Warbird Information Exchange

A bit of history from his obit.

Isaac Newton "I.N" Burchinal Jr., 79, of Brookston passed away Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. Burchinal, the son of I.N.“Newt” Burchinal Sr. and Mavis McDowell Burchinal, was born July 14, 1928, in Paris. Known as “Jr.” he served in the United States Coast Guard and was an accomplished pilot. He founded Flying Tiger Air Museum in the early 1970s where he collected, restored and taught flying lessons in vintage World War II Warbirds. He had flown as a stunt pilot for Universal Studios, and his planes were featured in several movies including “The Great Waldo Pepper,”“Baa, Baa Black Sheep,” and “Midway.” He was preceded in death by a daughter, Sherry Lugo. Survivors include a son, Samuel Burchinal of Brookston; daughters, Gloria Davis and husband, Lee, of Duncanville, Nancy Pringle of Marshall, and Tammy Shetler and husband, Kevin, of Biardstown; eight grandchildren, Ryan David, Jason Davis, Zac Pringle, Tracey Burchinal, Spencer Burchinal, Skyler Burchinal, Bethlin Burchinal and Levi Shetler; and four great-grandchildren.

I met the man once when I was a weeee lad with my dad. Very interesting fellow who had quite an interesting and colorful life depending on who you listen to and what you read about the guy. H*ll of a pilot though.
Interesting article below.

http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepMustangBurch.html

Another 'interesting' bit of banter in the link below by some fans of Jr. and some not-so-much fans of Jr.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/paris-t ... 1TLNO0UVIL

And what exactly is the deal with this P-38? I believe this to be a post-war P-38 (F-5) set up for aerial surveying. I'm going to assume those are fake guns mounted on the nose. I can't imaging this was a setup used during the war as there would certainly be a conflict with the F-5 gear and the guns all packed inside the nose. Then again what do I know?

That's Jr. standing there

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

Half way thru the filming of Catch 22 over half the crews where sent home for 3 weeks and when we came back some them didn't return, one of the new crews was I.N. and his buddy J.D. we called them the initial brothers. They always flew together and that's the only time i ever saw them.

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I grew up reading the pilot checkouts of Burchinal's toys in Air Progress. I believe Budd Davisson wrote them, but I'd have to look them up to be sure. P-51, Bearcat, and I think P-38 and maybe B-25. IIRC Burchinal's Bearcat was the former Mira Slovak, inaugural Reno winner. I remember Davisson calling the Bearcat at some point "a 2000 horsepower Pitts Special."

See the link by Budd Davisson I posted.

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

Yep, an F-5G it is. 44-27183 N517PA with its pressurized two- seat configuration. It had been a Mark Hurd survey ship since the mid- 50s.

A couple of photos courtesy of the Warbirdregistry here:


Check out the three gun nose as seen in Mark's photo above.


And here in the colors David Boyd had it painted in. Still having that cockpit configuration.

As an aside I remember buying a 1977 Aero Trader special magazine years ago. Can't remember where from, but probably a second hand store. Seriously doubt I had the cash to have bought it back in 1977. Anyway, it was full of spam cans and the like but what caught my eye was an ad for N517PA in Tulsa, OK for the astronomical amount of $250.000. Then, when first visiting Chino in 1990 I came upon this 38 in Charlie Nichols hangar. Still in the same colors. Just loved the way it looked.

Well, enough reminiscing for one night, time to go to bed.

T J

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Make my day, punk!

Posted in-case anyone hadn't seen it already, a video recently shot at the Mid America Flight Museum with Samuel and Skyler Burchinal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SZYK-zpvOY

So then these are before and after the before photo I originally posted. If that makes sense.

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

Well, I lied. Still awake. The timeframe is as follows; Your Burchinal photo is the oldest in this thread. 1971-73. The B & W I posted is the next in line from Tulsa between 73 and 77. According to the Flickr account where you found the color photo in the "Twin Dragon" scheme it is claimed to be from the early 80s. I thought Nichols museum hangar wasn't built until the late 80s. Anyway, if all his photos are shot on the same Chino visit it can't be prior to 1987, as that was when the P-51D was bought. Then the color photo I posted from 1994, and finally your color photo in NMF where the cockpit has been rebuilt back to stock and F-5G nose installed. Hope that made sense.

And now heading for bed!

T J

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Make my day, punk!

From Trade-A-Plane, 11-1-77:

(from Leon Cleaver's scrapbook - thanks!)

Also spotted this recently while looking up AT-12s on AAIR:

Uncle or older brother, maybe?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

My trip to the academy.

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Always looking for WW2 Half-Tracks and Parts.

whoaaa....I remember having that sales magazine that had this P-38 in it, too.
That's bringing up some real old memories.

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remember the Oogahonk!
old school enthusiast of Civiltary Warbirds and Air Racers

In 1978 my father, uncle and I made a trip to the airport at Paris. Burchinal had his maroon colored A-26 on the ramp. Before
starting he stood up and asked if we wanted to go up. We did! It was a great ride making three passes over the field.

It was also my first time sitting in a Mustang. Stenciled on the cowl was "In God We Trust".

Perhaps someone knows which Invader and Mustang these were or if they still exist.

Stephen Rister

Hi Stephen,

You might not remember it, but you sent me photos of the A-26 flight back in 2006. Very likely as a result of discussing it here.

The plane in question was 41-39161 N317W which is now with Gerald Yagan as N26RP.

The P-51D is 44-72773 N12066, now in Germany in 4th FG colors as D-FPSI.

T J

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Thanks TJ, through the years I lost some info. Anyway, now I can update my database.

Stephen

Had to edit the P-51 reg. It is D-FPSI.

Do you still have the photos, or shall I re- send them to you?

T J

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Make my day, punk!