THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN 2013

I love the Skyraider. Wasn't this the theme aircraft back in 2006, when 4-5 were supposed to show up - but due to a major weather front that went to the east coast only 1 ended up showing up? Then a couple years later 3 showed up. How many Skyraiders are there left flying?

I got N188RH (gray), N62466 (dark blue) and N2AD (camo and smaller cockpit) here as well as N65164 (gray) that shows up at Sun N Fun often. How many others out there besides those 4?

According to this article there are about 15 "airworthy" Skyraiders in the United States:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_su ... Skyraiders

Probably not too likely that all 15 of these are actually currently flying, but I imagine there are at least 8 to 10 or so truly airworthy AD/A-1 Skyraiders in the country. The one in Tennessee and the one in VA Beach are currently slated for Thunder in August and I would think that at least another 2 or 3 may be able to able to be procured for the show. With a little luck the showing will be much better than what happened in 2006.

Bring the Skyraiders on!

[michael luther]

Just added,

The Military Aviation Museum's AD-4 Skyraider!

[kalamazookid]

I'm guessing they could get anywhere from 4-7 Skyraiders pretty realistically.

Tennessee Museum of Aviation- "Lieutenant America"- Confirmed
Military Aviation Museum- AD-4 (Dark Blue)- Confirmed
Eric Downing- AD-5 (Dark Blue)
Warbird Heritage Foundation- "Bad News"
Cavanaugh Flight Museum- AD-5 (Grey)
Rick Sharpe- A-1H "Uncle Ho's Nightmare"
Collings Foundation- AD-5- has it been repainted?

I think all the other flyers are on the west coast, but I may be missing a couple. Others:

Heritage Flight Museum (WA)- "The Proud American"
Bob Gronzik- Navy markings, based in CA
"Naked Fanny"- No idea where that's based these days
Jim Slattery- AD-5 somewhere on the left coast

[Mike]

Bob Groznik passed away recently, I'm not sure that has happened to his Skyraider since.

[wls3]

kalamazookid asked

..."Collings Foundation- AD-5- has it been repainted?"

It may have been, but sure didn't look like it needed it when I saw it May 2012.

[michael luther]

Just added,

The Warbird Heritage Foundation's AD-1 Skyraider "BAD NEWS"!

Just added,

The Warbird Heritage Foundation's AD-1 Skyraider "BAD NEWS"!

Terrific Addition, Michael! That makes the THIRD announced Skyraider for the lineup and another outstanding aircraft to support the Vietnam War theme. Keep the additions to the lineup rolling.

http://www.warbirdheritagefoundation.or ... Specs.html

[Bear]

Just added,

The Warbird Heritage Foundation's AD-1 Skyraider "BAD NEWS"!

Indeed a great addition! (Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic)

[TOM WALSH]

All,

The MAM Mosquito Mk. 26 Fighter-Bomber coming to Thunder Over Michigan in August has an additional connection to the area. Its two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines were built by the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit.

In September, 1940 Packard, then located on East Grand Boulevard, reached a licensing agreement with Rolls-Royce in England to build their superlative Merlin engine in the United States.

The first two Packard Merlins were demonstrated on test stands in a special ceremony at the Detroit facility on August 2, 1941.

By the end of WW II, a total of 55,523 Packard Merlins, designated V-1650-1 through V-1650-7, were manufactured in Michigan.

Besides the Mosquito, these engines equipped numerous other Allied aircraft - the majority of the North American Aviation (NAA) P-51 Mustang production, some Avro Lancasters, all Curtiss-Wright P-40F Warhawks and some Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire variants.

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

Last edited by TOM WALSH on Wed Apr 24, 2013 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Merlin51]

4,000 of the total were constructed as Naval Marine engines and were used in the Elco and Higgins Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats. Each 80' plywood boat was equipped with three aircraft engines giving them a top speed in excess of 45 miles an hour.

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

Slight correction. The Packard Marine engine used in the PT boats was not a Merlin, it was a completely different V-12 engine. The PT boats used the 4M-2500 engine (6.04" Bore, 6.50" Stroke, 2490 Cubic Inches Displacement, 60 Degree V-12).

[TOM WALSH]

All,

I stand corrected. I should have said the PT Boat engines were highly modified by Packard for Marine use. Rightly or wrongly they were most often referred to as "Merlins".

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

[FAR148]

Contrary to popular belief the Packard V12 4M-2500 marine engine did not start it's life as a licence built US made copy of the British Rolls Royce Merlin engine. The Merlin was never used in PT boats.

http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-008.html

Steven L

[TOM WALSH]

Thank you. I will correct the incorrect information on the Packard Marine engine accordingly.

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

[Nathan]

kalamazookid asked

..."Collings Foundation- AD-5- has it been repainted?"

It may have been, but sure didn't look like it needed it when I saw it May 2012.

That's a lovely scheme!!!!!

kalamazookid asked

..."Collings Foundation- AD-5- has it been repainted?"

It may have been, but sure didn't look like it needed it when I saw it May 2012.

That's a lovely scheme!!!!!

AGREE - the Collings AD-5/A-1E looks great. Would be terrific to see that one and Eric Downing's blue AD-5 join the party at Thunder.