Which Wildcat is this?

[Chuck Gardner]

[Jack Cook]

If it's an old picture it looks like Ken Spiva's that went to P-Cola eons ago.

[Chuck Gardner]

It is an old picture and why did the Navy need a (flying) Wildcat?

[Jack Cook]

Yup that's the one BuNo 86747 and they got Lenhardt's to. Lenhardt's cost them a R4D, Otter and a T-28. This one is hanging iun the museum.

[n5151ts]

It is an old picture and why did the Navy need a (flying) Wildcat?

they needed it so they could kill it and get it out of the air (its in conspiracy with the FAA/gov directive to ground all warbirds)

[Steve Nelson]

I don't know why you're complaining..it's still in the air.

[n5151ts]

I don't know why you're complaining..it's still in the air.

vroom vroom

[Steve Nelson]

I loved the NMNA when I visited three years ago, but I thought the museum was a bit Wildcat "heavy." I counted at least five in the collection:

- FM-2 hanging from the ceiling
- F4F-3 in pre-war colors
- F4F-3 from Lake Michigan displayed "as found" in a diorama
- F4F-? hanging in the WWII gallery
- FM-2 masquerading as a Marine F4F-3 in the Guadalcanal diorama (with some crude "weathering" that would get laughed out of any model contest)

Come to think of it, there were at least three SBDs there as well.

SN

[RickH]

Until the Lake Michigan "find" they only had the one Wildcat pictured.

[Steve Nelson]

Hey, I'm not complaining...you can never have too many warbirds!

BTW, does anybody know the purpose of the canopy mod on the hanging FM-2?

SN