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brian-1927(at)lloyd.com
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 Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:02 am Post subject: kit p-51 |
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Actually, the real loss was when Gerry Beck died at OSH this past
summer. Gerry was one of the great unknowns of the warbird world,
having completed several of the best restorations around. The
Tuskeegee Airman P-51 was his work. His personal museum was a wonder
with both a flying P-40 AND a flying Zero in it. (Oh, and my RV-4
which I sold him when my wife made me decide between the -4 and the
CJ. His trip with me from Whapeton, ND, to Sacramento to pick up the
RV-4 is one of those two beer stories.)
I never understood why so few people knew about him. Perhaps it was
his quiet, self-effacing manner. If you met him on the flight line
you would most likely find him sans flight-suit and sans-attitude. He
was a lot more like the usual, helpful EAA worker bees than the "mine
are bigger than yours" warbird types.
Regardless (and back to the point), what we have lost is Gerry's work
to create a 100% scale P-51A replica kit. As a result of his work in
restoring several P-51s, Gerry had constructed all the tooling
required to produce P-51A airframes. The airplane he died in was his
first prototype. The kit was going to be 100% accurate to the P-51A
and would be powered by a new old-stock Allison. The only thing non-
original would be avionics and instrumentation. It would fly under an
Experimental/Amateur-built AC which pretty much removes all the
restrictions.
But now it is unlikely to happen. We are a lot poorer as a result.
And maybe it would have been cool with a turbine in the nose too.
Brian Lloyd 3191 Western Drive
brianl AT lloyd DOT com Cameron Park, CA 95682
+1.916.367.2131 (voice) +1.270.912.0788 (fax)
PGP key ID: 12095C52A32A1B6C
PGP key fingerprint: 3B1D BA11 4913 3254 B6E0 CC09 1209 5C52 A32A 1B6C
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HawkerPilot2015
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 503
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| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 11:39 am Post subject: Re: kit p-51 |
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Brian,
Becks loss was terrible but the dream of a P-51 did not die with him. There is work being done in Germany on the Mustang and I think there eventual goal is to construct a full "scale" Mustang.
I also hope to see Becks dream come true.
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