Warbird favorites as
diverse as AirVenture
By Fred Johnsen
 |
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Reflecting on their
favorite warbird at EAA AirVenture, Valerie Hoffmann and Mark Arnold
were photographed in the sheen of a T-28’s polished propeller
blade. Photo by Fred Johnsen |
Hundreds of warbirds line
the grass and concrete of the EAA AirVenture grounds, each with its own
cheering section among the thousands of show visitors. An unscientific—very
unscientific—poll of visitors to the Warbirds area revealed the
following preferences:
Corsair: Jan Fridrich
from the Czech Republic was still digesting the armada at AirVenture
when queried. He chose the FG-1D Corsair because he had just seen it;
other treasures awaited his inspection. "It’s shiny, clean,"
he said. "I think that at the end of the war it was one of the best
fighters," he added.
Mike Maney of Three
Lakes, Wisconsin, agrees. It’s the Corsair for him. Mike says he is an
avid reader of warbird literature.
After admitting, "I
like ’em all," Mark Kirby of Billings, Montana, acknowledged that
he, too, is a fan of the FG-1D Corsair at AirVenture 2006.
With its distinctive
inverted gull wing, the Corsair came in with another vote from Diane
Churchill who staffs the Warbirds of America store. "I like
watching the Corsair because I can tell what it is," she added.
John Gonet Jr., from
Southwick, Massachusetts, made it three for the Corsair. "It’s
big."
John’s father, also
John, nuanced his favorite by invoking the red F2G Corsair racer flying
in the pattern as he was being interviewed. He likes the history of that
aircraft.
Lancaster: Tom Schwiebert
of Osceola, Wisconsin, at first claimed to have "no real
preference; I like everything here." Under intense
cross-examination, he offered up the Lancaster bomber: "Okay, if
you need a favorite…let’s just say it jumped out at me."
B-17 Flying Fortress:
Michelle Durdan of Waukesha, Wisconsin, unhesitatingly nominated the
B-17 because she flew in it a couple years ago. "I love the
B-17s," she said.
Spitfire: Michelle’s
husband, James Durdan, favors the aesthetic lines of the Spitfire he saw
on Thursday. "Those beautiful elliptical wings," he said,
almost transfixed at the image. The Durdans like to jog among the rows
of warbirds early in the morning, around 5:30. "It is a religious
experience" in the solitude at that hour, James explains.
"Words can’t begin to describe it."
Texan: Give him a row of
shiny yellow SNJ Texan trainers to ogle, and Terry Maney from Three
Lakes, Wisconsin, is a happy guy. Terry built a radio-controlled model
of a Texan and painted it yellow, using photos from EAA’s publications
department to help.
T-33: Specifically
touting the Canadian variant of this vintage jet, Mary Rounds of the
Warbirds of America gift store admitted, "My son flies a
T-33."
T-28: Mark Arnold of
Maple Lake, Minnesota, gestured toward a pair of particularly glossy
dark blue-black T-28 trainers. "I like those blue Navy jobs."
Valerie Hoffmann of Coon
Rapids, Minnesota, agreed with her friend Mark…unless the mammoth U.S.
Air Force C-17 that flew in Thursday’s show can be counted as a
warbird. "Loved it," she said with a smile.
TBM
Avenger: Chad Borsheim, a video game player from Lino Lakes, Minnesota,
votes for this navy single-engine torpedo bomber because "it’s a
big plane, and the history about it." But he likes them all at
AirVenture. "I never thought I’d see that many warbirds in one
place."
The Pretty Blue One: For
some AirVenture visitors, the attraction to a warbird is all about
aesthetics. Tiffany Borsheim of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, has a favorite
warbird on the airport, "but I don’t know what it is called. It’s
the pretty blue one." A little sleuthing in the direction of her
nod reveals her designated warbird to be a Czech L-39 jet.
Their reasons are as varied as their
personalities, and all are as valid as the orange wristbands that got
them past the gate. If you are a warbird fan, there’s something here
to like.
