Silenced voices

Flight Journal, Feb 2001 by Davisson, Budd

As you read the following pages, you'll find yourself invited to share several serious "I was there" adventures in which the leading characters include the likes of Wildcats, Marauders and Black Widows. In all cases, the teller is intimately familiar with these leading characters. Most can probably still smell the cockpit and hear the sound of the engines) as they coughed into life. But what about the rest of us?

How many of us have laid eyes on an original Grumman Wildcat (fewer than a dozen are still flying, including those built by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors Corp.), a Martin Marauder (only one is still flown regularly), or a P-61 Black Widow (none flying; one or two exist as projects)? In all probability, most of us have never seen any of these birds in airworthy condition. This simple fact naturally diminishes our ability to truly understand the stories being told. And the situation is bound to get worse.

We live in a Golden Age of warbird revivals. As far as that goes, it is a Golden Age for antique aircraft restorations as well, as shown by the scrumptious Travel Air in this month's "Gallery." But an aircraft such as a Travel Air can be reconstructed from nothing more than drawings and a data plate. The same process isn't as easy for a Black Widow or even the super simple little Wildcat. Of course, if you throw enough cash at any project, it can be accomplished; but will it be? Will someone build a new Black Widow, for instance? Not likely. The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's Black Widow restoration is probably our last hope to see a flying P-61 in our generation, and it is several years away.

So many of the active combatants have disappeared altogether, although recent archeological efforts have saved a battered hulk or two for display. A Brewster Buffalo, for example, was recently lifted from a Scandinavian lake, giving us at least one example of that dumpy old pugilist. An early P-40B was dragged off the Russian steppes and returned to the air. But so many other types have simply gone or have been reduced to solitary representatives in museums. No Me 110s are likely to show up at your local airshow. Same thing for an original Japanese Tony or a Val. And don't hold your breath waiting for a Betty to fly overhead in close formation with a B-25. There won't be any Typhoons making a demonstration pass on a dummy tank wired with pyrotechnics.

The truth is that yes, we're in a golden age of flying restorations, but so many of the legendary warriors have already been silenced forever. Many more will join them over the next few decades. How long will it be before the tractor-like sound of a Hurricane will no longer be heard because it is not prudent to risk the few remaining examples? Can Spitfires be far behind? Then Corsairs, Hellcats and, finally, Mustangs.

In our lifetimes, we're likely to see many of our aerial icons reduced to museum status. So, for those of us who care, it is important that we attend the shows and, while we still can, absorb the wonderful sounds and smells that can only be generated by living, breathing airplanes. Only by doing this will a necessary dimension be added to the articles you read. It will also give you something to tell your grandchildren because they won't be as lucky. To them, the concept of warbirds that actually fly is likely to be nothing more than a part of ancient history.