03/25/2017
While attending a auto concourse in FH we found some folks with huge military vehicles and they told us about this show. Being rather fond of jeeps and such we decided to go.
The event was hosted by Arizona Military Vehicle Collection Club (AMVCC) and held at the Commemorative Air Force hanger at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa. Got all that?
OK, briefly Falcon Field is a real airport, small, but managed by FAA.
At one end is a couple of hangers that are home to The Commemorative Air Force which is a group of old plane enthusiasts who restore, maintain and fly vintage planes.
The AMVCC show naturally fit right in. You get to see old jeeps and then old planes.
As you can see there are a lot of jeeps from the 40's up until the Vietnam era. You can understand people collecting these, but those huge transports and dump trucks must call to a special type of person.
Just about all of these are "street legal" and yes, they did drive most of them to the show. I'm not sure how it feels to look in your rear view mirror and see a huge gun on the jeep behind you. HMM. Even in Arizona it probably causes ones heart to quail.
The collectors are more than happy to tell you all about their little toys and some even encourage you to crawl up and sit behind the wheel.
The same is true of the vintage plane folks. It is just nice to see such passion for preserving these amazing vehicles.
Just one of the jeep rows.
A WWII medical jeep
The interior has been restored
They try to make it as close to accurate as they can, and give you a little more to look
Seems this one came with a body. Actually it is the owners son who pooped out.
Who would not love to have a weasel?
Studebaker designed it for use in snow during WWII
An M29C Weasel. The amphibious version of the M29 Weasel
Why you would want a military dump truck I can not say.
My GMC Yukon did not have the machine gun option
Dune Buggy with big gun
You get a little of everything, Where is Colonel Dietrich and Indiana?
This 5 ton transport was owned by a fun family and they let me climb in the cab
I can only think of Dad's stories about riding a motorcycle over the Alps
Inside the Commemorative Air Force hanger.
Takes a lot of work to keep these flying
You just gotta love American ingenuity. Look at what they use to catch the dripping oil