Welcome to our 50th Anniversary road trip....

After we had a delicious breakfast and thanked the staff at the front desk of the motel for giving us faith in Choice hotels again….we made our way to Minter Airport and our meeting with the past.  You have to know the back story to this part of our journey to appreciate what happens next.

My Dad was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force….his first squadron assignment was the 40th FS, 35th FG in the Pacific during WWII.  His assigned mount was a P-51 Mustang, serial # 44-72028 (construction# 122-31887).  During that time in the life of the USA we manufactured 15,586 Mustangs with 6,600 being manufactured at the North American facility in Long Beach, California.  His airplane was completed and accepted by the Army Air Corps, in Long Beach, on December 27, 1944.  It was deployed to the Pacific Theater on January 19, 1945.  My Dad arrived in theater around the same time and was assigned, with another pilot, to 44-72028.  At that time the Army Air Corps had more new pilots than it had airplanes for them to fly.  The other pilot for 44-72028 was Don Comstock.  After the war my Dad was transferred to the 7th FS, 49th FG as part of the ‘occupation’ of Japan and 44-72028 was transferred to the 49th FG on April 30, 1947.  It stayed there till May 27, 1948….and then it disappeared.  It was actually “bought” by Israel as part of the Israeli Defense Force, Air Force.  It served as aircraft #41.  When it had served its usefulness with the IDFAF it was relegated to playground equipment in a Palmahim kibbutz.  In 1976, Mr. Robs Lamplough of Duxford, U.K., recovered it and a number of other P-51s, then had those all shipped to the U.K.  In the U.K. 44-72028 was registered as G-LYNE and restoration was begun.  The wings were deemed unserviceable and were replaced with the wings of IDFAF #43.  It would pass through a few hands and businesses till Jeremy Porter purchased it and moved it to Sandwich, Illinois in 2001 and it was given the USA registration of N514L.  Sometime in 2006 the current owner acquired it and moved it from Sandwich, Illinois to Bakersfield, CA.  I had been trying to determine the disposition of 44-72028 since my Dad passed on 9-14-2001.  It was an on again then off again project.  I would dig till I came to a dead end, get frustrated then quit till something piqued my interest again.  In early November, 2014 I saw on the MustangsMustangs website that the wings had been restored by Odegaard Wings in ND.  Finally I had an actual company name that was still active….the hunt was on again.   During my contact with Odegaard to verify that they did in fact work on 44-72028 they gave me the name of the company that did the fuselage restoration.  I contacted them and verified that they did work on 44-72028; they even remarked that during the restoration they found Hebrew writing in the fuselage!  I was getting excited.  I asked who the owner was and if they had his phone number.  They wouldn’t give me the information but took my information and said they would contact the owner, a good policy.  Within ½ hour I got a call from the owner!  We talked for a while….I don’t know who was the most excited!  We exchanged email addresses so we could communicate more efficiently in the future….and so we could both exchange photos of the airplane.  The fuselage, wing, flaps and other items were restored by two different companies in ND but many other parts would be needed to be found and purchased by the owner to complete the restoration.  I understand that about three semi trailers full of recently purchased parts now reside in the Valley Aviation hangar at Shafter Airport (Minter Field) near Bakersfield, CA.  Today we would visit Valley Aviation to meet the owner and the team that would be responsible for breathing life back into 44-72028.

My brother Joe and his wife Beverly met us at the airport then we were escorted to Valley Aviation’s hanger.  It was just amazing to see and touch this airplane that had traveled so many miles; done so many things….and is part of my 70 year old history.  The Mustang parts were carefully organized and staged just like the high end automobile restoration shops we have visited.  I can and did visualize the parts becoming a fire breathing beast….  They showed us around the facility while we waited for the owner to arrive.  The other side of the hanger is home to the world famous P-51 racer, Strega.  There is also another racer, CZECH-mate and a very nice T-6 in Marine colors.  We wandered back to the restoration hanger and shared the information I brought and original pictures from 1945 of Dad’s Mustang.  Then we heard a low loud rumble….someone had taxied in right outside the hanger, the owner had arrived!  We all introduced ourselves and the owner made us feel like old friends….he has a gift for that.  We visited for a while sharing information and ideas.  The visit was a sort of touchstone for me.  To touch the same machine that had served my Dad and others so well was an emotional deal for me.  To see the airplane that had overcome the ravages of time, neglect and government regulations that had turned so many other Mustangs into aluminum parts, was so very special.  I think about it daily.

Too soon it was time we left on the next leg of our trip….460 miles to Williams, AZ.  We said our goodbyes to everyone then Joe & Beverly headed north to Napa and home.  We would take Rt. 58 out of Bakersfield to Barstow where we took I-40 to Williams.  The scenery vistas were magnificent, like it was preparing us the the experience tomorrow.  It was also a very thoughtful drive as Linda and I would relive the morning’s visit with some of the Shotwell history and try to lock in the emotions we felt.