Message for Hammer

[fordnmerc]

Thanks for the quick reply, Adam.

Do you have a copy of 'Big Bombers of WWII' ? A great book! Goes into detail about all the big planes and even lists the ones that are known to still survive and where they were located as of the printing.

We have The National Warplane Museum just 20 miles south of here. They had a B-17, 'Fuddy Duddy,' but had to sell her, because they were deeply in debt. I went all through her last October, when they had an open house. (It was free, but I did contribute $100 to the museum's coffers.) A great plane! They still have a lot of other great aircraft there. Well worth a visit, for anyone who is interested.

I am doing a kind of Air Force/Air Corps theme with my 79 Ranchero GT. I was looking through an old HotRod magazine from 1973. It had an Air Force recruiting ad that featured a red 71/72 Mustang convertible. Looking at the picture closely, I noticed that the license plate on the car was a New York State plate: 5W-4516. I checked the NYS DMV website and found that no one was using that number anymore. So I ordered it. That got me started. It's kind of a natural, because the paint on the Ranchero is dark blue (with blue interior), like Air Force uniforms, and the seat in it is what Ford called the 'Flight' bench seat.

The grille ornament was faded, so I bought an Air Force grille badge.

I bought an airplane hood ornament that was originally on a 1954 Ford Crestline. I plan to paint that flat black, sort of like a Stealth, and mount that on the hood of the Ranchero. I didn't get the base for the ornament, as the seller only had the ornament itself, so I have to figure out just how to mount it and have it angled the way I want.

I put on a set of 1960 Ford Galaxie cone shaped wheel covers. The stacked headlight design of the 77 to 79 Ranchero and LTD II makes them look like dream vehicles of the 60s, and those wheel covers add to the retro appearance. But they also have a little resemblance to the nose cones of airplanes and rockets.

I bought a current issue brown leather flight jacket, Air Force sunglasses, a Marathon military watch, and a WWII vintage Army visor cap (the Air Corps was part of the Army in that era, so they all wore the same type). No uniforms, patches, or insignia of any kind. That would be going overboard. It is not my intention to impersonate something that I am not. Just paying tribute to our airmen, past and present.

I liked my 73 Mustang, but my Ranchero has much more utility.

If Mustangs are like fighter jets, the Ranchero is like a C-130 cargo plane. It will haul a lot of gear!

Adam, did you ever watch that short-lived tv series 'Tales of The Gold Monkey,' with the old Grumman Goose? That was another great plane!