The B-25 in the Backyard

My Father's Historic Airplane Sanctuary

Wally Soplata (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

236 Seiten

2020
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-8066-8 (ISBN)

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Only in America could Walter Soplata, the son of penniless Czech immigrants, accomplish so much by single-handedly saving historic aircraft from World War II and other periods. The story of a workaholic father and his aviation obsessed son, this book records the accomplishments of a rare and unique bird, just like the many airplanes he saved.

Only in America could Walter A. Soplata, the son of penniless Czech immigrants, accomplish so much single-handedly saving historic aircraft from World War II and other periods. After a childhood spent building model airplanes while dreaming about having his own airfield, Soplata worked in a large scrapyard taking apart hundreds of warplane engines.

Shocked to see a rare engine or sometimes a complete warplane on its way to the recycling furnace, he began collecting whatever he could find and afford. He eventually collected nearly 20 complete airplanes and countless pieces of others. One of his Corsair fighters included the experimental F2G Corsair #74 that won the Cleveland National Air Races in 1947. Among other priceless airplanes he rescued was an experimental XP-82 Twin Mustang, an F-82E Twin Mustang, an X-prototype Skyraider, a stainless steel BT-12, and an F7U Cutlass--Soplata hauled the Cutlass fuselage home by stuffing it inside a junked school bus for its 600-mile journey.

The story of a workaholic father and his aviation-obsessed son, this book records the accomplishments of a rare bird, just like the many airplanes he saved.

Wally Soplata spent the majority of his Air Force flying career as an Instructor Pilot (IP) teaching in T-37s, T-38s and C-141s. Following his Air Force retirement as a lieutenant colonel, he enjoyed a second flying career with a major airline flying the Boeing 727, 757, 767, 777 as well as the Douglas DC-10 and Airbus A300/A310. After retiring from airline flying as a Boeing 767 Captain, he continues flying a variety of General Aviation aircraft as a flight instructor. He lives in Collierville, Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. No Place Like Home

2. Airplane Siblings

3. Sky King

4. Scraping By

5. The Banana Bus

6. Walter the Conqueror

7. Heavy Metal

8. The Mother-In-Law

9. Wild Cargo

10. The Flying Zoo

11. The Little Six That Could

12. Wings of the Night

13. Treasure Hunting

14. On the Outside Looking Up

15. Chicago Clone

16. Plane Crazy

17. Delusions of Flight

18. Plane Folks

19. Along for the Ride

20. High Hopes

21. Carrying a Load Not Measured in Pounds

22. A Hollywood Part

23. As Is, Where Is—The Fate of the Hunted

24. “Your Place”

25. In the Grip of Obsession

26. Mother Load

27. Chasing the Dream

Epilogue: Live and Let Fly

Appendix I: Walter Soplata’s Airplanes: Where Are They Now?

Appendix II: Aviatrix Marge Hurlburt’s Hidden Treasure: Air Race Corsair Lucky Gallon

Appendix III: The Global Reach of Walter Soplata’s Airplanes: Lockheed Neptune #40436

Sources

Bibliography

Aircraft Make and Model Index

General Index

Erscheinungsdatum	02.07.2020
Zusatzinfo	90 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	178 x 254 mm
Gewicht	426 g
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
Themenwelt	Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Luftfahrt / Raumfahrt
ISBN-10	1-4766-8066-3 / 1476680663
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-8066-8 / 9781476680668
Zustand	Neuware