Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum

Founded in 1977, The Valiant Air Command, Inc. has a continually growing collection of over 45 historic warbirds from the beginnings of aviation to the present day. The VAC is a 501c(3) educational organization dedicated to the preservation of, education about and commemoration of Warbirds from all eras and the men and women who flew, maintained and fought in them.

Constructed as a F-86F-30-NA by North American at Inglewood, California, USA. Circa 1952 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 52-4959. Taken on Strength/Charge with the Fuerza Aerea Argentina with s/n C-109. To unknown owner with c/r N105BH. 1989 Imported from Argentina intact. From September 1990 to By 1992 To World Wide Aircraft, Miami, FL. 14 September 1990 Certificate of airworthiness for NX86FR (F-86F, 52-4959) issued. From June 1992 to By 1995 To Airplane Exchange Co, Miami, FL. By March 1997 Based at Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum, Kissimmee Municipal Airport, Kissimmee, FL. Operated in a camouflage colour scheme. From 24 September 1997 to By 1999 To Thomas Righetti, Miami, FL. Based at Saint Johns Civilian Airport, Saint Augustine, FL.Markings Applied: 3/207 From 21 June 1999 to By 2002 To Thomas Righetti, Miami, FL with c/r N86FR. Markings Applied: Skyblazers, FU-201, 31201 8 September 2003To F86 Llc, Coconut Grove, FL.
Lim-5P c/n 1D-0521 s/n 521 *1960: 3 PLM. *1/11/1979: Withdrawn from use. *Assigned as a ground trainer to Zamosc AB. *Currently preserved at the Valiant Command Museum in Titusville, FL, since 8/2005.
FM-1 Wildcat Bureau Number 14994 USS Wolverine Pilot Ensign William Reiter (rescued) Ditched December 19, 1942 Aircraft History Built by General Motors. Assigned to the US Navy (USN) to squadron VGF-30. Operated from USS Wolverine IX-64. Assigned to Ensign W. E. “Dixie” Howell with the nose art of Disney character “Donald Duck holding paddles for landing on an aircraft carrier painted below the left side of the cockpit. Mission History Took off from USS Charger on a training flight. On landing, hit the catwalk and ditched into Lake Michigan. Wreckage Remained in situ at the bottom of Lake Michigan for forty-eight years. During 1993, salvaged from Lake Michigan. Display On September 2, 1993 arrived at Valiant Air Command Museum, on load from the US Navy. The aircraft was restored to static condition over five years, completed during 2001. The original engine is displayed nearby in an unrestored condition. While on display, the original pilot, W. E. “Dixie” Howell visited the aircraft.
truckdriver with the rudder of the F-8 Crusader II
The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and the Marine Corps, replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass. After the Navy’s disappointing experience with the Cutlass, the Crusader was referred to by some as “Vought’s Last Chance” after company founder Chance M. Vought. The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955, and was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon, principally serving in the Vietnam War.
F-8K – upgraded F-8C with Bullpup capability and J57-P-20A engines, with AN/APQ-125 radar. A total of 87 rebuilt. (F-8C) – J57-P-16 engine with 16,900 lbf (75 kN) of afterburning thrust, ventral fins added under the rear fuselage in an attempt to rectify yaw instability, Y-shaped chin pylons allowing two Sidewinder missiles on each side of the fuselage, AN/APQ-83 radar retrofitted during later upgrades. First flight: 20 August 1957, 187 built. This variant was sometimes referred to as Crusader II
A-7A-CV BuNo 153135 *1970: VA-97 as “NK-301”. *NARTC Orlando, FL. *12/1977: Put into storage at the AMARC bone yard. *Currently preserved in Titusville, FL.
In nov. ’97 the L-4J Cub was marked as “330426”. I have as id 44-80595 (=c/n 12891) though a report in MAR (nr. 126 MAY1998) indicates its 43-30426. If its indeed 43-30426 whats his c/n?
136433 N8114T Valiant Air Command, Titusville, FL Grumman S2F-1 currently a US-2B This Tracker is named “Liberty Luke” and could be flyable after an inspections. However, the big item keeping it on the ground is lack of funding for insurance.
146985 (F-8K) to MASDC as 2F0281 Jan 14, 1974. Noted Sep 2003 at Valiant Air Command Museum, Titusville, FL.
