Tallman FM-2 Wildcat (N90523)

Frank Tallman only owned and operated this General Motors FM-2 for three years, and this was during the period immediately prior to Tallmantz Aviation being formed in November 1961. However, the history FM-2 BuNo 74560 is a quite intriguing tale and gives a good example of the mixed-up world of surplus airplanes in the 1940s and 1950s. And, this airplane survives and is currently registered with Comanche Warbirds and is based at a small private airfield in west  Texas.

FM-2 BuNo 74560 Navy Service: January 5, 1945-January 31, 1946

The story of this airplane begins on January 5, 1945, when it was accepted by the U.S. Navy as FM-2 BuNo 74560 at the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors at its Linden, New Jersey, plant. General Motors produced in excess of 4,400 examples of the FM-2. The FM-2 was a derivative of the Grumman F4F Wildcat but with modifications that included a taller tail and the Wright Cyclone R-1820-56 powerplant. 

BuNo 74560 had an unremarkable service with the Navy. It was assigned to VF-66 from January 1945 until September 1945. The brief record tells that it was then deemed excess to needs and stored at NAS Clinton in Oklahoma. It was subsequently stricken from the Navy inventory on January 31, 1946.

WAA Transfer for Memorial Use

Sometime in the months afterwards, most likely mid-1946, BuNo 74560 was transferred to the village of Milaca, Minnesota, for use as a war memorial. Details have yet to emerge on this specific period but it most likely mirrors the dozens of several post-war RFC and WAA transfers for educational and memorial purposes: the village paid a $350 transfer fee and the airplane was delivered to the nearest airport. The normal WAA restrictions were imposed: the airplane was not for flight purposes and could not be sold. It was to be scrapped or returned to the government when no longer wanted. Other details, such as if and where the aircraft was ultimately displayed in Milaca, have not yet been uncovered.

Village of Milaca Disposes of BuNo 74560

Of course, in the event the municipal government no longer wanted the airplane, scrapping restrictions were forgotten. At some point, possibly mid-1948, the airplane ended up in the hands of the Hinck Flying Service at Minneapolis, located about 65 miles southeast of Milaca. 

The first bit of information about BuNo 74560 in its FAA registration file shows that Hinck Flying Service sold the “Grumman” FM-2 to Canfield Airways of Waterloo, Iowa. Peculiarly, the FM-2 was already civil registered as N5956V prior to the sale. It is unusual that there is no record of transfer from the village of Milaca to Hinck Flying Service or, perhaps, an intermediary owner, but the Civil Aeronautics Administration nonetheless allowed the airplane to be registered.

Hinck Flying Service was a large operation in the Minneapolis area, operating a Civilian Pilot Training program during the war and a large FBO at the Wold-Chamberlain Airport. 

Sale of FM-2 N5956V to Canfield Airways

As noted above, N5956V was sold by Hinck Flying Service to Canfield Airways of Waterloo, Iowa. The date of the sale was September 27, 1948. 

According to the available records, the principal owner of Canfield Airways was Jack Snodgrass. Research shows that Canfield Airways was an Aeronca dealer and ran a FBO operation at the Waterloo airport.

The application for registration for N5956V was made on November 30, 1948, There is no record that the registration was actually issued by the CAA.

On December 15, 1948, an application for an airworthiness certificate was made by Canfield Airways. It was inspected and deemed airworthy, though the CAA file does not show an airworthiness certificate actually issued.

How, where, and why and/or if the aircraft may have been subsequently operated by Canfield Airways remains lost to history, at least for the time being. 

However, there is an internal memo in the CAA file dated October 7, 1949, that documents that “the owner of aircraft to which the subject number (N5956V) was assigned that the aircraft has been dismantled and will not be registered.” The registration was thus cancelled.

There are two other documents in the file that pre-date the October CAA memo, however, and they suggest that perhaps the FM-2 was ‘unintentionally dismantled’ in an accident, though there are no records to actually confirm this.

Nonetheless, on July 22, 1949, Cedar Aviation at Mechanicsville, Iowa, sold to Snodgrass the following pieces of aircraft equipment, presumably all FM-2 components:

• 1 fuselage
• 1 tail group
• 1 instrument panel complete with instruments
• 1 R-1820-56W Wright engine complete with cowling and a Curtiss electric propeller.

The total cost of these items, including shipping, was $225.

A few weeks later, on August 3, Lake of the Woods Flying Service at Saudette, Minnesota, sold Snodgrass “one set of wings and wing tips” that, with shipping included, cost $90.

Then, on January 31, 1950, Snodgrass applied on behalf of Canfield Airways for the registration of a new aircraft, the Hawkeye Special, serial number 1A, with a new registration of N90523.

