Oshkosh 2018, Is our resident T-6 owner in this video?

[Don Lovel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKyvv9c-K0

 

[bogus bill]

Golly. Wouldn't have guessed there was that many left!

 

[Snake45]

Golly. Wouldn't have guessed there was that many left!

That's nowhere near all of them.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKyvv9c-K0

This year Son and Grandson took the Baron. I didn't get to go due to a tooth infection. :(
They took the "J- Bird "/SNJ-4 last year. At one time they were going to take it BUT gas would have been another $900-1000 and more wear on the engine. I think there were 85 T-6/SNJs there.
I believe there still are around 800 flying Texans in the US.
Oshkosh had 3 Texan aerobatic/show teams this year.

If you watch the video you will see a tire come off a F-7 Tigercat on landing roll out. Glad she was able to blow out the fire. It was flown by the President of the Warbird Association. Both F-7 are owned by the same person and she flies one for him along with Jack Rouch's 51s

 

[bogus bill]

When I first started flying in 1966 I could have bought one for $5,000! Of course that would be like $38,761.64 on the inflation calculator today, but still---. Oh well, I couldn't even afford the 50 GPH fuel bill even if I was given the plane anyway.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

When I first started flying in 1966 I could have bought one for $5,000! Of course that would be like $38,761.64 on the inflation calculator today, but still---. Oh well, I couldn't even afford the 50 GPH fuel bill even if I was given the plane anyway.

Way over priced :D A friend of mine sold his nice one for $3000 so he could buy a nice 51 for $10,000 in 1966 :D
A FAIR 51 goes for 1 1/2 -2 Million today. Friend was bringing a T-6 back from Central America in 1974 and was lost in Mexico never to be found :(
By the way the fuel burn is 30-35 GPH at cruise.

 

[gramps]

Nice video! Love the sound of a radial engines!
gramps

 

[Snake45]

When I first started flying in 1966 I could have bought one for $5,000! Of course that would be like $38,761.64 on the inflation calculator today, but still---. Oh well, I couldn't even afford the 50 GPH fuel bill even if I was given the plane anyway.

Way over priced :D A friend of mine sold his nice one for $3000 so he could buy a nice 51 for $10,000 in 1966 :D
A FAIR 51 goes for 1 1/2 -2 Million today. Friend was bringing a T-6 back from Central America in 1974 and was lost in Mexico never to be found :(
By the way the fuel burn is 30-35 GPH at cruise.

I have a magazine from the early '70s advertising the T-6s modified to look like Jap Zekes for the movie Tora Tora Tora for either $7000 or $8000, I forget which. Either way, it was less than two new Corvettes.

As for number of T-6s still flying, I'd have guess well over 100 but wouldn't have guessed anywhere near 800. But maybe so. Here's a listing of all known in civilian hands (ever) or still existing, but not every airplane on this list is still flying or even still existent.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/texanregistry/texanregistry.html

 

[Selena]

Here I was ready for a heartwarming story of a redneck and his International crawler tractor. It is a cute airplane though.

 

[bogus bill]

Sounds better and better! Back about Christmas of 1977 I found a dopers cracked up C-45 (Beech 18) on abandoned desert airstrip on the Mohave desert out of Searchlight Nevada. It was at Hart mine, on the LA sectional. I had left a couple buddys at Searchlight and was flying my Tri Pacer back to Lancaster Ca. I seen the plane busted up below and buzzed it. I had a CB and was still talking to my buddys. There wasn't a soul, structure or vehicle in many miles so I landed by it. Even before I landed I was sure it was most likely a dope runners. It had been raining a lot and a shallow ditch had formed. The pilot had to land long and purposely ground looped as he ran out of strip. He knocked over a Joshua tree just ahead of the empennage. I believe it could have been fixed by a good A&P and one of my buddys I had left at Searchllight was a inspector at Lockheed. The other was a pilot too. They were out on a Christmas vacation lark boondocking etc in their 4 wheeler and I had joined them for a few days and had just left them. They also had a sectional. I tried the door and it was unlocked. I got in and found the title was issued to a woman with a Burbank Ca. address. The passenger seats were missing. I gave my buddys the info on my CB and flew back home to Fox field in Lancaster. I went to the FAA and the plane hadn't been reported. Then I asked about salvaging it. I was put in touch with a Vegas cop that someone from the FAA gave me the number. The first call was one sided, him asking me the questions and giving me nothing. A little later he called me back with a lot of info. I knew he had checked me out first as I worked at Lockheed as a security guard. He told me he had been following that gang of druggers for six months. Even knew the pilot had been having trouble with one of the engines etc. He told me they had already killed someone and "To take care of myself" if I got farther involved. (Meaning to go in armed.) That night my buddys found the plane. Both liked to imbibe and the outing was really a lark to get away from their intolerant wives on Christmas/New years vacation.
They fired up one engine but couldn't get the other to go. One was drunk and fell into a cactus. A hilarious story!
They were driving out that morning on the trail and met another truck with two guys and a woman. They figured they were headed for the plane so gave them some time and drove back. The people had the nose cowling off probably getting dope out. My buddys yelled over that they should leave the plane alone, that they had a buddy (me) who was reporting it. All were wearing guns and they got some insults so left. They drove back and I set up a meeting with a lawyer to get info on salvaging the plane. It was a woman. She found a book on salvage laws and basically said to just go ahead and get it. If "They" wanted the plane back we could charge them storage! I again called the FAA official and the Vegas cop that worked with the case and both told me they had no farther interest in the plane.
We hit the plane at midnight New Years Eve. There were four of us well armed. I walked in alone about the last half mile but no one was there. Some of the instruments were gone. My buddys did take the pilot seats.
My friend was quite a shade tree mechanic besides being a A&P. He rigged up a boom and winch on his truck. We went in again a week or so later. This time the plane was sitting on its belly with the landing gear and engines gone! Oil was still dripping out of the cut lines.
Anyway it was a adventure. Had we done things right and guarded the plane until we got things put together better I believe we could have fixed it and I could have found a qualified pilot to fly it out.
Fast forward a couple years. I flew in to California City (north of Mohave) and seen a similar C-45 at a FBO. I talked to the operator and made some joke that I used to own one of them for a day. It turned out he got burned on the deal. Some group had hired him to get it out and stiffed him on the deal!