FM-1 Wildcat, BuNo. 14994 is on display at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida. It is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[
O-2A, AF Ser. No. 67-21330 N52513
59-0400McDonnell F-101F-116-MC Voodoo To RCAF as 17400 in 1961. Now at Valiant Air Command Museum, Titusville FL. To Sun and Fun Air Museum, Lakeland, FL as N37647, then back to Valiant Air Command Museum by 2003
162182 NH-? Grumman A-6E Intruder C/N I-675
136433 N8114T Valiant Air Command, Titusville, FL Grumman S2F-1 currently a US-2B This Tracker is named “Liberty Luke” and could be flyable after an inspections. However, the big item keeping it on the ground is lack of funding for insurance.
60-0492 (cn D180) A close up of a Thud which was based out off Bitburg AB,Germany during its operational life. The Thunderchiefs at Bitburg and Spang were specifically designed for the nuclear strike role, with primary armament being a “special store” housed in the Thud’s bomb bay.
TA-4J Skyhawk, BuNo 152867 is undergoing restoration in Blue Angels colors as Navy 7. It was a gate guard at NAS Roosevelt Roads, PR prior to being received at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum. Note: This TA4-J Skyhawks was not flown by the Blue Angels.
TA-4J Skyhawk, BuNo 152867 is undergoing restoration in Blue Angels colors as Navy 7. It was a gate guard at NAS Roosevelt Roads, PR prior to being received at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum. Note: This TA4-J Skyhawks was not flown by the Blue Angels.
125295 owned by US National Museum of Naval Avation. Noted summer 2003 at Valiant Air Command Museum, Titusville, FL
74-1519 (cn R1177) Was used to show that by modifying the shape of an aircraft, the shape and behavior of shock waves thus the intensity of a sonic boom can be significantly altered. This technology could eventually enable unrestricted supersonic flight over land. The Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) program is jointly sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Integrated Systems sector and NASA Langley Research Center. Ex 57 Fighter Weapons Wing Aggressor
-47B-45-DK US Army 0-50972 or 45-972 (c/n 16975/34236) flying as N8040L with Allied Air Freight. Now at Valiant Air Command Museum, Titusville, FL. Was used as the donor hulk to restore 42-100591. Collapsed during maintenance,killing a volunteer.
UH1 63-SPOOKY MAR97 Valiant Air Command Titusville (FL)- Ex Air America
Ling-Temco-Vought A-7A-4a-CV Corsair II 153135 to MASDC asd 6A0097 Dec 8, 1977. Now located at Valliant Air Command Museum, Titusville, FL
162182 NH-? Grumman A-6E Intruder C/N I-675
57-0569 (cn 580-1218) Constructed as a T-33A-5-LO by Lockheed at Burbank, California, USA. Circa 1957 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 57-0569. 24 January 1974 To George T Baker Aviation School, Miami, FL with c/r N64274 (T-33, 57-569). 14 November 1979 Notes: Instructional airframe at the George T. Baker Aviation School in Miami. 15 March 1999 Civil registration, N64274, cancelled. To Valiant Air Command Air Museum, Space Center Executive Airport (North East Side), Titusville, FL. White USN c/s.
HA-200A E.14A-11 (cn 20/15) *6/1963: Delivered to the Spanish AF. *741-11. *742-11. *742-16. *793-55. *8/13/1981: Struck off charge. *Sold on the civilian market as N611HA. *6/12/2004: Crashed on take-off from Pueblo APT, CA. Pilot was killed.
North American T-28D Trojan NX766NA (51-3766) / AH (cn 174-304)
N8114T 1956 Grumman S2F-1 Tracker C/N 342 (Bu136433)
Constructed as a J-3 by Piper. Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army Air Force with s/n 44-80595. To unknown owner with c/r N1406V. Markings Applied: Rosie the Rocketeer, 53-K, 43-30426 To Valiant Air Command Air Museum, Space Center Executive Airport (North East Side), Titusville, FL.
N404RC 1973 UTVA 66(V-51) C/N 0855
N5581K buno 38109 1943 Boeing B75N1 C/N 75-7730
16998 (c/n 9D) noted summer 2001 at Valiant Air Command Museum, Titusville, FL The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk was an armed military observation and attack aircraft, designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It was a twin turboprop configuration, and carried two crew members in side-by-side seating. The Mohawk was intended to operate from short, unimproved runways in support of United States Army maneuver forces.
