Over
the years, I have always tried to take the ethical route when utilising other photographers or historians contributions on
this site and have spent many hundreds of hours obtaining or trying to obtain the permission for use of material that
has been formulated by others.
I have and still do on many, many occasions had to pay for the use of this information,
but on the whole people have been good enough to allow me use of their material with just the credit against their valuable
contribution.
I
have also on occasion had to withdraw pictures from my site at the request of the owners.
Sometimes
I create a page dedicated to a contributor, i.e. John Lear who famously raced "76" at Reno, Richard E. Fulwiler who has an unlimited knowledge of On Mark, Al Shortt, who flew with the Nimrods in Vietnam or maybe Steve Aaron, US Army, who was indirectly associated with the invader but who's father flew
in WWII and who has a passion for the A-26, or Michael Robson, a noted and dedicated historian, who graciously donated to
the article, Biafran Invaders.
Or
maybe Robert Baetke who is a volunteer A & P at the classic aircraft aviation museum at Hillsboro who's currently working
on the former Air Spray A-26 tankers, # 4 and #10 ( see featured articles ).
Their
contribution in words and photographs are totally unique to this site and now because of them, a valuable source to you.
I
could list two or three dozen contacts who have contacted me over the years offering their stories and photos for their inclusion
into the site and I have felt proud to have been asked.
I
have also spent hundreds of hours creating illustrations and taking photographs for your enjoyment without the request for
credit when used by other sites.
I do not claim to be the oracle when it comes to knowing every little detail about the
A-26, but hope that the collection of photos and data on this site is a coming together of all that’s good about the
A-26 on the web and will benefit the " general enthusiast" and give them an insight into this wonderful aeroplane.
I have at great cost to myself, created logos and emblems for a number of A-26 based organisations
which they have adopted as their design for their apparel and look upon it as an honour to be part of their team.
Even
though the large majority of material on this site is a collation of other peoples fine efforts, thousands of hours has
been spent as you can imagine by me, preparing and collating the information available for all to enjoy.
If it came down to basics, I could probably boast that in my many years as an aviation Anorak, I have probably
clocked up more flying time, more cockpit time ( not pilot in control, although I do fly ) flown in more aircraft types, travelled
more air miles and landed at more airfields "major and the back and beyond" than the large majority of the guys I know, but
I look upon that experience with fondness and feel lucky to have had such a wonderful life and even luckier to be able to
share my experiences with you guys.
Finally.....like a good Anorak I pay my annual subscriptions to various organisations, have dished out volumes of cash
to various aviation charities, paid hundreds of Dollars for photographs to put on this site, have at times donned my flying
suite to scrub down or mop up the oil form around the hangar floor beneath a tired an ageing warbird, paid out vast amounts
of money to see air shows, spent hours and hours on planes visiting museums and war bird race events throughout the world and
even paid for a warbirds to be flown to events, but I do it and will continue to do it because this is my hobby and I
feel happy knowing that in some small way my financial contributions keep the vintage and veteran air scene alive and kicking.
On
that profound note, to all those who just love aeroplanes and never ever take it too seriously
.........Fly safe, keep it real
