Warbird Information Exchange

This was my first time that I didn't do the entire week there, just Thurs-Sunday.

I have a count of 27 that I saw there, anyone care to add to it:
Old Crow
Old Crow (B-model)
Impatient Virgin
Barbara Jean
Gunfighter
Miss Marilyn II
Worry Bird
Happy Jack's Go Buggy
Gentleman Jim
Petie 2nd
Moonbeam McSwine
Quicksilver
The Rebel
American Beauty
Scat
Excalibur
Short-Fuse Sally
Geraldine
Sweet Revenge
Big Beautiful Doll
Lady Alice
Dakota Kid
Nathan Davis's Checkertail
Tip-tanked Camo Cavalier
Cloud Dancer
Paul IV
FF-704 (post-war with rockets)

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

Does a static XP-51 count for 28?

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Where is "The Rebel" based?

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

It's Doug Matthews' aircraft, apparently, so I assume it's based in Florida (where I think his Corsair is based).

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

Man, I prefer real warbirds shows...27 Mustangs....4 Turkeys....pshaw! That's nothin!



Zack

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Volunteer Coordinator/Curator - Military Aviation Museum - Virginia Beach, VA
"America's Flying Museum"
http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but the actual warbirds show wasn't that great. The Mustang turnout was good, but not much flew (that's a big part of it for most of us). No TBMs flew in the show Thurs-Sat when I was there, neither of the 2 Corsairs flew (not counting the racer part of the show), no P-47s there, no Skyraiders, no Hellcats or Bearcats, neither of the Sea Furies flew, only one Wildcat, neither P-38 flew in the warbirds show, .

Not saying that Oshkosh wasn't good, just that it was disappointing from a warbird standpoint. The B-25s were great, nice to see the YAF D-model up in the show, but all the stuff sitting at aeroshell square just sat.

I just don't get the jets making passes behind the crowd, the L-birds up at 500 feet and at the 1000 foot line (I love L-birds, but THEY ARE SMALL, and maybe should be closer?), and so many warbirds sitting all week long.

Flame away people, but the "big" warbirds show on Friday was a disjointed mess. Bombers were up for about an hour loitering out of sight, and only after some FA-18s came in (arrivals) did the bombers come back and do the two passes before the pyro. The 4 P-51s that we thought launched to do a missing man just came back, the missing man having been performed by the Trojan Horsemen (who are very good, mind you, but T-28s aren't Mustangs).

PS- I think only 8 P-51s flew on Friday, and none of the new award-winners. Disappointing.

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

I was at Oshkosh Tues-Thurs, and also counted 27 Mustangs(didn't go to the museum), but not the same 27. I didn't spot Short Fuse Sallee(too bad I missed it, haven't seen the airplane in a number of years), but I did see a second Petie 2nd(N314BG and N5427V appear in my photos)

On the subject of the warbirds airshow, what happened on wednesday? In past years, I recall the full 1 hour weekday airshow happening on wed, this year the only warbirds I saw fly during the show were the racers(usually part of the showcase, no?), the legacy flight, the CJ-6 "50" formation, and a CJ-6 acro demo... did I fall asleep on my feet and miss the rest?

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Dan Johnson

Thanks Dan, I was wondering if there was more than one Petie there. There've been about 5 over the years (3 at one time many times), going back to 1977.

The Warbirds have gotten shafted (and the PAYING spectators who love to see the heavy iron) in the recent years, more and more. It's become a joke. People can flame me all they want, it's pathetic how the EAA treats Warbirds in the show. I love all aspects of aviation, but I'm tired of the Oshkosh show being 90% carbon-fibre acro aircraft. Almost no modern military, minimum heavy iron, and no "parade of flight" like their used to be.

The show was great when they had Warbirds from 2-3 or 2-3:30 on every day, now it's "Here's the latest FLOP of a jet-powered replacement for the Cessna 172 that we're going to push" in the SHOWCASE. Snoooze!

No more Connie, no more Vickers Vimy replica, no more DC-4, just silly corporate jets buzzing around.

Rich

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

So, that makes it 28 flyable Mustangs. Any others I've missed?

Old Crow
Old Crow (B-model)
Impatient Virgin
Barbara Jean
Gunfighter
Miss Marilyn II
Worry Bird
Happy Jack's Go Buggy
Gentleman Jim
Petie 2nd
Petie 2nd (different airframe)
Moonbeam McSwine
Quicksilver
The Rebel
American Beauty
Scat
Excalibur
Short-Fuse Sally
Geraldine
Sweet Revenge
Big Beautiful Doll
Lady Alice
Dakota Kid
Nathan Davis's Checkertail
Tip-tanked Camo Cavalier
Cloud Dancer
Paul IV
FF-704 (post-war with rockets)

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

I agree with you rich 100%, its why i quit going to oshkosh. It used to be fun. Now its all "Here is the future so forget about the past". I will give them tribute though that on the ground to never forget the past. They have a lot of tributes to them and thats worth going. But rarely a tribute in the air to them.

