10Tweaker mentioned on Neal's Candy Store thread about a Walter Soplata Collection in Newbury Ohio. There is an excellent article here at Smithsonian Air & Space .
I am still reading the details but for now here are pictures from a variety of sites. The following pics are by no means complete: I can't yet find a full listing of what is there.
Thanks to Mike (10tweaker) for the heads up on this:
The prototype NAA EF-82E, NACA 133, 46-256, seen 1984 at Newbury; now in Minnesota under restoration by C&P Aviation.
Goodyear F2G-2, BuNo 88463, NX5577N, race #74, winner of the 1947 Thompson Trophy race flown by owner Cook Cleland. Last entered in a race at 1949 Cleveland NAR flown by Dick Becker but did not compete in final. Seen July, 1982, at Newbury, Ohio. Now in North Dakota for restoration for Crawford Museum, Cleveland. This plane's history is here :
TB-25K 44-30129 "Wild Cargo", seen Newbury 1982. Sold to Steve Detch in Georgia; now flying again with Jerry Yagen's Fighter Factory collection at Virginia Beach VA:
USN P-80A/FO-1, BuNo 29689. Left the collection ca.1990 and is now on show restored at NMNA, Pensacola FL. That is Walter Soplata.
BT-13A Valiant, now in the care of WIXer Dan Jones in Alberta and number three in the rebuild queue behind Dan's Stearman and a Nanchang CJ-6A...Note in the rear view that there's a small tree growing up through the empennage of the Valiant, which had obviously been in the same spot quite a while. Seen in 1984:
Curtiss O-52A that is now privately owned in the Midwest, longterm restoration to fly:
The second B-36 produced started as a YB-36. The first two B-36 featured a single tire main landing gear. Those tires were too large for airport runways of that day, so this aircraft was retrofit with a set of 4 tire main gear. This was the first B-36 with the dome style cockpit. This YB-36 was later converted into a production RB-36E, and used in the strategic recon role. It was retired to the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio, in the spring of 1957.
The USAF Museum moved to a new location in 1971. Rather than moving the B-36, a bomber variant B-36 was flown into Dayton to be displayed in the new museum. In fact, the museum building was constructed around that giant airplane. The USAF surplused the B-36 that was at the original museum. While the B-36 was slated to be scrapped, a farmer from near Cleveland named Walter Soplata purchased the B-36, and hauled to his farm. The cut-up B-36 has been sitting outside in the elements laying on the ground since that time. Mr. Soplata is very private, and rarely allows visitors or photos:
I'll be adding more pics as I come across them; or if any of you guys have some, please add.
Does anyone know what happened to the P-82......or for that matter any of this collection? Any idea what the twin is that has the engines mounted above the wings?
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