Warbird Information Exchange

I was lucky to see this in person but I was young and don't remember it well. Another highlight of the Wilkes-Barre airshow. Are the pilots still with us?

The good ol' days..........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ig3Y33Rtf0

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That was a staple of every airshow I went to growing up in Kalamazoo. The flight sometimes included Howard Pardue's Bearcat. Sometimes, the Air Zoo Corsair would fill in if one of the other aircraft was down for maintenance. I think the last time I saw a true Cat Flight was probably 1995 or 1996. If I remember correctly, the last Kalamazoo show was flown without a Bearcat following the belly landing of the Air Zoo's example.

I know Alan Wright still owns a Stearman that he keeps at a grass strip in the Kalamazoo area. John Amundson had a Yak-52 and a Piper J-5. Used to see him at fly-ins in the Kalamazoo area, but haven't seen him in a long time. Not sure about John Ellis or Tom Austin.

The Panther was wrecked in an incident at Kalamazoo in the mid-90s and later sold. At one time, I think the aircraft was going to a museum in New Hampshire for restoration, but I don't know what became of that. The Tigercat was sold to Rod Lewis probably eight years ago or so, and the Bearcat was rebuilt and later sold to Jens Meyerhoff in Arizona. The Hellcat and Wildcat are still on display at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. It's always a little bittersweet to visit and think about what once was, but they're well-cared for and I'd rather see them on public display than locked away in a private hangar somewhere.

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Matt

Tom Austin is still around and lives near me.