Warbird Information Exchange

There's a great many of us who are "airplane-minded", "paint-minded", flown-minded", honor-the-vets-minded" ... and "financially support-minded" ... for both private owners and public museums. I hope the man puts an accurate paint scheme on it. If not? oh well, his airplane.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

I find it interesting that some individuals who are so adamant in another thread that the Soplatas should be allowed to do as they please with their collection (which currently means it is rotting into the ground) are equally incensed with the suggestion that Rod might not paint his A-20 in accurate colors.

Coming from the auto restoration perspective, "authentic" paint & body protocol often means intentionally making the same mistakes originally made as well (i.e. not priming appropriately between joints, not sealing seams where rain will seep through, etc).

In the aviation arena, there's people on the extreme end who take a horsehair brush to slather invasion stripes on a freshly restored airplane. That is quite painful, as it practically defeats the point of going through the labor if the coating is applied in such a way that it fails to do the 1st and foremost purpose of paint - corrosion protection.

Remember: Mr. Lewis keeps his aircraft hangared, well-maintained in ways supporting various warbird businesses, and flown regularly.
Most of his aircraft are in representative paint schemes, even if they have some level of personalization to them, they appear to be of high standards - significantly higher standards than most aircraft in government museums (if you are measuring the quality of the paint finish).

From an operator's standpoint, having a clear coat/gloss or even satin semi-gloss will go a long way to prolonging the life of a paint job, and I'm glad to see that a number of his warbirds sport such.

We should appreciate and commend warbird owners when they do choose a classy, authentic paint scheme that appropriately represents the type, especially if applied in a way ensuring the longevity of the aircraft. Remember, many warbirds on the circuit today did not see combat or wear glamorous colors - operators often chose to paint them attractively or symbolically to make the best of the aircraft. As suggested by reasonable men on this thread, we should encourage the owners to choose wisely for their aircraft, but also keep in perspective who is paying the bills.

I've been lucky to have seen Mr. Lewis' A-20 before Lone Star owned it and had seen the CAFs' A-20 fly several times, and was there at it's last flight at the Harlingen Air Show. They are Fast, & very impressive from any angle. I hope to see it fly. I was able to see some of his collection in San Antonio ( Man ! That Mk.5 Spit in Person, WOW!!) & asked if Mr. Lewis was ever interested in obtaining a B-17 ? I was told At That Time " No, he likes fast airplanes " !

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WWI & WWII Warbird Fan.

oh, yeah?

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Shop the Airplane Bunker At
www.warbirdbunker.com

No need to get belligerent...

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.