Warbird Information Exchange

I can remember as a young lad going up to Palomar with dad, we lived down in Pacific Beach he was in the Coast Guard at that time. So we would go look at airplanes, I'll have to see if we still have any of the photos. I have or had a picture of that same B-25 behind the hangar. I can remember when they had a bunch of Corsairs sitting there after doing the filming for BAA BAA Black Sheep, my dad took a picture of me sitting on one of the mains. There were some very nice people around there then. Now fast forward to 2000 or 2001 When I took a job working there at Palomar on corporate jets for JetSource , Freidkin still had some of his airplanes there , then he sold out to Jetsource and they all moved away . It was a down hill turn from there. I have left Jetsource and went to work up in Wyoming, I still go down at least once a year to work on the Falcon and the airport is nothing but corporate jets and flight school planes, no cafe anymore, just big shiny corporate hangars. Which my boss has one of, along with our hangar in Wyoming. It sure is sad to see the airport today verse's what it was.

Keep the pictures coming
Scott........

More photos of Palomar 1976.
My Brother and I would go by the Martin Hanger about twice a month to check on things...Good Times

The Hellcat before it's first mishap in 1976


The Hellcat after it's mishap in 1977


The Hellcat flying again in 1978 just before the wreak


The Hellcat in the ditch April 1978 San Marcos Ca.

Pilot Bill Yoak walked away from the crash with minor cuts and scratches. The turbo charger probably came apart and fed parts into the engine, causing it to stall according to the news article. York guided the plane north to Twin Oaks Valley and had intended to land on the road. But at last miinute a truck pulled onto the road in his path and he was forced to veer to the right crash landing in a field. He was planning to land on the road so the landing gear was down. If he could have gone into the field with gear up he probably could have saved her according to the article.

Dan, glad you and your son are ok! One day I'll share the story of my roll-over at Sears Point on the way back to the hotel...

Here's a few more shots.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Mt Palomar . . . hah!
Palomar Field yes. I remember 1976 well - it was a good place to be as mentioned. Lots of activity, homebuilts, warbirds antiques. Worst thing about the place was about that time they repaved the taxiway – if you landed in the late afternoon with the sun coming straight at you, ypu picked up the new blacktop of the taxiway much stronger than the runway. Many embarrassed pilots landed in the wrong spot in a short period until things aged in right. We had a friend who was a machinist, A&P, ex-B-50 flight engineer who used to make all sorts of parts for Dick Martin. We'd always volunteer to tag along when he made a delivery.

Two Seater P-38 at Palomar March 1978.
Anyone know where this aircraft is now?
I believe the owner was John Stokes

You might want to throw this up as a separate thread. Could get more play from the "brain trust".

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Later sold to Cecil Harp and then to Doug Champlin. Now in Seattle, WA with the Museum of Flight.

T J

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Make my day, punk!