Warbird Information Exchange

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Don't touch my junk!!

...and I thought Bob Diemert only liked Japanese airplanes.

Please!

Enough with the Bob Diemert slander.

He was rescuing aircraft at a time when they were being widely scrapped. He did the best he could with the resources he had at hand. A vast majority of the aircraft that he was involved in would not have survived without his involvement.

It is my understanding that his Hurricane was the only privately owned airworthy Hurricane in the world at one point - which seems to indicate he was one of the few people at the time who actually was trying to do something to put these birds in the air. He was doing his best.

Look back at what people were doing in the 60’s and 70’s, most car ‘restorations’ involved gallons of bondo, and workmanship that would make today’s car enthusiast cringe….it was a different time, with different standards, equipment and capabilities. Warbirds were being flown, but darn few people had any interest in hulks and fewer were taking those hulks and actually making them fly.

Perhaps before making such comments about Mr. Diemert, you should ask yourself the following:

1. What was I doing in the 1960' and 70's to preserve Warbirds?
2. How many Warbirds have I saved?
3. Given the time period and resources at hand, could I have done any better?

I have met Mr. Diemert several times and have found him to be an enthusiastic member of the warbird community. If someone has something to say about him, let’s make it positive – not negative.

The pitch built into the propellors was a nice touch.

Is Mr Diemert still active in the warbird world or has he retired? He's gotta be getting up there towards his 'seventies by now.

I don't think that fits the definition of the word.
A thicker skin is a requirements on the board here.
Search Bob Diemert and you maybe surprised by what you find:idea:

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Don't touch my junk!!

Better yet work on an aircraft that he had worked on. I promise you that will be an eye opening experience.
That has nothing to do with what he did to save aircraft or what a great person he is.
Rich

Question re the Defender.
Who sabotaged the Zero's P & W

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Don't touch my junk!!

Getting back to the photo, I guess it was a fake to draw the attention away from the real targets? During Desert Storm I flew into a base that had four fake F-16s sitting by the end of the runway. They had a Bird cage type frame work covered with painted canvas.

all the ww 2 combatants made phoney decoys to throw off aerial recon flights, waste & expend ordinance etc, distract from possible key targets. the u.s. was most talented at this, employing hollywood movie crews to fabricate everything from airplanes to tanks, made of wood, paper, even inflatables. a great book that really enlarges on the topic is called "secret soldiers" sorry, forgot who the author is.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Not long ago, I saw a full-size inflatable F-16 offered for auction on eBay. It was actually very realistic looking, considering what it was. It looked good enough to have served as a military decoy.

No, I didn't buy it. It carried a five-figure price tag.

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

i saw a foldable / collapsible f-16 decoy for 20 grand!!! a clevelander owned it. it looked pretty boxy or squared off but i'm sure it did the trick.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

MAPS has one of the F-16 decoys in a huge crate. Perhaps someday we'll assemble it!

probably the 1 i described

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Davem,

You are absolutely correct and I do apologize. Trying to be cute during a breaktime at work with a foolish remark that I guess for a split second made me chuckle during a very tense day on the job. Never a good time to make any post.

You may not believe this but Bob was a real inspiration to me too when I first read about his recoveries and projects in the early 1970's. I never met him and have never seen the famous video soemtimes mentioned here. I really did respect any and all warbird saving efforts in the old days whether they were a Bob Diemert, an Ernie Simmons, a Walter Soplata, an Earl Rienert, a Jack Hardwick, or anyone else.


Lowell Thompson