Okay, I'd promised not to burden you with more photos from the BC Aviation Museum open house but this one is just too gorgeous to resist. It's a Grumman F7F Tigercat, a twin-engine fighter developed in the latter days of WW2. By the time it got into series production the war had ended; too late to see action though good news for the enemy. According to Wikipedia the Tigercats saw service in the Korean War and were withdrawn in 1954. The F7F Tigercat was one of the fastest US piston-engined fighters, with a top speed of 460 mph and a service ceiling of 40,400 feet. Twelve examples exist today but only six were airworthy until this one emerged from a two-year restoration at Victoria Air Maintenance.

Here's the fun part: The aircraft belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer, an American film producer who now owns the Hamilton (Ontario) Tiger Cats
football club. Can you see the connection? Can you imagine being wealthy enough to buy a football club and then purchase a classic aircraft by the same name? Hey, I'm not envious, Jerry... I'd do the same. For those of you unfamiliar with Canadian football, the league is said to offer a faster game than the NFL or AFL and includes both American and Canadian players. Hamilton is a steel town similar to Pittsburgh (including the environmental cleanup). Shown here with wings folded - it was planned for carrier operations - this Tigercat is scheduled to appear at the Abbotsford, BC, air show next weekend. I'll be there.