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OKAY, here's the lowdown :)

Posted by Rob Mears on Fri Sep 05, 2003 04:00:55 PM

In reply top Hawkins, Texas restoration shop posted by Rob Mears on Thu Sep 04, 2003 11:26:32 PM

I just spoke at length with Bob Schneider and found out a few interesting things.

First of all, I just discovered that Mr. Schneider was one of the pilots who flew for the Blacksheep Squadron television series back in 1976. He filled me in in detail about the production, the other pilots, the filming at Oxnard, Camarillo, Frank Tallman's wooden foot, etc. Pretty cool stuff :)

Next thing is that the F-111 is complete and for sale "as it sits" for a measely $60,000. He aquired it from a General Dynamics government sale a little while back and managed to bypass the demilitarization (cutting up) routine by obtaining signoffs from engineers stating that the plane was used for factory testing (or something along that vein) and not for dedicated military use. This was serial #404 - one of the first seven F-111's built by General Dynamics.

Here's what happened to a number of the planes previously at the RRS Aviation hangar in Hawkins:

The restored P-40 was in fact the example that was sent to Hendon for display. It was accompanied by the Beaufort which I mistakenly called a Blenheim in my previous post.

The other two P-40 fuselages were reportedly sent to Pennsylvania or New York where they are being restored to fly, or are possibly already flying. The buyer had panned on merging the two projects to create one flying example. I personally don't see the logic in this since both fuselages were intact and in vitrually identical (very good) condition. Hopefully this will narrow the field of search Paul :)

Alan, the PBY did in fact have the nose turret and the side blisters had been removed and were stored outdoors near the fuselage as well. This entire project was relocated two years ago to Perth, Australia and currently resides at Matilda Bay - the same location from which the Black Cat Squadron operated during WWII according the Mr. Schneider.

The Grumman Cougar jet went to Pensacola and was mounted on a pole in Blue Angels colors at the new rest stop on I-10. I actually saw this plane about two weeks ago during a trip to Pensacola, but did not know it was the same airframe. They also restored a second F9F-5 which went to the Topeka Air Museum in Kansas. This plane was a Korean Combat Veteran with credited kills, and was also used for the filming of "Bridges of Toko Ri" and at least one other Cold War era movie.

He said they plan on restoring another F9F Panther for the Navy, then that's it for the forseeable future. I mentioned the half dozen F4F Wildcats still in outdoor storage at Pensacola and he told me that at least one of those aircraft are what he will be receiving as payment for doing the next F9F static restoration. He also mentioned he might ask for the F4U-1 or the F6F which are still at the bottom of Lake Michigan. He really suprised me with that info since most folks are not generally aware of those planes! He spoke as if the NMNA had already mentioned them as possible payment for future projects. Man, would I love to see one of those birds parked right up the road from my hometown :)

As for the Hurricanes, he mentioned that one went to Cavenaugh, and another went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. He made no mention of the three other rotted center sections I saw in the weeds out back during the late 1980s.

So there ya go :) If any of you budding warbird investors want a super cheap modern combat jet (and have a huge truck!) this F-111 sure seems like it would be a tempting investment. IMO planes like this are exactly what the forlorn Mustangs and Hellcats were during the 1960s. No one thought anyone would want those bulky old birds 20 or 30 years later either. I figure inflation and the advances in the technology available probably put the value of these planes at about the same mark as an old P-51 rotting on the tarmac in 1968.

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