Warbird Information Exchange

Hello all,

First post here. Years-long lurker and warbird enthusiast. My grandfather was a bombardier/gunner on PBY-5As, TBM/TBFs, PB4Y-2s, and B-25s in the Navy in the Pacific. He was 16 when the war started and lied about his age to get in. His wife, my grandmother, was a spotter at Ellington Field in the war with her girlfriends. These grandparents are largely the ones responsible for getting me interested in warbirds, and airplanes in general. I have fond memories of visiting them in the Dallas/Fort Worth area starting back as a child and going up to the current (they are still alive), asking them about the war, and visiting the various airplane museums in the area. Once in the mid-1990s, my grandmother and I were visiting Cavannaugh and White Lightning came in and landed. We got to look over it and saw it take off later that day. My grandmother always said the P-38 was her favorite airplane. Said she remembers seeing them at Ellington. Years later I told her it had crashed and was now flying for Red Bull, but was the same airplane we saw that day.

I am an engineer at Air Tractor in Texas. In the front office, there is a signed photo of White Lightning. Apparently, Lefty stored it here in the factory for a period of time (years?). I don’t recall if he had an ag spraying service or what, but he knew Leland Snow, the founder of Air Tractor and Leland let him keep the airplane in the factory. The current company president told me that the radiators were always leaking and Lefty never had them properly overhauled so he would keep auto parts store coolant leak clogger liquid in the baggage compartment and pour it in by the quart. Also, he said he would keep a long small diameter metal rod with a hammer in the airplane. He’d run the rod down the tubes and smack with a hammer to try to shore up the leaking solder joints! The guy telling me the story indicated “Lefty did what he needed to keep the airplane flying”. Right or wrong, it was a neat story to hear.

From 2017 – 2019, I lived in Madras, OR. It was awesome to be in the same town as the Erickson collection. It was very common for their warbirds to fly right over our house. I lost count of how many times I visited the museum. I was flying a C170A at the time and it was great fun to share the airport with them.

Stephan Nelle

Welcome to live posts on WIX! What a great warbird heritage you have through your grandfather.

Tom P.

Welcome Aboard! We have a PB4Y-2 @ the Yankee Air Museum. I have worked with the plane for 17 years. Do you have any history of where your Grandfather served or the planes he was with? JOE

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Joe Amend - YAM Restoration

Hello Stephan,

I am a long time Air Tractor owner. I hope you have great success with Air Tractor, and with the sale of the items!

Best,

Ken

Hello and welcome aboard Tim, Lefty was a long-time crop duster.

Tom P: thanks. Yes, it is a great heritage and I am grateful for his and all the others' service.

Joe: I want to see that airplane in person someday! I remember seeing Lone Star's Privateer almost complete not long before the flooding from Hurricane Ike goofed up the plans to get it airworthy. I was down there with my grandparents and my grandfather hadn't seen a Privateer since the war and he was very happy to see one in person. I'll have to look through some of my notes at home, but I know he was based in Okinawa and Guam near the end of the war. He tells stories of flying dignitaries to Russia and China. They also flew weather-data-collecting missions in the Privateer. On one flight they intentionally flew into a typhoon for weather-data-collecting and he says they were unable to get out of the vortex for more than an hour. The crew was worried they would run out of fuel before they could get out. He also said they routinely shut down an engine or two to save on fuel on long flights. His airplane was named Sleepytime Gal. Earlier he was in VPB-200 in Kaneohe, then later in VPB-124 in the Pacific. I'm not sure I have enough info or old pictures to determine a Bu. No. for his airplane. But I'll look and see what I have, and maybe request your help, or the help of the forum. See picture attached. My grandfather is second from right on the front row (kneeling).

Ken: awesome! Thanks. The factory is busier than it has ever been. Last year was a record production year and this year we'll break that record. We should be at 200 airplanes built at the end of 2023. And, we are in the middle of certifying the AT-1002, which will have a 22,000 lb gross weight and 65' wingspan! If you find yourself two hours west of Dallas/Fort Worth, give me a shout and I'll give you a tour of the factory. Are you done for the season, or do you have winter work, like cover crop?

Lynn: thanks. I figured Lefty was a crop duster, but didn't know the history. Would have been neat to be around the factory back then and see his P-38. Also, Air Tractor would have still been installing round engines. I've been here 5 years and we haven't installed a round engine in the factory in the last 6-7 years.

Stephan

Stephan,

We are done for the season. Unfortunately, we don't get enough rain to support cover crops.......

I am glad to hear AT is moving forward with the AT-1002 finally, but I will have to stick with my AT-502XP. I do sometimes miss the sound of my old AT-401B with a geared R1340 though!!

Well, this has certainly developed into one of the most interesting 'introducing myself' posts I've ever seen! I spent a lot of time in and around that old LSFM Privateer, and still miss it as a local attraction. The Privateer doesn't get a lot of press, so the photo you've posted is particularly appreciated - I don't suppose there are more...? I'm also fascinated by ATs (and ag planes in general), and Lefty and 25Y tales of yore too. Great thread!

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Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas

PIC, Ford 6600 pulling Rhino batwing up and down the runway