Hellcat roars to life!

On Friday, January 25, 2013, Flying Heritage Collection fired up their restored Grumman F6F-5 for the first time, marking the beginning of a new lease on life.  According to FHC's website, this aircraft was built in 1945 and was built as an F6F-5N night fighter.  It was later converted to a 5K as a target drone.  Since late fall, the aircraft was brought back to the FHC museum floor, where visitors could watch the maintainers finish the final process of restoring this beautiful aircraft.

Since the aircraft was used as a target drone, there were modifications made to the airframe for servos etc.  In order to bring this aircraft back to WWII delivery condition, FHC had portions of the wing re-skinned, so as to give it original panel lines.  FHC is known for their attention to detail and spared no expense with the Hellcat.

In the coming weeks the aircraft will be moved yet again, but this time, to be painted!  It will receive its final unit markings, of which has not been revealed yet, in February.

As always, I was there to catch the momentous occasion with video and photographs! 

If you enjoyed the photos and video, please show your support by visiting www.gofundme.com/fight2fly as I am in the process of making a much-needed upgrade to my video camera.

Thank you for reading!

Greetings and Merry Christmas!  This post is to announce that I have some really great things planned for 2013!  I look to release some new and improved productions throughout the year, including several interviews.  One of the first things I have lined up is an in-depth look at a local restoration of an extremely rare WWII fighter/bomber.  All of the attention has been on New Zealand's Mosquito restoration that took its first flight in September.  However, very few people realize that there is an original Mosquito (bomber version!) being restored in British Columbia.  Also, I am hoping to get some interviews and a few status updates on an original A6M3-22 Zero with an original Sakai-21 engine here at Paine Field.  They've been making great strides in its progress.

In the meantime, enjoy this video I put together.  Please, share your ideas as to why you think we should (or shouldn't?) keep these warbirds flying.

http://youtu.be/2d-7eMf7uvo

"Black Death" has arrived!

Saturday, February 4th marked the arrival of Flying Heritage Collection's Il-2 Shturmovik, the only one of its kind in flying condition, despite being the most widely produced military aircraft in history.  Even though it is so rare, this aircraft will in fact be participating in this summers free fly days. 

Here is what Flying Heritage Collection says about the aircraft on their website (www.FlyingHeritage.com)

Place in history: The Il-2 operated close to the ground, attacking enemy tanks, trucks, and troops near the front line. The job was dangerous and though the IL-2 was heavily armored, many of the planes were lost in battle. As Germany threatened western Russia, Soviet factories moved east, to ensure new Shturmoviks arrived to take the place of recent casualties. The enemy called the plane "Black Death" or "Betonvogel" (loosely, the Concrete Bird). Soviet pilots lovingly named the plane "Ilyusha." To the Soviet soldiers, the Il-2 was "the Winged Tank" or, perhaps most endearingly of all, "the Flying Infantryman."

This airplane: The FHC's Il-2 was constructed in Kuybyshev in mid-1943 and was assigned to the 828th Attack Aviation Regiment on the lower Karelian Front. On October 10, 1944, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire while attacking an airfield and crashed near the Titovka River. The plane was discovered in a nameless lake by searchers scouting the area with a helicopter in 1991. When the recovery crew raised the Il-2 to the surface, they found it still had its complement of rockets and bombs under its wings. The plane was restored using parts from four wrecks discovered in northwestern regions of the former Soviet Union. Il-2 serial number 305401 makes up a large percentage of the aircraft.

Latest news has them installing the wings this coming Friday, February 10th.  Stay tuned for updates!!  Until then, enjoy these photographs I shot after its arrival on Saturday




As with the other aircraft in the FHC collection, even the manner in which the paint was applied in 1943 was replicated with this aircraft.  When it was originally produced, the manufacturers were in such a hurry to get the aircraft on the front lines, they didn't even apply primer to the airframe, thus, the paint chips and peels very easily! Add to that the long trek from Russia to a port in Germany and this aircraft has already been through a lot!










For those with an eye for detail, there are also a few remaining bullet holes in the fuselage.



Come see this aircraft and many others at Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field in Everett, Washington!