WIX Archives

Re: Walter Soplata's yard

Posted by Dan Jones on Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:11:24 PM

In reply top Re: Walter Soplata's yard posted by Steve T on Fri Aug 15, 2003 08:49:28 AM

: Hi Nicolai--
:
: One of my favourite topics crops up again! That photo fe
: ature on Walt is quite old, but as recently as last year t
: here was a detailed posting on one of the newsgroups (it a
: lso made its way onto WIX) from a chap who had visited Wal
: t's place in 2002. Much of what Walt has collected over th
: e years is indeed still sitting at Newbury.
:
: Several aircraft have "escaped" since the late 80s, incl
: uding 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 (owne
: d by the Crawford Museum of Cleveland OH and with Bob Odeg
: aard in ND for static restoration), the O-52 Owl (with a p
: rivate owner in the midwest), and one of the Vultee Valian
: ts (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 welco
: ming and more cagey with age, but as the 2002 Web post ind
: icates, he's still an enthusiast at heart and if he comes
: to realize a visitor is as well, he'll acquiesce to a visi
: t. I dropped in at Newbury twice in the early 80s when Wal
: t was still very open indeed and didn't even mind the taki
: ng of numerous (but, in retrospect, not nearly numerous en
: ough!) photos, which I now cherish...At that time the F2G,
: F-82, F-80 etc. were still there. Incidentally, Walt's ai
: rcraft are often referred to as "sitting there rotting"--b
: ut Walt has for decades bombarded the airframes with oil;
: the better ones will be more corrosion-free than many pylo
: n display birds. (Bob Odegaard noted this detail when surv
: eying Walt's F2G for rebuild for the Crawford). Walt may b
: e eccentric; actually there isn't any doubt about that at
: all...but we owe him for rescuing and preserving these bir
: ds at a time when no one else cared.
:
: Cheers
:
: S.

Hi Steve,

Walter did/does indeed make attempts to protect the airplanes from the elements. Although my BT wasn't covered in any oil, much of it was heavily overpainted which has gone a long way to protecting the metal under the paint. The choice of colors was a little wild (orange and purple!) but alot of the aircraft is in great condition due to the paint that was litterally "lathered" onto it over the years. I tried last year to get Walter on the phone to find out the story of how he aquired my airplane but I couldn't get past his wife, so I drew a blank. Did you by any chance take any photos of the two BT-13's that Walt had in his yard when you were there? Mine was the one hidden under the trees with the bush growing up through the elevator!

Regards,

Dan Jones


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