[DZAUTO]

For those who may be interested in a little trivia about our A26 restoration project, this is Col (ret) Richard (Rick) Hudlow.
He is THE human being responsible for rescuing our plane from going to the smelter and being melted down and made into Coke cans (LITERALLY).
Rick had flown at a VERY young age before WWII and enlisted in the US Army Air Corp and after flight training, started flying B25s, then went to B29s. After the war, he transitioned to the B47 jet bomber and eventually became a full Colonel and B52 group commander, with many Nam missions. He flew every model of B52 before retiring in 76. He went on to be the international sales executive for Rockwell.
He learned about our abandoned A26 on a field in Ark, where it had sat neglected for several years with a broken wing spar. He managed to get funding donations to rescue it and dismantle it and transport it to Okla in 1999, when our group began the restoration. After 21yrs of dedicated volunteers, we made the first flight.
UNFORTUNATELY, Rick passed away before we got it back into the air, BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, his wonderful wife got to see us put it back in the air.
He was from an incredible generation!!!! He and his wife now rest in Arlington National Cemetery. He was in his 90s when we lost him a few years ago
Below, he is on the left.

In 2015, we got the engines back from the engine overhaul shop and got them mounted on the wing. Everything had been connected and we put rick in the pilot seat and let him turn over the engines. Lots of tears that day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY, this was our first flight Nov 1, 21. By the way, when we get funding for the paint job, Rick's wife (in her nighty) will be our nose art.

 

[DZAUTO]

Similar with my dad. He was in the Navy in WWII. I do not know what he went through, but I know if was horribly bad. I could NEVER get him to tell me about his experiences.
Looking back, I feel sure he was a candidate for PTSD, because even though he became moderately successful in civilian employment until he died, I remember times (he never knew I was listening) that he spoke harshly about some of the crap he put up with at work.
My family has a good military back ground. Below is Daddy, Me and one of my sons who is today a very successful engineer. He served 2 tours in the Gulf on the carrier Kitty Hawk.
The bottom picture is my uncle (Mom's older brother). He was a B17 pilot. He talked very little about his missions. About the ONLY thing I ever got out of him was that one day he got back on 2 engines and on that mission all of his crew survived. Never learned much more from him.
I have to say, the older I get, the more I understand how those vets felt about their experiences. I will not talk to my kids about my time in Nam.

 

[DZAUTO]

By the way, I'm doing my part to carry on the tradition (I turned 80 in Dec). And I still like Jack Daniels, fast girls, fast cars, fast boats and fast planes.
I'm on the left (as flight engineer) and pilot and co-pilot.