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Post by rickthelibrarian on Jun 11, 2012 8:16:59 GMT -5
Not too far from where I live, multi-zillionaire Paul Allen has a museum made up primarily of WWII aircracft, nearly all of which are flyable and restored to a fair-thee-well. On weekends during good weather, two or three of them are flown for brief periods and the public is invited to watch for free. He has a P-40C that was discovered on the Russian steppes in the early 1990s and restored to that of a P-40 flown by a "local boy" with the AVG and it, and a restored Zero went through their paces yesterday, to my delight (The P-40 being my favorite USAAF fighter of WWII). The P-40C's slightly older "brother" flew with the 20th Pursuit Squadron, based at Clark Field. I took 200+ pictures and had a chance to go through the museum. Really a great day!! Some sample pictures below and a link to a few more (not the whole 200+!!) I like this picture (above) which almost makes you believe they were "dogfighting". However most P-40 pilots who tried to turn with the Zero would be later described as "late" P-40 pilots and their widow would be receiving an insurance check from the government! ...and a quick one of the interior of the museum: Here's a link to the rest of the selected pictures: P-40C and Zero fly-byMany thanks to my wonderful (and long-suffering) bride, who not only accompanied me, but had to listen as I droned on about all the aircraft in the museum. I did notice she slept VERY well on the way back!
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Post by clarkfield on Jun 11, 2012 17:37:39 GMT -5
Great pics, so jealous.
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Post by frank on Jun 12, 2012 3:45:10 GMT -5
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Post by labrador on Jun 12, 2012 8:51:29 GMT -5
beautiful...and my favourite version of the P40 at that.
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Post by VeeVee on Jun 12, 2012 22:20:45 GMT -5
Great shots Rick. I like that "dogfight" one Does the zero have the original engine?
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Post by rickthelibrarian on Jun 13, 2012 0:11:23 GMT -5
So, it has a Pratt & Whitney. They said it could have been fitted but the mechanics weren't even sure how to work on a Sakae engine and spare parts are almost non-existant.
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