I am not a air modeler but i was wondering if any of you guys went to the Redwing air show this weekend. I did it was sweet they reinacted pearl harbor the best they could with 7 zeros doing bombing run on to the runway with huge explosions. They even had a mustang chasing them off. Then a B-25 carpet bombed the run way the pyrotechnics where is big I could feel the heat. Then they brought out a german hanomag filled with guys and had a gun fight with guys that where dressed up as allies. Oh yeah they had a c-9 I beleive it is called. On a sad note one of the pilots crashed his mustang on saturday and passed away today was 60 years old a friend of my wifes aunt just found that out while typing this.
The crash of the P-51 was a tragedy of many dimensions. The pilot RedButcher refers to, Donald Hinz, was a member of the CAF-Minnesota Wing, and on the board of directors for the Red Tail Project. He had worked for 9 years to restore to flying condition a P-51C in Tuskegee Airmen colours. I first saw this plane about a year ago, as our model/aviation club meets at the airport where the CAF has its hanger (Fleming Field-South St. Paul, MN). Our meeting had just ended, and I was heading to my car, watching a restored SNJ circling the field, when I saw a fast sleek monoplane came up over the bluff, overtake the SNJ as if it was standing still, and rise up over the airfield…it was a breathtaking sight as I realized this was a P-51C. Witnesses to the accident yesterday (Saturday) say Mr. Hinz’s plane suffered some mechanical problem, and he made a controlled landing away from any spectators, but the plane, only one of two flyable P-51Cs, broke up upon touch down. The television news reports consistently praised Mr. Hinz for his skill in making sure no one else was injured. Mr. Hinz succumbed to his injuries today (Sunday), and his leadership in the Red Tail Project, and the CAF, and the community will be missed.