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LATEST NEWS

Spitfire XIV NH799 overhaul commences

Spitfire XIV NH799 - The Rolls Royce Griffon 65 has been shipped to Vintage V-12's for overhaul. We expect the engine back in the third quarter of the year. The propeller has been sent to Safe Air in New Zealand for overhaul. Avspecs Ltd is working on the airframe and we expect to have the airframe completed and the engine installed in approximately 6 months. This Griffon Engine Spitfire is being restored to the highest standards and is available for immediate sale.
(Above right: the Griffon 65 prior to shipping to California for overhaul)

TF-51 N151PF makes first post-restoration flight

TF-51 N151PF made its post restoration first flight with test pilot Dave Morss at the controls. The plane flew very well and flight testing will continue over the next week. This 100 point restoration is available for sale and immediate delivery.

New Year update

2008: Provenance Fighter Sales has become the industry leader in high quality Fighter Sales. In 2007 we delivered 11 fighters, 1 classic aircraft, and 1 helicopter. 2008 promises to be an even bigger and better year for us: 2 aircraft sold and delivered in the first week of the new year! If you're thinking about buying a warbird, please give us a call. Our highly experienced staff can help you obtain the aircraft of your dreams. If you are planning on selling your aircraft, Provenance Fighter Sales is a Cash Buyer for your warbird. Please call us to see how easy and trouble free it is to sell your aircraft.

Projects: In December 2007, Spitfire Vb BL628 was delivered to Provenance Fighter Sales at French Valley Airport in California for certification and delivery to its new owner. This aircraft is the first restoration completed for Provenance Fighter Sales and it is magnificent. Plan on seeing this Spitfire at Oshkosh - Airventure 2008. Our next project to be completed is going to be TF-51N151PF which should be completed and delivered within the next few weeks. P-40C AK295 is coming along nicely and Spitfire XIV will also be completed and delivered in 2008.

Spitfire Vb BL268 post restoration flight

Provenance Fighter Sales latest Signature Restoration, Spitfire Vb BL628 (N628BL) made its post restoration first flight on September 28, 2007 from Ardmore Airfield in Auckland, New Zealand. This historic Spitfire has been the subject of a multi year restoration which has been completed by Avspecs Ltd. of Auckland. The initial test flights were flown by Keith Skilling. Phase 1 of the test flight program has been completed and the Spitfire is currently being disassembled in preparation for shipping to Provenance Fighter Sales facility at French Valley Airport in Southern California. Once there, it will be reassembled, test flown and delivered to its new owner.

North American TF-51 N151PF

North American TF-51 N151PF is within weeks of flying. After a five year restoration, 44-73142 is scheduled to emerge from Airmotive Specialties restoration facility in Salinas, California.. This full dual control Mustang has had the fuselage painted and the wings and horizontal stabilizer painted. The Mustang has been painted in the markings of the 352nd F.G. "E Pluribus Unum" as flown by Ace Raymond Littage. The paint scheme has been applied by T & P Aero at Salinas, California and is a 10/10. We have spared no expense on the restoration. Our goal was to make this the finest dual control Mustang in existence - the result speaks for itself. For more information or to schedule an inspection of this full dual control TF-51, please call Provenance Fighter Sales at 800-992-1951.

Airventure 2007

Provenance Fighter Sales will be at Airventure 2007. We will have our new Sea Fury T.20, Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, Bell TAH-1P Cobra Gunship, and Hughes OH-6 on display. We have our Motorhome in the Warbird Motorhome Lot and hope you will stop by and visit us. If you are looking for us at Oshkosh, please call Simon Brown on his cell phone 951-258-4205. See you there.

P-38F Glacier Girl: Operation Bolero II

Provenance Fighter Sales is proud to be a major sponsor of P-38F Glacier Girl on its' historic flight to England: Operation Bolero II. This flight will recreate and finish the original mission that the six P-38 Lightnings and 2 B-17 Flying Fortresses attempted in April 1942.

Glacier Girl is scheduled to arrive in England and participate in the Flying Legends Airshow at Duxford on 8-9 July before returning to the United States. Provenance Fighter Sales extends its best wishes to Bob Cardin, Steve Hinton, and the entire Operation Bolero II as they make history.

For real time updates on Operation Bolero II, check out www.airshowbuzz.com.

