16th March 2012
44-74923 Flies Again
To many on the west coast of the USA, 44-74923 brings back memories of a bright red P-51 with #38 at the Reno Air Races. Even further back she raced as #28 with no paint job.
923 was sold surplus to Joe Hammer of Sacramento in 1957. She was sold twice but stayed in California until being sold to the El Salvadorian AF or FAS. She returned in 1974 in not so good shape, but was rebuilt adopting id 44-11353. Don Alderson registered her as N132, then Dave Clinton was added as owner and they called her "Doubleknit Doon" and registered her as N100DD.
To many on the west coast of the USA, 44-74923 brings back memories of a bright red P-51 with #38 at the Reno Air Races. Even further back she raced as #28 with no paint job.
923 was sold surplus to Joe Hammer of Sacramento in 1957. She was sold twice but stayed in California until being sold to the El Salvadorian AF or FAS. She returned in 1974 in not so good shape, but was rebuilt adopting id 44-11353. Don Alderson registered her as N132, then Dave Clinton was added as owner and they called her "Doubleknit Doon" and registered her as N100DD.
In 1981, John Sandberg bought and named her "Tipsy Too". She raced as #28. In 1983 Chuck Hall was race pilot and she suffered an engine failure causing a belly landing in Lemon Valley. Hall was not hurt. She was sold to Gary Levitz in 1984. Levitz changed the reg to N345, painted her red and put the #38 on the side. In 1995 she was sold, crated and shipped to the Netherlands.
The Early Bird Foundation was the new owner, but 923 sat in a crate and waited for many years for a hard push to restore her. In 2004, the foundation began a full restoration and worked hard to return her to flying duty. In November 2010, the first engine runs were made and in March 2012 she took to the skies once again. Congratulations to the Early Bird Foundation!
