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May-June 2014
- Rare Razorback Returns Home
- Getting Started in Jet Warbirds
- It’s Not A Stearman
- Far East Beech
- Hawaiian Flyin’
- 3D Digital Modeling and Rapid Prototyping
The rare razorback Curtiss built P-47G Thunderbolt Snafu was a sensation when she was introduced after a thorough restoration at Stephen Grey’s The Fighter Collection in Duxford, England. Back in the United States as part of the Friedkin family’s Comanche Fighters, this icon is ready to honor the sacrifices of the 78th Fighter Group, the 8th Air Force, and the Greatest Generation.
Ironically, each generation of aircraft since World War II has been represented in the civilian sector in decreasing numbers. Luckily a niche within the warbird community has preserved the heritage of America’s first generation of jet combat aircraft. Pilots interested in learning to fly the Korean War era T-33 still have opportunities to pursue this admirable goal.
When he’s not zipping through the sky in his sexy P-51 Mustang, Kendall Wagner might be enjoying the open cockpit mystique of his World War II primary trainer, a rare N3N biplane that is all too often mistaken for its cousin, the Stearman. Frank Mormillo offers some historical background on what makes the N3N special.
From the ashes of World War II the Japanese manufacturing sector was reborn, including the aviation company Fuji Heavy Industries that produced variants of the Beechcraft Bonanza for the Japanese military. Robert Cooper of Delaware is the proud owner of an ex-Japanese Ground Self Defense Force LM-1 that carries its original paint and that still flies like a dream.
Most people go to Hawaii for the lush tropical flora and beaches, with a luau thrown in for social libations; however, these things don’t excite Warbird Digest readers as much as the sound of a radial engine and the smell of 100LL. Lyle Jansma travelled to Hawaii to give us this exciting report on two relatively new opportunities – Pacific Aviation Museum and Pacific Warbirds. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.
Modern technology is opening new doors to restoration shops and maintenance professions dedicated to restoring and operating warbirds.New 3-D modeling and prototyping offer an opportunity for the construction of otherwise unobtainable parts, as well as research and development and prototyping.