WIX Archives
Re: Corsair info needed
Posted by Rob Mears on Thu Feb 28, 2002 12:10:44 PM
In reply top Corsair info needed posted by Stephen Rister on Wed Feb 27, 2002 09:26:08 PM
Heya Steve :)
F4U-4 BuNo.97382 was substantially damaged in 1974 while operated by the Honduran Air Force as FAH-611. What was recovered from Honduras was actually just the rear fuselage section of that aircraft. It was returned to the United States by freight train in 1979 along with seven other disassembled Corsairs by Jim Nettle & George Heavens. These planes were stored outdoors at Long Beach Airport (now John Wayne Airport) in California and immediately put up for sale upon their arrival.
Earl Ware bought a fair sized cache of components from this group of disassembled planes, including the surviving rear fuselage section from BuNo.97382. He relocated the tailcone to his storage yard in Jacksonville, Florida where it was paired with an FG-1D center fuselage section recovered during the late-1960 from Memphis, TN. This center section had been picked clean of most of its small parts including its data plate, thus its identity remains unknown. Mr. Ware sold this unidentified center section, and the rear fuselage from BuNo.97382 to Ray Adams in nearby Titusville, Florida. The composite project was missing both outer wing panels and a large amount of the many small parts & pieces that make a project like this a viable candidate for airworthy restoration. Nonetheless, the goal remains to return this plane to the air.
During the late 1980's Mr. Adams and I determined the Bureau Number for his rear fuselage section by cross referencing the number "611" which he had uncovered from the tailcone. Since this was the only identifiable portion of the project, it was decided to use the Bureau Number '97382' as the basis for registering the aircraft. The project is being restored as an F4U-4 even though the center fuselage (cockpit) section of the project is from an FG-1D Naval Reserve Corsair.
So to answer your question, the aircraft in the picture you have from a few years back does still exist and is still under restoration with Ray Adams in Florida. BuNo.97382 in all actuality only exists as a rear fuselage section.
Rob