Sunday, August 21, 2022

famous Corsair for sale! In the mid-seventies, it was in the role of a VMF-214 Corsair in the TV show Baa Baa Blacksheep,


Goodyear Aircraft completed BuNo.92106 at their factory in Akron, Ohio during the Spring of 1945, the aircraft did make it out to the Pacific Theatre before the end of WWII, but did not see combat, returning Stateside in early 1946. 

After coming home, the Corsair joined the pool at NAS Norfolk in Virginia, and then at NAS Jacksonville in Florida before flying with Naval Reserve units in New Orleans, Seattle, Grosse Ile, Dallas, and Spokane. 

The Navy sold her at NAS Spokane in Washington State on September 9th, 1954 after a 1,437 hour military flying career. Len Berryman acquired the aircraft as surplus in May 1958, and moved it by road to his place in Bridgeport, Washington, putting the old fighter on display at the eponymous Berryman Park (which still features several military aircraft and relics in its war memorial area). 

Here the Corsair sat until the early 1970s when the legendary David Tallichet worked out a deal for its acquisition. 92106 had not flown in nearly two decades by this point, but the Corsair was cajoled into a flyable condition for the journey down to Tallichet’s base in Chino, California. 

Given that the ferry pilot didn’t trust the hydraulics, he chose to make the flight to Chino with the Corsair’s landing gear locked down (and tail hook removed). Tallichet had the aircraft more formally refurbished.

Vintage Wings of Canada operated the Corsair successfully for nearly two decades, displaying her at many locations in Northeastern North America. She often took part in flyovers for veterans too.

Sadly, however, in the summer of 2019, the Corsair experienced a problem on rollout after a test flight in Gatineau, Quebec. The aircraft departed the runway, ending up in a drainage ditch which caused significant structural damage to the airframe.

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