The OV-1 served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and during Operation Desert Storm. Starting in 1972, the Army National Guard (ARNG) began to receive the Mohawk, with the ARNG eventually operating 13 OV-1Bs, 24 OV-1Cs, and 16 OV-1Ds serving with three aviation units in Georgia and Oregon. U.S. Army OV-1s were retired from Europe in 1992, from Korea in September 1996, and finally in the US in 1996, superseded by newer systems, newer aircraft, and the evolution of spy satellites. The OV-1 was primarily replaced by a militarized version of the de Havilland Canada DHC-7 turboprop commuter airliner equipped with a SLAR system until the U.S. Air Force’s E-8 J-STARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) aircraft, based on converted Boeing 707 airframes with powerful side-looking radar, became fully operational.
Constructed as a F-4J-33-MC by McDonnell at Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. c/n 2849 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Navy with BuNo 155563. To National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola NAS, Pensacola, Florida.
N3239T Tico Belle 1942 Douglas DC3C-S1C3G C/N 19054
This aircraft was built as C-47A 42-100591 and delivered to USAAF on 11/6/43, and assigned to the U.S. 8th A.F. in Europe. on 1/1/48 the plane was placed in storage at Oberpfaff, West Germany On 5/20/50 the plane went to the Royal Norwegian Air Force as 2100591 and initially coded “T-AI” but later changed to “BW-I” during 1951 and then to “BW-K” during August 1955. On 8/8/56 the aircraft was transferred to the Royal Danish Air Force as K-684, in Eskadrille 721 until retired in 1982. In October 1982 the plane was ferried via Duxford to the USA and registered N3239T to Valiant Air Command. (Info from Arthur Pearcy’s 1988 “Douglas DC-3 Survivors)
The Crusader became a “day fighter” operating off the aircraft carriers. At the time, U.S. Navy carrier air wings had gone through a series of day and night fighter aircraft due to rapid advances in engines and avionics. Some squadrons operated aircraft for very short periods before being equipped with a newer higher performance aircraft. The Crusader was the first post-Korean War aircraft to have a relatively long tenure with the fleet and like the USAF Republic F-105 Thunderchief, a contemporary design, might have stayed in service longer if not for the Vietnam war and resulting attrition from combat and operational losses.
Vietnam War: When conflict erupted in the skies over North Vietnam, it was U.S. Navy Crusaders from the USS Hancock that first tangled with Vietnam People’s Air Force (North Vietnamese Air Force) MiG-17s on 3 April 1965. Although the MiGs claimed the downing of a Crusader, Lt Pham Ngoc Lan’s gun camera revealed that his cannons had set an F-8 ablaze, but Lieutenant Commander Spence Thomas had managed to land his damaged Crusader at Da Nang, the remaining F-8s returned safely to their carrier. At the time, the Crusader was the best dogfighter the United States had against the nimble North Vietnamese MiGs. The U.S. Navy had evolved its “night fighter” role in the air wing to an all-weather interceptor, the F-4 Phantom II, equipped to engage incoming bombers at long range with missiles such as AIM-7 Sparrow as their sole air-to-air weapons, and maneuverability was not emphasized in their design. Some experts believed that the era of the dogfight was over as air-to-air missiles would knock down adversaries well before they could get close enough to engage in dogfighting. As aerial combat ensued over North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, it became apparent that the dogfight was not over and the F-8 Crusader and a community trained to prevail in air-to-air combat was a key ingredient to success.
The Crusader also became a “bomb truck” in war, with both ship-based U.S. Navy units and land-based U.S. Marine Corps squadrons attacking communist forces in both North and South Vietnam. USMC Crusaders flew only in the south, while U.S. Navy Crusaders flew only from the small Essex-class carriers. Marine Crusaders also operated in close air support missions.
truckdriver with the rudder of the F-8 Crusader II
The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and the Marine Corps, replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass. After the Navy’s disappointing experience with the Cutlass, the Crusader was referred to by some as “Vought’s Last Chance” after company founder Chance M. Vought. The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955, and was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon, principally serving in the Vietnam War.

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