Thinking Out Loud - I forgot...credit where credit is due

I forgot to credit the source of some photos in the Me 262 piece. Plus this is an excuse to show more photos

Phillip Brown did me a real solid a couple weeks ago when he sent me links to over 200 photos his father, a died-in-the-whatever aviationaholic had shot over a 40 year period. They covered a tremendous amount of territory including lots of old Oshkosh Fly-ins.

I was skimming though them and came to a dead stop when I ran into those below. They were what was sitting behind the public-side fence on NAS Willow Grove. At the time the aircraft were deposited there, they were just curios left over from WWII. Today, they have been dispersed to major museums nationwide but the Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum popped up in its place in Horsham, PA next to the old NAS Willow Grove location.

These are the images that caught my eye immediately. They are all wildly rare specimens, some seen no where else at the time.

The Me 262 that ended up in the USN museum in Pensacola

Originally two Arado 196s on floats that had been on the Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser were transferred to NAS Willow Grove. One is now in the USN Museum in Pensacola. The other is reported to be in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Kawanishi N1K1 Kyōfū (”Rex”) is now at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX

Another half dozen airplanes were parked behind the fence, including this F7U Gutless Cutlass. What appears to be a P-80 is next to it. If that’s what it is, although much newer than most in the line up, I know of none still flying.

Thanks, Phil for sharing these with us.