In Japan, following the War, I saw a Fighter Group (75 aircraft) of
almost new P-38's have primer cord wrapped around the booms and the
tails cut off. Bull Dozers then pushed the pieces into a big pile and
we either sold at a penny a pound or gave to the Japanese who sorted
the different metals out and re smelted to make things since they
didn't have any source of metal at that time.

What is it they say about beating swords into plow shares???

Big John
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On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 19:20:07 GMT, George Patterson
wrote:

wrote:

Risking the loss of a piece of history, to say nothing of
the pilot, just for the sake of a 400mph thrill ride is insane. I'd
like to see them all restored to their military condition and flown at
air shows. Much less chance of accidents there IMHO.

Seems like many people are real quick to tell other people what to do with their
money. Most of these "warbirds" never saw any action and arguably aren't
particularly historical at all. Many of the real warplanes weren't worth
ferrying back to the U.S. and were crunched overseas.

Some Luftwaffe pilots destroyed more P-51s after the war than during it. And the
U.S. government paid them to do it.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.