Joe Foss's F-51 is about...hmmm. I'll call it 45% complete. There's too much to improve/do that I won't list it all, but so far, so good.
That all being stated, I'm surprised at the amount of interest building in this particular airplane. For one, it's an F-51. By the time these glorious birds got passed down the line to the South Dakota Air Guard, the Mustang's day in the sun had long set.
Can you imagine those days? The war behind, the future ahead, the whine of jets spooling for thrust...and the ancient F-51s crouched in their row on the hot August tarmac...
But most importantly, the legend and lore of Joe Foss persists. When I work on this airplane, I think of the man's persistence, his utter authenticity and the startling humility of his spiritual faith. This past week, I actually had a "What would Joe do?" moment and took the course of action that I could best "hear" in Joe's unmistakable, matter-of-fact South Dakota clip...
"You've got to tell'em. If you don't, you'll leave the guy hang'n and that does ya'both no good."
So I did just that. Thanks, Joe. Wherever you are, I hope you like the way this is coming along.
