In response to a subscriber request, Kermit Weeks has posted a video tour of his Lockheed Constellation.
The video includes a walk-around and walk-through, along with the commentary that is “full of fun and interesting tidbits.” As Kermit points out, if the video has good views and feedback, he will go on to the subscriber’s second choice, the B-29.
Click below to check it out.
Continue reading Kermit Weeks Conducts Video Tour of His Lockheed Constellation
For the latest installment of his “Kermie Cam” series, Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks paid a visit to the late Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Washington State for a tour of the facility.
The video captures Weeks exploring the impressive collection of military aircraft and vehicles with Executive Director Adrian Hunt, and also discussing the status of the museum since Allen’s passing last year.
The visit will be chronicled in two videos, the first of which can be seen below.
Continue reading Kermit Weeks Documents Tour of Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum
HARS Navy Heritage Flight of New South Wales, Australia has reported that Hawker Sea Fury WG630 is in the process of being relocated from Nowra to its new home at Albion Park.
The Sea Fury was previously part of the RAN Historic Flight collection, which was acquired by HARS Aviation Museum in 2018. The flight, which was grounded in 2008, consists of the Sea Fury, as well as two Grumman Trackers, two Bell UH-1B helicopters, two Westland HAS.31B helicopters, a de Havilland Sea Venom and a C-47. The Sea Fury will reportedly be on public display while engineering staff work to create a restoration/repair schedule which will hopefully see the machine returned to airworthy condition.
The Sea Fury, which was in storage at Air Affairs in Nowra, recently had its fuselage loaded onto a semitrailer for Friday’s journey. Click below to check out a video of the process.
Continue reading Former RAN Historic Flight Sea Fury Prepared for Transport to New Home
Fantasy of Flight’s Kermit Weeks has released the second installment of his “Kerime Q’s” video series which answers select questions from his YouTube channel videos.
The second episode sees Kermit responding to questions on the P-51C paint scheme which were raised after the first episode. He then answers a broad selection of questions dealing with Hurricane Andrew and it’s aftermath, progress on the S-38 and Fokker D.VII, acquisition of the Seversky P-35, and much more.
Click below to check it out.
Continue reading Kermit Weeks Releases Second Episode of Q & A Video Series
After “countless hours” of work, the EAA Museum’s B-25H Mitchell “Berlin Express” returned to the air on Saturday for its first post-restoration flight.
As previously reported, the aircraft (N10V / S/N 43-4432) was originally delivered to the USAAF in 1943 and went on to serve as an administrative aircraft at several bases around the US. Following the war, it passed through the hands of several owners, including Tallmantz Aviation, who used the machine in the 1970 film Catch-22.
The B-25 was donated to the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1972 where it was restored to flying status as “The City of Burlington.” However, it was damaged in a landing accident in the 1980s, which resulted in cosmetic repairs and static display at the museum.
In 2015, the decision was made to fully restore the aircraft and return it to airworthy condition in order to “honor veterans and promote educational outreach.”
Click below to check out a video of the flight and an overview of the restoration.
Continue reading EAA Museum B-25H Performs First Post-Restoration Flight [Video]
Kermit Weeks has shared an archive video from circa 2001 which shows his P-51C when it was newly restored and ready to undergo flight testing.
The aircraft was painted to represent “Ina, The Macon Belle,” flown by the highest scoring Tuskegee Airman, Lee Archer. As the video shows, Archer was on hand for the maiden flight and is also sat in the cockpit beforehand and shared his thoughts on the restoration.
Click below to check it out.
The newly restored XP-82 Twin Mustang Prototype (44-83887) made a much heralded appearance at the 2019 Sun ‘n Fun fly-in in Lakeland, Florida, acting as both a static and flying display.
As previously reported, Tom Reilly of Douglas, Georgia acquired the XP-82 prototype from Walter and Margaret Soplata in 2008 and began restoring the machine to airworthy condition at Douglas Municipal Airport. Additional F-82 parts were sourced from Alaska and Colorado and a rare, left-hand turning Allison V-12 was located in Mexico. Additional components, including full second cockpit controls and a second canopy (one that “is completely different from any P-51 type”) were sourced from San Francisco and Tampa, respectively. On December 31, 2018, the XP-82 performed its first flight since December 14, 1949.
The aircraft made its public debut at Sun ‘n Fun, where it won the title of Grand Champion Warbird. Click below to see it in action at the event.
Continue reading World’s Only Airworthy Twin Mustang Makes Public Debut at Sun ‘n Fun [Video]
The latest stop motion video from modeler extraordinaire Tom Grigat features construction of Artesanía Latina’s Sopwith Camel structure model in 1/16 scale.
Grigat had previously constructed the company’s Fokker Dr.1 and noted that the Camel kit, which consists of approximately 750 pieces of metal and wood, is “not as easy to build.” Despite this, he states that the process is “well guided,” with the kit offering step-by-step instructions with video tutorials and more than 600 photos.
Click below to check it out.
Continue reading Watch the Stop Motion Assembly of a 1/16 Sopwith Camel [Video]
Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has shared a new two-part video series detailing the “Saga of the Stinson L-1.”
Specifically, the series details FoF’s efforts to “sort out an issue that prevented it from starting and running smoothly.” Work has been ongoing for over a year and part 1 in the series chronicles several attempts to start it during this period, as well as its failure and the frustration of crew members.
Part 2 documents additional attempts and various difficulties the crew has had in finding the source of the problem. It also reveals whether or not a fix was ultimately found.
Click below to check out both parts.
Continue reading New Kermit Weeks Video Series Details “The Saga of the Stinson L-1”
Texas-based Lewis Air Legends has reported the arrival of their newly restored de Havilland Mosquito PZ474, which is one of only four airworthy examples of the type in the world.
As previously reported, the Mosquito FB VI was originally constructed at Hatfield in 1945 and was used for RAF training before serving with 75 Squadron in New Zealand as NZ2384. In the 1950s and 60s the machine was owned by the Insurance Finance Corp. of Studio City, CA, and is believed to have been used by the CIA for intelligence gathering in South America. Continue reading Newly Restored Mosquito PZ474 Arrives At New Home [Video]
