POFE 1993-1994
Boeing B-17 Flying FortressBob Pond’s pride and joy is B-17 Flying Fortress “Miss Angela” (N3509G) named for his granddaughter. Miss Angela spent the majority of her life as a fire bomber for Aero Union. In the winter of 1999-2000 Miss Angela underwent major work to correct corrosion discovered within her wings. The repair work necessitated actually removing the wings. For pictures, check out the Palm Springs Air Museum’s web site. |
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| A photo I had of Miss Angela from well before I became a volunteer. |
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| That afternoon they decided to do some repair to the number one engine. That engine plagued the B-17 until it was eventually replaced during the winter of 1996. |
North American P-51D MustangMr. Pond has owned several in his lifetime including “Mighty Moose”. After she was moved to Palm Springs, she was put up for sale and the new owner moved her to Nevada. She has since been repainted. |
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Bell P-63 KingcobraMr. Pond has one of the oldest flyable Kingcobras, the fifth off the production line in fact. She never saw combat, but was used by NACA (the predecessor to NASA) for cooling tests. She is named after his daughter Polly, with the nose art painted by noted aviation artist Stan Stokes, a Pond family friend. |
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