Bomber_12th
March 10th, 2011, 09:17
For the warbird-lovers on this forum, here's a little heads-up on some restorations that are taking shape and wrapping up.
Currently at Avspecs in New Zealand, where Jerry Yagen's airworthy Mosquito restoration is also progressing, a P-40C Tomahawk is finishing up its restoration. When completed, it will be shipped to its owner, Rod Lewis, in the U.S. The markings are that of famed Pearl Harbor pilot 2nd LT. George Welch, which actually got airborne on Dec. 7, 1941, shooting down a number of Japanese aircraft that day. This will be the third P-40B/C type aircraft flying in the world, joining the FHC's AVG-marked P-40C (which will eventually sport original Russian markings), and TFC's P-40B which is painted in its original Pearl Harbor scheme.
Most recent photos can be seen on this page:
http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Airshows&action=display&thread=10661&page=3
Also, another warbird restoration heads-up, Warhawks, Inc./Fagen Fighters, in my home-state, just reported on their website that their restoration of what will be an airworthy SB2C Helldiver, is back on, after a bit of a delay for other work. As of right now, there is only one Helldiver flying in the world, but over the coming few years, 3-4 new Helldiver restorations are known to be planned to be taking to the air again.
Also at Warhawks, Inc., another P-40K restoration is taking shape. Many will know this company, owned by Ron Fagen, for the award-winning work on creating some of the most authentic P-40 restorations to date. They still have several more P-40 airframes, including a B model, awaiting future restoration.
Helldiver:
http://www.warhawksinc.com/helldiver.html
P-40K:
http://www.warhawksinc.com/p40.html
Past Restorations:
P-40K: http://www.warhawksinc.com/aleutian.html
P-40E: http://www.warhawksinc.com/desert.html
P-38L: http://www.warhawksinc.com/ruffstuff.html
And finally, Ron Fagen's P-51D 44-63864, the original 78th FG "Twilight Tear", is nearing completion at Tri-State Aviation in North Dakota.
It is my understanding, that this airframe can be seen in this video, from the 3:10 mark, forward (video was made about 7 months ago). Also in this video, you can see the numerous other projects taking shape at TAA, a large lot of which are the 'production-run' of 9-10 P-51A models. The late Gerry Beck's P-51A can also be seen being restored, along with a view of TAA's amazing storage compound of fascinating aircraft, vehicles, and military and P-51 history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tfzxqHGryM
(Note, early in the video, looking around the machining room, you can see a large supply of tubular seat frames hanging on the walls, for future Mustang projects, as well as a sampling of some original panel/bead type seats from various aircraft.)
I would personally hazard a guess, that this P-51D may be a 'surprise' visitor to Oshkosh this summer, given that Ron has been a constant supporter of Airventure, and you can always expect to see his newest restorations there. I would say the same for Rod Lewis' P-40C - time will tell. :)
Currently at Avspecs in New Zealand, where Jerry Yagen's airworthy Mosquito restoration is also progressing, a P-40C Tomahawk is finishing up its restoration. When completed, it will be shipped to its owner, Rod Lewis, in the U.S. The markings are that of famed Pearl Harbor pilot 2nd LT. George Welch, which actually got airborne on Dec. 7, 1941, shooting down a number of Japanese aircraft that day. This will be the third P-40B/C type aircraft flying in the world, joining the FHC's AVG-marked P-40C (which will eventually sport original Russian markings), and TFC's P-40B which is painted in its original Pearl Harbor scheme.
Most recent photos can be seen on this page:
http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Airshows&action=display&thread=10661&page=3
Also, another warbird restoration heads-up, Warhawks, Inc./Fagen Fighters, in my home-state, just reported on their website that their restoration of what will be an airworthy SB2C Helldiver, is back on, after a bit of a delay for other work. As of right now, there is only one Helldiver flying in the world, but over the coming few years, 3-4 new Helldiver restorations are known to be planned to be taking to the air again.
Also at Warhawks, Inc., another P-40K restoration is taking shape. Many will know this company, owned by Ron Fagen, for the award-winning work on creating some of the most authentic P-40 restorations to date. They still have several more P-40 airframes, including a B model, awaiting future restoration.
Helldiver:
http://www.warhawksinc.com/helldiver.html
P-40K:
http://www.warhawksinc.com/p40.html
Past Restorations:
P-40K: http://www.warhawksinc.com/aleutian.html
P-40E: http://www.warhawksinc.com/desert.html
P-38L: http://www.warhawksinc.com/ruffstuff.html
And finally, Ron Fagen's P-51D 44-63864, the original 78th FG "Twilight Tear", is nearing completion at Tri-State Aviation in North Dakota.
It is my understanding, that this airframe can be seen in this video, from the 3:10 mark, forward (video was made about 7 months ago). Also in this video, you can see the numerous other projects taking shape at TAA, a large lot of which are the 'production-run' of 9-10 P-51A models. The late Gerry Beck's P-51A can also be seen being restored, along with a view of TAA's amazing storage compound of fascinating aircraft, vehicles, and military and P-51 history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tfzxqHGryM
(Note, early in the video, looking around the machining room, you can see a large supply of tubular seat frames hanging on the walls, for future Mustang projects, as well as a sampling of some original panel/bead type seats from various aircraft.)
I would personally hazard a guess, that this P-51D may be a 'surprise' visitor to Oshkosh this summer, given that Ron has been a constant supporter of Airventure, and you can always expect to see his newest restorations there. I would say the same for Rod Lewis' P-40C - time will tell. :)