Latest news with #P-40Warhawk
Toronto Star
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Toronto Star
‘Losing an old friend': Retired fighter pilot selling replica of P-40 Warhawk
INDUS - Wayne Foster spent much of his life chasing the horizon as a fighter pilot, but he could be facing his toughest battle yet: parting with the warbird he built by hand. At 88, Foster is selling one of his planes: a smaller-scale replica of a P-40 Warhawk with the Royal Air Force's 1940 Desert colours of the 112 Squadron. The asking price is $45,000.
Winnipeg Free Press
20-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Losing an old friend': Retired fighter pilot selling replica of P-40 Warhawk
INDUS – Wayne Foster spent much of his life chasing the horizon as a fighter pilot, but he could be facing his toughest battle yet: parting with the warbird he built by hand. At 88, Foster is selling one of his planes: a smaller-scale replica of a P-40 Warhawk with the Royal Air Force's 1940 Desert colours of the 112 Squadron. The asking price is $45,000. 'It's like losing an old friend,' he said, sitting in front of the plane stored inside a Quonset hut in Indus, Alta., a hamlet southeast of Calgary. Foster, who joined the Canadian Forces in 1956, served in the navy, spent three years in France and worked at an electronic warfare unit in Montreal for another four years. It was in the navy that he earned his nickname, Butch. 'I got the name Butch from Butcher, from dogfighting, I guess,' Foster said in an interview. 'We had a couple of guys in the squadron whose name was Wayne. I got Butch and my wingman got Chopper.' During his time, he said, they did a lot of dogfighting in Europe. Dogfighting is a series of tactical manoeuvres used in close-range aerial combat. 'I learned how to dogfight fairly well … by trial and error,' he said. 'Thankfully, I could do a lot of errors when no one was shooting at me.' He also had a tour in Puerto Rico. He was transferred to the United States Air Force for three years, where he trained pilots on the art of dogfighting. 'That was a wonderful tour. I flew the T-38 Talon — it goes like hell,' he chuckled. He remembers briefly sharing the sky with Chuck Yeager, an American flying ace and record-setting test pilot who, in October 1947, became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound. Foster said he tried to 'bounce' Yeager, an unexpected attack to initiate a dogfight. 'He was coming up from Spain in a 104 and I couldn't catch him,' Foster laughed. 'He was much faster than I was, but I got the opportunity to talk to him later on in Germany.' In selling his replica, Foster admits he never got to fly a real P-40 Warhawk. 'But I've flown the P-51s and it's very similar in some ways. It doesn't have a big honking engine on it, but fortunately, this one here doesn't have a big honking engine on it either,' he said. Mechanic Pieter Terblanche has been working on the Warhawk. 'It's in very good shape for the time it's been sitting,' he said. 'Everyone that buys a plane has their own idea on what needs to be done to the plane. It can be done pretty fast.' Foster's daughter Tracy said the plan was to have it placed in a museum, but there have been several people who expressed interest in buying it. Offers have been outlandish, she added. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'We've had a couple of crazy offers, like $500 and a case of beer, and I went nope. And then it was $5,000 and a case of beer,' she said. One person offered $200, she said, but it turned out he thought it was a model he could fly using a remote control. Her father has never spoken much about his time as a fighter pilot, she said. 'Now that he's getting a little older, he's opening up a little bit more as to what he experienced.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
20-07-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Losing an old friend': Retired fighter pilot selling replica of P-40 Warhawk
INDUS - Wayne Foster spent much of his life chasing the horizon as a fighter pilot, but he could be facing his toughest battle yet: parting with the warbird he built by hand. At 88, Foster is selling one of his planes: a smaller-scale replica of a P-40 Warhawk with the Royal Air Force's 1940 Desert colours of the 112 Squadron. The asking price is $45,000. 'It's like losing an old friend,' he said, sitting in front of the plane stored inside a Quonset hut in Indus, Alta., a hamlet southeast of Calgary. Foster, who joined the Canadian Forces in 1956, served in the navy, spent three years in France and worked at an electronic warfare unit in Montreal for another four years. It was in the navy that he earned his nickname, Butch. 'I got the name Butch from Butcher, from dogfighting, I guess,' Foster said in an interview. 'We had a couple of guys in the squadron whose name was Wayne. I got Butch and my wingman got Chopper.' During his time, he said, they did a lot of dogfighting in Europe. Dogfighting is a series of tactical manoeuvres used in close-range aerial combat. 'I learned how to dogfight fairly well ... by trial and error,' he said. 'Thankfully, I could do a lot of errors when no one was shooting at me.' He also had a tour in Puerto Rico. He was transferred to the United States Air Force for three years, where he trained pilots on the art of dogfighting. 'That was a wonderful tour. I flew the T-38 Talon — it goes like hell,' he chuckled. He remembers briefly sharing the sky with Chuck Yeager, an American flying ace and record-setting test pilot who, in October 1947, became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound. Foster said he tried to 'bounce' Yeager, an unexpected attack to initiate a dogfight. 'He was coming up from Spain in a 104 and I couldn't catch him,' Foster laughed. 'He was much faster than I was, but I got the opportunity to talk to him later on in Germany.' In selling his replica, Foster admits he never got to fly a real P-40 Warhawk. 'But I've flown the P-51s and it's very similar in some ways. It doesn't have a big honking engine on it, but fortunately, this one here doesn't have a big honking engine on it either,' he said. Mechanic Pieter Terblanche has been working on the Warhawk. 'It's in very good shape for the time it's been sitting,' he said. 'Everyone that buys a plane has their own idea on what needs to be done to the plane. It can be done pretty fast.' Foster's daughter Tracy said the plan was to have it placed in a museum, but there have been several people who expressed interest in buying it. Offers have been outlandish, she added. 'We've had a couple of crazy offers, like $500 and a case of beer, and I went nope. And then it was $5,000 and a case of beer,' she said. One person offered $200, she said, but it turned out he thought it was a model he could fly using a remote control. Her father has never spoken much about his time as a fighter pilot, she said. 'Now that he's getting a little older, he's opening up a little bit more as to what he experienced.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Airport officials get creative to add parking, as passenger numbers continue to rise; interest growing in opportunity zone
