Best warbird to own

That's what the rabbi said!

My apologies for careless snipping.
--

One of my friends owns the only EADS Epsilon in civil captivity. I have
had the privilege to fly with him in it for about an hour. It is made
for primary basic training of French jet pilots and responds similarly.
It is a fingertip plane and will not drink you out of house and home,
with a Lycoming IO-540.

It is faster than a Marchetti SF-260 (quite a bit faster than a
big-engined T-34) and, IMHO, flies better than the Beech.

OK, on the assumption that I just won the lottery, here are my 4
choices:

1. OV-10 - 2-seat, tandem with sticks, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable, you can take it anywhere with a friend and lots of stuff
(camp in the back!), real "warbird" so you can look cool at airshows,
airframes and parts available. It would be a wonderful plane to
explore the US (or anywhere) in, with awesome vis and twin reliability
for low level recce. I got a couple of backseat rides in them when I
was on active duty and they were a gas to fly!

2. A-37 - 2-seat, side by side, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable (I see a trend here), awesome performance (that you can
actually use) due to big wing and LOTS of grunt! Also rare on the
warbird circuit but still readily available. Bummed a ride in one in
the PI during a Cope Thunder and flew the whole 1.5 except for engine
start and shutdown, and 10 minutes of FACing on Crow Valley - even got
to engage and chase off a marauding Aggressor F-5E that tried to
engage us at low alt - had no problem lead turning him and closing for
a minigun pass until he realized what was happening and bugged out!

3. T-28B - Just about the perfect useful round-engine fun plane. And
yes, I've got about 8 hours in one, so I am definitely prejudiced.
Not much glamour status, but for just jumping in and blasting around
with a friend - perfect!

4. Mi-24 Hind D - 2-seat (plus a bunch of your drunk friends in the
back), tandem, sticks (and collectives), reliable (it's Russian! -
hire a full time mechanic to go with it!). Nope, never flown this one
(yet - hope springs eternal) but it would have to be a lot of fun to
run around in, terrorizing all the locals. Definitely high on airshow
chick magnet quotient - dress up in Sov uniforms while drinking water
out of Vodka bottles (well, at least the designated pilot would have
to) - and with the big cabin you can bring all the stuff you need to
have a good time. I'm surprised a private-owned one hasn't shown up
yet (yes I know about the Army's).

Sigh, oh well, back to picking 6 good numbers...

Kirk
Retired F-4 WSO and glider racing fanatic

In article , Kirk
Stant wrote:

1. OV-10 - 2-seat, tandem with sticks, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable, you can take it anywhere with a friend and lots of stuff
(camp in the back!), real "warbird" so you can look cool at airshows,
airframes and parts available. It would be a wonderful plane to
explore the US (or anywhere) in, with awesome vis and twin reliability
for low level recce. I got a couple of backseat rides in them when I
was on active duty and they were a gas to fly!

I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?
If you don't already have significant hearing loss, get a pair of
REALLY GOOD noise cancelling headsets if you acquire one of these
aircraft. The props are right by your head with those Garrett's
spinning.

In rec.aviation.owning EDR wrote:

I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?

Dunno about civilian acquisition, but getting close...

In about '94 I stopped by Watts-Woodland airport in Northern California to
visit the Beech dealership. They had 3 or 4 OV-10s in the hangar that they
were under contract to modify for the Forest Service. Apparently the
Forest Service was going to use them as spotting planes for fire
suppression. Don't know if it ever came to anything.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR

Frank Stutzman wrote:
In rec.aviation.owning EDR wrote:


I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?


Dunno about civilian acquisition, but getting close...

In about '94 I stopped by Watts-Woodland airport in Northern California to
visit the Beech dealership. They had 3 or 4 OV-10s in the hangar that they
were under contract to modify for the Forest Service. Apparently the
Forest Service was going to use them as spotting planes for fire
suppression. Don't know if it ever came to anything.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR


I'm kind of partial to the OV-1, the Modified Beech Debs that they used
in Nam, or a C-123.
Bill Higdon

Frank Stutzman wrote:
In rec.aviation.owning EDR wrote:

I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?

Dunno about civilian acquisition, but getting close...

In about '94 I stopped by Watts-Woodland airport in Northern California to
visit the Beech dealership. They had 3 or 4 OV-10s in the hangar that they
were under contract to modify for the Forest Service. Apparently the
Forest Service was going to use them as spotting planes for fire
suppression. Don't know if it ever came to anything.

It did. They're a common sight around here during fire season.

Some good shots of them during the recent Southern California firestorm
showed up on local news as well.

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

Frank Stutzman wrote in
:

Apparently the Forest Service was going to use them as
spotting planes for fire suppression. Don't know if it ever came to
anything.

Yep, California Department of Forestry has one based at the Hollister
Airport (3O7).

--
John Godwin
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT from email address)

Charles Talleyrand wrote:

I'm fantasy shopping for my new warbird or historic aircraft. My
requirements are ...

- Historic value (rare and interesting aircraft)
- Reasonably easy to fly
- No turbines and under 12,500 lbs (no type rating needed)
- Seats two
- Aerobatic
- Easy on the eyes

I don't know enough to find the right aircraft.

There are lots of P51s out there, so they are not rare enough.
Further, they are said to be even harder to fly than normal for
vintage and type. The P51 is one of the few WWII fighters that looks
good in a two seat variant.

Flying Me-109s are quite rare, but I've read they are just too tough
to land and only seat one person.

Two seat Spitfires are just ugly.

The P38 and P39 are attactive because of the nosewheel gear. I
understand that the P39 was also used as a trainer in WWII (so it
might be easy to fly).

A Folker Triplane is probably a reasonable plane to fly, but I have no
desire to bath in castor oil and it only seats one person.

My thinking suggests dive and torpedo bombers might be the solution.
They typically seat two or more, and the naval aircraft should have
reasonable low speed handling. Is this sound thinking? Would a
Dauntless or Devistator or even a Stuka fit the requirements?

What fantasy aircraft should I buy?
-Much Thank

Hmmmmmmm, Military verision of the Beech D 17 Stagerwing. Rare Enough for
you????