AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2018 - 34

PILOT BRIEFING
FLYING CLUBS

Warbird inspires a new club
PT-19 in a familiar role: pilot trainer
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

IT ALL STARTED with a "barn find" on Craigslist. Two friends,
Anthony Johnson and Justin Spence of Memphis, Tennessee,
saw an ad about a World War II-era Fairchild PT-19 that
had been stored for more than 20 years in Wisconsin, and
the price was right.
"This has to be the least-expensive warbird ever," Johnson,
a general aviation pilot and 2010 Parks College aviation graduate, told Spence, 25, also a GA pilot and mechanic. "It's about
half the price of a restored J-3 Cub, and it's a legit warbird."
The airplane, built in 1943, had been a wartime trainer
at nearby Jackson, Tennessee, and had logged just 600 flight
hours when World War II ended. It went through a series
of civilian owners before falling into disuse, getting stashed
away, and then listed for sale on the internet. Johnson and
Spence made several long drives to Wisconsin to inspect the
airplane and get it and its Ranger engine airworthy again.
During one of the marathon trips, the idea of using it as the
foundation of a warbird flying club began to take shape.
Spence is the owner and founder of Ultimate Aviation
Services, an aircraft restoration firm at General DeWitt
Spain Airport, a place that's also home to a Commemorative
Air Force wing, and warbirds, including a Stearman biplane
and several North American T-6s.
"The PT-19 was a stepping stone to higher-performance
airplanes during the war, and it can be the same thing again,"
Spence said. "If you want to fly the CAF's T-6, it requires a

certain amount of tailwheel experience. What better way to
build that experience than using the same trainer that T-6
pilots did back in the day?"
Johnson, 30, a former president of the Alpha Eta Rho
national aviation fraternity, went to the AOPA You Can Fly
website for information on establishing new clubs. He and
Spence formed an LLC that now owns the PT-19 and it
leases it to the club. The youthful club founders say they
want to put warbirds within reach of regular pilots like
themselves.
"Lots of us want to fly the more exotic warbirds someday," he said. "This is an opportunity for younger pilots like
us, who don't have gobs of money, to get the experience we
need to reach our goals. It also gets younger pilots into vintage airplanes early."
The club is limited to 10 active fliers because that's the
most their insurance will allow. It costs $1,500 to buy in, fees
are $100 a year, and there's a dry rental rate. The PT-19 consumes about 12 gallons of fuel per flight hour.
The airplane is far from perfect cosmetically, but
Johnson and Spence said they don't want a showpiece.
"We're looking for passionate pilots who want to learn to
fly the way the greatest generation did," Spence said. "The
response has been overwhelmingly positive."
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org
JUSTIN SPENCE and

Anthony Johnson (standing
on left wing) built their club
around an authentic World
War II trainer.

34 | AOPA PILOT September 2018

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2018

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