I was around Fort Wayne Air Service during the time when Vendetta was built. The mechanics believed that only the right half of the wing was from the original "Scat". The wings were sold off to help finance the Lear 23 wings that went on to Vendetta. After Dilley put in in a bean field near Hamilton, IN due to engine failure, the racing parts were sold to Levitz to make a major portion of Miss Ashley. The P-51 fuselage was then restored and the same set of wings had to be rebought back to make "SCAT". Jim Shuttleworth bought the aircraft during the restoration process. It was painted at Sky Harbor in Goderich Ont in SCAT colors. They still have a color poster of it at Sky Harbor in the front office as of 2010.
I knew Jim Shuttleworth and he was a really nice guy. It is believed he got into a deep stall with the TF and was unable to get out of it. I was at a Hoosier Warbird meeting when he brought it to Auburn, IN and got to sit in it. I also assisted him in finding a lost bag at the ticket counter at FWA when the airlines lost his luggage which was about one month before the accident. Then Mike V. showed me the wreckage when it was in Danville, IL. The insurance company wanted 100k for it, but it was sooo twisted not much of anything was usable. There was only about 3 ft of the aft tailcone that a mechanic would even bother touching. I was even taken back by how severe the damage was and I am a very optimistic person. The aircraft was truly destroyed and if there was anything that was from the original WWII Scat, it laid twisted beyond all recoginition on that hangar floor. So in the future if anyone is trying to say that anything is original WWII Scat, it just is not true (maybe somebody salvaged a rivet) . So it is really past time to lay this one to rest. It still makes me sad when I think about it.
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