There was some sort of an event taking place at the CAF SoCal wing the following day and so Minsi III was towed out of the hangar for an engine run-up and test. I wasn't allowed onto the ramp whilst the engine was running and so the pictures are quite back-lit. However, here she is being towed back into the main hangar after the tests were fininshed. This airframe fell into disrepair after WWII and was discovered as a derelict hulk in Minnesota with the data plate missing. As a result the true identity of the plane may never be known.

ex USN 70222

Former US Navy Bu70222. To N1078Z in 1961. To the Confederate Air Force in 1972. Renamed to Commemorative Air Force in 2002.

This is another of the super dioramas to be seen at the National Naval Aviation Museum and depicts 'Minsi III' (one of the aircraft in which Cdr. David McCampbell achieved 34 kills, the Navy's highest scoring fighter ace) being worked on by her ground crew on the lower deck of a carrier. In reality this a/c was delivered in July 45 and became N7865C after the war before being acquired by the museum in 1971.