Restoration Update: F9F-3 Bu123072

[Warbirdnerd]

NORTH KINGSTOWN

As a boy, Stanley Essex dreamed of playing ball and flying planes.

On Sundays, the 8-year-old clipped pictures of fighter planes from the paper and pasted them onto pieces of cardboard.

He hung his baseball glove on the handlebars of his bike. Later, listening to a transistor radio, he followed the career of his hero, Red Sox slugger Ted Williams.

He even flirted with a career on the mound. Donning a drab gray uniform, he pitched in an amateur league in Providence, “but I never valued my talent,” he says.

During the Korean War, he joined the Navy and repaired fighter planes scarred by combat, often while their engines screamed.

All that faded with youth, Essex says.

Now, at 79, his life has circled back.

Retired, the Warwick veteran spends his days in a North Kingstown garage, piecing together a busted F9F-2 Panther jet –– the same fighter plane he grew up with in the Navy in the 1950s.

The plane, made by the old Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., was the first Navy jet fighter used in Korea, says Essex.

So far, the plane is a patchwork of new and old parts, some cannibalized from other planes. Some of the skin is new. The inch-thick broken cockpit glass has been replaced by Plexiglas.

When Essex restores the jet fighter –– one of nine existing Panthers –– it will join other military items on display in a proposed Rhode Island museum.

Essex has worked on other planes, including a Hellcat fighter that sank off Martha’s Vineyard. But this job is special.

His idol, Ted Williams, flew the same type of plane as a Marine fighter pilot in Korea.

The restored plane will be the centerpiece of a special display featuring baseball and military memorabilia from the Ted Williams Museum in Florida.

Williams, who joined the Red Sox in 1939, interrupted his baseball career to serve as a fighter pilot during World War II and again in the Korean War.

On Feb. 16, 1953, Williams and other pilots fired on a tank and infantry training school south of Pyongyang, North Korea. Williams flew back to a front-line base after a piece of flak knocked out his hydraulics and electrical systems.

In all, he flew 39 combat missions before an inner-ear infection grounded him.

He was awarded the Air Medal, but later downplayed his record, writing: “I was no hero. There were maybe 75 pilots in our two squadrons, and 99 percent of them did a better job than I did.”

Essex disagrees.

“He was quite a talent,” he says. “He was as good a pilot as he was a baseball player.”

For more than two years, Essex has worked on the F9F-2 Panther, housed in a garage in the back of the USS Saratoga Museum on Post Road.

It hasn’t been easy, he says.

For years, the fighter jet had been flown on the air-show circuit. But then a pilot with engine trouble crashed it into a fence near the airport in Kalamazoo, Mich. Firefighters tore open the cockpit to save the pilot, says Essex.

“It was in such bad shape that everyone who wanted to restore it said, ‘Forget it,’ after they saw it,” he says.

But Essex thought he could fix it.

“I was a model-builder as a kid. And a plane like the Panther is pretty much a big model airplane.”

In 2005, the foundation backing the proposed restoration of the aircraft carrier Saratoga bought the plane at an auction for $11,000.

The Navy taught Essex how to fix planes. He was a captain in charge of other mechanics aboard the Bonhomme Richard aircraft carrier.

It was a big responsibility for an 18-year-old.

For years, the Saratoga Foundation tried to talk the Navy into giving it the Saratoga. The foundation wanted to house its museum on the carrier.

Recently, however, the Navy decided the ship is too old. Instead, it will be scrapped, probably in 2011.

Now the foundation’s sister organization, the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame, wants to replace the older carrier with a newer ship, the John F. Kennedy. The second ship is a better fit, officials say. President Kennedy was married in Newport, and he summered at the family home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod.

“I think the loss of the Saratoga was a blessing in disguise,” says John Gibbons, a museum project manager. “If we can bring the USS Kennedy here and team it up with Ted Williams, we’re golden.”

None of that distracts Essex, who wakes up at night thinking about the Panther.


The military plays a key role in his family life. His father spent nearly 30 years in the Navy. This summer, his son will retire from the Rhode Island Air National Guard.

On a recent weekday morning, Essex fastened sheets of shiny metal skin to the plane’s framework with a rivet gun. His hands were a little shaky, but his aim was true.

When he’s done, he’ll paint large white stars on the sides of the plane. Then he’ll install a control panel and the pilot’s seat, which has been propped up on a metal desk.

“It’s a labor of love,” he says. “I don’t do it for the acclaim.”

Instead, he hopes future visitors will learn something about the sacrifice and sense of duty shared by America’s pilots –– and their mechanics.

“It will probably take another year to finish,” he says. He smiles. “I hope I live long enough.”

Found it here:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/TED_W ... 17237.html

[TAdan]

Very nice article. I didnt realize there were so few Panthers left. Is it really only 9? Or is the article just exagerating?

I love the "It's just a big model airplane" line, it gives me hope for restoring one myself some day.

[Jerry O'Neill]

I think there's more than 9.
As a rough count, I count 23. (And that doesn't include Cougars!)
Jerry

[kalamazookid]

IIRC, this is the ex-Art Wolk Panther. Nice to see it being restored, even if it is to static.

[T6GUY]

I think at least 10 years ago. The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum requested I go to Allentown, PA and pick up all of the remains and many spare parts for the F9F Panther that had previously been damaged in a Kalamazoo landing accident. We had a semi truck and 50' trailer loaded full of F9F ( I have the picture somewhere) and I was sure hoping it would be rebuilt into at least a static exhibit and better yet a flying one.
I am very happy to see Stanley Essex involved. I remember at the time I had a flying CT133 and needed some of the same military special era Hydraulic fluid and there was a fifty gallon drum of it on this load of F9F. I had just sent two drivers and a semi truck and trailer on a twelve hundred mile trip for free and the museum wouldn't even give or sell me five gallons....funny how certain things stick in your crawl...ops head.
Anyway yeah for the F9F

[Rajay]

IIRC, this is the ex-Art Wolk Panther. Nice to see it being restored, even if it is to static.

I agree that Art Wolk owned the Panther eventually and I believe that he was the one who cracked it up, but he wasn't the one who restored it and put it on the Warbird circuit in the first place.

I've loved Panthers almost as long as I've loved Grumman's seaplanes (especially the Goose and the Albatross.) I just pulled out my file on it and found the photocopies of the December 1984 issue of SPORT AVIATION that I've saved for more than two decades. It's the "Warbirds at Oshkosh '84" article written by Jeff Ethell and it had wonderful photos of F9F-2 BuNo. 123072 (even though in the text he starts off calling it "123073" - and BTW, it's a F9F-2, not a -3* according to everything else I've ever read about it.) The article also includes a pretty good history of how it was originally restored by Bill Pryor and Jack Levine.

*IIRC the biggest difference is the the -2 had a 5,000 lb. Pratt J42 (a license-built Rolls-Royce Nene) and the -3 had a 4,600 lb. Allison J33. The later -5's had a 6,250 lb. Pratt J48 engine, a longer fuselage, and a taller vertical stab & rudder.

I love the part about how they completed the restoration of a P-40E and then decided to look for a jet warbird project - apparently just because they could. They were offered a fully operational Northrop F-5E Tiger II from Egypt, but that didn't excite them. Eventually, they found the Panther in a junk yard in Tulsa. It says that they spent 5 1/2 years on the restoration and ended up spending more money than the F-5E would have cost them. Actually, although Levine and Pryor bought it and paid for it, the credit for doing all of the actual restoration work on the Panther (that time around) goes to Harry Drummond and Dennis Gile.

It goes on to say that Jack Levine flew it to Oshkosh for the first time in 1983 with only 1.5 hours of pattern time on the clock since the restoration. Once there, a new category was created for it just so that it would win "Best Jet". The following year (1984), it was eligible for and won overall Grand Champion.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was close to tears when I heard about the crash that occured September 19, 1996 in Kalamazoo. MI. That particular Panther was really a beautiful thing to behold.

The full narrative of the NTSB report is available here:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001208X06688&ntsbno=CHI96FA342&akey=1

Last edited by Rajay on Wed Sep 11, 2013 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Nathan]

IIRC, this is the ex-Art Wolk Panther. Nice to see it being restored, even if it is to static.

I agree that Art Wolk owned the Panther eventually and I believe that he was the one who cracked it up, but he wasn't the one who restored it and put it on the Warbird circuit in the first place.

I've loved Panthers almost as long as I've loved Grumman's seaplanes (especially the Goose and the Albatross.) I just pulled out my file on it and found the photocopies of the December 1984 issue of SPORT AVIATION that I've saved for more than two decades. It's the "Warbirds at Oshkosh '84" article written by Jeff Ethell and it had wonderful photos of F9F-2 BuNo. 123072 (even though in the text he starts off calling it "123073" - and BTW, it's a F9F-2, not a -3* according to everything else I've ever read about it.) The article also includes a pretty good history of how it was originally restored by Bill Pryor and Jack Levine.

*IIRC the biggest difference is the the -2 had a 5,000 lb. Pratt J42 (a license-built Rolls-Royce Nene) and the -3 had a 4,600 lb. Allison J33. The later -5's had a 6,250 lb. Pratt J48 engine, a longer fuselage, and a taller vertical stab & rudder.

I love the part about how they completed the restoration of a P-40E and then decided to look for a jet warbird project - apparently just because they could. They were offered a fully operational Northrop F-5E Tiger II from Egypt, but that didn't excite them. Eventually, they found the Panther in a junk yard in Tulsa. It says that they spent 5 1/2 years on the restoration and ended up spending more money than the F-5E would have cost them. Actually, although Levine and Pryor bought it and paid for it, the credit for doing all of the actual restoration work on the Panther (that time around) goes to Harry Drummond and Dennis Gile.

It goes on to say that Jack Levine flew it to Oshkosh for the first time in 1983 with only 1.5 hours of pattern time on the clock since the restoration. Once there, a new category was created for it just so that it would win "Best Jet". The following year (1984), it was eligible for and won overall Grand Champion.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was close to tears when I heard about the crash that occured September 19, 1996 in Kalamazoo. MI. It was really a beautiful thing to behold.

The full narrative of the NTSB report is available here:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001208X06688&ntsbno=CHI96FA342&akey=1

Thanks Rajay.

Thank you that was a really good post! Thanks for the info.

I am sad that I just missed out seeing this bird fly. She flew a lot of the grumman flights in the Northeast. My first NY based show was 1997. One year short!

[Bill Kistler]

Deleted

Last edited by Bill Kistler on Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Bill Kistler]

Still on the flatbed at the end of 2007.



Bill.

[T6GUY]

http://picasaweb.google.com/10946114525 ... 3058624706

F9F Parts picked up in Allen Town PA...and shipped to Air Zoo.
One of the truck loads
After the wreck and before it was sold at auction

[T6GUY]

deleted
thanks for info

Last edited by T6GUY on Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Rajay]

How do you delete a post of your own?
Admn you can delete this post please....
How would I do it...I chk'd FAQ

It's easy to do what he did. He simply edited his post to say "Deleted" and nothing else.

I imagine that what really happened was he accidentally double-posted and then edited one of the duplicate posts to say "Deleted." In case you haven't figured it out yet, it's not really "Deleted." It's still there, but it just doesn't say anything noteworthy - kinda like this one!

And now back to the real thread....

[mike furline]

A couple of pics,
http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Na ... 8d61f7b9b3

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Grumman- ... 8d61f7b9b3

[Rob Mears]

The F9F has got to be one of the most gorgeous early jet designs out there. I'd put it up against the F-86 any day in terms of raw beauty and perfect lines. I'm amazed that not a single example is flying anywhere! Are there aspects to the F9F that make it an unfriendly option for restoration/operation? Seriously, its a US combat design, its "old-tech" as far as jets go, its got folding wings, etc. It's a perfect air show warbird attraction and absolutely unique. Why is the circuit completely devoid of the type?

[mustangdriver]

I agree with Rob, they are beautiful aircraft. I hope that one makes it's way into the air.