By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford

The walk across the warbird area took the better part of a hot Friday. We crossed row after row of T6s, SNJs, and T-34s and found our way to a flight of BT-13s & SNVs. The one “unbuttoned” with the shiniest paint belonged to Kurt Muhle, from Columbus (NE). He says it is his passion, and his hobby, and loves flying all over the Midwest. Surprise to me, reading his presentation panels: there were a total of 11,538 BT-13/SNVs built during the war… that’s HUGE, and surprising there aren’t more in the air.

There are 6 members of the “Oscar Deuce” family, O-2A/Bs, one of the truly unique and affordable warbirds of the Vietnam era.

The red tail of something caught my attention, and then noting that the big patch belonged to the 11th Armored Cavalry, or “Black Horse” Regiment, I made a beeline to an L-24/U-10 Helio Courier. First one I had seen in ages, owned by Mark and Julie Price from Wolverine (MI). They picked it up in March, at the Tico show in Florida, and this is truly one of those “broken plane shoved in a barn for 20 years” stories. With little more than 200 hours since new, this plane was built in 1957!

There was an OH-6 “Loach”. The Hughes 500 started Army duty in the 1960s, and continues to this day, where the remaining aircraft are found in Fort Campbell (KY), part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Speaking of Vietnam, we saw a total of 6 O-1/L-19 Bird dogs in Army, Marine and Air Force colors.

The flock of grasshoppers is pretty much a complete set of L-birds, including one that jumped out at me from across the field. It’s a 1943 L-4B; the best of Piper's wartime effort, and it’s equipped with the Brodie Device, used for launching and recovering spotter planes from an LST in the Pacific theater. It’s been in at least one of the glossy magazines, and is owned by Dick and Rick Brown of Excelsior (MN).

The Fighter bullpen was next. You want Mustangs? We had close to a dozen. Geraldine, Sweet Revenge, and Old Boy sitting side by side, with the next row occupied by Sweet and Lovely, owned by Bob Baker from Alva (OK). This plane is right out of the shop, and had a total of five, count ‘em 5 hours on the ‘ol Hobbs when it landed at Oshkosh on Wednesday.

The next Mustang will be leaving the air, real soon. One of those headed back across the pond for museum duty with the royal Air Force at Hendon (London suburb). It’s in the paint of Capt. Don Evans, of the 366th Fighter Squadron, who was lost in combat, December 1944.

Bob Tullius has been flying it for the last few years. Petie 2nd was next, alongside Excalibur and the CAF’s Gunfighter; then Ed and Connie Bolin’s Old Crow. The other Mustangs included Dakota Kid II owned by Hank Reichert from Bismarck (ND). Donna-Mite, with that real nice 353FG paint scheme, and Miss Marilyn II. Short Fuse Sallee was brought in by Bill Bruggeman of Anoka County (MN), a beautiful restoration on an Australian-built Mustang. At one time, flown at Reno as “Race 82”, Bill says it’s one of “the most stock Mustangs around.”

A YAK-11 and P-40 were on hand, and this brings out a gripe for you warbird owners. You spend a lot of money on the aircraft, restoration, and insurance and cool embroidered shirts and hats for your buddies. How about spending a little money for some signage. Let us know something about your aircraft…a little history, please.

Were there more planes? Yeah, you bet. There were half a dozen Beech D-18/C-45/SNB/AT-11 types. An RV-1 Mohawk, Vietnam veteran (featured in Thursday's Aero-News), and a pair of Spitfires that I only saw from a distance.

And saving the best for last, the Yankee Air Forces’ Yankee Lady B-17G found a prime parking space at Aeroshell Square, alongside the MATS Connie (C-121). It was my first time through Yankee Lady since she started flying 7 years ago, and she’s in great shape. A darn fine job by YAF, and a friendly bunch here at Oshkosh. Yes, I bought another t-shirt (got to help “keep ‘em flying”). The YAF has a great home at Willow Run Airport west of Detroit, and make time on your next time through Motown to check them out.

If I missed your aircraft, or your favorite plane, mea culpa. My apologies to anyone neglected, or somehow missed. In the meantime, check your six.

FMI: www.airventure.org