Along with the registration application was a certification that “the balance of the parts used in the Hawkeye Special aircraft, registration N90523, were either purchased locally or taken from our stock of parts.” So, it is apparent from this and the subsequent record that parts of two disassembled FM-2s and possibly remaining parts of N5956V were rebuilt into essentially a homebuilt Hawkeye Special that was really an FM-2. There is no indication in the aircraft record to any lineage to BuNo 74560 or the original N5956V; this was established later.

The CAA registration of N90523 was issued for the Hawkeye Special on February 20, 1950. There is, however, no record of inspection or issuance of an airworthiness certificate for the Hawkeye Special.

Whether it was actually operated by Canfield Airways between February and November 1950 is not known.

Hawkeye Special N90523 Sold to James Geib

In any event, the Hawkeye Special was sold to James G. Geib of West Bend, Wisconsin, on November 12, 1950, for $1,045. It took Geib a year to file the bill of sale and the registration application with the CAA. His first application for registration went in for Grumman FM-2 serial number 74560 on October 10, 1951, but this was duplicated by another application for the Hawkeye Special on the same date. The Hawkeye Special application  was processed and he was issued the registration of N90523.

That first application for the FM-2 type heralded an effort to identify the Hawkeye Special, s/n 1A, as actually FM-2 BuNo 74560. The paperwork gods finally caught up and Geib tried to set things straight. Geib made inquires and determined the actual ownership trail of the aircraft he owned.  

Thus, in October 1952, he made an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration that details the history of the ownership trails. Basically, it states that the village of Milaca illegally transferred the airplane and when Geib purchased it from Snodgrass he thought title was free and clear. The agreement recognized that title was never transferred from the U.S. government but the government granted Geib authorization to register and operate the airplane. However, there were added sales and other restrictions so he really did not “own” the airplane. It seems a bit of strange agreement 70-plus years later but it worked for the GSA and Geib. Who knows what would have happened if there had been an accident. The lawyers would have enjoyed sorting out ownership and liability issues.

So, Geib had the airplane reclaim its lineage to FM-2 BuNo 74560. The registration was reissued on December 18, 1953, with the type changed to a “Grumman” FM-2. How much of BuNo 74560 was actually in the airframe at that time is unknown but, given the history of the N5956V, probably not too much. However, the requisite aircraft data plate was sufficient to provide its needed identity.

Geib operated a company named Air Service Kontrol at West Bend. It was, at least, a crop dusting outfit but it is undetermined if the FM-2 was ever actually modified as a duster. There are no records to indicate such and photos of the aircraft at the time don’t seem to show any aircraft modifications, so it seems doubtful.

During its time with Air Service Kontrol, the aircraft was painted bright orange overall with a yellow rudder. There was a distinctive Donald Duck emblem on the mid-fuselage with the “Air Service Kontrol, Inc., West Bend, Wis” aft of that. The civil registration was painted on the rudder. Early on, the letters “ASK” were painted on the engine cowl, later replaced by a yellow and orange checkerboard pattern over the entire cowling. The civil registration was repeated on the lower left wing.

An application for an airworthiness certificate and inspection report was filed on August  3, 1954, with the CAA. It reports the aircraft still equipped with an R-1820-56W engine, s/n 118050, with total airframe and engine time at 318.1 hours. At about the same time, it was reported that the Navy cartridge engine starter had been replaced with an electric direct-cranking unit. 

Two years later, on July 30, 1956, airframe time had increased to 349.9 hours, so the airplane accumulated only 31 hours during that period.

Clear Title for N90523 and Sale to Frank Tallman

James Geib died on July 21, 1955, at the age of only 29. What took his life at such young age is unknown but one suspects an airplane accident. In any event. his brother and mechanic Leo Geib took control of Air Service Kontrol and the fate of the FM-2. 

Leo Geib contacted the GSA again with a request to try to sell the FM-2. The GSA came back in a letter on December 21, 1955, that stated that a new law passed by Congress on June 3, 1955, released any interest the government had on FM-2 N95230 and any other such surplus aircraft. So, the earlier agreement about the government retaining title became “inoperative.”.

The estate of James Geib transferred the ownership of the FM-2 to Leo Geib on July 25, 1956. And, on January 7, 1957, Geib sold the airplane to Frank G. Tallman of Glenview, Illinois.

Frank Tallman and N90523

At that point, Tallman was still based at Glenview, Illinois, but was busy gathering his airplane collection. That collection mostly consisted of World War I era aircraft, his first love, but he did purchase the FM-2. An August 1959 article in Aviation Week magazine states that Tallman actually owned two FM-2s at one time, though the identity of the possible second Wildcat is unknown.

I think it is interesting to note that in a 1958 listing that Tallman prepared of his aircraft collection, he listed the FM-2 first, ahead of everything else.

At some point, Tallman repainted N90523 in an early 1942 USN F4F Wildcat World War II scheme consisting of blue upper surfaces and gray lower surfaces. The rudder had alternating red and white stripes. The civil registration was prominently painted underneath the left wing, and photos suggest no U.S. insignia was applied, at least on the fuselage. This basic scheme stayed on the airplane for the next 15 years.