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Johnstown Cambria County Airport Authority officials have an issue with their plan to add a new parking lot in 2026. The airport's ever-increasing traffic isn't waiting for next year's planned upgrade, board officials said. It's prompted the authority to find a short-term solution, with plans approved to have staff realign one parking lot's boundary to add approximately 35 more spaces. 'The bad news is that we're out of parking. The good news is that it's because the lot is full,' said authority Chairman Tim McIlwain, referencing the continued growth in travelers. Because airport staff are able to do the work, rather than a multi-month public bid process with a contractor, the project is expected to start by early summer, airport Manager Cory Cree said. Crews will relocate a perimeter fence for the airport's long-term parking lot 12 feet closer to the runway, he said. It will create space for staff to stripe between 30 and 40 more parking spaces alongside the terminal building, Cree said. As is, the main lot in front of the terminal and the long-term lot have a combined 250 spots now, so the modifications will increase capacity by approximately 15%. Airport Operations Supervisor Josh Keyser said dumpsters for a trash collection area were also moved in recent weeks to add a few more parking spots. The airport's 2025 passenger counts illustrate why the space is needed. Through the year's first quarter, combined inbound and outbound passenger counts have topped 8,300 – with enplanements, or paid departures, for March alone setting a record for the third year in a row at 1,673, figures show. By comparison, the airport boarded 1,100 passengers in March just two years earlier. Add in the fact Balance's restaurant is also now open, and it has resulted in full or nearly full parking lots much of this winter – with the airport's busiest travel season still ahead. Cree noted plans are moving forward to build a third parking lot in 2026. TransSystems, the authority's engineer, is working to complete the design and permitting process later this year to enable a 48-space parking lot to be developed alongside Airport Road, Cree said. The lot will be located just west of the replica of Lt Col. Buzz Wagner's P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. If all goes as planned, the new lot will be advertised for bids by February 2026 for springtime construction that same year. Essential Air Service contractFor years, federal Essential Air Service contract renewals marked a time of uncertainty for Johnstown's airport. That isn't expected to be the case this year. The U.S. Department of Transportation will receive proposals until May 7 from carriers interested in serving the airport under the federally funded program, which was designed to help rural areas maintain air service. Johnstown's airport authority officials will be reviewing all submissions to make their recommendation to U.S. transportation officials but, at this point, they anticipate backing SkyWest Airlines' bid to continue serving Johnstown. Authority officials have credited SkyWest's reliable service to Chicago O'Hare International and Washington-Dulles in Virginia as a key reason passenger totals have soared the past three years. The EAS program itself also appears to be on stable footing under President Donald Trump's administration heading toward 2026. U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, highlighted the importance of the program last month while questioning then-U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary nominee Steven Bradbury during a confirmation hearing, and Bradbury responded offering the Trump administration's support. 'The president and (U.S. Transportation) Secretary have made very clear, firm support for Essential Air Service,' Bradbury said, noting a congressional majority also supports the program. Other regional airports, including Altoona-Blair County Airport in Martinsburg and DuBois Regional, are also Essential Air Service airports whose contracts are renewed through the program. 'Opportunity Zone' interest Cree told board members that interest in the airport's approximately 130-acre Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone has picked up sharply in recent weeks. The undeveloped property offers tax incentives for businesses that locate on the site. An overlapping Airport Land Development Zone offers a separate incentive option – a $2,100 tax credit for each full-time employee whose time is at least 90% based at facility on the site. Cree said one unnamed business toured the airport property this spring considering a space to house its aircraft for East Coast business. Two more have meetings set up between late April and early May Cree said the airport's recent growth, and plans to build a Regional Jet hangar and aviation 'innovation center' are a big part of the draw. St. Francis University, working with airport officials and fixed-base operator Nulton Aviation, launched an aircraft maintenance school on-site in 2024 – and airport officials said last year that part of the innovation center could be designed to attract a business that would need workers to maintain aircraft at the facility. Funds are dedicated to get site work approved in 2026 for the hangar project, if a state Department of Community and Economic Development 'PA SITES' grant can be secured this year to cover the remaining cost, Cree said.
