Warbird Information Exchange

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and WWII Combat veteran "Reida Rae", an A-26 Invader, were recently completed and put on display in the Military Hangar at NEAM. I stopped by today and took a good look.
Jerry



[imghttp://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd463/Jerry_ONeill/A26NEAM2.jpg[/img]

WWII photo of one of the crews who flew "Reida Rae" into combat over Eruope in 1945. This A-26 Invader, the very same original "Rieda Rae", was just restored at the New England Air Museum. 39 Missions by several crews.


Remote turrets and periscopes ready!


Tail with unit color on rudder. Isn't black a colorful color? Notice flak repair on horizontal leading edge.


Close-up of the repair on the horizontal, one of 14 flak holes on "Reida Rae". She flew 39 missions in 1945!




F-104. It's been waiting it's turn in the shop since it was damaged in the 1979 Tornado!

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

The A-26 looks fantastic! I like that they stayed with NMF. Wish they would have done the same (NMF) with the F-104 but still nice that it has been restored. Thanks for posting the pictures....

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Jerry thanks for the pictures/post. Glad to see another A26 "saved"

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A&P/I.A., A.A.S./Aviation Maintenance technology
Warbird salvage/recovery
One day I'll get that P-40!

How cool! And a Douglas-Tulsa A-26 to boot! What a great job they did.

Now to be picky- if anyone has a chance to snag a photo of the data plate, I'm curious what the Douglas-Tulsa data plates looked like on A-26 aircraft.

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

jerry, i was just there a few days ago aas well and boy they look great. Where's the B-25 and the Hellcat? In storage?

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" I am a nobody in aviation, but somebody to my family."

Hellcat and Wildcat are in the B-29 Hangar, behind the B-29, and the B-25H is in the storage building opposite the restoration hangar.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

I'm surprised that they didn't fit more plane in the b-29 hanger. Me personally, I love seeing everything on display. Great collection they have

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" I am a nobody in aviation, but somebody to my family."

The B-29 hangar id really dedicated to the 58th Bomb Wing as their memorial. There were never any plans to add other aircraft to the exhibit. The F6F and FM=2 are behind it and not very visible to the public.

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."