Warbird Information Exchange

Hi, my father was Don Davis of Casper WY, who ran the Tired Iron racing team in the late 70’s and early 80’s. He had a couple P-51’s, a Corsair, a T-6 Texan, and a B-25 (44-30832). I am currently building a 2.05 meter RC replica of the B-25, and looking for any photos of it from that time. I sadly don’t have any photos of my own, although I spent much of my childhood in the bombardier’s seat of that plane, going from airshow to airshow, and aiming the Norden bombsight at various farmhouses along the way. If anybody has any photos, or just knew my father, I would be thankful to hear from you.

Some pieces of information in case it jogs anyone’s memory (or generates relevant search hits):
P-51D Mustang “Flying Undertaker”, 45-11381
P-51D Mustang “Habu”, 44-73196
FG-1 Corsair “Warthog”, Bu. 67089
T-6 Texan “Wildcatter”, 42-86286
B-25 Mitchell “Bronco Bustin’ Bomber”, 44-30832

Team pilots (that I can remember)
Don Davis
Mike Wright (and his two brothers...Dick and Don?)
Earl Ketchum (killed in crash of “Habu”)
Dick Schwartz (also crew chief)
(Hope I didn’t miss anyone...the names are from memory)

Thanks,
-Mark Davis

There's many photos floating out there in WWW space. here's a photo posted here on WIX by August Horvath in this thread.
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... p?p=377132


B-25 44-30832 (c 1992) when “Bronco Bustin’ Bomber”


B-25 44-30832 when "Buck U"

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45+47=Psalm 92:6

Welcome Mark...

You forgot to include the A-26 "Puss N Boots". We would see them at airshows all over the northwest in the 80's. We Had a SNJ, TBM and a N3N. I flew formation several times on the B-25. Also flew in the B-25 and A-26 several times dropping flour bombs. Mike let me fly right seat in the 25 a couple of times. Hung out with them at Reno a few times also and turned a few wrenches. A great group and a hell of a lot of fun. Don

Was this the same Tired Iron group that was in S. Kansas City in late 80's? By the way, welcome to WIX.

Hi Mark!

I saw Bronco Bustin' Bomber sometime in the '90s out at the Casper Airport. I vaguely remember seeing some of the other planes too.

Are there still aircraft out at Natrona County Airport? I'm a native Casperite, and although I live in New Mexico now - I go to Casper every year.

Would sure love to go have a look-see.

Welcome to the WIX Mark

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

1. Somebody sent me PM to which I would like to reply, but the system won’t let me use PM function because I am a new user. Anyway, to answer the question posed there, I have some Tired Iron stickers (which I would be glad to send), but not any cloth patch. I checked with my mother also – same thing. The only place I can think of to check is the hangar described below.

2. I don’t know if there are any warbirds in Casper anymore. Certainly all my father’s planes were sold off a long time ago. I asked my mother yesterday, and she said there was at least a small display of memorabilia from those days at another hangar, which she described as “Jim Good’s hangar.” They had some flight suits, photos, and perhaps a patch could be procured there. Well, Tired Iron was in Hangar 5 at Casper airport, so it would have been south of there. I thought I remembered some warbird activity at Hangar 2, but I’m not sure.

3. Yes, I remember that A-26, but it did not belong to my father. But the whole group did travel together a lot. I remember it being serviced in the same hangar at times. I’m not sure who owned it. They all had colorful names, didn't they.

4. Also there is another thread on this board with other photos that I just noticed:
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.o ... hp?p=82105

Anyway, thanks for your comments and information. I am surprised to find people still out there who know anything about those days!

I talked to Jim good at Reno. He still has wildcatter and is still in Casper.

Bob burns

Tow-3 retired
Race 66 crew

Hello Mark,

I used to fly your dad around in his Cheyenne 1 that he owned in partnership with Senator Tom Strook. I was based at Hangar 5, Casper, WY while working for Farwest Aviation in 1980-81. I left just before Earl went down in the P-51.

Another factoid I found interesting at the time was that your dad took me to the hangar behind #5 to show me the cache of crated Merlin engines he bought from Team Budweiser. He had successfully cornered the Merlin engine market. Smart guy.

Regards,

Richard Baldwin

Well, since this thread has been resurrected, I'll ad to it.

This is from my airshow binder that I kept back in those days.

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remember the Oogahonk!
old school enthusiast of Civiltary Warbirds and Air Racers

I actually worked for the team as a young college student. I was taking a basic aeronautics course at Casper College when I was hire as a shop hand (don't know if I actually had a title). I actually washed the B-25 a couple times. I remember sitting in the nose gun chair. As I recall it was a water cannon.
The main reason I was hired was that your father bought a warehouse of Rolls Royce engines, I believe it was from the Notre Dame Racing team ( I was told the engines were used by Notre Dame for boat racing). We were hired to build shelving, sort the various parts and stack them on the shelves.
I remember siting in the Corsair washing the canopy. It was actually a bit scary thinking about being over the ocean and having someone shooting at me.
I will always remember how smooth the corsair engine sounded. I have one as the ring tone on my phone.
It was the job that inspired me into the Aviation world.

Mike Foster

Also I believe the A26 belonged to John McGuire ant Natrona Services. I worked for him also, for a period of time staking mineral claims. John would occasionally fly over the crew in his war bird. Quite the site to see.