Record Sales Quarter

2007 has the makings of being another great year for Provenance Fighter Sales. In the first quarter we have sold 4 of the world's Best Fighters. P-47D "No Guts - No Glory", P-38F "Glacier Girl", Spitfire Vb BL628, and the P-40C Tomahawk AK295. The Spitfire is nearly ready to fly after a complete restoration with Avspecs in New Zealand. Upon completion of test flying the Spitfire will be shipped via container to French Valley Airport, CA where it will be reassembled and delivered to its new owner.

We have just acquired three more aircraft including our first bomber. Keep checking our website regularly as we will be adding more aircraft to our inventory in the coming weeks and months.

Provenance Fighter Sales is a Buyer

Provenance Fighter Sales is not a broker. Provenance Fighter Sales is a cash buyer and seller of premium warbird aircraft. All of our inventory is owned by Provenance. We only consider the Best of each type of aircraft to add to our inventory. We do consider trades against our inventory. If you are looking for the best, look no further.

P-38F "Glacier Girl" Sold

In November 2006 Provenance Fighter Sales purchased P-38F Glacier Girl with the intention of adding it to our Permanent Aircraft Collection. Our plan was to display this magnificent aircraft at airshows in the United States and to fly the P-38 across the Atlantic to recreate Operation Bolero - the mission where Glacier Girl and five other P-38's along with two B-17's crashed in the largest forced landing of World War II in Greenland.

In February 2007 we received a World Record Offer on the P-38F and the decision was made to sell the P-38F. The Lightning was flown to it's new home in Texas in early February. The new owner is committed to completing the trip to recreate the P-38's Atlantic Crossing and the plan is still to fly Glacier Girl to England in late June 2007. Provenance Fighter Sales will remain as a major sponsor of this historic flight.

Spitfire VB BL628

Our Spitfire VB BL628 restoration is coming along nicely at Avspecs Ltd in Auckland, New Zealand. Recently the wings and fuselage were mated and systems installation has commenced. The Merlin 46 should be completed by Vintage V-12's by early March and the engine will be air freighted to New Zealand for installation in the Spitfire. We recently took delivery of a zero time Dowty Rotol 3 bladed propeller and the last major item to be delivered will be the oil tank which is being manufactured in the United Kingtdom. We have a tentative first flight date of May 1, 2007 in New Zealand.

PROVENANCE FIGHTERS MOVES TO FRENCH VALLEY AIRPORT

After six months of waiting we have finally moved into our brand new hangar at French Valley Airport. The first aircraft to land at French Valley was our F4U-4B which was flown in by Bruce Lockwood. Two days later the TF-51 flew down from Chino.

In the next few weeks we will have several aircraft ferried down to French Valley including our Stearman, Beech Staggerwing, FG-1D Corsair, P-47D Thunderbolt and a couple of other aircraft. Keep checking our website for updates as the planes arrive.

Reno Air Races

The Reno Air Races will be held in just a few weeks in Reno, Nevada. Provenance Fighters is pleased to announce that we will be a major sponsor of six-time Unlimited Champion Dago Red. Provenance Fighters wishes Dan Martin and the entire Dago Red Air Racing Team the best of luck at Reno 2006.

Provenance Fighters has also entered our TF-51 "Tempus Fugit" to race at Reno. Dave Morss is our race pilot. While not as fast as Dago Red, we hope that Tempus Fugit will be competitive in the Bronze Class.

We invite you to stop by the Tempus Fugit pits and say "Hi".

Oshkosh 2006 - We had a great time at Oshkosh this year. We were able to bring Good Year FG-1D Corsair N29VF, North American TF-51 Mustang N151TF, and Bell Cobra N4144. We had originally planned on bringing both of our Good Year FG-1D Corsairs, but at the last minute we were able to take delivery of TF-51 N151TF. The flight test program had been completed earlier in the week and the decision was made to fly the aircraft to Oshkosh, along with Corsair N29VF and then, after the show, drop it off at the paint shop in Goderich, Ontario, Canada.

