Warbird Information Exchange

A stop by Chino on the way home from the air races yielded a few surprises. At the Planes of Fame, the Buchon has the engine out, but it has been painted in Luftwaffe colors. In the P-38 hangar was parked the Collings Foundation example. The Corsair, Mustangs and T-33 were back from Reno. No sign of Voodoo. In the shop, they were working on a Sea Fury fuselage center section, and were building a vertical fin in a rather elaborate jig. The fully restored vertical fins for the Lewis Air Legends Connie are in a rack for storage. The rest of the airplane is around the corner and not accessible to Museum visitors.

Across the field, I was surprised to see a very complete, but unrestored, late model Spitfire fuselage with Griffon engine. Hoping Peter A will be along soon to tell us which one this is. Next to it was Sea Fury WH599, looking nearly ready to go. If you google Sea Fury WH599, not much comes up, but I evetually found a picture of it at Precision back in 2011. It has advanced alot since then. I should mention that these were in the back of the hangar and not accessible for photos.

Down the ramp in a big hangar all by itself, was the Yak "Full Noise" just returned from Reno.

I resisted temptation to visit Yanks. Time heals all wounds, but not that quickly.

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

Are the fires in the area effecting or threating Chino?

The fires are not threatening the airport, and the great thing is the DC 10 tanker looked really good today.

Believe the Spitfire is Mk XVIII TP276, and I have great hopes to see her progress. She is in excellent hands.

Word from the race fan forum is that both she and Strega need engine work before they can leave Stead, that is if they're to fly out. Stevo and Voodoo weren't at the podium after the Gold final because they couldn't get there - serious engine problems. Stevo coasted to a stop, chocked her with some rocks, then waited for help.

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Great update! Were the Sea Fury and Spitfire in one of the wartime hangars along the north side of the field, or in the new hangar block to the east?

August

This roughly fits here - does PoF outright 'own' their B-50 or is it 'on loan' from the USAFM?

Tom P.

So many words, yet so few pics...

Nice update though.

AFAIK all the "on loan" stuff has been returned.

Was a KC-97 donor aircraft ever obtained for the mused about mating the B-50 fuselage with? Ex Greybull airframe perhaps donating wings, engines, etc. Now that would be a great aircraft so see with 4 x 4360's all full chat!!! Please!

The B-50 is a "Beyond Fantasy" to see restored to flying condition. I don't think there was ever a B-50 flying civilian. A couple of those C-97's were purchased by Clay Lacy ,etal. No clue what their vision was for them. Even seeing the POF B-50 as a static sitting on a donor set of wings, gear, and engines would be a terrific sight. Saw the CAF's B-29 at Oshkosh the year it had a two tone Silver and black fuselage, painted for a movie. A B-50 would look great in that scheme.

Thank you. They are in the eastern-most of the group of four hangars along runway 26, where Aero-Trader is based.


I know. I thought about that reaction before I typed it up, but Mark said things were dull around here.

I am not a photographer or spotter. Just a mechanic and pilot. In fact, a typical road trip for me includes a point about 50 miles from home where I suddenly realize, sugar, i forgot my camera! But in the case of the Spitfire and WH599, not even the great Neal Nurmi could have got a decent picture of them. They were at the back of a long hangar.

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

The one sitting at WJF is probably going to be scrapped in place & it's less than 100 miles from Chino.

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

Not trying to stir any controversy here, but I would swear I saw Voodoo taxi right past the Reno podium and on to her pit. Have to admit, sitting there watching from the box seats, we kinda saw it as sour grapes. Never met Steve-O, but I would assume he had good reason not to stop.

You should go watch the video. Memories are often foggy. My memory is walking down to the pits at the same time Voodoo was being towed from the far end of the runway back to the pits.

Edit: tried to find the posted video but can't. Somebody must have it?

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

This one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXnNS20 ... e=youtu.be

More discussion here
http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/showthre ... the-podium