Interview: Steve Craig
Proud owner of the last flying Wildcat
- By Diane Tedeschi
- Air & Space magazine, March 2007
Airline pilot Mark Watt flies Steve Craig's Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat at an airshow in 2005.
Doug Fisher
Steve Craig, a hospitality industry entrepreneur in Lawrence, Kansas, is one of those rare and happy people who owns the last flying model of an aircraft. While he wasn’t part of the Navy rescue mission that recovered his Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat from the depths of Lake Michigan in 1991, Craig fell in love with it after seeing it at an airshow three years later. In addition to the Wildcat, he owns and flies a 1931 Waco, a 1936 Bucker Jungmeister, a 1945 North American P-51D, and a 1946 Beech Staggerwing. Air & Space associate editor Diane Tedeschi asked Craig about the acquisition and restoration of his famous warbird.
A&S: How and when did the airplane come into your possession?
Craig: I actually acquired it from a friend of mine, who acquired it from the Navy. Dick Hansen and Jim Porter actually acquired the plane in—I believe it was in 1991 or early ’92—from the United States Navy through the company that the Navy contracted with to recover it: A&T Recovery out of Chicago, Illinois. They obtained the plane, did much of the restoration, got the plane flying, and then I acquired the plane. I have continued some of the necessary restoration, all in an effort to keep it extremely original but at the same time operable and safe.
A&S: How much did you pay for the Wildcat?
Craig: Well, I would prefer not to say that. But it involved some cash and a classic aircraft on trade.
A&S: What kind of shape was the aircraft in when you got it in 2002?
Craig: It was overall in excellent shape. Except there were some things that had been overlooked [which were discovered when] a friend of mine, Matt Jackson, flew the plane from Kansas City out to California. I wasn’t yet qualified by the FAA to fly the airplane. So Matt, who flies all sorts of warbirds, made that flight, and discovered that there were some issues with the fuel system, the wiring, and in particular, some issues with respect to the engine and the exhaust system. And so we worked on a lot of that over the next year.
A&S: Was the work done at Jackson’s restoration shop at Van Nuys Airport in California?
Craig: Matt did some of the work. But most of it was done by another friend—Matt had a lot of projects going on. And so another very good friend of mine, who’s a very talented fellow, Pete Regina of Pete Regina Aviation in Van Nuys, did the bulk of the work.
A&S: Why did you want to add an F4F to your collection?
Craig: Well, I’m not a major collector. I do have three or four very historic airplanes. And of course the Wildcat has such a tremendous history. Many years ago, I spent some time in the Navy Reserve, and I had some basic understanding of [the F4F’s role] in the early war in the Pacific—the first two years. So that caught my interest. As for this particular plane, I happened to be at Oshkosh in 1994 with my son, who was then 11 years of age, and we were at our first Oshkosh together. That was the show where Dick Hansen and Jim Porter displayed this airplane—the first public appearance of the plane. And I was fascinated by how original it was and what fantastic shape it was in. That’s when it began. I didn’t ever dream [then] that I’d ever get to own and fly the plane.
A&S: How long did it take you to get your type rating for the Wildcat?
Craig: It took the better part of a year. A big part of that was [that] the plane was down for some significant maintenance issues. Of course it’s a single-seat airplane, so there are no trainers. So I worked with Matt Jackson in particular and Pete [Regina], and Matt told me what to expect. And then we went out to Mojave and I made the first flights in it.
A&S: What kind of reaction does it get when you fly the Wildcat at airshows?
Craig: It is really well received because of its history. It’s particularly gratifying when veterans of World War II come up to the airplane at an airshow, maybe with their adult sons and their grandchildren. People appreciate it, and of course that’s why you do it.
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