By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford

This is for all of you who aren’t here. I know you want to be here, I know you promised yourself that you would make it… but something happened.

I know that there are readers who catch this in their squadron ready rooms on carriers, or the ops office at Al Jabbar Air Base in Kuwait, or deployed in some other “less than desirable” place. Some of you are getting shot at. Keep ducking, reload, and read away, this is what’s here while you’re there.

Warbird Boss Bill Fisher was predicting better than 400 warbirds this year.  I don’t think it happened. A combination of weather and timing and maybe some economics kept people and planes home. I walked the entire warbird flight line and ops area Friday. Took a couple of hours, just to write down all the types and get some names and hometowns.

Here goes:

Right up against the fence, three big Navy birds.first, an FG-1D Corsair, fresh out of the shop a week ago, here looking factory fresh, a clean load of rockets under the dark blue wings. It's owned by Gary kohs of Pontiac, Michigan, and has been in restoration since sometime in the early 1990's, with 15,000 hours in the Air Power Unlimited shop at Jerome, Idaho. This former Tallichet-owned bird is seen on most every episode of "Black Sheep Squadron". 

Next to him, Jim Reads’ F4U-5 Corsair, in Marine markings of VMF-312. Mr. Read, of Valparaiso, Indiana…a former Marine aviator.  A TBM-3E sits alongside, owned by the Tinker Brothers, Larry and Dave, and lives in Monroe, Michigan. This Avenger spent some time with VT-51, as did Lt. George H.W. Bush,  The color scheme is what I consider a very sharp “Atlantic” paint scheme of gray over white. It’s one of very few WWII Navy birds with that paint.

Headed down the taxiway, picking our way between huge radial engines. On the right, more than a dozen T-28’s, the dark blue, the bright yellow, navy gloss gray, and the white and orange paint schemes make them all stand out. On our left, a group of AD-Skyraiders, starting with an AD-4N in overall USMC blue, owned by Danny Summers, of Sugar City, Idaho. There were about 3,200 aircraft built, and this is one of the single seaters. The next “Spad” is an A-1E, in paint of the Vietnamese Air Force. This bird has a serious war record, and was literally one of the last planes out of Saigon in April 1975. John Muszala pilots this for Mr. Summers, and you have figured out that it has that huge greenhouse canopy, with a multitude of seats. Between the “Sandys” sit a pair of F8F1Bearcats, one owned and flown by Howard Pardue, of Breckenridge, Texas. Howard flew an awesome performance Friday afternoon in this aircraft, and is as sharp now as he was when I first met him and watched him fly 20 years ago.

Next down the line is the Fairey Firefly, owned  and flown by Capt Eddie Kurdziel, based near San Diego, and this is the aircraft that won the Grand Champion Warbird in 2002. It is immaculate, and this year they had posters and $10 t-shirts (you bet I got one). Capt. Eddie is pround to point out that "everything works".

Jet warbirds were well represented, and there were a slew of ‘em. The row reached almost to the runway and started with an FJ-4B Fury, sitting next to an F-86 painted as John Glenn’s “MiG Mad Marine”, circa 1953. The aluminum of this bird was as glossy as any on the field. (Wonder what they use?) A Folland Gnat in a “Red Arrows” paint scheme was next, followed by a trio of L-39 Albatrosses from the Czech Republic. Two of those just restored by Pride Aircraft from Rockford, Ill. John Morgan is the owner, and has been restoring these aircraft, about 30 in all, over the last 6 years. A total of 13 Albatros were on the field, 5 of them restored by Pride.

Next wingtip belonged to a Soko Galeb G-2A from Yugoslavia. It was in a pseudo-Navy gray paint scheme, mounting 50lb bombs, rockets and a pair of .50 Brownings in the nose. A Cessna T-37 followed, fresh out of the paint shop. It has authentic markings from Randolph Air Force Base. Oh, turns out it IS from RAFB in San Antonio, and is NOT privately owned. JetCraft from Raleigh, NC had their CL-41 parked next... but this isn’t a Tudor. It’s a Tebaun, one of 20 built in Canada for the Malaysian Air Force, and the ONLY one privately registered. The engines are bigger, the tires bigger, and it’s a steal at $695,000. The last of the jets on-line was a DH-112 Mk1-Venom, flown in Swiss AF colors.

That first part of the stroll took about 45 minutes, and the best was yet to come. Part 2 next…we cruise the BIG IRON!

FMI: www.airventure.org