Warbird Information Exchange

I have been throwing this idea around in my head for awhile and now I bring it to the table, for all of you to ponder over….




The Commerative Airforce has been quite successful, in the fact that they have maintained a HUGE collection of flyable aircraft for almost 50 years now. How do they do this? Of course almost anybody knows who frequent this blog. The answer is numerous satellite “Wings”.

And even though they might only have 1 or 2 aircraft, it is still a very ingenious idea, that allows numerous communities to get in on experiencing warbirds the way they were meant to be seen. In the air.

Almost every part of the country has a Wing in it. Except for New England.

Why is this? Surely its not that fact that its Yankee territory and you southern boys are still sore are you? (I kid of course)
I’m guessing the real reason is because there hasn’t been much organization in these states for a northern wing? Is this the reason or am I missing something?

Coming from a smaller town in southern Connecticut, there isn’t a whole lot of warbird activity at my local airport.
A BT-15 that never flies.
A couple of Yak-52’s and a Mallard that have since dropped off the radar in the past few years,
And an L-39 that thankfully does fly now and again.

Now of course I am grateful that these aircraft have been based here, but i feel that this airport can be so much more warbird orientated. It has the potential, just not enough support of the community yet.

What if I wanted to say, try and start a wing of the C.A.F. up here on Northern soil? This is all hypothetical of course since I don’t have the means (yet) in my life to do so. But I wonder what would be the steps to start a new wing here?

Just another one of my “ideas”

Chris

It comes down to two things Chris, M-O-N-E-Y, and a DEDICATED membership. The CAF has several aircraft available for adoption. C-46 Tinker Bell is just one example. She has been sitting in Midland for years waiting for a home. I worked on her years ago and she is in great shape. She costs a little fewer than two grand an hour to operate and is high maintenance. There are other aircraft available. The CAF is in business to preserve and FLY war birds. Flying takes a huge commitment in both work and money. You need a committed group of members backed by buckets of money and a lot of love to achieve these goals.

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Check out our new website.
CAF SoCal Wing http://www.cafsocal.com/

We have two wings in Pennsylvania:

The Delaware Valley Wing in Philadephia
The Keystone Wing in Pittsburgh

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Taylor Stevenson

Dan

Tell me about it!

It’s a shame that these old birds are so expensive! I know that Tinker Bell would look right at home on our ramp here in Stratford. The only trick now is to.........

1-Find an actual hanger to house the big bird.
2-Find enough people to help commit to the Wing and the cause.
3-Find enough MONEY to keep her running.
4-Everything else that you veterans of warbirds would know about, that I don’t know yet!

I am currently involved with the CASC (which will be a non flying museum), but that just isn’t the same as having a local flying museum. You all know that. And as MustangDriver says, “Its good to have both kinds of museums” which I agree with, so I say why not have a new wing in Connecticut? But again it is money and the devotion of the locals.

P.S. –The CASC isn’t even an open museum yet due to alot of red tape, politics, and bull@#$% that seem to plague Connecticut. But that’s just my limited opinion. In addition I’m the youngest one in there helping by a long shot! I’m working next to some original Chance Vought workers that are pushing 80!

But that’s another story.

Chris

Chris,

For those not wanting to take on a project as large as Tinker Bell, there's also a YO-55 (Ercoupe), a Cessna O-2, a Beech C-45, and a Grumman TBM that'd love to have a sponsor!

Besides, getting a Squadron or Wing organized first, sans aircraft, would enable the group to determine just what it can handle, aircraft-wise.

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Bob

I think we have a wing in France? I don't think they have a plane. Anything is possible!

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Check out our new website.
CAF SoCal Wing http://www.cafsocal.com/

We have wings in France, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. The Swiss wing has a Stinson L-5. Don't know about the others.

The french wing has a piper cub (painted in semi-warbird colors) and I believe another civilian type french aircraft...not sure of the designation though.

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Taylor Stevenson

FYI...the TBM and C-45 have been assigned to their respective units now, but the C-46, YO-55, and 0-2 are certainly looking for new homes.

Gary

There used to be a CAF Squadron up in the Long Island area of New York but it disbanded back in the 90's. Not sure why but most likely the lack of "young" blood into group. Time, talent and money are requirements for any non-profit group and when you don't have the right mix of any one part the entire point of the mission is lost. It also is a factor of the distance from the HQ of the organization. If you look at the map, the number of units in the CAF is inverse to the miles from Midland.
But at least you have two flying museums up in the Northeast corridor at Reading, PA and Farmingdale, NY.

Very true, but I know I can strengthen the New England scene of warbirds. Especially here in CT.

Maybe one day..

Just be careful which wing you get involved with and carefully look into all the rules, by-laws, and hidden gotchas before laying down your money. I have nothing against CAF - I think they do a great thing.
However, I did look into joining a wing and sponsoring an aircraft a number of years ago. I was told that they would be happy to take my money, I would be expected to work on the plane (not a problem), but that, even being qualified to do so, I would not be permitted to fly the plane because I didn't have seniority. However, I would have had to carry insurance just like the other pilots! Oh yeah, look into the 'rules' about types of insurance you need to carry. I know back then it was very strange.
I'm not saying this is typical of all CAF wings, but it was my experience and enough that I never joined.
I think it's great you're interested in having a wing in your area. Just make sure you fully understand what you're getting into before you do.

Appreciate the input Cindy.

Boy, Cindy I hope you told those guys where to stick it! If it were a CAF wing I’d love to know which one. Do that kind of crap today and you will loose your charter. The “exclusive good old boys” are still out there but as the money gets thin the exclusivity has to go bye-bye. My wing is trying everything to get away from the “old fart’s club” image and make it family friendly. We network with youth groups and schools in the area and conduct tours all year long. We have several member events during the year so our member’s families can participate. We have a cadet program for young people. Organizations like the one you speak of will SENORITY themselves out of business.

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Check out our new website.
CAF SoCal Wing http://www.cafsocal.com/

That’s good to hear, Dan. It’s important to keep the spouses happy.

Perhaps Culpepper’s Angels should be re-formed.

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