It is tough to keep track of these P-51s as they come and go during the day.
"Shangri-La" always had a cowl and canopy cover on from Mon-Wed. As I showed
up on Thursday at about 9:15am, it was gone! So no clean pics. Too bad, because
I am low on pics for "Shangri La". Chuck
Greenhill's "Geraldine" came in on Wed and then left later that day.
Some come in for the day and leave at night, then come back the next day. Others
stay for the whole week. The P-51s that are judged, sometimes come in the Saturday
before the show to start with all the prep work and polishing.
Restoration of mention is Dan Baun's "Red Dog" restored by Mike Vadeboncoeur of Midwest
Aero. Mike has done a stunning job with this one. If you get a chance, check
it out up close and look at every detail. His craftsmanship is much more
appreciated the closer you look. Congratulations to Mike and Dan!
When Square One Aviation quit business a year or so ago, that left Dan Baun
hanging a bit with a TF in mid-restoration. Luckily, some of the excellent
crew at Square One, worked out a deal with Dan and they finished up the TF just
in time to fly it to Oshkosh. No paint yet! It does have a new owner, but I
do not know the planned paint scheme. (Later talking to Simon Brown of Provenance
Fighter Sales, the TF will be painted in a 15th Air Force "Tempus Fugit" with the
red diagonal stripes on the tail). This TF is for sale. Come on, you know you
want it.
Mark Huffstutler owns N3333E which had the long time 55th FG paint that was a bit
faded and worn when he purchased it just a few years back. He has
repainted his P-51 as Chuck Yearger's mount,
"Glamorous Glen III". Some research can be done to find out that Yeager's
WWII paint has been popular over the years being used on many P-51s.
Bob Odegard's P-51 still has the temp noseart for the movie "Thunder Over Reno",
which was filmed on site in June 2006. "Stang" is Bob's new noseart. Not sure
how long it will stay on.