Warbird Information Exchange

Nice article on Wyatt Fuller and the flying fossils...
HICKORY - Wyatt Fuller began building model airplanes as a youngster growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The former national go-kart champion thought he would go the route of his stock car buddies, Donnie and Bobby Allison.

That was until his first airplane flight with a Pan Am pilot and friend.

“I fell in love with it,” said Fuller, 59, a designer of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. “I signed up for a solo flight course and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Fuller wound up flying an old cargo plane in Miami. After a stint as an airline captain in Atlanta, Fuller quit flying for a living, deciding to restore vintage planes as a hobby.

“I’ve always wanted a war bird,” he said. “I began looking for a T-6 Air Force trainer. I found one that had been in a barn for 45 years.”

A Russian jet followed, then a Lockheed T-33A jet, a T-6G prop plane and his most recent acquisition, an F-86 Sabre jet.

“I found it on the Internet,” he said. “As a child, this was the one I always loved. It looks like a jet fighter is supposed to look. It has classic beauty.”

The F-86 was the Air Force’s first swept-wing jet aircraft, capable of supersonic speed but designed for traveling slower than the speed of sound.

All three planes can be found at Hickory Regional Airport when they’re not being flown at air shows around the country.

“I’m able to do something for a living that others enjoy as a hobby,” he said.

The interest has now turned into an industry, called the Flying Fossils. Assisting him is friend and former Air Force pilot Manfred Welsh.

“I wholeheartedly support his dream,” Welsh, also of Hickory, said. “He is probably one of the most exciting and lovable people you’ll meet. Our nation could use a few of him.”

Fuller lives in northeast Hickory with his wife, Lourdes. The couple have three children.

Q: Any heroes in your life?
A: “My father. He died in 1979. I grew up in real humble beginnings and he wasn’t real educated, but he helped shaped my character.”

Q: If you could have dinner with any person living or dead, who would it be?
A: “My father. I’d like to share this with him, take this walk with him.”

Q: Do you give any advice?
A: “I am living proof anyone, through hard work, can be the best at what you can do.”

Q: Some people have bumper stickers that say I’d rather be fishing, skiing or sailing. What would your bumper sticker read?
A: “I’d rather be not in a coat and tie.”
I found it here...
http://www.hickoryrecord.com/servlet/Sa ... 6705&path=