May 21, 20179 yr comment_30401 I worked the Airshow Saturday. Morning was beautiful. Blue sky, gentile breeze and the day was shaping up to be perfect for an airshow. A few planes made test flights. At 12:15 we started to move the guests back to the spectator line in preparation for flight operations. Then a sea fog blew in from the north, the wind picked up and the ceiling dropped. No flying. In order to provide some entertainment for our guest, many of the aircraft were started up and taxied along the spectator line so everyone could get a good look at each airplane and at least hear the engines running. Not the same as flying, but the best we could do in the circumstances. I didn’t work Sunday, but it was overcast with a 1500 ft ceiling, and I understand they did fly. Curtiss C-46 Commando Douglas SBD Dauntless Kate from Tora-Tora-Tora (Modified AT-6 Texan) Douglas SBD Dauntless FG-1D Corsair AD-4 Skyraider FM-2 Wildcat Junkers Ju-52 CurtissP-40E De Havilland Mosquito P-51D Mustang Bell P-63 King Cobra Goxhill Tower AT-6 Texan (front) P-64 (back) Flak 37 88mm Gun B-25 Report
May 21, 20179 yr comment_30411 wow! Am willing to give the gun a good home if you are short on space. Report
May 21, 20179 yr Author comment_30412 wow! Am willing to give the gun a good home if you are short on space. We keep it in the 'Cottbus' hangar with the German aircraft collection. The German re-enactors shoot it five or six times during the airshow. We call it the Cottbus hangar because we got the hangar from the Cottbus airfield located near Berlin. Though not a mobile hangar, it was designed to be able to move in time of war, which was a big help when bringing it to Virginia Beach. BTW, the green building is another building we brought over from Europe. It's an English watch tower (control tower) that used to be at the Goxhill airfield. Goxhill was the first airfield handed over by England for use by the Eight Air Force. Report
May 22, 20179 yr Author comment_30421 Do you guys need any good A&Ps Lee? Total envy... We have a resident maintenance facility, the Fighter Factory. They have a staff of full time mechanics and do our maintenance and restoration work. Report
May 22, 20179 yr comment_30425 Is it just me, or is anyone else jumping back and forth between the images of the "Kate" and the yellow AT-6 Texan? The modifications to the "Kate" are fascinating. Report
May 22, 20179 yr comment_30432 Wiki Tora Tora Tora, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tora!_Tora!_Tora! Great info!! Report
May 23, 20179 yr comment_30434 Is it just me, or is anyone else jumping back and forth between the images of the "Kate" and the yellow AT-6 Texan? The modifications to the "Kate" are fascinating. +1! Report
May 23, 20179 yr comment_30437 Wow. I don't think I have ever seen that large a collection of running WWII hardware. Thanks for the photos. Report
May 23, 20179 yr comment_30444 I remember that the Kates we had in Harlingen (circa 1981) were a T-6 with a BT-13 tail section. It was pretty clever for 1969. The glass work was pretty amazing as well. Report
May 23, 20179 yr comment_30447 I love the fact that we still have these 70+ year old airplanes still flying. Though, I would hate to have to feed those gas-guzzling monstrosities. Report
May 31, 20179 yr comment_30599 Beautiful pics, and that's quite the collection! Slightly off topic (on topic?) there's a neat documentary series called "Plane Restoration" where it follows people who restored various planes including a Dr. 1, P-51, Hurricane, and T-6. Pretty interesting! Report
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