Confederate Air Force Panorama ...

[Mark Allen M]

There sure looks to be another A-20 between the A-20 in the foreground and the B-24 further on in the two views below.





And in this view below I believe I see an F8F and an F6F at the far end? Maybe an F4F is second from last in line?

[Matt Gunsch]

I don't see it, but the only other A-20 that attended any shows is the one now owned by Rod Lewis, it was owned by a company in Nevada, then Lone Star flight Museum. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a20regis ... 21709.html

[JohnH]

Thanks very much this is solved . Yes that is the Farah A20, so yes there were two there. His had the flag on the tail and the CAF’s had a letter. Awesome ! Yes that’s the now Rod Lewis A20 when owned by William Farah. He sold it to Lone Star in the early 90’s and they did not repaint it .

[Lon Moer]

Anyone know registration of the OnMark model Invader that was there?

ScreenShot_20220309100551.jpeg

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26regis ... 35643.html

Ah, a Rock Island Monarch 26.
Thanks.

[steve dickey]

And in this view below I believe I see an F8F and an F6F at the far end? Maybe an F4F is second from last in line?

[/quote]

Beyond the Planes of Fame P-47G is the CAF Dauntless and the late great Howard Pardue's XF8F Bearcat, beyond the two Avengers I can't make out myself.

[C VEICH]

Watch the video of the event in the link posted by JohnH and many of your questions will be answered concerning what aircraft were in attendance.

[C VEICH]

I was looking around for more info and came across this print commemorating the event. The description lists all of the aviators who signed the print and I found the description of one such aviator to be quite interesting.

https://aviationautographs.com/products ... agles-1986

[Randy Wilson]

The TBM with the yellow tip on the tail and "SL" is most likely CAF Col John Kelley's TBM-3E. John was very involved with the CAF and the Dallas/Ft. Worth Wing and was Wing Leader of that unit about that time. He later sold the TBM and sponsored the A6M2 Zero that the CAF acquired in the mid-late 1980s. Most of you know which Zero I'm talking about, 'nuf said. And, yes, I was its pilot after John. I did not attend the Gathering of Eagles as I was still only a lowly SNJ pilot with an SNJ-6, plus a few other pre-WWII fighter types to my credit.

In 1986 the CAF FM-2 Wildcat was still painted in pre-WWII colors and is seen in a photo in the video noted. I became a sponsor in 1989 and later had it repainted, with permission, into Butch O'Hare's F4F paint scheme, to tell a better story, which to me at least is how we need to teach history then and today. I can also say that the light grey fuselage or the earlier schem was lots of fun to clean behind the exhaust stacks of the Wright R-1820. That Wildcat was probably my favorite WW2 aircraft that I flew a good deal. My 2 cents.

Here is a link to John's TBM history, if interested:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/avengerregistry/avenger-85886.html

Randy

[JohnH]

The CAF Hellcat was there , flown by Dick Baird and got to see it the next week at Brown Field.

[Ryan Harris]

I have a old Jeff Ethell book that has a photo of Yeager flying the CAF P-39 during this event.

[Mark Allen M]

Story of the Confederate Air Force titled 'The Ghost Squadron" narrated by Lowell Thomas and appearance by Tennessee Ernie Ford made in 1982.

Forever! The Confederate Air Force!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD-lx95yewY

[Michel Lemieux]

Forever! The Confederate Air Force!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD-lx95yewY

Nice......It jives with the era of books I had on warbirds!

The flight of P-47's....when most of then freshly arrived from South America.

That does bring me back quite a few years.....Thank you for sharing as always!

[Marauderman26]

If you click on the link and then maximize the photo, you then can zoom in real close. There's just one plane I can't make out. It's in front of the A-20 and behind the B-24 on the right side of the photo. You can make out the wing and a flap down. B-26 perhaps?

I would concur, gotta be the Marauder. The shape of the flap, the dihedral stab, and the large intake on top of the cowl all indicate B-26 to my eye.

Douglas A-20 Havoc N67921, lost Oct 8, 1988. "Carolyn" was not flying when this picture was taken.