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F9F Cougar

Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:38 pm

Saw this bird in a rest area off I-10 just crossing into Fl from AL, on the way to Pensacola..
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I believe I saw either a Cougar or Panther in Quartzsite, Az. yesterday..on the North side of the Interstate....I think it is the same one that used to be on the south side a few years back, and was filled with concrete.....

Wed Jan 02, 2008 2:24 am

That BA Cougar display is Awesome!!!!!


There used to be a Cougar in front of the Boys Ranch in Queen Creek, AZ just south of the ex-Williams AFB (now Mesa - Phoenix Gateway Airport - :roll: )

It disappeared a few years ago - I'll try to post a photo in the next day or so..........anybody know what happened to it?




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Wed Jan 02, 2008 2:42 am

sweeeeeeeeeeeeet :D

Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:57 am

At the rest area east of Pensacola on I-10 there is an A-4 in Blue Angel Markings mounted in a similar fashion. The Panther is at the rest area on the west side of Pensacola.

Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:44 am

The Panther filled with concrete came from City of Mesa back in the mid to late 1990s. It had been in a local park and was, shall we say, "well worn." The concrete in the cockpit area was formed specifically for little kids to sit inside of it without any of that nasty stuff around to get hung up on - you know, throttle quadrant, instrumentation, e-seat, etc.

Cougar at Boys' Ranch had been sold a few years ago and was allegedly purchased by a collector who planned to restore it. I understand that the Navy got a little frustrated with this as it still appeared on their rosters as having been loaned to the Boys' Ranch (at least this was the Navy's position) and litigation ensued. Last I had heard the ship was in the southwest waiting for the legal dust to settle to determine true ownership.

Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:42 pm

I can't see the pictures here at work, so I am guessing these are the correct locations...

Pensacola F11...
http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.php ... ,Name=I-10

F9F in Quarsite...
http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.php ... P%20Museum

Do I have the A-4 being talked about here in the Locator? There may be one at the airport.

Mike

Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:52 pm

mrhenniger wrote:I can't see the pictures here at work, so I am guessing these are the correct locations...

Pensacola F11...
http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.php ... ,Name=I-10

F9F in Quarsite...
http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/Locator.php ... P%20Museum

Do I have the A-4 being talked about here in the Locator? There may be one at the airport.

Mike

Mike the Quartzite Panther is a rare F9F-5P, BuNo 123517, another aircraft
the Navy had to return to the rightful owner after losing the court battle.
Mr. Oldham leaves this old webpage up just to gig the Navy, he has the plane back now..fmr Hornet Museum bird..
www.waspmuseum.com/faq.htm

I talked to him a few years ago when inquiring about the history of a jet drone he also owns.
I thought it was a Northrop Snark, but it is 'bout 1/2 that size. When I spoke with him he didn't
remember what it was and he couldn't lay hands on the paperwork as they were in the process of
moving to the current north of I10 location shown in your Locater. Sure would like
to know the ID of the drone..spent a lot of time trying to ID it, but no joy!
He purchased it from a a junkyard in Yuma outside a USMC range in the
60's or 70's. It's a little bent because it "flew" off the gantry in high winds once!
There were also some HUP's and C-45's at the old location as well.

Thank you for your extensive efforts in forming the Locater!

Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:38 pm

I always wondered what happened to the City of Mesa Panther. As a little kid I played in this aircraft many times during the 60's. For several years the concrete wasn't in the cockpit. It was only after things began to get smashed up that everything was coated in morter. Right next to the Panther was a steam engine that you could also climb on. It is still at the park, but is fenced off. What a great place to be as a kid. Too bad our kids don't have access to real toys anymore. I guess we can thank our Civil court system for that.

Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:42 pm

Mike the F11 is at the main gate at NAS Pensacola.

The A-4 and F9 are east and west of Pensacola at rest areas on I-10.

Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:21 pm

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Here's the A-4 on I-10 in FL. I think this is at the West bound rest area, approx mile marker is 26/27, East of Pensacola.
At Quartzite, there used to be a couple of old military Beach twins..T-Bones, I think, two or three Beach 18s, the Panther, and the frame of the Bushmaster Tri-motor....I inquired about the most complete of the Beech 18's about 10 years ago...price was way out of my range...Where did they go?
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