HIRTH HARPOONS

Air Classics, Mar 2004

Significant collection of Lockheed PV-2s was offered for sale on E-Bay

The last operator of Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon fire bombers in the United States was Hirth Air Tankers based out of Buffalo, Wyoming, reports MiIo Peltzer. John and Connie Hirtz were great fans and operators of the Harpoon but John was tragically killed in the crash of a PV-2 Harpoon fire bomber on 10 April 1997. "The Harpoon was an excellent fire bomber," states Gene Powers. "It was an aircraft that was much, much better than the B-25 in the fire bomber role."

Unfortunately, the Harpoon has not achieved its due respect in today's Warbird world. At Falcon Field in Arizona, Tony Ritzman and Carl Scholl are in the last stages of preparing two of Kermit Weeks' PV-2s for a ferry flight to their desert storage facility in California. John Lane in Idaho is working away on Tim Savage's PV-2 and this should be a very, very nice restoration. The Wisconsin Wing of the Commemorative Air Force is heading down the home stretch of a PV-2 restoration so the next few years will see a couple great flying examples of Lockheed's rugged attack bomber.

However, the E-Bay auction of Connie's four PV-2s and a significant collection, of parts did not find an immediate buyer. Several possible deals are in the works and we will report on these in the near future.