Warbird Information Exchange

I am happy to claim title of youngest wixer at the age of 15!
Unfornatly there is not much activity or interest in my area. Just my Aerospace teacher, SAI (senior army instructer) and my girlfriend (sortof, she will go to the airshows with me).

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The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Gus Grissom

Well said, systemofadown!

You know what is really funny, I am 35 and love System of a Down and most people dont know who they are here!

Anyways, I feel that as long as guys like myself and the WIXers here, continue to meet here, educate and get educated and get others interested, warbirds will NOT be a thing of the past.

Be a mentor to some kids, get your kids interested, get a family member interested, hang a picture in your office, or locker or whatever!

You should see the people stopping by my office at work, when they see the pictures on my wall of P-51's and BT-13's and such. They say, HEY I LOVE P-51's or wow, those are cool pictures, you dig warbirds too?

I have had 10 people stop by my office and I only started there last Monday!

I would have to say that there are probably more people out there interested in these old girls then you think. You just have to poke around a bit and get more active in it. I think warbird nuts are born with it, but it is not hard to convert those who show intrest. I have been around them all my life. When I was born, I was born with a passion for them thar flyin machines!

I am 31, and have been involved with warbirds all my life. None of my friends could understand my love affair with aircraft, and they all thought I was nuts for going to the airport and soloing on my 16 birthday instead of going and getting my drivers license. After that I crewed on Collins A-26 for a summer, then did a couple of shows with All American and also with Diamond Lil. Now I fly as Crew Chief on a Grumman Tracker and a Lockheed Lodestar. I guess my love affair come from my father who has a grass strip beside the house, and I'm sure it didn't help that a family friend would bring his P-47 down across the strip (which made me truly fall in love with round engines). I even have my daughter, who is six, infected with the "bug". She can't wait till the weekend to go out to the airport and help work on the aircraft. Hopefully she will keep the bug and pass it on to her friends.

Steve S:
How far out of DC are you going to be? We are in the Hampton Roads area and are always looking for more members.

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Col Craig Duck
Life Member CAF
Life Member YAF
Life Member EAA

Not to step on my buddy DaffyCraig's toes, but if Hampton Roads is too far, you can always hang out with National Capitol Squadron! Culpeper VA.

www.nationalcapitolsquadron.com

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Regards,

Jase
www.b26marauder.com
"I'm having a BLAST!!" 2007 CAF Wing Staff Conference

RIP Gary Austin..always in our hearts

Hey Jase,

How about telling those guys to update the pics of the BT-13 on your site.

LOVE the new Shaw Colors!!!!

Hello,

I am 31 years old and very passionate about WW II Warbirds and WW II Japanese Naval Aviation. I have been interested in WW II warbirds since my high school days (CAF Member, etc.).

I would say the majority of the WW II/warbird fans (that I met) are 50+ years old. I only know a handful of people who are interested in aviation that are under 40 years old.

In order to Keep Em' Flying in the future - this is a real concern. Without "young blood" a lot of warbirds may be just static displays, I think.

Just my frank thoughts,

Ron

Wellup, the front page *does* have a pic of the BT in her new clothes. I'll talk to the RedHead, she does the website and newsletter.

Thanks for the good words.

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Regards,

Jase
www.b26marauder.com
"I'm having a BLAST!!" 2007 CAF Wing Staff Conference

RIP Gary Austin..always in our hearts

Recently I spent some time with the Pierce Arrow antique car guys and they felt that there was a substantial degradation in the demand and therefore the value of their vehicles. Mostly from the mid teens to the mid thirties in vintage.
I do not think this will happen to our Warbirds. WW2 was the biggest defining event of the past 100 years. Literally a battle for all of our lives. It's odd to say but it is a popular war, especially compared to Viet Nam etc. Add to this the fact that the WW2 warbirds are very exciting to fly and to just watch. I feel that the same fate that is affecting the early cars will not hurt the popular aircraft from the 40's.
As far as owning these aircraft remember this is the United States of America anybody can work hard and obtain seemingly impossible goals. I started saving for a Mustang when I was 12. In college my goal was to purchase one by age 47. Starting out of college with a net worth of -14,000. With total dedication to a goal, working 6 to 7 days a week sometimes 6 am to 11PM I bought one at age 28. It still can be done and I try to encourage everyone that shows an interest. Ever notice the race car guy who has a 100,000 plus car and you know he only makes 35,000 year. How does he do it? Total dedication to his goal. We need to keep the interest up and encourage those who love these things as much as we do that even at a half million plus, you can do it.

My son is 9 and he is already a die hard Warbird nut with very little encouragement from me, although there is total immersion from birth. His favorite books are from WW2 and his favorite aircraft is the P-51 of course. He doesn't understand inheritance yet but I am sure he will be a good caretaker of it after I am gone.

I do get quite a few interested young people who visit the hanger. Currently we have one 10 year old who volunteers 2 days a week.
There will never be a lot of us at any one location without an airshow. At my high school there was only one other Warbird guy out of 800 and he didn't live through high school, yet there seem to be more people in to this movement then during my high school days in the late 70's. So in summary I think the warbird movement (WW2) is strong and getting stronger despite the fact of the way it seems by observing the people in their twenties.

well darn, I never expected so many replies.... I appreciate all of it.
I stand corrected, I had no idea so many people had interests in warbirds.

Anyone know of any place in Northern Illinois that needs a volunteer?

Jase,
Don't worry about my toes, I have webbed feet remember. Plus I know the "Tracker" is sexier than the "*ibrator" anyway. LOL

Oshosh84,
Check out the CAF's website, http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/units.html, there is the Great Lakes wing that meets in Gary, IN or the Wisconsin Wing that meets in the Milwaukee area. Other than that, you have the EAA's Museum in Oshkosh or several museums in N. Indiana you could help out at. It all depends on how far you want to travel.

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Col Craig Duck
Life Member CAF
Life Member YAF
Life Member EAA

A good thread, with lots to think about. Thanks to all!



Don't forget that Scott can always profit from having a few more volunteers 'online'. While we need people getting their hands greasy, there's a load of IT and online work to be done too. Why not ask?

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Raven

Oshosh84,
Check out the CAF's website, http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/units.html, there is the Great Lakes wing that meets in Gary, IN or the Wisconsin Wing that meets in the Milwaukee area. Other than that, you have the EAA's Museum in Oshkosh or several museums in N. Indiana you could help out at. It all depends on how far you want to travel.

Since "Northern Illinois" is a little vague, this might not help much, but I believe a division of the Yankee Air Force still operates at the airport in Janesville, WI. Last I knew they were working on a long-term AT-11 project.

I won't speak for any of the bunch in Marengo, but I can't imagine that they couldn't use at least one more guy to hold a bucking bar on their project(s).

As long as you're willing to start at or near the bottom of the totem pole, I think you'll find some folks to connect with.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Does anyone know if the group restoring Desert Rat in Marengo needs any unskilled volunteers?

M51, thanks for the reinforcement. I would bet there are a few posters here that will turn it into reality. When the time comes for me to take a turn fullfilling the goal of Corsair caretaking, I would thoroughly enjoy just showing up at local (smaller scale) fly-ins unannounced and share with crazies like me. That would be rewarding.

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Life's a Pitts

Hey finally someone that knows what my profile name means!
Thats my dream to be pulling combat manuvers in a F4U, -51 or a P-40 with Black Sabbath, Disturbed or maybe AC/DC or Lamb of God playing in the cockpit!

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The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Gus Grissom