A peek in the 'Toys' hangar at Crystal Lakes

Here is a few more…the Seafire, an 8/10th’s scale Mustang parked right in front of the orginal (not from kit,fabricated by the guys at Crystal Lake and powered by two Ford V-6’s, Mike said it will cruise comfortably on just one!) ,the P-40 Warhawk, the cockpit of the A-37 and the F-5 sans wings (Mike told me this probably wouldnt fly again…too expensive, but rather would be a static display)

What a stunning collection !! , any more photo’s out there ?? 🙂

Me in the Seafire….

I recently had the wonderful time visting the hangars in Crystal Lake. Simply amazing! I’m not sure I have any photos that differ from Mark12’s, so this and one of the Seafire cockpit will be it. The place is incredible and the caretaker who showed me around was more then gracious, extremely knowledgable and great to talk with…

This place is a candy store (albeit an expensive one!) :rolleyes:

Great photo’s and they are well looked after with a lot of TLC.

Thanks for sharing them 🙂

Thanks for sharing.

As regards colours. I guess if you have a polished hangar floor, you are probably going to want polished a/c!

And it’s a matter of degree. Some schemes are more accurate than others, but almost every scheme is a compromise between operation today and total accuracy.

Wonder if anyone can point out a recreated scheme on a flying warbird that is TOTALLY accurate? You know, paint scuffs, mud on the wing walks, cordite trails over the wings, chips and dings…. 😉

Looks like a new thread for the challange.

A4 parts

Crazymainer
Which parts do you need, we have quite a few parts for the A4
Mike

Do you know if he might?????????????

The A-4 is out ot graze but I think the F-5 is a possibility for the future. I will check source.

Mark

Hi Mark12,

Do you think he might be interested in parting with the A-4 parts. 😀

Do me a favor and e-mail me either pm or offline thanks

Cheers Crazymainer

Hi All,

The Second to last photo is indeed an A-4 what you have is the Nose section and the Tail section. By looking at the Canopy fram I would geuss an early variant most likely a C or D model.

What got my attention was the F-5 on the rolling dolly, mark12 is this being rebuild to airworthy status and is a Ex-Nam or Ex-RCAF airframe.

Cheers Crazymainer

The A-4 is out ot graze but I think the F-5 is a possibility for the future. I will check source.

Mark

Looks A-4ish to me.

Great collection there!

second to last photo what is it? :confused:

The T-33 should be glossy..the Stearman too. The Jenny should be semi gloss..it looks good to me! The Mustang…well it’s painted silver, so that’s okay. The fact the T-6 has a creative scheme and the T-34 has tip tanks are small beans. And, it’s a fact that gloss paints are easier to maintain and provide better protection.
My logic is anyone who spends millions to own a warbird…and keep it in the air, well he/she can do whatever thay want with it…within reason. In my opinion, these schemes are okay. They may not be the one’s I’d use but then again, I don’t have a million for a Corsair or Mustang!

T-33 I’ll give you. That Jenny is drop-dead GORGEOUS.

Stearman I dunno. Seems to me that nitrate or buterate dopes laid on cotton in the days when these planes were in military service would not have had the sheen that modern fabric-covering paints will provide. A “glossy” Stearman with urethane based paint job is not the same as a nice shiny, fresh out of the factory dope job.

Painted P-51, eh. I could understand wanting to protect a bare-metal airplane with a paint coating if it was going to be tied down outside but these planes are clearly pampered and out of the elements. Heck, corrosion problems are a lot easier to spot without paint covering them up so why not keep this hangar-bird naked?

The idea that gloss paints protect better than flat/matte finishes or that they are easier to maintain is a myth – again it is totally dependent on the paint actually used to paint the aircraft. Shoddy paint, shoddy protection. Modern advances in the composition of aircraft paints have provided flat paints that provide exactly the same amount of protection and resistance to oil and dirt that a glossy paint can. If the correct paint is used you can have a completely authentic finish without sacrificing any durability whatsoever.

That being said, I agree 100% with your comments about letting a guy do what he wants with his plane – I can still reserve an opinion eh? As I said in my first post, hats off to the owner of all these fine planes!

Those are my kinda toys! 🙂

Inflatoplane

Can anyone else tell if that’s a Goodyear “Inflatoplane” hanging from the rear ceiling?

Keep awake at the back there! 🙂

http://forum.airforces.info/showthread.php?t=31027&highlight=Inflatoplane

Mark

Holy ****! I live about 45 minutes from there! I had a contact number for this guy via my parents but it didnt work! i going to renew my efforts to get up there! Anybody know how to get ahold of him? WOW i didnt know his collection was this extensive!

Nevermind- I see that he has posted here, i’ll try to contact him via this board!

Can anyone else tell if that’s a Goodyear “Inflatoplane” hanging from the rear ceiling?

My father polished Spitfire V’s/VIII’s and Kittyhawks in the RAAF during WW2 to make them faster. He told me they used floor polish. They looked glossy…

Like the Cessna Tweet always wanted one for some strange reason!!

MYIRA

That’s no T-37 though – it’s an A-37 Dragonfly (although it did have a nick-name of Super-Tweet, so maybe I’ll give it to you :)). Based on the T-37, but with much, much more thrust (2,400 or 2,850 lb J-85s, vs 1,025 lb J-69s).

http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avtweet.html
A-37 Association

But if you like the T-37, here’s a link to a pilot report:
Air Progress, Oct. 1976

With a collection like that the betting is that there is someone else on hand to put the toys away, and clean up an mess. But what the heck, if you’ve got it, why not enjoy it.

Merlin70

Of course there are operational staff but I think you would lose your bet. Jim Smith is a ‘hands on’ engineer and right in amongst it. 🙂

Mark

Like the Cessna Tweet always wanted one for some strange reason!!

MYIRA

I hope he puts his toys away after he’s finished playing with them!!! 😀

With a collection like that the betting is that there is someone else on hand to put the toys away, and clean up an mess. But what the heck, if you’ve got it, why not enjoy it.