He’s never offered public tours, and his out-of-the-way runway, hangars, and castle-themed home are strictly private. Logistically, the ongoing acquisitions required building an ever-expanding hangar complex (more than 100,000 square feet) in which to store them. He has been an AOPA member for more than 50 years.Įdwards says he doesn’t regard his many airplanes as a “collection,” just unrelated objects he bought or traded for because they interested him. He also helped found the Commemorative Air Force (then the Confederate Air Force) but has had a bitter split with the Texas-based organization. In the 1980s Edwards donated two highly coveted aircraft to the Experimental Aviation Association-a P-38 Lightning and an F-4U Corsair-and both are on display at the EAA museum in Oshkosh. Supermarine Spitfire from the movie “Battle of Britain” – photo by Chris Rose But now that he’s gone, there’s no sense keeping it.” “He was a fantastic pilot and absolutely excelled at everything he did in aviation. “I was going to give it all to Tex,” Edwards says. He’s buried in a family plot on the ranch, which is located in the arid, cotton-growing portion of the state. Tex was killed in a car accident near the family’s ranch about 60 miles east of Midland/Odessa. The impetus for the sale is the tragic 2013 death of Edwards’ son Wilson Connell “Tex” Edwards Jr., an accomplished warbird and agricultural pilot. So are several Piaggio Gull airframes, and parts for many more. (There are also two shipping containers full of surplus PBY parts and specialized tools.)Ī recently polished Grumman Mallard is tied down outside. Edwards flew one of the PBYs to England and back in 1986, and a second-known as the Green Turtle-has a Calypso paint scheme and plush yacht-like interior. There’s also a P-51 Mustang that looks exactly as it did when imported from Guatemala in the early 1970s, and two PBY Catalinas. Pay my price, or don’t waste my time,” Edwards says.Ī Spitfire that actually flew in the real Battle of Britain is the jewel of Edwards’ fleet, as well as a half-dozen Buchons (including a rare two-seat model) that he took in partial payment for his work on the film. “I know the value of what I’ve got, and I don’t haggle. “People can either pay my price or go to hell, I really don’t care which,” says Edwards, 80, who is perhaps best known for choreographing and flying many of the aerial scenes in Battle of Britain, a 1969 movie that starred Michael Caine and Sir Lawrence Olivier and featured more than a dozen Messerschmitt Bf 109s (technically Spanish-built HA-1112 Buchons), Heinkel He 111 (CASA 2.111) bombers-and, of course, British Spitfires and Hurricanes. Spanish-built HA-1112 Buchons from the movie “Battle of Britain” – photo by Chris Rose
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