Actually, I was being sarcastic. Even if only a handful of the warbirds at AirVenture actually flew during the show, that's still more than MOST airshows around the country. Just the fact that they were present was enough for me, as well as a number of veterans that I spoke to at the Timeless Voices tent. An Avenger pilot we interviewed was brought to tears at the sight of the TBM. I'm sure Warbirdriver can attest to this. And even if they didn't fly the show, where else are you going to see such fantastic restorations in one place at the same time?

I for one was happy to be at the show....even if I didn't get to see much of it....

Zack

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Volunteer Coordinator/Curator - Military Aviation Museum - Virginia Beach, VA
"America's Flying Museum"
http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org

Off-topic from the original post, for which I apologize, and this will be the last I say about it...



Were we actually at the same show? I don't know, but I always thought the F-22, F-16, F-15, F-18, B-52, U-2, and Osprey were considered modern military, but that's just me I guess. Quite a few people I met were more than happy to see a working jetpack (FAA wouldn't let it fly higher than it did btw), the Goodyear Blimp, the Boeing Model 40, a Zenith biplane, the rocket racers, the Dreamlifter, etc. etc. etc. I was pretty excited to see Kyle Franklin and Matt Younkin performing again. Matt's Beech 18 demo in honor of his father is fantastic. The Redstar Aerobatic team was awesome, as was the AeroShell team and the Collaborators. Top it off with the Red Bull Helicopter and I think it was a heck of a show.

As for the jet-powered carbon-fiber stuff - it's the future of aviation, like it or not Rich. It's the stuff that's going to pay the bills for GA, along with all the LSA stuff. If you've been an EAA member for any amount of time, you should already know that warbirds are just a small fraction about what the organization is all about. If all you want to see are warbirds in the airshow, go to TOM, Geneseo, or Midland. IF you want to see warbirds, vintage, space, ultralights, homebuilts, acro, workshops on all of the above, more presentations and forums than you can count, AND eat deviled eggs at the WIX gathering, come to AirVenture.

Zack

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Volunteer Coordinator/Curator - Military Aviation Museum - Virginia Beach, VA
"America's Flying Museum"
http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org

Some well taken points...regarding the pair of Corsairs, the -5 flew twice that I saw, but I never did see the -4 fly at all & I was there all week. Robert Odegaards F2G flew Wed- Fri & Sat.
There was an F4F that flew a couple of times, but no F6F, F7F or F8F types that I was aware of. Dozens and dozens of Texans, many T-28s, Yaks, T-34s and Stearmans though along with several B-25s, one A-26 and other types. Nonetheless, a great gathering of flying machines.
Anyone else get photos of the P-51 with the Malcolm hood? Beautiful machine.

I was at the show Thurs, Fri, Saturday and part of Sunday. U-2 arrived, overhead approach and landing. That's not military participation in the flying portion of the airshow, which is what I was talking about.

No F-16s flew during any airshow to my knowledge. No FA-18s flew other than Legacy Flight Rhino departure one morning. B-52 made two passes, very cool (at noon). F-15s did not fly in the show. No C-17 demo, no B-1, no C-130, no KC-135, no A-10s. No V-22 demo. Just pointing out things that used to be included in the variety of Oshkosh airshow that was the greatest aviation event. It's no longer, in many people's opinions. Aircraft arriving for static aren't what I was talking about.



Yeah, yeah, yeah, like the Williams V-jet, and all the other "Cessna 172 replacements" Air Venture has pushed for 10 years. Where are they; in museums.

I didn't say the airshow wasn't good, I'd give it a solid 80 on a 1-100 scale. Like it or not, Warbirds draw a lot of people to Oshkosh. Hmm, warbirds are down a LOT in the last 5 years, as is attendance. Funny coinkydence. If you think Oshkosh is great, I'm happy. Most people I know are very disappointed in recent years, but hey, who cares, they are only paying customers, and we all know that businesses don't care whether they're happy.

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com

BTW, misrepresenting my original point just reflects on you, not I. I clearly said that the show was better when Warbirds were a daily part of the pre-show, as opposed to the boring "showcase" filled with corporate stuff (how'd that jet-powered gyro-copter go over?) like the defunct Reading Airshow used to be. I believe that point stands on its own merit, thank you.

Have a nice evening.

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Rich Kolasa
www.crystalgraphix.com