Vintage Flying Machines

29/01/2026

Yesterday was a special day for the collection. Earlier this month when we took delivery of our Tora Zero a friend reached out to let us know his Dad used to fly this very airplane. Jeff Linebaugh, who is one of the current pilots of the CAF P-51 Gunfighter, described how his dad flew the airplane when it was owned by the publisher of Air Classics. His dad was the primary pilot of this Zero during the filming of Baa Baa Blacksheep. We quickly invited Jeff to come over and fly the Zero…just shy of 50 years from the last time his dad flew it. As many of you know we have some other second generation warbird pilots flying our airplanes so we were excited to be able to put Jeff in the cockpit of the Zero!

12/01/2026

We mentioned yesterday that we sold or C-47 to allow us to become the careftaker of other aircraft. We are excited to announce that our first new acquisition is a Harvard 4 that was modified into a replica A6M2 Zero for the 1970 movie Tora Tora Tora produced by 20th Century Fox. The studio went to great lengths to create replica Japanese aircraft for the film.

Most of the surviving aircraft are owned by our friends at the Commemorative Air Force, so it is rare that one becomes available on the open market. Having always desired one for the collection we jumped at the opportunity to obtain this Zero right before Christmas. Immediately after Christmas VFM's chief pilot Job Savage traveled to Washington to ferry the airplane to Florida for some radio work under the auspices of his Tailwheel Professionals operation (www.tailwheelprofessionals.com).

We are excited to tell the story of these replicas which have become historic in their own right. As one of the finest aerial combat movies that Hollywood has produced, it is a story that needs to be told. With the near takeover of Hollywood by CGI it is likely never to be duplicated.

We are actively looking for Tora Tora Tora movie memorabilia and props to build a display for the collection. We also look foward to pairing the airplane with the collection's P-40 and TBM at events.

11/01/2026

2025 In Review: In late October the collection said goodbye to our C-47, passing it to a great new caretaker. Balancing the collection will allow us to acquire new aircraft to use in our mission of educating and encouraging young people about aviation and aviation history. -47

10/01/2026

2025 In Review: In August the collection's P-40N attended the Fly In-Cruise In in Marion, Indiana. This was our only public event with the P-40 this year as it had been down for engine overhaul most of the year. We look forward to getting the Warhawk to more events in 2026 -40

08/01/2026

2025 In Review: There were two other Skyraiders at Airventure and after three attempts were scrubbed due to weather and maintenance issues we were finally able to get all three in the air together. The results were spectacular. Photos by Dylan Phelps.

07/01/2026

2025 In Review: VFM was asked to particpate in AirVenture's recognization of the Korean War and the 80th Anniversary of the first flight of the Skyraider. The collection flew its newly aquired AD-5W to the event where it was briefly featured on Boeing Plaza alongside other Korean War era aircraft

06/01/2026

2025 In Review: While at Airventure 2025 the collections DC-3 participated in a four ship flyover during the airshow to recognize the 90th Anniversary of the first flight of the DC-3.

04/01/2026

2025 Year in Review: Also attending Airventure 2025 was our Western Airlines DC-3. In the week leading up to the event collection volunteers hung the newly covered control surfaces before embarking on the trip from Florida to Wisconsin.

03/01/2026

2025 In Review: The VFM PT-26 was invited to participate in Warbirds of America's Training Command at Airventure 2025 This was appropriate because the collection uses this aircraft to iniate young tailwheel pilots into the warbird community.

02/01/2026

2025 In Review: In May VFM's Grumman TBM Avenger joined ten other Avengers in Peru, Illinois for the 10th Annual TBM Gathering. The city does a great job of putting on this veteran focused event and is one our favorite events of the year. This year's event is scheduled for May 15-16th.

01/01/2026

30/12/2025

2025 In Review: In April VFM took our TBM Avenger to Virginia Beach to join the Commemerative Air Force R4D shortly before it headed across the Atlantic for its European Tour. Both aircraft are finished in the Atlantic Sea Search paint scheme used for anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic Theater. NAS Oceana granted us permission to fly over their base for photographs.