warrenmj

I know a lot of you guys are interested in old aircraft. I started volunteering today at the museum in Colorado Springs. A former boss has been trying to get me there since I retired 2+ years ago and I finally relented and started today. I'm looking forward to helping them restore and maintain their aircraft. Its a great museum and if you are in town, I highly recommend visiting. They are right next door to WESTPAC, which is a for-profit aircraft restoration facility and is part of the museum tour.
A few pictures from both sites.

Callaway DrDon

Nice pics. Love to see more. Thanks

3JsVette

A lot of love for the war birds on this forum. Thanks for sharing!

morly1963

Very cool! Good luck n thanks for sharing.

Dr L-88

Thanks for sharing. Looks like some great pieces of history. I know you will enjoy your participation in restoring one of these old warbirds. I was involved with the P-38 Glacier Girl some 25 years ago. It was the experience of a lifetime.

Rex

Black 03 Z06

Great pics. Good luck with the new position.

Bluestripe67

That's a great opportunity to be part of some historic aircraft preservation efforts etc. I have a desire to help work on a steam locomotive. Dennis

colo63sw

Good for you. Hope you enjoy the work as much as I enjoy looking at the 'old tin'.
If I'm going down that way I will try to let you know.

Todd H.

Any SBDs there? My Dad flew them for the Marines in the Philippines (mostly), but they’re very rare today. Lots on the bottom of the Pacific.

ELEFUNTMAN

Very cool! Next time I'm in the area, I'll stop in, thanks for posting pics!

warrenmj

Thanks everyone. That fully flyable P-38 in the photos was in the same condition as the P-47 shell also in one of the photos. They were both pulled out of a hole in New Guinea where they were buried after WW II because it was too expensive to ship equipment back to the US. Here is a video of it's first flight in Oct 2016. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...0250&FORM=VIRE
Also a great story of one of this aircrafts pilots who saw this plane fly again at age 101.
http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-...rticle/1557425

Dr L-88

WOW !!! That's cool. Nothing like the sound of a P-38 on a low fly by. Who was the pilot? Steve Hinton maybe? He's one of a handful that is qualified to fly these things.

warrenmj

I think the restored plane in the last photo is an SBD, but I'll check to be sure. I believe it was recovered from lake Michigan.

Todd H.

Oh yeah, I see that now. I couldn't see it very well, but it looks like it could be one.

My Dad, Captain Gordon S. Haugen, USMC, front row far right.

mrg

What a great read - incredible happenstance reunion between a P-38 and the WWII pilot that once flew her. Thanks for sharing story and pics.
John

1bdvet

You now have the clest job ever. I would love to work on some of those old acft. It certainly would be challenge.

Lotsacubes

Love warbirds and round engines. There can’t be more than 1 or 2 Tigercats flying. Is that fuselage a Hellcat? Thanks for sharing and I’ll definitely drop in to that museum.

MCMLXI

Cool story. My Uncle was a B-24 squadron leader stationed in Seething, England in WWII. My Dad was a 30yr mechanic in the USAF - and he was also a member of the CAF - so I was lucky enough to be around some of these historic airplanes.

My flight in a B25 was the maybe the loudest thing I ever heard ... but I loved it

I wish I had saved all of the WWII model airplanes that I built as a kid

warrenmj

The shell is a P-47 Thunderbolt and believe it or not, it will be restored to flying condition.

JF in MI

My FIL was a rear gunner in a SBD. I'm pretty sure he was in the battle of Santa Cruz and know for sure he was part of Kwajalein, Truk, Makin Island. Shot down a lot of Zeros with his machine gun technique. Later went to train in Hell Divers and was set for pilot training when the war ended.