Lewis Mosquito

[Warbirdnerd]

Keep in mind he is restoring a Connie.

[Tim Savage]

The divorce was a couple years ago.

The Connie project was put on hold a few months ago, I don't know if it has restarted.

I don't know what his motivation is, but he has been collecting warbirds for a little over 15 years. That is a pretty good run for a large private collector. Maybe his interests are just shifting.

[Mike]

The divorce is old news and happened several years ago now.

[ErrolC]

Mosquito arrived in Sacramento on Sunday after overnighting in Chino.

Photo of landing at Chino

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrism111/49985051372

[marine air]

I saw that Mosquito and the twin Mustang At Oshkosh last year. To me, both represented the restoration artists idea of perfection. I simply couldn’t decide which one is “ best.” If given the opportunity, drop everything and go see this Mosquito. It is breathtaking.

[marine air]

I saw that Mosquito and the twin Mustang At Oshkosh last year. To me, both represented the restoration artists idea of perfection. I simply couldn’t decide which one is “ best.” If given the opportunity, drop everything and go see this Mosquito. It is breathtaking.

[Firebird]

The name of the new owner is Charles Somers, based out of Sacramento, who also has been the long-time owner of the Midwest Aero-restored P-51D "Daddy's Girl". He also recently acquired the ex-Olympic Flight Museum FG-1D Corsair and the ex-Tony Banta Spitfire Mk.XVI TB252 currently nearing completion at Avspecs. As Tim mentioned, in addition to the Mosquito the Rod Lewis (Avspecs-restored) P-40C and P-51D "Live Bait" (another Midwest Aero restoration) has also been acquired by Mr. Somers.

Wow.......

That's quite some warbird buying spree Mr. Somers has been on!

Really surprised Rod Lewis has sold on the Mossie so quickly since its restoration.
I suppose though, its going home in many ways, given the amount of time the remains of it had spent lying in storage in California.

[Warbird Kid]

Very interesting developments. Hope Mr. Somers decides to open up a museum to the public to show aircraft, not to mention fly them regularly at shows and whatnot.

[DH82EH]

I saw that Mosquito and the twin Mustang At Oshkosh last year. To me, both represented the restoration artists idea of perfection. I simply couldn’t decide which one is “ best.” If given the opportunity, drop everything and go see this Mosquito. It is breathtaking.

I also saw them both at Oshkosh.
Totally agree.
Both of these amazing machines are breathtaking.

I wonder when the XP-82 will appear again in public?

Andy

[JohnTerrell]

Hope Mr. Somers decides to open up a museum to the public to show aircraft...

I recall similar statements/wishes being expressed about Rod Lewis and his collection 10-15 years ago as well.

Here is another peek at Charles Somers' growing collection of warbirds at Sacramento, some of the finest warbird restorations: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/s ... F-Warbirds

P-51D "Daddy's Girl" 44-63807 (N20MS) Restored by Midwest Aero Restorations
P-51D "Live Bait" 44-73343 (N551JV) Restored by Midwest Aero Restorations
FG-1D Buno.92436 (N72NW) Restored by Airpower Unlimited
P-40C c/n 14777 (N295RL) Restored by Avspecs
Spitfire Mk.XVI TB252 (N752TB) Under Restoration by Avspecs
DH Mosquito PZ474 (N474PZ) Restored by Avspecs
And a very nice Grumman Mallard too (N2945)

[aerovin]

So I am guessing this growing Somers collection is hangared at McClellan Field at Sacramento? I live in the area and it is a bit obscure...I have not seen any mention of where the collection is based.

[JohnTerrell]

Yes, at McClellan.

[bdk]

The last flight of a Mosquito in California was this very aircraft when it landed at Whiteman Airpark and went derelict. Ed Maloney owned this aircraft for a while but sold it because he couldn’t move it without it falling apart.

Mosquito arrived in Sacramento on Sunday after overnighting in Chino.

Photo of landing at Chino

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrism111/49985051372

[EW439]

Thats a pretty cool fact BDK. Any idea what year that would have been?

[Firebird]

Thats a pretty cool fact BDK. Any idea what year that would have been?

Its not entirely clear when it made its last flight there. It arrived from NZ after a long ferry flight in 1955, and registered as N9909F, and was supposedly used by the CIA in South America on intelligence gathering flights. Photos of it exist still all complete and looking OK, parked up at Whiteman in the early 1960's, but by the end of the '60's it had fallen into a derelict condition and it was cancelled from the civil register in December 1970.