Talk:Precious Metal (aircraft)

I helped with the construction of Precious Metal
During the 1907-1989 time frame, I worked for Don Whittington on the construction of Precious Metal. My role was as an assistant to the man who did all of the sheet metal work (Florian Grusalski aka "ski" who had extensive experience with sheet metal work including several famous drag racers (i.e. Revel dragster), his logo was "Body by Ski" which can still be found on Revel plastic models. My job was to do the electrical wiring and to assist Ski as required. For my part, I re-constructed the entire P-51 tail cone, from the aft fuselage bulkhead to the tail wheel, this was the only unmodified part of the P-51 airframe.  Additionally, I helped Ski and Glenn Wegman (Fighter Enterprises) as needed to help with the construction of the airplane.

At the time of the construction of Precious Metal, we had under construction a P-51 Mustang, F9F-8T Cougar flight trainer and an F4U-5N Corsair. This was the heyday of my aviation career and an incredible learning experience.

Ski was so incredibly talented with sheet metal that I saw him create a coffee cup from a flat piece of aluminum, using an English wheel.

I worked for Don from (as memory serves) 1987 - 1989, and although that was only two years, I worked on the most incredible variety of aircraft, including: P-51, F9F Bearcat, F4U Corsair, C-123, Grumman Albatross, B-25, and several G3 Gulfstream business jets, including one owned by Julio Engleisas.

I had read online that Don had passed away, but according to this article he is still among the living, to which I am very happy to hear.

The time I spent working with Don and Glen were among the most educational, exiting and enjoyable experiences I have in aviation. 2601:700:8001:7C60:EAE2:25EE:4A9D:9460 (talk) 15:59, 6 May 2023 (UTC)