AirVenture 2021 - Warbirds
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| One morning, Bruce and I checked out the Warbirds. Right away I was attracted to one of my favorite planes, the U.S. Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat. There are only six flying Hellcats left and this is one of them. |
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This immaculate Hellcat is worthy of a closer look.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Hellcat fly, if it flew.
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| Bruce and a World War II Warbird I have never seen at a fly-in: a Hawker Hurricane. I would get to see the Hurricane fly in close formation with its famous counterpart: the Spitfire. |
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Speaking of which, here is the Spit.
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| Me standing beside Quicksilver, the P-51 Mustang my RV is painted to look like. |
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| Quicksilver always delivers a good show in the afternoon airshows. |
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| An SBD Dauntless fuselage in the process of restoration after being pulled from the bottom of Lake Michigan. |
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And a fully-restored, airworthy Dauntless. This one also did not fly.
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| It's always good to see an F4U Corsair which put on a good airshow later in the week. |
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| Lockheed P-38 Lightning. |
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This P-38 is painted in the colors of the legendary Air Force pilot Robin Olds who flew the P-38 in World War II European theater. Olds scored at least five kills in the P-38 before switching to the P-51 in which he scored another eight victories. In Vietnam, as a 44-year old Colonel, he commanded the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, turning it into a high performance unit, and personally shot down four (and possibly more) Migs. |
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| Soviet Yak-3. The Yak-3, developed from the Yak-1, was introduced in June 1944 and was a very good fighter, especially down low. |
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| "Tora Tora Tora" is the Commemorative Air Force's recreation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that signaled the beginning of the American involvement in World War II. "Tora Tora Tora" began in 1972, when six replica Japanese aircraft used in the movie of the same name were donated to the CAF. The Gulf Coast Wing requested assignment of the aircraft and began developing an act for presentation at air shows. The act debuted at the Galveston Air Show on June 25, 1972. By 1977, Tora had gained national exposure. The men and women of Tora have been performing as a professional air show act for over 47 years. |
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| Japanese Kate torpedo/level bomber replica. |
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| The DC-3/C-47s also look good sitting on the grass. |
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| The North American F-86 Sabre is such a great looking jet. |
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The stubby Grumman F4F Wildcat. I really wish they flown a heritage flight consisting of the Hellcat, Wildcat, Avenger and Dauntless. How awesome would that have been?
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| British Hawker Sea Fury. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft ever built. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two years after the war ended. I've seen them fly at the Reno Air Races. |
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