Airwar '74 – More Warbirds in colour & b/w

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From here on out all black and white.

Many thanks Mark. 🙂

Not just yet, I’m sure we’ll let you know when we get bored! 😉

Great stuff, keep ’em coming please, Mark. 🙂

Mike J,

Here are a few P-51 shots from Airwar ’74 to be getting on with. The action shots were actually taken standing on the runway without a telephoto – just pan pan pan as they came streaming in. Interesting… they sort of frown on that sort of thing now! 🙂

Mark

P-38 in the EAA Museum

This was taken in August 2003 and is the P-38 “Marge”, 2103993.

I think the registry is a little off beam here. At least one of the lower photographs on the registry is not the Edwards. P-38 and I would be doubtful the other at Harlingen is correct as well.

Mark, I failed to see the two pics at the bottom of the registry page. The upper photo is obviously the P-38M and I think I see a hint of the rear canopy in the bottom photo as well. My guess would be they are both pics of the Bolton airplane with minor changes to the paint. Obviously that airplane is the one that went to the Champlin museum and is now with the MoF in Seattle. Why those pics ended up in the registry for N3800L is a question only Scott can answer. If the EAA airplane is the original N3800L and if it was wrecked as you say then kudos to the EAA, they did an outstanding job putting it back together. Thanks for the pics, a real stroll down memory lane! Keep ’em coming, can’t get too many threads like this for my money.

PS – The registry clearly states that the Bolton P-38M flew marked as 4-JS which is the same code in the upper pic mentioned above. Must be a mix-up here. I’ve been reading for years that the ex-Champlin bird was the ONLY P-38M survivor. Hmmm, very interesting. (not that it really matters, just interesting 🙂 )

Something wrong here I suspect.

The WRG registry lists this aircraft as the one donated by the Edward’s to the EAA museum and currently displayed as “Marge”. Is this the same one as in the above photos?

Mark, the WRG registry has a pic of John Deahl’s “Scrapiron IV” if you have not seen it already.

Chad,

N3800L

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p38registry/p38-4453087.html

I think the registry is a little off beam here. At least one of the lower photographs on the registry is not the Edwards. P-38 and I would be doubtful the other at Harlingen is correct as well.

My understanding from Connie, and it is a long time ago, was that the aircraft just rolled into the ground on take off or approach, I am not sure which.

The most likely situation here, in my view, is that Connie Edwards donated the wrecked P-38 some 15 years later to the EAA and has been rebuilt to static display for their museum.

There seems to be some confusion with the ex Johnnie Bolton two seater P-38M, also at Airwar ’74

Who out there knows the story on this one?

Mark

The light was bright and overhead but I suspect some degrading in these slides compared with the Transpo 72 shots already posted.

They are great Mark. Now that they are digital, the quality will not be degrading any further. How do I love colour pics! 😎

J.V.

Fantastic photos Mark. Thanks for sharing. Wow it looked like an awesome event, and an awesome day – I’ll bet the temperature must have been pretty balmy.

I love the look of these photos, some are dreamlike, others looklike genuine wartime pictures.

PDS

The P-38 of the Edwards Brothers was lost tragically with fatality.

Mark

The WRG registry lists this aircraft as the one donated by the Edward’s to the EAA museum and currently displayed as “Marge”. Is this the same one as in the above photos?

Mark, the WRG registry has a pic of John Deahl’s “Scrapiron IV” if you have not seen it already.

Great shots MK12. The first one of the two Mustangs really stands out,
mmitch.

Great photos – and thanks for sharing.

CM

For Mike J

Mike,

Here are your B&W shots of the Edwards Brothers P-38.

Whilst searching for these I came across a few colour prints which must have been a trial on early colour negative. They have been cleaned up a touch.

I am particularly pleased to have found the colour shot of Ken Burnstine’s ‘rather colourful’ P-51. He and his lady friend were always decked out top to toe in leather attire much to the amusement of ‘Connie’ Edwards who would always address them as “my little leather freaks”. I did suggest that all the paint job lacked was a set of invasion markings and it would have the lot but it fell on deaf ears. :rolleyes:

With the new colour finds there was a further very large wad of B & W of all the aircraft at Airwar ’74. If this is getting boring I’ll stop there.

Mark

The last of the colour

Do you have any pics of this one, Mark?

Great photos, BTW. Keep ’em coming! 🙂

MikeJ

This is just about the end of the colour without a lot of deeper searching.

On file I will have loads of B/W and there must be a shot of Bill Edwards’ P-38 in there.

These times were in the very early days of affordable mass trans-Atlantic travel and my wife and I were sort of ‘token trophy Brits’ at the airshow. I had helped Don Plumb acquire his Spitfire a couple of years or so previously and he introduced me at the gathering parties leading up to the show -“Anybody with an extra seat, get this man airborne”. During the couple of weeks we were there and including CWH I think I made over 10 warbird flights including the P-38 and the Firefly – heady stuff. 😎

Mark

Mark12 you mention the pilots, what about the aircraft?

Are they all still with us?

PDS

PDS

The P-38 of the Edwards Brothers was lost tragically with fatality.

I guess a google search on the US registrations, posted, and the aircraft type would yield a history path on one or other of the Warbird registers.

Other than that, perhaps new poster Dennis Bergstrom could help us here.

Mark

The #86 “Whistling Death” Corsair is the red & white checkerboard cowl example now with the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. The #69 Corsair is the well known F4U-7 “Alberta Blue”.

Are any of those aircraft still in the same ownership now?
(i.e. in the family)

Lex Dupont still owns the pictured Wildcat and John Paul still has the P-40. The P-63F is still in CAF ownership if that counts.

Are any of those aircraft still in the same ownership now?
(i.e. in the family)

It is sobering to read through the old names and recall that at least ten and possibly more of the pilots are no longer with us.

Mark12 you mention the pilots, what about the aircraft?

Are they all still with us?

PDS

what a fantastic collection of images from those early days of warbird preservation. Thanks for sharing!

A few more.

It is sobering to read through the old names and recall that at least ten and possibly more of the pilots are no longer with us.

All photos taken with an Exakta Varex II with a fixed 50mm lens.

The light was bright and overhead but I suspect some degrading in these slides compared with the Transpo 72 shots already posted.

Mark

Oh…My….God….The warbird movement finally gaining steam and showing what it COULD be when people took CARE of the planes that were left…these pics are HISTORY in and of themselves, great to see them…that Corsair later lost an aileron flying in an air race (or was it BEFORE this event?) at Cape May, NJ but landed safely…anyone have pics of a P-38 lightning owned and flown by one John Deahl of Denver, CO who later died in the crash of that same P-38 in Utah at an airshow?

mark