Warbird Information Exchange

Not including trainers, limiting to fighters or bombers who has owned/flown his/her warbird the longest. I have some ideas but not sure.
Clay Lacy and his P-51
Bob Hoover and his Mustang
Junior Burchinal (sp?) and his B-17
Lefty Gardner and his P-38
Sue Parrish and her P-40
I know there is a gentleman in Denver, CO who owns Stang Evil and has for many years.
Lyle Shelton and his Bearcat
And wasn't there a gentleman in his 80"s who flew a Mustang in Texas until a few, or several, years ago?
I am intersested in flying warbirds not those in museums. I realize that POF has had many of theirs for several decades, but I am more interested in private individuals. Lefty may not count since he was with the CAF, but I do believe he was sole owner of his Lightning.
Thanks in advance for any input!

Great question Xrayist!!! How does Howard Pardue measure-up in this
equation???

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Getchell has had his Sea Fury for 25 years or so

Dave

The gentlemen in Texas most likely was John McGuire, He still was flying all the way up to the time he past away in 2001 if i'm not mistaken. And Pete Parish from the AirZoo was still flying the FM-2 a few years back at close to 80 also as far as I can remember.

How about Bill Hubbs from Pecos, TX? He owns Sugar Booger, the Cavilier Mustang still in civilian colors.

Gary Austin

We've had our L-5 since 1973... 33 years!

I know, it's a wee bird, but still...

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Although it's not flown, George Maude certainly has been the sole owner of a complete P-40 for some time now.

http://www.p40warhawk.com/P-40sToday/Ch ... /P-40E.htm

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

Whatever the answer is, I think that you would have to go back at least to the early 1960s, if not to the late 1950s.

Ed Maloney (Planes of Fame), for example, has owned his P-47G since 1952. It has been flying since 1963, but not continuously (it was not airworthy following a prang in 1971 until rebuilt in 1985). He has owned the P-51D "Spam Can" since 1957 and it has been continuously airworthy. I think I recall that he owned the F6F, which was written off that year, for about as long. Even the Zero has been with the collection since the 1950s, although only made flyable in 1973.

Similarly, Lloyd Nolen/Confederate AF/Commemorative AF have owned the P-51 Old Red Nose continuously since the late 1950s and I don't think it has ever had an extended period of down time.

Perhaps these examples don't "count" because their ownership passed to organizations and the original individual owner no longer flies them. However, I'm not sure Hoover owned his Mustang (as opposed to North American Rockwell) for many of the years he flew it.

If we're just talking about individuals who flew their a/c for the entire period, Lefty is a possibility. Several current warbird pilots go back at least to the early 70s (Parrish had his Wildcat by 74-75, Frasca has had his P-40E and FM-2 since 75-76, Coutches has had his P-51H since about then, etc., etc.).

I bet there are a few P-51Ds that nobody has seen much that have been lovingly maintained as private airplanes since 1970 or before, besides those already mentioned in this thread.

August

Did he actually fly any of the a/c?
I've never seen a reference to him being a pilot.
It doesn't take anything away, just curious.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Hi all--

The gent in Colorado would be Dr. Michael Bertz, very longterm owner of Mustang "Stang Evil" which used to wear 4FG finish and is now in postwar Colorado ANG markings.

The record for a major Warbird fighter type probably belongs to George (and Dave) Maude in BC with the glorious family Kittyhawk I, RCAF 1034. This however has not been flown, though the registration C-GHTM was reserved for it at one point. George also had two Bolingbrokes which are now in museums, 9892 at CAvM and 9104 at BCAM...

And the fellow with the B-17 is probably not Junior Burchinal, who passed away quite a long while ago, but rather David Tallichet, still very much with us and still campaigning "Memphis Belle" (the '90 film version!) around the circuit. I've seen that Fort twice this year already and apparently Mr Tallichet was present at both events (Friendly Foes and Gennie)...

I'm guessing "Mustang Mike" Coutches in California would be an exceptionally longterm owner of at least one of his infrequently-seen 51s, too. (Anybody know whether or not he really does have parts of one of the Cochran racers stored, or is that an urban Warbird myth?)

Then there's Wilson "Connie" Edwards in Texas, with whole hangars full of marvelous "ladies in waiting"...ex BoB film Hispanos (including the surviving dual control M4L variant), ex Guatemalan AF and RCAF Mustangs, etc...so cool. (Tried to set up a visit there years ago but couldn't reach Mr Edwards while in Big Spring.)

The chap with the Camden museum on Oz has owned some of those airframes for decades too, but I don't think he flies them.

And, well, you just know I'm going to mention dear Walt Soplata in this context too. He's had an FG-1D (ex NARB Akron display airframe) since about 1953, among others...having "got while the getting was good" like Ed Maloney and all too few others...

Neat thread!

Cheers

Steve T

What about the DuPont Wildcat ? Single ownership since 1969

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/f4fregistry/f4f-47030.html

Mr. Foote and his Wildcat?

Tom Wood has owned and flown N6306T since the late 1960s. Not only that but in has had the same paint scheme for 37 years.

Jim

I think Tallichet obtained his Airplane in 1982...Doc Hospers in Ft. Worth got Chuckie in 1979 and has been flying her ever since...

It's the homer in me talking....I think he wins the big bird contest.

I would think Lefty or Nolen with the CAF would be in the running for fighters even though they are defacto CAF airplanes ...

Steve T, I just found this entry on WIX:



It would seem that your statement about Junior may have been premature .