Air Museum aircraft before they were air museum aircraft

[Steve Nelson]

WWII Desert Pink actually started out as Sand, but bleached out to an apricot shade in the desert sun. Sue's P-40 is far to pink to be accurate, and no P-40 I'm aware of carried lipstick and mascara in combat.

Stangdriver is right, as much as a cringe at the paint job, Sue's Warhawk is certainly distinctive..and I've developed a soft spot for it over the years. It's now hanging in the Air Zoo atrium, with a grinning mannequin of Sue in the cockpit, wearing her old signature pink flight suit. Note: the mannequin is life size..I once sat in the plane, and had to duck way down to close the canopy (and the rudder pedals were set so far back my knees were practically hitting my chest!)

SN

[BK]

Does anyone have one of the PBY and A-26 in the NMUSAF? These are all great.

Yes I do. My dad flew in the museum's PBY (OA-10) to go to work in the Amazon Jungle while working for the Petrobras Oil Company in 1957-58. At the time the registration was PT-AXM. Using this a while back I was able to track down the plane.

They would fly employees from the cities into the jungle rather than take a slow boat. My dad was one of the company's geologists. He thinks these were taken at a base camp called Nova Linda.

Pardon the picture quality. These are taken from 3.5" x 2.5" photos:

[mustangdriver]

Wow! THat is just cool

[hang the expense]

I met Sue at oshkosh back in the day and watched her routine in her Warhawk.WOW! darn fin stick. She was a WASP back during the war so she knew her way around that bird very well.

[Steve Nelson]

I saw Sue fly the P-40 many times..I've got a bit of video from the 1992 "High On Kalamazoo" air show. That was the last year the plane was flown.

The story I've always heard is that the P-40 was one plane she always wanted to fly when she was a WASP, but never got the chance. So when she and Pete got into warbirds in the '70s, she decided to buy one.

I was once at Coldwater Airport (about 50 miles southeast of Kalamazoo) back around 1990 or so..they were dedicating a historical marker to Harriett Quimby, America's first lisenced female pilot (apparently she learned to fly there.) As I was leaving, I heard a familiar snarl, and looked up to see that familiar pink bird. Apparently, Sue decided to drop in for the festivities.

One of the Air Zoo maintenance guys once told me he hated it when she went on the road for air shows, because she always went "antiquing," and came back with the baggage compartment crammed full of stuff he had to unload.


SN

[APG85]

PINK!?!

[JDK]

PINK!?!

What's your P-40 painted?

Poorly interpreted real schemes are a pain, but if someone wants to go for something different with their aircraft, good luck to them. Sue Parrish's warbird achievements are lengthy and exceptional and, IMHO, outshine any hue.

Gret pics, BK - thanks for sharing.

[John Dupre]

I'm no expert, but pink doesn't seem accurate...

It isn't. But it is cool.

No-one's ever muddled Sue Parish's P-40 with anyone else's!

BTW: 'Desert Pink' is (was?) a military colour - and it could be a quite a bright 'flesh' pink, but never gloss and usually more light beige.

I remember reading that "Desert Pink" in WW2 was originally a tan color that faded in the sun to the pink shade. Sue Parrish used to say that veterans remembered that the shade of pink she used was very accurate except for the gloss.

[krlang]

I was sitting at Hanscom the last time 222SU arrived there for a show.
She never called the tower until she was over the numbers in a left break.
The controller told her to exit the pattern and Sue told him that she had to land and did. He wanted to talk to her afterwards.

That was the first and last time I saw it fly.

[kenlyco]

Sorry I deleted the pictures by accident,if anyone wants me to put them back say something.