What's in the middle of nowhere? (Big Spring, TX)

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Brilliant pics Gary, many thanks for taking the trouble to take them and to post them here for all of us to enjoy... I love looking at places like this - long may they remain, though sadly they are drying up year by year....

question though.....

the two seat Buchon...

after a safe rebuild/return to airworthiness do you:

1. respray it in an original Spanish scheme as it would have worn in service?
2. respray it in a spurious, but attractive, WW2 Luftwaffe scheme
3. preserve it in its original BoB film markings*

* could this be the first example of recognition of a film as a historical event over and above/instead of the event it itself commemorated?!!

ATB

TT

[gregv]

the two seat Buchon...

after a safe rebuild/return to airworthiness do you:

1. respray it in an original Spanish scheme as it would have worn in service?
2. respray it in a spurious, but attractive, WW2 Luftwaffe scheme
3. preserve it in its original BoB film markings*

* could this be the first example of recognition of a film as a historical event over and above/instead of the event it itself commemorated?!!

ATB

TT

my vote goes for #3! I'd love to see more Buchons in their original BoB movie schemes, as well as the camera B-25.

cheers

greg v.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Me too Greg - as I said - strange to think that this would be a reversal of the 'authentic scheme' policy usually adopted by warbird owners (quite rightly) - interesting huh?

ATB

TT

[Lynn Allen]

Thanks for the links Tulio!

Prowling around in there I found this...
http://www.fag.es/sevilla/batallainglaterra/batallainglaterra.htm


How cool is this shot!

A great photo, it looks like they are standing on a trap field, where you shoot clay target from a trap...

Lynn

[Ollie]

I vote for #3 as well.

[Rhinelander]

Just a quick story,

In the late 80s I went out to the Edwards airport with some school buddies(We went to school with his daugther).

Mr Edwards had the entire lot of us get on top of the Coast Guard Sea plane that you see on page 3. From there he gave us a personel airshow. It was pretty impressive until too many of us got a bit too far out on the wing. Had to run back the other way to balance it out.

[Lightjug]

Wow, I'm still stunned after seeing these pictures yesterday. A lot of us have dreamed about finding a lost warbird covered in dust. But seeing that many all in one place? Thanks for sharing Gary.

[REGINALD VON GLEASON III]

I went to Connie Edwards' place, just outside of Big Spring, TX yesterday to drop off some Piaggio parts for him. I know most of you have seen his collection of stuff, but for the rest of you, here are some pictures........

Mustang, ME-109 (CASA), & Merlin "stuff" all over the place.......



















The Sherman tank runs, but needs a carburetor right now. Trust me, he has plenty of other projects going on right now and just hasn't made time for the tank too........



Just as we started going through his hangars, the batteries on my camera took a dump. This one photo is all I have for now, as I am trying to find a cable to download the rest of the pictures I took with a borrowed camera. I have quite a few more photos I'll share with y'all later........

Oh, for the "REST" of us..thank you sooo much for including us, the little people....that made my day..and probably Nathan's

Gary

[AIRIC]

Thanks for sharing Gary. I grew up reading articles about Connie Edwards and this is the first bunch of good photos I have seen from his place. Very exciting stuff.

Eric

[Canso42]

Wow. This group never ceases to amaze me. Okay Gary....more pix please. Murphy's Law for anything battery powered. Happened to me at WOH '04. aaaaarrrgh!
Connie and his trademark Uboat Kapitan's cap.
I had the pleasure of a long phone conversation with Connie Edwards several years ago after leaving him a PBY related message. He was pretty busy but still took the time to return my call and I found him quite friendly and would love to just sit down and listen to the guy.
Gary, thanks for the pix of 4 November Charlie and the Turtle. (Scrunch down a little so that wing in the foreground blocks the reflection off the license plate on the red Volkenstrudel and your flash will light up more. )
One thing that Connie stressed to me in our conversation: "....I'm not a COLLECTOR! I'm just a guy with a bunch of airplanes. If you want to see a COLLECTION, go over to Midland and see the Confederates. They'll be glad to show you their collection."
We spoke of PBY matters and he told me that he thinks the 6A (N4NC) handles better than the Turtle, a 5A. You have to be a real flying boat purist to make THAT distinction.
We ended our talk with him giving me a kind of open-ended invite to come see the p-boats. I'm sure he has every warbirder in creation wanting to see his stuff and hang out with him so I truly appreciate him taking the time to call me back. Especially since he'd been out of the country and was going through a humongous backlog of email.

