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Re: Walter Soplata's yard

Posted by Steve T on Fri Aug 15, 2003 08:49:28 AM

In reply top Walter Soplata's yard posted by Musante on Fri Aug 15, 2003 02:55:15 AM

: Are the various w/b airframes still present at Walter Sopl
: ata's yard in Newberry, Ohio?

Hi Nicolai--

One of my favourite topics crops up again! That photo feature on Walt is quite old, but as recently as last year there was a detailed posting on one of the newsgroups (it also made its way onto WIX) from a chap who had visited Walt's place in 2002. Much of what Walt has collected over the years is indeed still sitting at Newbury.

Several aircraft have "escaped" since the late 80s, including one of the B-25s (now owned by Jerry Yagen and under restoration to fly), the P-80 (at USNAM on static), the F-82 (reportedly in store at Anoka MN), the F2G racer (owned by the Crawford Museum of Cleveland OH and with Bob Odegaard in ND for static restoration), the O-52 Owl (with a private owner in the midwest), and one of the Vultee Valiants (now owned by WIXer Dan Jones up here in Canada).

Still on site as at 2002, though, the other B-25, the AD-1, the FG-1D and parts of an FG-1A racer, an F7U, a TBM, most of a P-63, the fuselage of a P-47, two F-86s, an A-26...et cetera. Walt himself seems to have become less welcoming and more cagey with age, but as the 2002 Web post indicates, he's still an enthusiast at heart and if he comes to realize a visitor is as well, he'll acquiesce to a visit. I dropped in at Newbury twice in the early 80s when Walt was still very open indeed and didn't even mind the taking of numerous (but, in retrospect, not nearly numerous enough!) photos, which I now cherish...At that time the F2G, F-82, F-80 etc. were still there. Incidentally, Walt's aircraft are often referred to as "sitting there rotting"--but Walt has for decades bombarded the airframes with oil; the better ones will be more corrosion-free than many pylon display birds. (Bob Odegaard noted this detail when surveying Walt's F2G for rebuild for the Crawford). Walt may be eccentric; actually there isn't any doubt about that at all...but we owe him for rescuing and preserving these birds at a time when no one else cared.

Cheers

S.

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