Warbirds of North Carolina

[jhamlin]

The warbirds i have seen around North Carolina since 2000.

 

[Nonskimmer]

Very, very nice! (Except the Vampire. I hate the Vampire as a rule. )

The L-39 is interesting. Is it supposed to be painted like an A-4 Skyhawk?

 

[jhamlin]

I talked to Wyatt about it one day, when i was supposed to go flying with him in it (thanks to the stupid weather that never happened). He said he wanted to be unique in his coloration. The flag montage on the nose was painted on there the day before this pic was taken.

 

[jhamlin]

Here are some more pics

 

[Nonskimmer]

I love that He-111! Obviously that must be an older shot.

 

[jhamlin]

Yes, that shot was taken in 2000 at the Moor County Airport in Pinehurst, NC

 

[cheddar cheese]

Nice shots! 8)

 

[evangilder]

Nice pics. The loss of that He-111 was indeed tragic. We lost 2 of our CAF brothers that day.

 

[jhamlin]

Are you a part of any CAF wing?

 

[evangilder]

Yes, the Southern California Wing based in Camarillo, California.

 

[jhamlin]

OH!!! so you guys were takin care of the C-46 "Tinker Belle" that our wing was going to acquire at one point. do you guys still have it?

 

[evangilder]

No, she left about a year or so ago. We called her "Clinker Belle" as she had more problems than we expected and what started out as a six month temporary assignment ended up a 2 year project. One of the wings had to be removed as the fuel cell had collapsed and somehow ended up on the severe end of the wing. There were a host of issues that we got squared away on Tink.

I have pictures of it here somewhere, let me see if I can dig them up.

 

[evangilder]

I have more here somewhere, but here is one for now. We have "China Doll", which is our flagship. The wing has owned China Doll for about 20 years or so.

Which wing are you part of? I never got a straight answer as to wear Tink was supposed to go.

 

[jhamlin]

The Carolinas Wing in Pinehurst, NC. Here is our aircraft, a 1941 AT-19 Stinson Reliant in its old colors. It just went through a new paint job and i have yet to see what it looks like now.

 

[evangilder]

I saw an article about the Stinson in the main CAF mag a year or so ago. It looks great! I knew of Bill, but didn't know him personally. That was the FM-2, right?

 

[jhamlin]

Yeah, that was. It was his dream to fly that plane. At least he died doing something he liked. My point was to tell you that i actually logged my first time in our Stinson in 2002. Bill was the PIC on that flight and put my log in my logbook. Kinda a somber moment every time i look at the first entry. Here are some pics of him in the FM-2 in Winston-Salem, NC the month before the crash.
I also have lots of stuff about the P-51C that crashed in Wisconsin. I saw in at Kitty Hawk in Dec. 2003 when i was marshalling aircraft at the Dare Co. Regl. Airport where they based all of the warbirds. I met and talked to Don Hinz for a while one day. Ironically, the man that is restoring the plane lives about 2 hrs south of me in Wahpeton, ND. I talked to him about a week ago at the Fargo Air Museum. He said that the fuselage is all repaired. I have pics of the plane and the pieces down in his shop if youd like to see.

 

[evangilder]

That FM-2 was a beauty. Shame. Sure, post the pics! Our 2 main restorations right now are the PBJ and an SNJ-4. I will get some recent shots this weekend for posting.

 

[jhamlin]

OK, here are some shots of the aircraf. First are 4 from the hangar where the pieces are, then some from shows.

 

[evangilder]

Nice shots. It is indeed a shame.

 

[Nonskimmer]

Those are all great pics, jhamlin!
Damn shame about the P-51 though.