Amazing find in a barn: FM-2 Wildcat..and it can be yours for > $100K

[HeyJoe]

Just as amazing that it showed up on eBay: FM-2 Wildcat for sale

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Yea I won that bid. Forgot to tell you guys.




No, but seriously that's not a bad find at all. Hell I wish I could just find some old car or something in a barn.

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

Yea I won that bid. Forgot to tell you guys.




No, but seriously that's not a bad find at all. Hell I wish I could just find some old car or something in a barn.

So when are you going to hire me to restore this little gem?

 

[coolhandlukesd]

I am just wondering but could the US navy still own this Wildcat?

 

[yak52driver]

AT least on the surface, that aircraft is incredible shape. Hard to tell what corrosion is like from the picture, though. It would be great to see that fly again some day.

 

[punx_clever]

Found in a barn my ass, quick search on the internet reveals that it sat in lake Michigan for about 50 years.

55404 w/o 19-Dec-44 USS Wolverine in landing accident,
went over bow.

Pulled up in '93 and parted out to fix up this little gem in the museum right now:
http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/pages/doncoms/Display.php?irn=16025628&QueryPage=%2FQuery.php

Scuttlebut is that 55404 was traded for a Nieuport 28, so it is legally a civilian bird.

 

[phrogpilot73]

And probably more information you could want to know about it is here: Clicky

 

[Birdog8585]

Sounds like an 'American Pickers' episode.

 

[punx_clever]

And probably more information you could want to know about it is here: Clicky

That's where I picked up the scuttlebut about the trade. Interesting life for the old bird... being traded off for a frenchie

 

[ryan1234]

Interesting it supposedly has a clear title from the Navy, specifically the Naval Museum, usually they're a huge asspain to deal with. "Found" in a "barn" with a clear title... yeah... ok.... wonder why the barn BS?

 

[punx_clever]

Because no one wants to pay $550k for a bird that sat upside down in Lake Michigan.

 

[badger16]

I remember driving with my dad one day a few years ago and passing by an old F-9F Panther. It was in really bad shape (top of the tail was gone and the wings were missing from pretty much the root.) and the paint was all worn off, but it was still amazing to walk around it and just imagine the stories it could share...

 

[bunk22]

If I had the time and money, that would be a sweet project. I'd paint in this scheme:

The Navy's leading FM-2 ace, and thus Wildcat ace, Ralph E. Elliot of VC-27 with 9 kills.

 

[wink]

I remember driving with my dad one day a few years ago and passing by an old F-9F Panther. It was in really bad shape (top of the tail was gone and the wings were missing from pretty much the root.) and the paint was all worn off, but it was still amazing to walk around it and just imagine the stories it could share...

These days many aircraft that are little more then an ancient pilot fart and buno number are worth restoring. The day will come real soon when someone with the bucks picks up that Panther.

 

[yak52driver]

I've been told by people more expert than I that as long as the data tag is there, the rest of the airframe can be built from scratch and it will still be considered an original, not a replica. No matter, it would be a cool bird to rebuild and see fly.