CAF Air Show Galveston 1972 Part 1
Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:36 pm
Due to the number of photos I am dividing this into two parts. Part 1 today. I can id most of the aircraft attending.
bill word
bill word
Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:43 pm
Sweeeeeeet! 
So, how many of those birds are still flying today, being over twice as old, and looking even better?
So, how many of those birds are still flying today, being over twice as old, and looking even better?
Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:54 pm
Holedigger wrote:Sweeeeeeet!
So, how many of those birds are still flying today, being over twice as old, and looking even better?
Most of them I believe. The P-63 is being rebuilt, the ex_Levitz P-38 no longer flies, and the Wildcat is no longer with us.
Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:05 pm
The Wildcat is being rebuilt, so it is still around
Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:14 pm
The Dauntless looks better today. Red Nose and the P-40N look about as good. The Helldiver looks not as good.
August
August
Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:25 pm
Is that B-25 the "Shady Lady"?
Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:42 pm
k5083 wrote:The Dauntless looks better today. Red Nose and the P-40N look about as good. The Helldiver looks not as good.
August
I disagree. The Helldiver looks better today. Inside and out.
????
Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:59 pm
They all look better back then especially the SB2C and it's Curtiss prop 
It's just a coincidence that none of them has big ugy decals
It's just a coincidence that none of them has big ugy decals
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:02 pm
The T6 Snoopy burned up in a hangar fire at Conroe, Texas some years ago. The Lodestar was wrecked in a landing accident. Most of the Blue Angel F-4s are on poles around the country.
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:06 pm
Easy on the 'Slaggin Waggin' decal speak.
Most of them are still with us AND flying is the best part!!!!
Most of them are still with us AND flying is the best part!!!!
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:32 pm
Based on some research I think it is this B-25:
North American B-25J (EB-25J)(JB-25J) "Mitchell" (108-47645)(USAAF 44-86891)(N3337G)(Later displayed at Castle AFB museum as B-25B 40-2344)
bill word
North American B-25J (EB-25J)(JB-25J) "Mitchell" (108-47645)(USAAF 44-86891)(N3337G)(Later displayed at Castle AFB museum as B-25B 40-2344)
bill word
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:44 pm
I don't know the numbers, but it looks like the Shady Lady, once owned by John Stokes and also J.K. West. (not sure who had her first) Does anyone know if this is her?
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:46 pm
I know there are a lot of people on WIX who's hair stands up when they see those 1970's 'restorations' and paint jobs....but man, that, for me, is just the 'golden age' of the Warbirds. It was before the era of $2 MILLION dollar Mustang restorations that look better than ANYTHING that ever rolled off the production line at North American.
Some of those were the first 'warbirds' I can remember seeing (not counting the 'racers' imprinted on me at Reno in those years)...and the glossy, inaccurate paint schemes will always be special to me. Somewhere I still have a poster of that Corsair with the CAF logo and the tri-color GLOSSY paint scheme. Tumbleweed in it's FAF green? Ugly as hell...but one of my favorite CAF flyers of all time. Texas Raiders with the cargo door....AWESOME! Gary's P-38 the first year he put the low-profile cowlings on the engines (and you have to love the Braniff logo on the gear door--Big John Rader was one of Gary's mechanics and worked for Braniff).
You may look down your nose these days at the Colonels taking themselves way too seriously with the rank and the uniforms (or look at them as old guys trying to re-live their youth and "play war")....but they were the guys who saved it and started this whole thing. I doubt there would be a WIX today if there wasn't the interest of the CAF back then to do this. And I'll bet that they were having a hell of a lot more fun doing this back then than 95% of the Warbird community does doing this today--too many egos, over-restorations, and pretentiousness abound.
Someone made a comment that the FM-2 was being rebuilt. Awesome. I hope the CAF has the cajones to repaint it in the pre-war USS Ranger markings again!
Thanks for sharing these, Bill.
Some of those were the first 'warbirds' I can remember seeing (not counting the 'racers' imprinted on me at Reno in those years)...and the glossy, inaccurate paint schemes will always be special to me. Somewhere I still have a poster of that Corsair with the CAF logo and the tri-color GLOSSY paint scheme. Tumbleweed in it's FAF green? Ugly as hell...but one of my favorite CAF flyers of all time. Texas Raiders with the cargo door....AWESOME! Gary's P-38 the first year he put the low-profile cowlings on the engines (and you have to love the Braniff logo on the gear door--Big John Rader was one of Gary's mechanics and worked for Braniff).
You may look down your nose these days at the Colonels taking themselves way too seriously with the rank and the uniforms (or look at them as old guys trying to re-live their youth and "play war")....but they were the guys who saved it and started this whole thing. I doubt there would be a WIX today if there wasn't the interest of the CAF back then to do this. And I'll bet that they were having a hell of a lot more fun doing this back then than 95% of the Warbird community does doing this today--too many egos, over-restorations, and pretentiousness abound.
Someone made a comment that the FM-2 was being rebuilt. Awesome. I hope the CAF has the cajones to repaint it in the pre-war USS Ranger markings again!
Thanks for sharing these, Bill.
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:48 pm
me109me109 wrote:k5083 wrote:The Dauntless looks better today. Red Nose and the P-40N look about as good. The Helldiver looks not as good.
August
I disagree. The Helldiver looks better today. Inside and out.
Look at those bomb bay doors in the pictures. They look like Helldiver bomb bay doors. I guess "better" is a matter on which opinions can differ, but the whole belly and bomb bay area that was rebuilt after the crash certainly looks a lot less like anything on a stock Helldiver.
August
Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:56 pm
Speedy wrote: I know there are a lot of people on WIX who's hair stands up when they see those 1970's 'restorations' and paint jobs....but man, that, for me, is just the 'golden age' of the Warbirds. It was before the era of $2 MILLION dollar Mustang restorations that look better than ANYTHING that ever rolled off the production line at North American.
Some of those were the first 'warbirds' I can remember seeing (not counting the 'racers' imprinted on me at Reno in those years)...and the glossy, inaccurate paint schemes will always be special to me. Somewhere I still have a poster of that Corsair with the CAF logo and the tri-color GLOSSY paint scheme. Tumbleweed in it's FAF green? Ugly as heck...but one of my favorite CAF flyers of all time. Texas Raiders with the cargo door....AWESOME! Gary's P-38 the first year he put the low-profile cowlings on the engines (and you have to love the Braniff logo on the gear door--Big John Rader was one of Gary's mechanics and worked for Braniff).
You may look down your nose these days at the Colonels taking themselves way too seriously with the rank and the uniforms (or look at them as old guys trying to re-live their youth and "play war")....but they were the guys who saved it and started this whole thing. I doubt there would be a WIX today if there wasn't the interest of the CAF back then to do this. And I'll bet that they were having a heck of a lot more fun doing this back then than 95% of the Warbird community does doing this today--too many egos, over-restorations, and pretentiousness abound.
Someone made a comment that the FM-2 was being rebuilt. Awesome. I hope the CAF has the cajones to repaint it in the pre-war USS Ranger markings again!
Fuggin' A well-tol, bubba!