By 1995 this Hirth Air Tanker Harpoon was being converted to airtanker, but the work was abandoned after the owner John Hirth died in the crash of one of his PV-2 Harpoons on 20 Apr 1997. It was left stored here, with engines and other parts missing. Remnants of the registration are still visible on the fuselage. In early 2007, Gary Hilton acquired this Harpoon with the intention of moving it to his hometown of Lone Jack, MO. By 2009, he had gotten as far as removing the wings and nose (and possibly moving them to Lone Jack), but then his plans seem to have stalled, as the aircraft was still at Buffalo as of 2020. By 2023, it had been moved into the front yard of a house just southeast of the airport, still without its wings and nose.

This photo is copyright © Aad van der Voet, and may not be used or published in any way without permission.

It was added on 23 October 2018, and has since been viewed 485 times.