Greetings and Happy New Year from the Warbird Heritage Foundation!
In this latest issue of "The WHF Hangar" we will bring you up to date on our most recent developments and our plans
for the upcoming flying season.
The last part of 2010 was very exciting for us. After a significant amount of work by our staff, we were able
to return both our A-4 Skyhawk and our AD-1 Skyraider back to flight status. Both aircraft made their flying
debut at EAA Oshkosh this past July.
The WHF A-4 Skyhawk flew at Oshkosh in formation with an F-4 Phantom and
a TA-4 Skyhawk in a tribute to Vietnam veterans. By all accounts that flight was one of the highlights
of this years EAA convention and was seen by more than 200,000 spectators! To view pictures and
The Foundation A-4 Skyhawk
flies over AirVenture Oshkosh 2010.
Photo by Xavier Meal
video of this, and other formations with WHF aircraft from Oshkosh, click
here to visit our website.
We also displayed our AD-1 Skyraider in the "Warbirds in Review" program, where we discussed the history and heritage of the Skyraider.
The attendees were captivated by listening to Jon Goldenbaum discuss his experiences flying the Skyraider during his deployment to Vietnam.
With all of our aircraft restored to flight status, we found that we were in need of additional help to keep them
all in the air.
I am pleased to announce that we have added Michael Fair to our maintenance staff as of
November, 2010.
Mike is a former Air Force aviation mechanic and will work with David Staffeldt and Sean Roarty to keep our
aircraft in top flying condition. Welcome aboard Mike!
As many of you know, this year, 2011, is the Centennial of Naval Aviation. The Navy is planning a variety of major events
celebrating this milestone. As part of the celebration, they are expanding
the
A U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet flies in formation
with the Foundation A-4B Skyhawk.
Photo by David Jacobson
Navy Legacy Flight program schedule
for this years airshow season. Both Paul Wood and Steve Kirik have been on the Navy Legacy Flight team for several years
and both will be flying our
A-4 Skyhawk in formation with the Navy F/A-18 Hornet this summer at various airshows around the Midwest.
Click
here
to visit our website and view the "Events" page for an updated schedule of the airshows that we will be attending.
Remember to check back periodically for any updates.
Many of you have been closely following us on Facebook, where we highlight our aircraft maintenance efforts. We provide
frequent updates on the status of all our aircraft, and post pictures of the annual inspection
process. If you haven't already done so, please click on the button on the left, and "Like" us on Facebook! Then, follow our
progress there during the winter maintenance season.
For those of you in the Chicago area, we have hosted two "Open House" events
at our maintenance hangar, now known as "The Bunker", and will probably do so again in the future. For a look at some pictures
from the first "Open House", click
here.
And now for our major announcement: About two years ago the Warbird Heritage Foundation quietly acquired a
North American P-51 Mustang! This aircraft has been undergoing restoration for the last year and a half and we are
happy to announce that the
The Foundation P-51D Mustang as it looked when we took delivery.
Photo by David Staffeldt
restoration is nearing completion.
We expect to be flying our Mustang during this year's airshow season.
The Mustang will be displaying the paint scheme of the "Baby Duck", a P-51 which was flown by Capt. Herbert G. Kolb of the 350th
Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, in Europe during WWII.
We have added this classic fighter
to our website and will post periodic updates so you can follow along with the last segments of the restoration. To go directly
to the P-51 "Restoration" page, click
here.
We are constantly adding new photos and providing updates on both the website and on Facebook, so keep
checking back to see what's new!
We are looking forward to another exciting airshow season and hope to see many of you over the course of the new
year. So for now, regards from the staff of the Warbird Heritage Foundation.
