F9F Flying?

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Are there any F9F's flying or any in the works? I seem to rember an add that ran in Trade a plane for a fyling F9F but this must have been 15 or 20 years ago.

P51Mstg · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:36 am **Posts:** 1202

There is one that could fly now, at Cavanaugh in TX. It last few some years (10+) ago (someone else could fill in better), it was at OSH back in the 1990's and really is an awesome plane.

The other belonged to Art Wolk, an attorney in Philadelpia. It was restored by Jack Levine in Detroit back in the late 70's early 80's, I remember seeing it in Jack's hangar at Pontiac airport in the summer of 84. That was before Jack got killed in a P-51 later that fall. They went through a lot restoring it. They also had several hulks they stripped for parts. It was a superb restoration. I was told the pilot that took it on the test flight was the same man that flew the first Panther on it maiden flight.

This would have been the one that you saw for sale. Mr. Wolk bought the airplane after Jack died. He flew it for several years in a MIG/Panther Act.

He was at Kalamazoo one year for the show there. (I only know what I read about it in Aviaiton Safety Magazine). Aparently old jet engiens ran on a version of Jet fuel that doesn't exist anymore and was closer to gasoline than kerosene. So they fueled them with a mixture of Jet and AvGas. Aparently the Panther was fueled with Jet only (supervise the refueling of your airplane). On take off, it didn't develop the right amount of power and couldn't perform properly. It either took off and went around the pattern and made an emergency landing OR it simply never got off the ground and overshot the runway at a pretty high rate of speed. There was an embankment at the end of the runway and it went over it and totaled the plane. The remains were donated to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Art Wolk wrote a letter to the Editor of Aviation Safety and said the problem was a fuel pump that he had a shop overhaul and they did not do the work at all. (pump was still sealed with tags from 1950s and hadn't been opened up).

There will probably never be another flying Panther beyond the one in TX.

I don't know what happened, but I know that I read and recall, and thats what I know.............

Mark H

Bill Kistler · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:13 pm

That plane is now located right near the Quonset Air Museum. The QAM people indicated that the Saratoga Museum owns it.

And the Cavanaugh bird.

Bill

Jerry O'Neill · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:21 pm

It may have been the Cavanaugh F9F that he saw for sale, as it was first flying with the late Harry Doan out of New Smyrna, FL in the late 1980's.

I saw Wolk and Doan flying both F9F's at Tico one year. Not sure when Cavanaugh acquired the aircraft, but it might have been after Harry's death.
Jerry

Old SAR pilot · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:54 pm

Saw recently that there was an F-9F8T being restored to airworthy condition in Kissimmee, FL (N24WJ). Any word on that one?

rwdfresno · **Posted:** Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:47 pm

Quote:

There will probably never be another flying Panther beyond the one in TX.

Kermit has one that could become a flyer. It is very complete and was in very restorable condition when we sold it to him 10 or so years ago. He also has a really nice complete engine for it. Last I spoke with him about it he said that he didn't have much plans for an airworthy restoration of it in the near future.

Lynn Hunt has a couple airframes as well that are in restorable condition although are nowhere near as nice as Kermits aircraft. I sure would love to see one in the air one of these days they are my favorite jet of all time.

Ryan

Tulio · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 1:05 am **Posts:** 3236

I don't know what happened with this one (Formerly with the Argentinean Navy) it is a Grumman F9F-2B (BuAer 127147); in Argentinean service it was first 0455 / 2-A-114 and then 455 / 3-A-114; after sustaining gunfire damage in April 1963, it was assigned as a teaching aid at the Naval Mechanics School, where it was marked as 3-A-331; after being imported into the U.S.A., it was registered N91867 to Clde Barton, in Lake Jackson, TX:

I was told that it was flyable, and based at the Brazoria Co. airport, but I have been there a few times, and have never seen it.

Saludos,

Tulio

warbird1 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:25 pm **Posts:** 2760

P51Mstg wrote:

There will probably never be another flying Panther beyond the one in TX.

I seem to recall one at Breckenridge, owned by either Pardue or Ezell. I don't know what condition it's in, but since it's in their hangar, I figure it might be a candidate for an airworthy restoration.

Anyone from the B-camp care to give more info?

RickH · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:03 am

Good question, tulio. Clyde got that plane when Ernesto was doing some stuff with him. I haven't spoken to Clyde in years. His hangar is the last one on the field if you turn right along the flightline, it's behind the gate on the north end. If you get down to Brazoria, see if you can get some shots of the Hughes S-43 . I'm sure most of the folks here on WIX have never seen it.

ltdann · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:27 am

I helped restore 123072 when it was at Pontiac. It was co-owned by Jack Levine and Bill Pryor. I spent many hours stripping paint as a 16-year old on this plane. I've long since lost touch with Bill Pryor, and I did get one flight in Jack's P-51. I was supposed to go to Oshkosh in it one year because he had no one in the back seat and I asked.....but it failed the mag check during the run-up.....

steve dickey · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:27 pm

[quote="warbird1"][quote="P51Mstg"]
There will probably never be another flying Panther beyond the one in TX.
[/quote]

I seem to recall one at Breckenridge, owned by either Pardue or Ezell. I don't know what condition it's in, but since it's in their hangar, I figure it might be a candidate for an airworthy restoration.

Anyone from the B-camp care to give more info?[/quote]

Well I haven't been here but almost 9 years so it was long gone before I got here. I've only seen a couple pictures while it was here and it looked OK considering. It was sold off then eventually made it to MCAS Cherry Point where it is today I think. Found a picture of it on Airliners.net @ Cherry Point taken in August 2004. It was a photo recon version of the couger Bu 127487, sorry I don't know how to link it from the airliners site but if someone would like to? Thanks.

warbird1 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:25 pm **Posts:** 2760

steve dickey wrote:

Well I haven't been here but almost 9 years so it was long gone before I got here. I've only seen a couple pictures while it was here and it looked OK considering. It was sold off then eventually made it to MCAS Cherry Point where it is today I think. Found a picture of it on Airliners.net @ Cherry Point taken in August 2004. It was a photo recon version of the couger Bu 127487, sorry I don't know how to link it from the airliners site but if someone would like to? Thanks.

Thanks for the update Steve. Yea, I have to admit, I was going on memory from my last visit to B-ridge, which was over a decade ago.

Ztex · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:56 pm

The last time I saw the Cavanaugh Cougar outside of Addison was at teh Dallas Love Field airshow @ 1995-96 ish.

DaveG · **Posted:** Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:08 pm

man, that thing is beautiful.

Dave G.

Tulio · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 1:05 am **Posts:** 3236

Thank you, RickH!

I have two or three shots of the S-43, and this was at Wings over Houston, probably over 10 years ago. If these pix are OK, I can upload them here, but if you would like something more recent, then I would have to make a trip to Lake Jackson one of these days.

BTW, the guy on top of the shipping box, near the crane's hook (or whatever the name for "da-ting" is, is Ernesto.

Saludos,

Tulio

Warbird Information Exchange

F9F Flying?

Who is online