NAS Willow Grove Warbirds

[mike furline]

Whats going on with the Me 262, N1K1 Rex, etc that were sitting outside at NAS Willow Grove?

I know the 262 was used as a pattern ship for the Stormbirds projects.

Now whats happened to them?

Regards,
Mike

[DonL]

The Me262 has been restored and is on display at NAS Willow Grove. I am not sure where the Japanese planes ended up but they are not at Willow Grove. The AR196 I heard went to Pensacola but it was damaged en route. I live around the corner from the base if you need anything else let me know.

[RickH]

The AR96 is pretty sad right now. The fuselage is on its floats. The horizontals and wings are off and stacked off to the side. Severe intergranular corrosion is evident all over the surfaces. The Rufe is also at Pensacola and it is essentially the same as the Arado. The only diffence is the fuselage is on the ground and the float is sitting on its dolly. The ings are in the same stack as the Arado wings.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

They had a George there also but it disappeared in the late 70s, early 80s. I thought that that was taken to Pensacola also? The AR96 underwent a cosmedic face lift around the time of the Bicentennial.

The AR96 was taken from the Prinz Eugen when it was docked at the Phila Navy yard before its final cruise to Bikini Atoll. It was one of those shall we say "Midnight requesitions" by some farsighted sailors.

The Cutlass out side the museum is is sad shape and the crew there says it doesn't have the resources to restore it. Hopefully some deep pockets will prevail

[B-29 Super Fort]

They had a George there also but it disappeared in the late 70s, early 80s. I thought that that was taken to Pensacola also? The AR96 underwent a cosmedic face lift around the time of the Bicentennial.

The AR96 was taken from the Prinz Eugen when it was docked at the Phila Navy yard before its final cruise to Bikini Atoll. It was one of those shall we say "Midnight requesitions" by some farsighted sailors.

The Cutlass out side the museum is is sad shape and the crew there says it doesn't have the resources to restore it. Hopefully some deep pockets will prevail

Any photos available.

[wls3]

Photo of Cutlass taken this past January below.
Other pics from museum HERE

A few pics of their airshow in May are mixed in.

Bill

[Kaigun Fan]

Hello,

I asked the same question a while back and here is the answer right from the museum:

The Zero is restored and on display at the NASM. The George is restored and can be seen at the Hazy center. The Jill is in storage at Garber. The Rex is in storage at Pensacola.
Hope this of help,
Gary J. Campbell: Senior Curator, DVHAA Wings of Freedom Museum
NAS JRB Willow Grove

Take care,

Ron Werneth

[B-29 Super Fort]

Photo of Cutlass taken this past January below.
Other pics from museum HERE

A few pics of their airshow in May are mixed in.

Bill

Thanks for the link!

[RickH]

Sorry guys, I said Rufe, should have been Rex as Ron said. Anyway, what ever it is it's too bad it's in its present state . At least the Rex at the Nimitz Museum is together and in much better shape.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Does he know what happened to the P-40 that was displayed next to the Zero?

Also some of these planes ,the Fury and the Jet Ski used to be displayed as gate guardians at the Aviation Supply Office on Oxford ave in the Lawndale section of Philly.

[Richard W.]

I took my young son to the Udvar-Hazy center last year and saw the George.

I had no idea it was the same one from Willow Grove NAS. My father had taken me there when I was just a little older than my son. (I remember worrying about the planes being exposed outside to the New Jersey winters.)

Anyway, here's a (not very good) picture I took of "my" Shiden at the Dulles Annex. (The Enola Gay's tail is visible upper left).

[Forgotten Field]

In the 1970's, while my family was visiting friends across from the NAS, I pleaded with my father to let me go look at them. You could park on the outside on the road and look at them from the fence. I don't remember the AR196 but I do remember the Schwalbe, Jill, Rex, and George. We used to have photos of them around but I think they got lost in my parents' divorce. I got to visit several times and the Jill disappeared at some point. They were the first WWII warbirds I got to see in person. I can still remember seeing them for the first time as we drove north on the road (Route 309?) and how exciting it was to see them 100 yards from me! I think I had just read Martin Caidin's "Zero" and started my long interest in WWII Japanese aircraft (I think I was 11 or 12).

Two years ago, a friend gave me a piece of the Rex which his friend sent from Pensacola during some earlier restoration- it is a piece of panel from the underbelly. My friend had told me it was a piece of a Zero, which was a neat addition to the collection. When he handed it over to me, his friend had written on it in sharpie marker that it was from the Pensacola N1K1J aircraft. Even neater piece for the collection- one that really connected me with my inner child! Well, who am I kidding- I'm still a child when it comes to WWII aircraft...

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Route 611 Easton Rd

[Mike]

I wonder what the future holds for these arirframes with the decision to close Willow Grove NAS?

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detai ... emid=48910

[DonL]

I am really disappointed in the decision to close the base. It sounds like the ANG unit is staying but minus their aircraft. Maybe one of the hangars can be used to house the historic aircraft.