Scale Model Videos: Principal Projects

In the summer of 2016 my father passed away at the age of 74. He was a retired USAF Lt. Col and my siblings and I went to his home in Florida and made arrangements for and attended his funeral. Interred at Barancas National Cemetery, with full military honors, the funeral was the most dignified and respectful event I had ever witnessed. The USAF color guard stood, weapons raised, through a Florida lightning storm to salute my father and one of their own. I was awestruck and humbled by the scene ... -sniff ... I wish my father had been alive to see it.

Anyway, I digress. In going through his personal effects and belongings I encountered a number of photographs of him with several of the planes that he flew. It was then that I decided that I would set a goal to locate and discover the history of as many of these planes as I could. This evolved into the desire to create as exacting a model, as I could achieve, of each of them as well. It wasn't simply about possessing the models as much as it was the BUILDING of them. It was a way of dealing with the loss and learning more about and honoring the life my father led and his service to me and the country.

My Principal Projects are those projects which represent my attempts to reproduce my late father's planes for which I have actual photographs. These will bear the same marking and will be modified, to the best of my ability, to be as close to the actual variant as in the photo. I understand that I am not that learned on all the subtleties of the various variants so will do the best I can. Hopefully, as my experience expands the quality of these principal project builds will improve.

Below I have listed the principal project subjects ...

Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star [S/N 51-8959]
In the summer of 1960, as a sophomore cadet in the AFROTC, attending what he described as 4 week summer camp at Langley AFB he was taken on a 30 minute "orientation flight" in the first jet plane he ever flew in; the T-33 Shooting Star

My father boarding the T-33 for his orientation flight (1960). This T-33 is now on display at the DeFuniak Springs Municipal Airport in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.

Cessna T-37 "Tweety Bird" [S/N 60-0089]
My father arrived at Reese AFB in Lubbock Texas after graduating college in 1962 to begin his flight training. As a member of the 3501st Pilot Training Squadron he was given the call-sign "Who-Dat 53" and began learning to fly the T-37. The first jet plane he ever piloted.

Early International Orange and NMF paint scheme will take some work and practice to replicate. I am not sure where this particular plane ended up.

Northrop T-38 Talon [S/N 62-3647]
These planes were brand spanking new when they arrived at Reese AFB. My father's squadron was the first to fly the Talons instead of the T-33 Shooting Stars for primary pilot training. He described them as having that "new car smell" ... :) It turned out to be the only supersonic plane he would ever fly.

My father in front of his Talon trainer. He must have been sooo excited!! This plane was eventually sold to the Turkish AF.

Lockheed C-130 [S/N 65-0987]

While my father flew B-47's following flight training, I didn't have any photos of his bombers. Ultimately, however, he spent the largest part of his career flying "Herky Birds" ... the C-130 Hercules.

While with the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron he flew C-130s in and out of Vietnam. Fortunately he was transferred before the TET offensive so it wasn't as bad as t could have been. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of any of the planes he flew in Vietnam.

After being transferred out of Vietnam in 1967 he was re-stationed at Kindley AFB in Bermuda, where he and his wife welcomed the birth of their two sons ... I was one :) Anyway, I was able to find some photographs of my father walking his parents and wife around one of the planes he flew and this is going to hopefully be the pinnacle of my father's airplane collection.

The serial number on this plane actually led me on write a path of interesting history. While I won't get into detail here (yet) it spent time in not only the USAF but also in and out of the US Coast Guard as well. Ultimately it was retired to AMARC in September 2012 ... that means that the plane was over 45 years old when it retired! Wow ... I have attached a photo of my father showing it off to his folks and another of it, as it sits in it's place in AMARC.


Kindley AFB, Bermuda 1967. My father showing his family one of the HC-130H "Herkybirds" he flew. Note the Fulton STAR System, and the radome. Unusual paint scheme and decals have been hard to locate.