There is no indication that Tallman used the airplane for anything other than transportation during the three years he owned it, though it probably made it to an midwestern air show or two. 

It did move west to Flabob Airport at Riverside, California, with Tallman’s operation. In the summer of 1959, it was observed parked outdoors at Tallman’s base at Flabob, along with his P-40E (N1207V), his F4U (N3440G), and two P-51D Mustangs (N4567B and N7721C). The rest of his collection, mostly World War I era, were parked in two hangars on the airport.

FM-2 N90523 Goes East

Frank Tallman then sold N90523 to Wade Porter of Columbus, Indiana, on June 6, 1960. Registration was issued to Porter on July 22, 1960. Operational details and location while the FM-2 was with Porter are unknown.

Damn Yankee Air Force and N90523

On September 2, 1964, N90523 was sold to Edward Stefan of Sunderalnd, Massachusetts. Three months later, on December 2, 1964, it was sold to the Yankee Air Club, Inc., of Sunderland, Massachusetts, with ‘Col.’ Robert Gardner shown as president. In later documents, we see that Edward Stefan, also a ‘colonel,’ was the vice-president of the Yankee Air Club, Inc.

Available information is that the Yankee Air Club was the official name of the Damn Yankee Air Force and was based at the Turner Falls airport. There was a good number of warbirds owned or operated by the Damn Yankee Air Force over the years,  including an FG-1D Corsair and B-25 Mitchell. Indications are that Robert Gardner had a company that was intertwined with it and, reportedly, it was a tongue-in-cheek response to the then-Confederate Air Force. In any case, the airplane retained the Tallman paint scheme but had “Damn Yankee Air Force” painted on the aft fuselage spine during its years with the group.

FM-2 N90523 to William Whitesell in 1968

On March 10, 1968, N90523 was sold to William Whitesell of Medford, New Jersey.

The significant item for the aircraft during Mr. Whitesell’s ownership was the R-1820-56W engine being replaced with an R-1820-71 engine, s/n SW008931. This work was done in Moorestown, New Jersey, and completed on July 30, 1970. At the same time, all water injection equipment and tank were removed.

No other details of its use are known while with Mr. Whitesell.

N90523 to Winward Aviation and Doug Champlin in 1971

On January 15, 1971, the FM-2 was sold to Winward Aviation of Enid, Oklahoma. Winward Aviation was the late Doug Champlin’s company. Champlin collected and operated a substantial number of warbirds through the years and opened the Champlin Fighter Museum at Mesa, Arizona, in 1981. FM-2 BuNo 74560 was put on display at the museum. 

N90523 to Cinema Air at Carlsbad, California, in 1990

Sometime around 1990, FM-2 N90523 was sold by Champlin to Cinema Air, a company operated by Richard “Dick’ Martin at the Palomar Airport located near Carlsbad, California. Warbird pilot and owner Tom Friedkin was also a principal in Cinema Air, him signing documents as chairman of the company.

In October 1990, the civil registration of the FM-2 was changed from N90523 to N16TF. It did not, however, wear that identity for long, as in May 1991 the civil registration was changed to N29FG, all the while the airplane remaining registered to Cinema Air. 

To Chino Warbirds, Inc. and then Comanche Warbirds, Inc.

The subsequent trail of ownership has gotten a bit fuzzy in the ensuing three decades, though the airplane essentially remains operated by the Friedkin estate. In January 2001, Cinema Air changed its location to a Houston address, and a few months later, in July 2001, it changed its business name to Chino Warbirds, Inc. (a Texas corporation). Then, in 2012, the business name was changed again to Comanche Warbirds, Inc., also of Houston , Texas. 

Thomas Friedkin was a very successful Houston businessman dealing with automobile distribution. Earlier in his life he had been an airline pilot. In the late 1960s he began collecting vintage aircraft. Besides his involvement with Cinema Air, he was also loosely associated with Planes of Fame at Chino with several of his aircraft rotating in and out of the Chino museum over the years. He also flew as a movie pilot for several projects including the TV show Baa Baa Blacksheep.

However, the major operational base of Friedkin’s fleet of warbirds has been a small private airport, Comanche Ranch, located near the remote border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. Tom Friedkin passed away in 2017, and reports indicate that his son Dan now controls the aircraft collection. It appears that FM-2 N29FG remains airworthy and in the collection at the Texas facility. However, it does not seem to make it out to many public displays these days, as most available photos are many years old. 

Update: May 11, 2024: N29FG has been listed for sale with Platinum Fighter Sales as the broker. Asking price is $1.695 million (if you have to ask…). The listing shows total airframe time as 509 hours with 10.6 hours since restoration. The site shows the restoration work done between 2010-12 by ATW Aviation in Tuscon, AZ.