Chicagoland Hellcat

Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:17 pm

My mom gave me a couple of pictures from her collection and this one I thought was great. June 1967 she and my dad went by Chicagoland Airport to look at some airplanes. Here is a shot of Dad next to a Hellcat. Can someone help with the ID so I can note it on the photo?

Thanks!

Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:31 pm

Looks like the Airzoo's hellcat taken at Chicagoland, there are photo's in the registry of it, looks like the same plane, can't see the n# to well but you can make out the rudder lock on the tail.

Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:21 pm

That's N7896C, BuNo 79863. It had last flown in '66 for an NAS Glenview open house (I was there but don't remember much.) The wasps hadn't taken it over at this point, otherwise your dad wouldn't have been standing that close! When I saw it at Oshkosh, I was amazed to hear that the restoration had cost $150,000 (in 1980 dollars).