Mike Connelley

Hello: I just got the Meyer & Ginter book on the Bearcat. There are two pictures of an F8F-1 with double zeros and the big T on the tail. It's labeled as being from CVG-1 flown by Cdr Bringle at Moffett Field (where I work, oddly enough) dated Oct 1948. Later in the book there's a picture of a flight of F8F-1s from VF-1A circa June 1947. These have the T on the tail, but 1XX modex numbers. Apparently VF-1A became VF-11 (the Red Rippers), and had the T on the tail aboard the USS Tarawa in 1948 and USS Leyte and USS Philippine Sea in 1950. There are also pictures of VF-12 and VF-13

Hello: I went to the Salinas Airshow last weekend, and got to take a new lens out for a spin. This was my first time trying to take good pictures at an airshow, and I have a lot to learn, but I the pictures came out fairly well. Here are a few of my favorites. More can be found at gallery.me.com/mconnelley or http://s480.photobucket.com/albums/rr168/m...ey/Salinas2008/ Cheers Mike Connelley

Hello: I'm about to start building the Hasegawa 1/72 P-3C kit. Unfortunately, one wing is quite warped. The upper wings half bends up and the lower one is sort of straight but is warped too. What are the tricks of the trade for straightening out warped wings? A few ideas I've had are: 1) Add a wood or metal wing spar to keep both wings nice and straight for all time. The down side is that there isn't much room inside the wing near the wing tips. 2) Just bend it, and hopefully I won't snap the wing in half. 3) Apply some heat, such as hot water or a blow drier, then bend. The hot w