pics of Walters Saplatas place
Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:54 pm
A friend of mine sent this pic to me, so I pass it on to you guys.
Dave
Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:51 pm
Dave--
Ah, the EF-82E before she "escaped"! I'm guessing this shot dates to the early 80s, as her appearance here matches my photos from 1982 and '84. By '87 when the well-known Rodney Williams photo set was taken someone had purloined one of the spinners...This Twin Mustang is, of course, now under restoration to fly with the Harkers at Anoka, MN.
Any more shots from Walt's back in the day? (Especially of the hacked-about red and cream thingy in the basement??)
Oh, and your forum name: wouldn't have anything to do with the Russ Hosler/Bob Eucker P-63A, would it?
S.
Ah, the EF-82E before she "escaped"! I'm guessing this shot dates to the early 80s, as her appearance here matches my photos from 1982 and '84. By '87 when the well-known Rodney Williams photo set was taken someone had purloined one of the spinners...This Twin Mustang is, of course, now under restoration to fly with the Harkers at Anoka, MN.
Any more shots from Walt's back in the day? (Especially of the hacked-about red and cream thingy in the basement??)
Oh, and your forum name: wouldn't have anything to do with the Russ Hosler/Bob Eucker P-63A, would it?
S.
Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:59 pm
This is a pic from a flight over Walters place in the late 90s
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:02 pm
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:07 pm
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:09 pm
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:11 pm
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:15 pm
This next set of pics is from a friend of mine Martin B. who lives around the corner from me.
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:18 pm
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:27 pm
Thats all for tonight. Will post some more later. Hope you all enjoy.
Dave
Dave
Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:41 pm
Dave--
Ohh my. Thanx for those. That's by far the best I've seen the YB-36 look in any shot at Walt's (for that matter it looks better here than in the most recent shots I've seen of it at Dayton)...
The A-26 is N919P (I forget the AAF s/n) which ditched in Lake Michigan back about 1969 or so; all on board got out OK and Walt bought the engineless airframe after it was written-off. Just visible on the righthand edge of the pic is the fin of one of Walt's rarest airframes, a Curtiss O-52A Owl...which type resembles nothing so much as the lovechild of an Eastern FM-2 Wildcat and a Westland Lysander. The O-52 is now under rebuild to fly with a private owner in the Midwest, using parts from a second example. The OD fin with the yellow numbers on it is, I think, from the battered P-63A airframe that wound up stored inside the B-36 hulk along with parts of an XP-82. Those ground-level shots look to have been taken rather earlier (late 70s?) than my own set...there's less clutter around the Invader and YB-36. Question--what is that partial fin leaning against the Peacemaker nose in the ground-level view? Every time I see "new" pix of Walt's place I notice something else I don't remember. He really must have had one of darn near everything there at some point or other!
Very good aerials of the TB-25N (44-86708, bone-stock including 50s USAF paintjob) and F7U Cutlass, both of which are still at Walt's. His other Mitchell is now flying again (with Jerry Yagen) and all going well will be at Thunder Over Michigan this July for their B-25 gathering...
Keep 'em coming...terrific stuff!
S.
Ohh my. Thanx for those. That's by far the best I've seen the YB-36 look in any shot at Walt's (for that matter it looks better here than in the most recent shots I've seen of it at Dayton)...
The A-26 is N919P (I forget the AAF s/n) which ditched in Lake Michigan back about 1969 or so; all on board got out OK and Walt bought the engineless airframe after it was written-off. Just visible on the righthand edge of the pic is the fin of one of Walt's rarest airframes, a Curtiss O-52A Owl...which type resembles nothing so much as the lovechild of an Eastern FM-2 Wildcat and a Westland Lysander. The O-52 is now under rebuild to fly with a private owner in the Midwest, using parts from a second example. The OD fin with the yellow numbers on it is, I think, from the battered P-63A airframe that wound up stored inside the B-36 hulk along with parts of an XP-82. Those ground-level shots look to have been taken rather earlier (late 70s?) than my own set...there's less clutter around the Invader and YB-36. Question--what is that partial fin leaning against the Peacemaker nose in the ground-level view? Every time I see "new" pix of Walt's place I notice something else I don't remember. He really must have had one of darn near everything there at some point or other!
Very good aerials of the TB-25N (44-86708, bone-stock including 50s USAF paintjob) and F7U Cutlass, both of which are still at Walt's. His other Mitchell is now flying again (with Jerry Yagen) and all going well will be at Thunder Over Michigan this July for their B-25 gathering...
Keep 'em coming...terrific stuff!
S.
Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:03 am
the area is much more cluttered now than with these old pics.... you can't imagine!
Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:07 am
Geez Louise! These are fantastic...
The shot of the P-63 hulk got posted while I was posting my reply to the previous batch. The fin on the left in the Invader pic is definitely that of the Kingcobra, as the serial matches. This P-63 Walt obtained in Buffalo NY in very rough shape. At last word it was still at Walt's. The fuselage to the right of the P-63 hulk is, I'm guessing, that of the XP-82 prototype, which ended up alongside the P-63 inside the YB-36. (Sheesh)...Alternatively it could be the fuselage of P-51 N69X, which Walt recovered from a junkyard after it was badly damaged in a crash. If so, this is the first shot I have seen of the Mustang at Walt's. Atypically for him he did not keep it; it went to Brian O'Farrell (who also recovered the famous Dominican AF Mustangs) and was, I think, reduced to spares...??
Then I went back up the thread again. Think I know what that fin is from: an F-101 Voodoo. Never knew Walt had any Voodoo bits, though it isn't a bit surprising! Looked at the aerial shots again too and got another surprise. Trying to find the inner wings of the YB-36 I spied something I initially took to be a chunk of the YB-36's fin instead. Then took note of the serial partially visible (...394) on the section. Well shoot: that is the fin, or a big piece of it anyway, from the ex-USAFM distance-record flight B-52B! Knew Walt got the nose from that when USAFM scrapped it off (a la the YB-36)...now I see he got part of the tail, too. Wonder how much more of the Stratofort Walt rescued...Once again, my hat's off to the gent from Newbury.
Whew. You've made my evening...
Cheers
Steve T
The shot of the P-63 hulk got posted while I was posting my reply to the previous batch. The fin on the left in the Invader pic is definitely that of the Kingcobra, as the serial matches. This P-63 Walt obtained in Buffalo NY in very rough shape. At last word it was still at Walt's. The fuselage to the right of the P-63 hulk is, I'm guessing, that of the XP-82 prototype, which ended up alongside the P-63 inside the YB-36. (Sheesh)...Alternatively it could be the fuselage of P-51 N69X, which Walt recovered from a junkyard after it was badly damaged in a crash. If so, this is the first shot I have seen of the Mustang at Walt's. Atypically for him he did not keep it; it went to Brian O'Farrell (who also recovered the famous Dominican AF Mustangs) and was, I think, reduced to spares...??
Then I went back up the thread again. Think I know what that fin is from: an F-101 Voodoo. Never knew Walt had any Voodoo bits, though it isn't a bit surprising! Looked at the aerial shots again too and got another surprise. Trying to find the inner wings of the YB-36 I spied something I initially took to be a chunk of the YB-36's fin instead. Then took note of the serial partially visible (...394) on the section. Well shoot: that is the fin, or a big piece of it anyway, from the ex-USAFM distance-record flight B-52B! Knew Walt got the nose from that when USAFM scrapped it off (a la the YB-36)...now I see he got part of the tail, too. Wonder how much more of the Stratofort Walt rescued...Once again, my hat's off to the gent from Newbury.
Whew. You've made my evening...
Cheers
Steve T
Sun Jan 28, 2007 5:52 am
I couldn't agree more Steve T...the WOW effect of seeing all of these great pix from Walt's supreme collection makes me feel like a little kid looking in the window of a toy store around Christmas 
Walking around in places like the NMUSAF and Udvar-Hazy never gets boring, but I much prefer seeing the old girls in their original glory...the "Lindbergh P-38" at Udvar comes to mind...still greasy and grimy looking like she still wants to break free and climb back into her element in the sky! I stopped at a place near Kenosha, WI a few years back where this guy had some old airframes in varying degrees of disassembly...was such fun to just walk around in his back "junkyard" looking at his "stuff". Thanx racer55 for the "new" pix of Walt's dreamyard 
Walking around in places like the NMUSAF and Udvar-Hazy never gets boring, but I much prefer seeing the old girls in their original glory...the "Lindbergh P-38" at Udvar comes to mind...still greasy and grimy looking like she still wants to break free and climb back into her element in the sky! I stopped at a place near Kenosha, WI a few years back where this guy had some old airframes in varying degrees of disassembly...was such fun to just walk around in his back "junkyard" looking at his "stuff". Thanx racer55 for the "new" pix of Walt's dreamyard
Sun Jan 28, 2007 7:07 am
Great shots!
Any idea what the current status is of Invader N919P? Is it still with Soplata?
Any idea what the current status is of Invader N919P? Is it still with Soplata?