a local scrapyard, where this photo was taken in July of 1974.

The little rugrats left their marks on it, but other than the ghost of the star-and-bar I couldn't discern any other markings. Anyone out there have an ID?

Too bad Leon didn't know about this one-or maybe he did. Are you sure it got scrapped? Mike Kellner's F9F-8P is in Navy blue just like this. couldn't have been many -8P's painted blue.