F9F Panthers for Sale

[Warbird Kid]

Looking casually at Platinum's and Courtesy's websites, it dawned on me what an amazing opportunity is just sitting, waiting to be picked up by the right guy. Right now, for about $200k, someone could be the proud owner of not one, but THREE F9F Panthers that could be brought back to airworthy condition.

GRUMMAN F9F-2 PANTHER N91867
http://courtesyaircraft.com/aircraft/n91867-grumman-f9f-2-panther-project/

GRUMMAN F9F-4 and F9F-5 PANTHER
https://www.platinumfighters.com/f9f

What an amazing sight to see if the same group decided to restore and fly three Panthers together! Of course if you wanted to further the Korean War aspect, you could have a pair of F-84s. Or if wanted to go a little more modern, you could also have a three-ship formation of F8U Crusaders. OR even a Harrier three-ship! But that might cost a little more...

Last edited by Warbird Kid on Fri Oct 08, 2021 9:03 am, edited 2 times in total.

[sandiego89]

If I had only bought that $699M lottery ticket...

Would love to see more early jets fly. Great history on that first Panther- right out out of Bridges of Toko-Ri!

[Lynn Allen]

If I had only bought that $699M lottery ticket...

Would love to see more early jets fly. Great history on that first Panther- right out out of Bridges of Toko-Ri!

It was sold in Cally so maybe BDK will chime in after he swings by the bank...

[kalamazookid]

I am in no way qualified to assess the viability of returning any of these to the air, but I thought it would be appealing for an owner to purchase multiple projects with the idea of combining the best parts into one airworthy example and then selling what's left as a static project. There may be enough there for more than one airworthy plane however.

I would love to see a flying Panther again. Art Wolk's was a fixture at the Kalamazoo airshows when I was a kid. I don't recall it being very maneuverable, but that was a long time ago. Anyone know where that F9F is these days? Last I heard, it was sold to a museum in New Hampshire, but I can no longer find any information about the museum and it doesn't appear to exist anymore. That one was a much less viable candidate for an airworthy restoration than any of these and probably would have been best used as a parts source or in a diorama.

[bdk]

If I had only bought that $699M lottery ticket...

It was sold in Cally so maybe BDK will chime in after he swings by the bank...

Not sure how to handle all my new-found friends!

[Lynn Allen]

If I had only bought that $699M lottery ticket...

It was sold in Cally so maybe BDK will chime in after he swings by the bank...

Not sure how to handle all my new-found friends!

A lot of pizza...

[eze240]

Did anybody notice the 3 Harriers for sale on Courtesy as well? Apparently they're practically turnkey...
So... 3 Panthers....or 3 Crusaders...or 3 Harriers.... I need to win the lotto!....lol!...

[Chris Brame]

I noticed this ex-Aussie C-130A at Platinum Fighters... maybe we could see a vintage Herc on the Warbird circuit soon? Ex-57-505/A97-212 per Baugher:
https://www.platinumfighters.com/invent ... rcules%22-

[Archer]

I would love to see a flying Panther again. Art Wolk's was a fixture at the Kalamazoo airshows when I was a kid. I don't recall it being very maneuverable, but that was a long time ago. Anyone know where that F9F is these days?

I guess it is this one: http://www.warbirdregistry.org/jetregis ... 23072.html but the information on that page may not be fully up to date of course...

[Warbird Kid]

I would love to see a flying Panther again. Art Wolk's was a fixture at the Kalamazoo airshows when I was a kid. I don't recall it being very maneuverable, but that was a long time ago. Anyone know where that F9F is these days?

I guess it is this one: http://www.warbirdregistry.org/jetregis ... 23072.html but the information on that page may not be fully up to date of course...

Kalamazoo Air Zoo Hamilton (YHM / CYHM), Canada - Ontario George Trussell - 18/06/1988


Quonset Air Museum NAS Quonset Point (OQU / KOQU), USA - Rhode Island John Bennett - 15/09/2007

[hurricane_yank]

That before/after shot is painful to look at...what 20 years will do.

[kalamazookid]

I did some digging on the Art Wolk Panther and found it mentioned in several places. Some info:

https://johnstonsunrise.net/stories/ted ... -pilot,366

There is a photo from an airshow at Quonset Point in 2017 in this write-up:

https://photorecon.net/quonset-point-ri ... -lot-more/

Another recent mention that likely refers to this Panther:

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/ ... -wednesday

A summary for those who don't feel like clicking on a bunch of links:

After the aircraft crashed in Kalamazoo, it was sold at auction by the Air Zoo in 2005 - this was the last I had seen or heard of the aircraft. At that point, it looked as it appeared in photo from 2007 in this thread.

It was bought by the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, but plans for that museum never came to fruition. After that, it was then part of the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame/USS John F. Kennedy project. The JFK project obviously never came to fruition since it was scrapped. The above article says the Panther was destined for the New England branch of a Ted Williams Museum. The only other mention I can find online of this effort is here:

https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-12248028

Google Earth doesn't show anything resembling a Panther in the area of the stadium.

The Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame is trying to establish a permanent museum at Quonset Point: https://riahof.org/news/quonset-land-ba ... o-covid-19

I'm assuming the aircraft is probably in storage at or around Quonset Point and still under the care of the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame, but who knows? At any rate, it doesn't appear likely to fly.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming on the Panthers for sale. Let's hope they can find a good home.