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Representative (R) Randy Roy and a solid case has been created with Burnstine’s help. Burnstine had been freed while assisting in
various federal drug cases around the country and was living in Newport Beach, California. On 16 June 1976, Burnstine departed
Chino Airport in N69QF with some reports stating he had a rear seat passenger (NTSB report says just the pilot aboard) and in
company of several other Warbird aircraft. Upon arrival at Mojave, Burnstine did several aerobatic maneuvers before the plane nosed
over and slammed into the desert. The aircraft was totally destroyed and Burnstine killed. “I’m sick to my stomach. Thousands of
man-hours have gone into this case,” said prosecutor David Demore. “It sure throws a lot of investigations out the window,” said a
Miami customs agent. The FBI and FAA launched an investigation into the crash, suspecting sabotage. Burnstine’s testimony was
causing trouble for a number of high-end criminals but his death immediately ended those cases. However, there were those that
suspected Burnstine faked his own death and was alive and living the good life in Europe. Reportedly, only a thumb had been found
for identification purposes. “He was a liar, a crook, and just about anything else. He would do anything for a buck,” said one fed after
Burnstine’s demise.Although there are numerous theories on Burnstine’s death
in N69QF, the same is not true for the pilot and passenger
of P-51D USAAF 45-11546/N51JW. Another Mustang sold
surplus at McClellan, this aircraft became N5470V and
went on to carry other civil registrations including N518M
and N518MC. In 1970 it was flown to the Philippines where
it assumed the civil registration PI-C1046. In 1971, it was
purchased by airline pilot John Wright and flown back to
the USA to become N51JW. On 11 September 1982, the
aircraft crashed at Elko, Nevada, killing Wright and his wife.
The pilot flew down the length of Runway 06 at about 100
feet altitude and then pulled up into a climbing eight-point
roll. Then, the pilot flew down Runway 12 and pulled into a
climb and a left slow roll. As the aircraft became inverted,
the roll stopped, the wings moved erratically and the nose
rose to the horizontal. The nose was then rapidly pushed
down while the Mustang was still inverted. The aircraft then
accelerated through the vertical and began to pull up and
roll level prior to a violent impact with the ground.
What appears to be a happy family and friends
preparing to depart in what must be the
world’s cleanest North American B-25 Mitchell.
B-25J-35-NC 45-8883 was completed at NAA’s
Kansas City facility but not accepted by the
USAAF since the war was over. It was flown to
storage at Altus, Oklahoma, and sold in 1946 as
NL75755. Fitted with an executive interior and
extensive modifications, the former bomber was
absolutely spotless — something not easy to
achieve with a Mitchell. The plane went through
numerous owners but on 16 August 1965 it
suffered an inflight explosion and fire when
the exhaust system came apart due to faulty
maintenance near Northbrook, Illinois. While
attempting an emergency landing, the pilot
struck trees. Repaired, it went through more
owners and was used for flight test work. In
1975, it was acquired by the Canadian Warplane
Heritage Museum as C-GCWA and has been a
proud member of the museum’s fleet since then.