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COLLINGS FOUNDATION CORSAIR PROP BLADE
BEING AUCTIONED ON EBAY
Winning Bid Will Help Pay for Repairs
from Sept. 25th Belly Landing
November 21, 2003 - When presented with lemons—make lemonade!
Following a six-year restoration, the
Collings Foundation’s Chance-Vought F4U-5NL Corsair (BuNo. 124692)
is flying again in honor of its Korean War veteran roots. Its journey
to pristine flying condition was not without its share of problems,
and in September of 2003, the road got rough.
On September 25th, 2003, on its second
test flight out of New Smyrna Beach, FL, the Corsair was unable to
extend the right main landing gear due to hydraulic system problems.
To minimize damage, the left gear was retracted and the decision was
made to carefully belly-land the aircraft on the runway. Pilot Dale
“Snort” Snodgrass did an excellent job and damage was limited to
the propeller, flaps, and light scraping of the landing gear doors.
Only a month and a half later, on November 14th, the repaired aircraft
took to the skies again without a trace of the incident of September
25th thanks to the hard work of the crew at American Aero Services in
New Smyrna Beach, FL.
To help pay for the repairs, the
Collings Foundation is auctioning one of the propeller blades from the
incident. This is your chance to not only own a piece of one of the
most beloved aircraft in American aviation history, but own a story as
well! This is one of the actual blades off the Corsair’s Hamilton
Standard 23E60 propeller that was damaged in the belly landing on
September 25th. Standing nearly 6 feet tall and weighing over 70 lbs,
the prop blade will make an incredible conversation piece in an
aviation themed office, den, or living room!
Don’t wait! Visit the following link
to participate in the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2205329969
Your bid goes directly to the Collings
Foundation and helps defray the hourly operating cost of the Corsair
as well as other Collings Foundation aircraft such as the B-17 Flying
Fortress and the world’s only combat-restored B-24 Liberator! See www.collingsfoundation.org
for more details.
The Collings Foundation is a non-profit
educational foundation based in Stow, MA and is devoted to the active
and flyable preservation of aviation history for future generations.
The Collings Foundation
P.O. Box 248
Stow, MA 01775
978-562-9182
978-568-8231 (fax)
http://www.collingsfoundation.org
This is from the Collings Foundation news letter I get |
