I was not able to make Oshkosh this year so have enjoyed the webcams, etc. Why is the Privateer out by the C47/B25 area of the warbirds? Shouldn't this plane be front and center like the Lancaster and Mosquito? Just wondering...
I was not able to make Oshkosh this year so have enjoyed the webcams, etc. Why is the Privateer out by the C47/B25 area of the warbirds? Shouldn't this plane be front and center like the Lancaster and Mosquito? Just wondering...
It flew in the Airshow though. That was unexpected.
Could be politics, God knows lots of politics here. OR, it could be that the F-22 and the F-35 take up a lot of room as there is a very large security rope wrapped around them with lots of space and 2 Air Force personnel in uniform with side arms and M16's patrol the perimeter constantly---I am not kidding. I have never seen or don't recall this level of security(paranoia) provided to any other current military aircraft at Osh before.Originally Posted by bartfly
As Mazda said, it was in the show today.
BTW, the B-52 has no such security, you can travel freely around it.
That level of security was there for the F-117 and SR-71, way back when.
Yeah I would have liked to see it up close as well. However, seeing it flying in the airshow made up for the lack of it being on display!
I heard that the group that brought it didn't want a bunch of people around it. I thought that was kind of weird considering how rare it is. Then I thought that maybe it just might not be as up to snuff as the rest of the planes there and that it looks better from far away. Well, low and behold on Saturday it was parked over where the C-47's usually park, except as far out as you could. But you could still walk up to it. Well my suspicions were correct. Needs a TON of work. Still really cool though but definitely needs a full up restoration. Not sure if the group that flies it are ready to do that though. $$$$$$$ Would be a long process. Still looked and sounded great in the air!
I saw it a year ago at Chino, then again ant Oshkosh. As said above it is in a long restoration process. I saw an article about it somewhere indicating it would be a slow process as funds area available.
Still a real gem.
Dale
Dale Cavin
Florida Panhandle
Current Project: Airdrome Aeroplanes Full Size Nieuport 17
It's usually parked at Casa Grande, AZ. It's a long restoration project from a forest service fire bomber. Up until a year ago, it was still white with orange. When I saw it in March, it had an engine missing and the paint had been stripped back to the aluminum. I suspect they wanted to get the exterior restoration completed and the plane flying again before incrementally restoring the interior. Looks like that's about the point they have reached, so at least it's now it's airworthy and made the big show with the exterior closer to it's original configuration. It's now showy enough to make some airshows to help raise funds to continue with the restoration.
-Cub Builder
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