Anyone appreciative of warbirds owes themselves a trip to Fagen Fighters WWII
Museum. The collection ranges from trainers such as the Fairchild PT-19 and North
American T-6 Texan to fi ghters including a pair of Curtis P-40s, a pair of North American
P-51 Mustangs and Lockheed P-38J Lightning Ruff Stuff.
Among non-fl ying exhibits is a stunning Waco CG4A assault glider displayed without
fuselage skin. The centrepiece in one of the larger hangars is a life-size bronze
sculpture of Ron Fagen’s father and his comrades on Utah beach, complete with the
front of a landing craft and genuine sand collected from the original beaches. For more
information about the museum, or to take a virtual tour, see:
http://www.fagenfi ghterswwiimuseum.orgFagen Fighters WWII Museum
and Evan share responsibilities
of running the museum’s day to
day operations as well as strategic
planning regarding the collection
which continues to grow through
acquisitions and in-house
restoration. Evan and Ron are also
qualified to fly most of the aircraft
it owns and do so regularly, even
during bitterly cold Minnesota
winters.
The Fagens have been steadily
building a world-class collection at
their Granite Falls facility, around
100 miles west of Minneapolis.Initially focusing their restoration
efforts on Curtiss P-40 fighters, the
centre has created no fewer than
three Oshkosh Grand Champions,
including two Warhawks in
Aleutian markings and a P-40E in a
desert scheme.
Given that Aero Traders of
Chino, California, has a similarly
fine reputation for restoring
Mitchells, Fagen Fighters opted
to fly the B-25J to Carl Scholl and
Tony Ritzman’s base to begin its
transformation into Paper Doll.
Most of the aircraft at FagenFighters are regarded as ‘Ron’s’ or
simply ‘theirs’ but, according to
Ron, the Mitchell “is Diane’s plane.
It’s her baby.” Despite that, primary
piloting duties go to Evan Fagen.
During the final stages of the
aircraft’s two-year restoration, Evan
travelled to Chino to earn his B-25
type rating as pilot in command
(PIC).
Once pulled into the Aero
Trader hangar, Sunday Punch was
gradually converted into Paper
Doll, a name derived from a song
popular during World War Two.May 2015 FLYPAST 63Above
The glazed nose complete
with Norden bombsight
and guns was fi tted by
Aero Traders at Chino.Below
B-25J Mitchell 44-86698
fl ying as ‘Sunday Punch’
in 2001.60-64_Warbird_fpSBB.indd 63 17/03/2015 15:07