Show me another group of people anywhere in any hobby or interest anywhere more fascinating than warbird people. Are you with me?

Doug Ratchford 'Canso42'
the PBY guy at LSFM

[retroaviation]

Canso42, I just sent you a PM.

Gary

[b29flteng]

Back in the early 70s Connie gave a talk at OSH about the filming of the Battle of Britain including the home movies he took. If I remember correctly he was flying all the aircraft that get shot down. The best story I remember is they were flying a formation of 111s over the Mediteranian Sea and released the concrete filled bombs, unintentionally, over a Russian fishing fleet. His quote, "You can imagine the international incident we created. Spanish bombers painted to look like WWII German planes dropping fake bombs flown by Spanish, American, and Britsh pilots on a Russian fishing fleet"!!!!

[gooseguy]

Through the wonders of technology and the generosity of the owner of the camera I borrowed, I now have the remaining pictures that I took of Connie's place to share with you all. Sorry for the poor quality of some of them. The lighting wasn't the best for picture takin'.......

The Albatross greets you as you come into hangar 1.........









A couple of PBY's........







A Spitfire......







Some ol' Mustang......




A Piaggio (one of four that he has).........



And a TBM Avenger.......



That's pretty much all of the pictures I have of the first hangar. Here are a couple more Piaggios sitting outside, on the way to the other hangars.....



Looking inside hangar 2........









Then there was some ol' two seater thing-a-majiggy ...............









Walking in to hangar 3, you are greeted by Tex's crop dusters and a couple of old drop tanks.........


Further back in the corner, he's got a couple of T-6 projects, and just a few more 109's.............



















And I kept tripping over an old box with some ol' zero time engine in it. Now why on Earth would someone want an old German engine like this? ..........







Then, of course, there were other boxes of stuff laying around. These had some old props in them that were also zero time (there were something like four or six crates of these)..........





These were sitting outside the first hangar.........



And jpeters, this photo is for you............



Well, there you have it. That's all of the pictures I took of Connie's place. I know some of you would like more detailed shots of some of the airplanes, but I wasn't there long and I'll just have to save that for another trip. I have received many, many requests from everyone asking me to get them in touch with Connie, but unless you're a "Fat Cat" (his words), and want to buy the whole collection, he doesn't wish to discuss the sale of anything. Connie is quite friendly and has more stories than you can imagine. As time goes on, I will see about posting more photos of my future trips to his place, along with sharing some Connie stories.

I hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Gary

Hi all! I just stumbled across this site. I have been searching for information on grumman goose number B-73 (N322). I got to fly in this goose when I was a little kid with my father. My father loved the goose and I soon became a fan myself. I never forgot about my first flight and how exciting it was taking off and landing in the pacific ocean. I read that N322 belonged to a guy in Big Spring Texas and low and behold I found this site and a photo of the goose I flew in back in 1978. It's the white goose or whats left of the white goose sitting outside the hanger. Man am I happy you took that photo. At least I know that It hasn't been scrapped. It is in horrible shape but it's still here. I wish it weren't outside but hey at least its not in the snow or salty air. Gary if you ever get back there can you take more photos of it please. That aircraft has alot of sentimental value to me as my father passed away almost 20 years ago now and that flight in that plane is one of my dearest memories of him. Thanks for listening and thank you for the photos.

Mike

[retroaviation]

I'll see what I can do for you the next time I'm visiting with Connie.

Gary

[The Inspector]

A gentleman over at the Aircraft Engine Historical Society is trying to track down the serial #'s of all surviving MERLINS for a book, I think he should pack his sleeping bag and ask to spend the winter out on Mr. Edwards ramps and hangers-


I suffer from AIDS....Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome