I took advantage of the cool, clear afternoon weather last Tuesday (10/7/2008) and decided to make a visit to Ezell Aviation for a look at their current projects. I was amazed at the level of activity that was taking place on an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday afternoon. My first surprise was finding the F4U-4 that had recently arrived from France, parked adjacent to the hangar’s main entrance. I had never seen this plane in person before, and though it had already been largely disassembled, it was a very welcome “hello” for this Corsair buff.
A quick scan of the ramp, and it became apparent that the Lonestar Flight Museum was wasting no time sending up a selection of its hurricane damaged fighters for much needed TLC. The F3F and Spitfire had just arrived, and the crew was wasting no time getting both of the planes offloaded and into the hangar. Also, the Sea Fury that suffered a forced landing at Reno last month was also arriving by truck that day. The shop hands were bustling to rearrange the hangar in order to make room for the overwhelming load of new material. A second F4U-4 (BuNo.97302) was being wrapped in plastic and relocated outside onto the ramp as the F3F was offloaded and rolled indoors to take its place.
At the center of it all was the unmistakable centerpiece of the facility – the “Red Bull” P-38 Lightning. If there ever was a jewel of the warbird world, this no doubt is it! It’s hard to describe the conceptual brilliance behind this restoration, but it left little doubt in my mind that pure excellence can in fact be realized with enough blood, sweat, dollars & tears!
On to the photos…
The Lonestar Flight Museum’s F3F arrived on the day of my visit to join the Spitfire, which was already disassembled in Ezell's main hangar. It was a treat to see the crew scrambling to manage the arrival of these arriving airframes.
The Lonestar Flight Museum’s Spitfire fuselage was freshly parked indoors along the hangar’s north interior wall. It’s wings still resided on their trailer on the main tarmac outside. The airframe had obviously been thoroughly washed before arrival and didn't really look that bad considering the circumstances. From what I understand, the work on these airframes begins immediately.
Here’s Dan Friedkin's recent acquisition - F4U-4, BuNo.97264 that recently arrived from France about 4 months ago. The plane was originally scheduled to receive new radios, then it was decided to detail of the firewall forward, wheel wells, etc. The project has now become pretty much a through & through refurbishment. It will be interesting to see what paint scheme the owner eventually decides to apply.
This is F4U-4, BuNo.97302 previously owned and popularly flown by Howard Pardue, now under new ownership. Work on this one has slowed to a crawl, and during my visit it was being wrapped in plastic and tugged outside to make room inside for the new arrivals from LSFM.
The Red Bull P-38 of course
I knew it was going to be astonishing, but you just don't get it until you see it. It’s extremely difficult to capture the true brilliance of this plane in photographs. Nelson was respectably humble in regard to the shop’s work on this one, but he has
much to be proud of!!! Exceptional effort by an exceptional crew.
Some of the staff hard at work at their stations. The gentleman in the foreground is fabricating new hydraulic lines for the wheel wells of F4U-4, BuNo.97264.
The Seafury that crashed at Reno this year also arrived on this day. Nelson wheeled the tail section around with a forklift to have his guys remove some bits before placing it into storage. Howard Pardue arrived for a chat and to survey the damage. Glad to hear the pilot (Randy Gardner, I believe) was okay. The rest of the plane was being stuffed away in a separate storage hangar.
This is the "Gulfhawk" Bearcat previously owned and restored by Elmer Ward as a two-seater. Following it's crash at Oshkosh quite a few years ago, it's finally enjoying a slow restoration back to single-seat configuration for Stephen Grey in the UK. Ezell Aviation is utilizing the fuselage jig previously used for Howard Pardue's XF8F-1 restoration to get the aft fuselage back in shape, and then the plane will return to Fighter Rebuilders in Chino for completion.
Howard Pardue's FM-2 Wildcat suffered some relatively minor damage during the recent tornado at Breckenridge. The crew was repairing metal along the leading edge of the starboard wing, as well as some fabric damage to the elevator I believe.
The wing of a P-51D was mounted in a jig and receiving repairs. I didn’t catch the name of this particular Mustang, but it apparently bellied in on the runway during departure in the recent past.
My good bud Randy Tait who’s been with Ezell Aviation for about 20 years now. He was fabricating new side consoles for F4U-4, BuNo.97264 during my visit.
The CAF’s P-63 King Cobra was stored away at the north end of the airport in the hangar that previously housed Bill Arnot’s B-25 “Silver Lady” back in the day. Many a good memory from that hangar, and the post-show BBQ dinners that were hosted there during the airshow years.
A Wilga PZL-104 was also tucked away alongside the CAF’s P-63 fuselage. An obtuse and ungainly aircraft design, but kinda cool IMO.
And lastly, and unidentified wing that I was hoping someone might be able to identify.
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