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Sue Parrish - Gone West

ThinkingManNeil

ThinkingManNeil

Charter Member
Legendary warbird and former WASP pilot Sue Parrish has passed away at age 87. Sue was probably best known for being one of the founders of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo Museum and for flying her bright pink P-40 Warhawk at numerous airshows through the 70's, 80'sm and into the 1990's.

View attachment 7796

Sue in her Women's Air Service Pilots uniform

View attachment 7797

Sue's infamous pink P-40N

I saw Sue and her Warhawk at several of the Hamilton airshows back in the late 1980's and to say that her ship stood out in a sea of camo and polished aluminum warbirds is an understatement, but she was always a skilled and consummate professional pilot in her display flying. I remember being in a small group of enthusiasts and air show visitors who were gathered around her and her plane asking the inevitable questions about the paint scheme and she answered that it was based on an actual aircraft that served in North Africa that had weathered to a bright pink colour under the intense sun and heat of the desert and that many P-40's in Allied service had their paint schemes go the same way with time. She struck me as a very warm, friendly, and charming person who was more than happy to share her love of history, flying, and airplanes.

Goodbye, Sue; you'll be missed.

N.
 
It's quite a shock when people die - you look at their ages and think "S/he's HOW old?" Then you realise you're not getting any younger yourself, and you've known of these people most of your life........
Sue Parrish and the "Pink" Kittyhawk......another name to be missed in the future...

Godspeed.
 
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