A-25A Restoration Project

[NathanT24]

Wheres your hanger at? Do you allow visitors at all? Or maybe someone willing to get his hands dirty a couple days hahah.

HI IF YOU WANT TO STOP BY E ME @HELLDIVERS@AOL.COM OR CALL FOR DIRECTIONS 763 795 THANKS MIKE

I see that I left off part of the phone #its 763 795 0155 call a head as im responsible for many other a/c that dont fit in my hanger!! As you can see from the early photos it was a bit rough,these photos show that with a little hard work and money almost anything can be restored!! i hope that the folks at the naval history center take off the rose colored glasses and realize that there history can still be preserved but this joke of recovering these rare fragile artifacts in a 100 to a 150 years from now only proves beyond any reasonable dought that these are not the people that should be in charge of making the rules!! It is only too clear that we are seeing their final hours as we speak, why anyone would support this concept is only out of a total lack of education on the effects of aluminum structures subjected to under water storage!Salt water is like leaving them in a tank of battery acid!!!fresh water although much less harmfull is still no place to display your history,how many certified divers do we have out there that have the time and money to see this display of wrecked and corroded a/c that will be gone in another 10 to 20 years at the max?If you like looking at, photographing and seeing these rare birds in flight then support this effort to stop two very unqualified people who are making laws that will seal the fate of so many a/c that will be destroyed forever!! these same two people are succeeding in doing what Japan tried to do over 60 years ago!! lets stop this insanity now,these are not the leaders that we want to be in charge of preserving our naval aviation history they are determind to destroy and keep hard working folks from salvaging these pieces of history to deny any future generations from enjoying seeing them restored and displayed.Look at the before and after photos of the A25 project how many other rarer a/c are still laying out there or worse yet have been recovered then scrapped because someone determined that they are not economical to restore?how many a/c does the navy have in store just as a parts source with no hope of being restored and displayed?Get off you butts and start flooding the people involved in this crime of the century with letters to congress men,the secretary of the navy ect!!!!We must act now!!!thanks Mike

[TimAPNY]

Can someone put together a letter / E-mail that congress could understand, would not find offensive and with specifics about this issue that we can pass along to friends and we can start to bother our representatives with. And those two people who are in charge of this.

I don't have the facts and I'm not the best writer, But I know people here are. Lets get together as a group and do something.

There is a meeting being planned with the powers-that-be, not everyone can and should be involved in that. This would be a great way for the rest of us to be involved.

[dj51d]

For those who may not know.

You can find conact information for your representitive here

Contact information for your senator may be found here

Contact info for the NHC is here

HI !!This is exactly the help we need before the Pensicola meeting have everyone you know either sign a letter or petition and forward to the powers that be!! Contact museums ,schools ,local history centers,boy scout groups,civil air patrols,even at your state fairs!! this will help more than you may think were all tax payers and provide the money that pays their salarys!!Lets see what the wixers can come up with !!thanks Mike

Greetings from Down Under. The RAAF took delivery of a very small number of A-25's called Shrikes as a replacement for their Vultee Vengeances in the Pacific. The need evaporated before the program got into swing. There are some photos lurking around of these aircraft. Not sure what ever became of them...

I own and fly a Turkey...

[dj51d]

The book I have suggests, though doesn't really confirm, the RAAF Shrikes were turned over to the USAAF at the Townsville aircraft depot. It's really too bad, the A-25 would have made a fantastic weapon, but the US Army didn't belive in dive bombimg. It's my understanding the officers in charge of the overall Pacific strategy decided no dive bombing was ever going to be required, and this is the reason the RAAF A-25's were returned to the USAAF.

A Turkey owner, you just never know who you're going to meet on the WIX do you? It's been far too long since we've had a TBM up here in Minnesota.

Dan the Man: Greetings - I'm very proud of the drawings you did for me of my aircraft. The RAAF had about 300 or so Vultee Vengeance aircraft and operated them successfully in New Guinea. Gen. Kenny [5th AF boss]ordered them out as part of his rationalisation of types in theatre!. The Vultee boys converted eventually to B-24's....

[dj51d]

Drawings? That must have been the WIX's other Dan Johnson. Any drawings I could produce would only be worth commedic value. That's one talent that certainly passed by me.

Hi does anyone have current photos of the vengence project?How complete is it?Is it planned to fly?Wasnt there another airframe floating around?Have they found outer wings?Also does anyone have photos of any of the Brewster SB2A Buccaneers that survive?Are there any left in Tullahoma?Were are they now?How cool would it be to see a A-25 Shrike.A-35 Vengence,and SB2A Buccaneer flying formation?It could happen!!Wow it makes me dizzy just thinking about it!!please reply thanks Mike

[Dan K]

Hi Mike,

As far as the Tullahoma SB2A's go, the last remains at the airport were hauled off by our US Navy just a few months ago. That bit of info from a volunteer at the Staggerwing Museum which is right next door to where the remains stood.

The link from Dan Ford's site is over a year old, but still gives a pretty good idea of how much Pensacola has to work with.

I believe Mr. Tallichet has the rest of the airframes; the most sizable chunk I've seen now at Pima.

http://www.warbirdforum.com/brewbuc.htm

[setter]

Hi Rob

Couldn't agree more with your opinion about one off or single example types - what is your view on the buble canopy Corsairs?

Kindest regards
John p

[setter]

Hi Rob

Couldn't agree more with your opinion about one off or single example types - what is your view on the buble canopy Corsairs?

Kindest regards
John p

[Dan K]

No Rob, I don't know for sure--only going by what the nice folks at the museum shared! I'll be the one yelling the loudest when more Buccaneers start popping out of the woodwork...

Now take Mike R's A-25/A-35/SB2A vision and create a finger four with a TBY Sea Wolf...c'mon you guys, find me a center section (and some outer panels, landing gear, turret would be nice too...)