I had completely forgotten about the Warriors and Warbirds Airshow (Monroe, NC) until Dad called Saturday afternoon and asked if I'd like to go with him on Sunday. Then later in the evening I got a text message from Brother Baker that read: "Show was great! Ju 52, Spit and Hurricane! And FIVE Mustangs! Take your dad tomorrow!" What he failed to mention was the T-6, T-28, AD-1 Sky-Raider, F4U Corsair, P-40 Warhawk, A-26 Invader, and the pair of B-25s that were also there. Wait, there's more. There was also a C-46, C-54 (DC-4), and Matt Younkin's Beech 18. With a lineup like that, you know Dad and I had a great time!
I guess the P-51 Mustang is probably the finest piston engine fighter ever built, but it is not my favorite of the WWII era. For some reason I have always been partial to the early stars of the show---the P-40s, Spitfires, and the Hawker Hurricanes. So if I were King (and my wife had not insisted the kids go to college) there would be a Hawker Hurricane in the hangar down at Jellystone Air Park! That's why, while most of the crowd was watching Matt Younkin loop his Twin Beech, I was at the far end of the warbird ramp, watching the Hurricane pilot preflight his airplane. It's something I'm not sure I'll ever see again.
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