We are pleased to announce that the Corsair was awarded the Best Fighter trophy at Oshkosh. The Corsair also flew in the U.S. Navy Legacy Flight along with a North American FJ -4 Fury and 2 F-18 Super Hornets on Friday and Saturday. We also had the opportunity to fly the TF-51 and the Cobra Helicopter several times during the week. On Saturday the Cobra was part of the Warbird Airshow and it proved to be very popular with the crowd. The new owner of the Cobra was present at Oshkosh and he had an opportunity to get some dual instruction in his Cobra.

We had the chance to meet many old friends and also to make some new acquaintances. We would like to thank all of you who either stopped by our Motor Home across from the Mustang parking area or met us with the three aircraft.

More Photos - Oshkosh 2006

Vought F4U-4 – We have recently acquired F4U-4 N240CA. Currently the aircraft is undergoing an Annual / Condition Inspection and we expect to have it flown down to our hangar within the next week. This aircraft was the subject of a complete restoration by Pacific Fighters between 1998 and 2000. It was awarded the Reserve Grand Champion Warbird – Post World War II trophy at Oshkosh 2000. The F4U-4 is considered by many to be the Ultimate Corsair. This example is definitely the finest Dash 4 in the world. For specifications and pictures please go to http://www.provenancefightersales.com/f4corsair.htm

North American TF-51 – After an 8 year restoration, N151TF was completed and ready for delivery to Provenance Fighter Sales just before Oshkosh. Unfortunately we did not have time to get it to the paint shop prior to Oshkosh, so the decision was made to fly it to Oshkosh in primer and then continue on to the paint shop after Oshkosh. The Mustang has been delivered to Gederich, Ontario, Canada and is currently being painted in the markings of “Tempus Fugit”, a P-51D flown by Col. William Daniel. 308th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, 15th A.A.F.

For pictures updated daily from the paint shop: http://24.235.33.13/cust/pics/6090-mustang-provenancefightsales
For specifications and pictures of this fantastic restoration please go to http://www.provenancefightersales.com/N151TF.htm.

P-47D - "No Guts - No Glory" is presently in a container crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The container is scheduled to be delivered to Chino Airport, Chino, CA on August 24th. The aircraft will be reassembled and licensed by Fighter Rebuilders. For specifications and pictures please go to http://www.provenancefightersales.com/thunderbolt.htm

Projects:

Spitfire V: BL628 Our Spitfire V project is making great progress at Avspecs Ltd in New Zealand. Quality is paramount and this aircraft is being restored as authentically as possible. Recently the balance of the parts arrived from the U.K. and the project is on track for completion in February 2007. Upon completion BL628 will be a pristine example of a Spitfire V and one with documented combat history. For the latest pictures of the project please go to Avspecs website link http://www.warbirdrestoration.co.nz/current.html#vc. For sales information please click on: http://www.provenancefightersales.com/spitfire.htm

Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk AK295 One of the most sought after U.S. fighters of World War II, the Longnose P-40 Tomahawk is a unique and challenging restoration. Our P-40C is also being restored at Avspecs in New Zealand. The wings are currently being rebuilt to factory specifications by Precision Aerospace in Australia. We expect the wings to be completed within 3 months and delivered to Avspecs in New Zealand where they will be fitted to the fuselage. We have recently secured a large amount of historical and technical data for the Tomahawk which will ensure that the aircraft will be rebuilt as authentic as possible. Upon completion the Tomahawk will become only the third flyable Tomahawk in the world. Completion is scheduled for mid-2007. For the latest restoration pictures of the project please go to Avspecs website link http://www.warbirdrestoration.co.nz/current.html#p40c. For sales information please click: http://www.provenancefightersales.com/p40c.htm.

North American TF-51 Mustang: s/n 44-73142 N551TB
North American TF-51 Mustang is making great progress at Airmotive Specialties in Salinas, CA. The wings have been completely rebuilt and hydraulics and fuel systems are being installed. The engine mount has had new longerons installed and has recently been attached to the fuselage. We have taken delivery of a new Avia Hamilton Standard Paddle Blade propeller and the Merlin engine is currently under rebuild at Vintage V-12's. Now is a great time to purchase this TF-51 as there is still time to customize it to your specifications. Estimated completion is June 2007. This is a unique opportunity to have a fully restored Mustang, built to your specifications, and one that will be ready for you to fly to Oshkosh 2007. For the latest restoration pictures and sales information please click http://www.provenancefightersales.com/mustang.htm