Warbird Information Exchange

Saw this on Gary Velasco's Facebook wall this morning:

Gary Velasco:
"Its official; The worlds oldest B-24 (flying) operated by the B-24/B-29 Squadron CAF in Dallas, will be painted back as "Diamond Lil II". The camo scheme will be as is albeit with a flag on the right and revised pinup on the left done by yours truly. I was commissioned 2 weeks ago and will begin on Dec 8. I will be documenting this project as I do with all others and will post progress here."

Anybody confirm this?
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

I hope they save the Ol'927 panels and don't paint over them.

that is disgusting...after all the work gary did and the ol 927 nose art....

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Cheers,
Peter

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I am sure Gary Valesco will do a great job on the new nose art. He does very nice work.

That being said I am dissapointed to see the Ol'927 name and artwork go. I prefer it to the Diamond Lil name. I think the neutrality flag will look great.

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Well, as I've alluded to elsewhere on this forum, I won't exactly be happy to see Django's artwork go, but I am happy to see the return of 'Lil'.

And I agree that Gary Velasco does pretty good work, so it should hopefully look AOK when finished.


Fade to Black...

What an utter disgrace to all of Gary and Django's hard work! Just about sums up the CAF IMHO! w*nkers

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

I liked Diamond Lil, she was a cute dame. It'll be nice to see the nod to its original scheme with the addition of the flag.


Chappie

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Brrring. Dispersal? TWO SECTIONS SCRAMBLE!!

As far as something like this being an insult to all the work that Gary and Django did...that's hogwash. I don't see it as a "disgrace" or "disgusting" at all. The airplane itself is a testament to everything that Gary did...a change of nose art has zero impact on that kind of lasting reminder.

As for the nose art? Well, having done nose art on a warbird myself that after a few years was subsequently removed and repainted....hey, for almost 10 years I got to show off something very personal to me. I got to tell my friends, "see that? I did that". The "Ol'927" artwork has been on there since, what....2006, 2007? There have been a LOT of people who have seen that artwork and will always associate THAT combination with Django's work. And it will live on forever in photos. NOTHING can take that away from him.

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

Id say forget the flag, leave Django's work on one side with the revised Diamond Lil on the other if its absolutely necessary. I don't look at this a wise move. IMHO Diamond Lil never looked right because it was an A model, not an D model. Now it just seems like the B-24/B-29 guys are going back to what they remember best and look fondly on. I'd say repaint the CAF wildcat or P-40 before messing with the 24 again. The only things that should be done on Ole' 927 is covert it back to a full bomber with all the emenities including a bomb-bay.

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

I think because the CAF owns the aircraft, they've probably had more than a few inquiries as to why "Diamond Lil" was gone. They can paint it as they like. Gary Austin did an amazing job and all of his work and paint will still be on the airplane. Django's art work will be missed, and it's too bad we only had it for a few years, but the change is probably more of a marketing plan than something to spite Gary and Django.
It might even increase sales of T-shirts with the new nose art. Why do you think so many Pro Sports teams keep changing their logo? To make money on the new designs from sales to their their hardcore fan base.
I'm glad they're keeping the over-all colors. Just think, in the UK, they are always re-painting their historic aircraft in new schemes to keep things fresh. I think we should see more of that around here!!!
My 2 cents.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

while they're at why not put a bigger tramp stamp on it.....

genuine insecurity on behalf of the current CAF Board methinks....

of course its theirs so they can paint it how they like.

Having read the sugar on here about Paul Allen's P-40 repaint I can't see why correcting part of the paint job with the neutrality flag is a big deal..

Everyone knew for years and years what Lil' looked like, so after the reconfiguration, Gary thought that the new name and art would attract attention to the aircraft that it was lacking, especially since it was going to be up to the 24 to carry the squadron with Fifi down. He was EXACTLY right. What that also did was create a buzz. The single most asked question at any event has been "Where's Diamond Lil'?" Gary's vision was only beginning when he passed. That vision is slowly progressing towards completion. I believe, as well as many others, that if he were still with us, he would agree. These aircraft are operated on a donation basis, so marketing is a big issue. There were meetings and discussions and polls taken for a long time concerning the idea of disrespecting Gary Austin that probably only a small handful of folks on this forum know about. The change was also voted on by non-staff members. I helped Gary quite a bit with the reconfiguration, and was told straight from him what the reasoning was for the change to Ol 927. From the marketing aspect, this has been a multi-step process. I think he would be proud. Not to stir the pot, just my 2 cents

While I appreciate all the hard work Gary and Django put into creating the "Ol 927" persona, I have to admit I liked the name "Diamond Lil" a lot better. Face it, 'Lil' is much closer to what general public views as a typical name for a WWII airplane and is thus much easier to market.

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I hope they don't re-apply the old Lil nose art. Keep the name but NOT the art....that Lil was a Vargas Girl right out of Playboy from the mid 60's. I'll spec the issue in an edit.

THE VARGAS GIRL AUGUST 1969

Considering the CAF Board had nothing to do with it, why don't you keep your thinly veiled attacks to yourself?