Warbird Information Exchange

Keep 'em coming!

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Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas

PIC, Ford 6600 pulling Rhino batwing up and down the runway

It's always been fashionable among authenticity afficionados to put down Martin Caidin and his JU-52. However, without Martin this airplane would never have been saved and a lot of fun would never have been had. He and his airplane were an absolute delight as air show performers -- he flew as much as possible with as many passengers as possible and did things with his airplane I still wonder at 40 years later. Here he was at the Miami Air Race in 1979.

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Neal Nurmi

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Green grass and big hats. Neither much seen in California...

Miami was fun -- the air show as well as the racing.

Don't forget to click on the image for a nicer version.

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Neal Nurmi

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Some locals catching a few rays...

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Neal Nurmi

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In reference to "faded away" and "purchased and just disappeared"....Are you saying the trail has gone cold since it was last noted as undergoing restoration at Sanders about 5 years or so ago? That's a bummer. It's still registered to Pissed Away LLC.
Anywho, thanks for the posts and keep 'em coming Neal!

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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

Where were the Miami Air Races held, Tamiami?

For those lamenting the days of up close interaction, I highly recommend the airshows put on by the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. The Jerry Yagen collection is superb and you can go all around the aircraft prior to and after the flying and be right behind them as they start for all the sights, sounds and smells. Hang on to your hat (tight!) if you stand behind the Skyraider or Corsair especially on start up!!. The flying is great and very up close from the grass strip.

https://militaryaviationmuseum.org/

The airplane is still arpund.
About 10 years ago I was visiting Grant County Airport in Moses Lake Washington, the former Larson AFB.
I photographed it in a hangar, in very good condition.

I A couple of years ago, it flew or the first time in years. It was reported here and included YouTube video.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=65748&p=595455&hilit=Moses+Lake#p595455

Just became a plane isn't at Chino and flown for your entertainment, doesn't mean it isn't still out there!

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

No -- they were done down at Homestead, on the edge of the Everglades out in the swamps. A strange and creepy place for someone accustomed to more livable places out West and up North. I was staying on the airport during the races and vividly remember DC-3s flying grid patterns at night spraying poison. Seems to me that if you have to do things like that to make a place livable, then maybe we shouldn't be trying to live there.

The airplanes and the racing were great, though...

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Neal Nurmi

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Many thanks Neal. I've visited Homestead Airport several times and once even stayed in the town - must admit that I hadn't thought of it as a place for unlimited air racing! Nice to see my favourite racing Mustang in the pack.

Lockheed 12A N1161V, not at an airshow...

At "Art Scholl Aviation" at Flabob 17 Feb 1974

Used by Art Scholl in the movie "Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze" (1975)

Later, the letters "Doc Savage" were outlined in black

Also appeared in TV movies about Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes, and in TV series "Moonlighting", "Spencer's Pilots", and "The A-Team"

Sledge

I've never figured out why the Lockheed is so much better looking than the very similar and more familiar Beech 18. Odd to see one in paint -- I think every one I've ever seen was polished metal.

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Neal Nurmi

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The racing was actually quite interesting. It was a very short course, which took away some of the advantage for the Hot Dogs of long straightaways where they could really get spooled up. Both Hinton and Crocker commented that they were pulling considerably higher G loads than they ever had to at Reno. The pleasure for a photographer was the wild variety of aircraft and the presence of all sorts of East coast airplanes we never got to see out west.

And then there was the Smoke Oil party on Saturday night. That was fun -- lots of Eastern folks who didn't quite understand the concept of Smoke Oil -- but I digress...

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Neal Nurmi

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Art Scholl's Lockheed HAD to be painted ... "Bronze"

... Doc Savage was the ... "Man of Bronze"

Sledge

The CAF always knew how to stage an arrival. This was August 1979 for the big "Wings of Eagles" warbird show at Chino.

What's really missing here, though, is the smell of cow poop -- manure smells always seemed to be part of the Chino scene back then.

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Neal Nurmi

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