[t6dpilot]

Thank you for posting the Connie Edwards clip. I saw Terry Adams and thought, this is going to be interesting. I flew my T6 with Terry and many other guys back in the mid 90's to 00's. When the clip panned to the "barn find relics," I immediately thought those are Connie's birds and was going to relate the Battle of Britain movie story to you all. Connie himself did that for me. And shared of the tragic accident taking the life of his son Tex, whom I had the pleasure of flying with once.

You get to see one camo Mustang in the clip and that is probably the last one in his collection that he acquired from the Guatemalan Air Force. In the mid 70's, he bought 6 of them from the GAF and flew them back to Big Spring, TX. He, his brother, and a couple of friends brought 4 of them to Oshkosh in 1974 if I remember the story correctly. Overnight, he would stick plastic Schlitz cups in the exhaust stacks and pop them all out upon startup the next day. At some point during that time, Connie's brother was killed in one of the Mustangs making a mistake during a roll over the Big Spring airport. He was so distraught by the crash, that he parked the planes and never flew them again. The next time any one of them flew again, was after two gentlemen (whom I know very well) at my airport purchased one and restored it to very accurate, pristine condition. Should have won Warbird Grand Champion the year it was finished. Nose art is Miss Marilyn.

I remember seeing photos and videos of the hangers and quonset huts filled with airplanes, engines, and spare parts. It was crazy how much stuff he had. Five mustangs, 6 Buchons (109), 2 Spitfires, a Hurricane, PBY, T6, TBM, and other planes. Enough parts to service a small airforce too. I wonder where all of it went. I know that a new kid on the Warbird broker block was selling some of the airframes for the Edwards family - Platinum Fighter Sales. Surprised my friend Mark C. of Courtesy Aircraft didn't get some of that business.