Some old info about F-24R N77665

[F-4Ecrewchief]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum. I happened to find your group while doing some online searching for any current information on an F-24R that I was involved with back in the mid-1970's. Back then, I was a young U.S. Air Force jet aircraft crew chief, stationed at Williams AFB, AZ, and maintaining T-38 Talons. I was also a private pilot. In my spare time, I enjoyed doing lots of bicycle riding. One day, while riding from the base out to Apache Junction, I rode past a house with a disassembled F-24 in the driveway. I decided to go ring the doorbell to ask about the airplane. Since I'd taken my first flying lessons in a 1946 Taylorcraft, I thought the Fairchild was very cool. The owner of the Fairchild was an interesting older gentleman named Bob Wasson, and he had owned the F-24 for many years. He was in the process of doing a complete fabric recovering project on his airplane. In the following months, I would frequently go over to Mr. Wasson's house in my free time and lend my services in helping Bob with the recovering. Some of the tasks Bob taught me to do, such as doing the stitching around the wing ribs, would leave my fingers raw. But it was worth it just to have a chance to get to work on such a great old airplane. Eventually, Bob completed the recovering job, and the airplane's components were transported to nearby Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ (an airport I'd visited many times during my childhood years while growing up in Scottsdale, AZ). The airplane was assembled and readied for some test flights. I was at Falcon Field and got to see Bob Wasson take the airplane up on its first flight in several years. Everything went well, and the airplane was returned to flying status. Shortly after that, I received orders to transfer to Hahn Air Base in then-West Germany, where I spent two years maintaining F-4E Phantoms. After I rotated back to the States, I went out to Apache Junction to visit Bob, but he no longer lived at his old house. None of his neighbors seemed to know what had happened to him. I never did see him again, and I don't know where he'd moved to. I never did see his Fairchild again, either (Its tail number was N77665). Online, I have seen the airplane shown as belonging to a Wendell Allen of Grandview, Texas, but I don't know if Mr. Allen is still the owner or if he is still alive. Anyway, I thought I'd post this information about this airplane here, along with attaching some photos of the airplane, Bob Wasson, and maybe one of me with the airplane, so that if the airplane is still around and being flown, its current owner will have a little bit of information about the past history of N77665. If you are familiar with this airplane and perhaps know what its current status is, please drop me a line. I'd enjoy knowing what had happened to it in the many years since I'd helped Bob Wasson with some of the recovering project. Oh, and I never did get a chance to go up in '665 after putting in a lot of hours out in Bob's driveway helping him with the recovering project. At least I did get to see Bob flying the airplane. That was exciting to see.
Regards,
Bill Wheeler
Laguna Woods, CA

[cvairwerks]

N77665 is currently showing to be owned by someone else, based in Arlington, Tx. Latest photo that I found was 2023, showing the same paint scheme as your photo.

Drop the N number in the search box here for what appears to be the current owner and address.
http://whoseplane.com/

[F-4Ecrewchief]

Hello,
Thank you for the newer information on N77665. The website you referred me to is one I hadn't seen before. When I have some extra time, I plan to search their database for records for some of the various airplanes I flew many years ago. I will also consider trying to contact the man in Arlington, TX, listed as the current owner of N77665 and give him my little bit of past history for his airplane.
Best wishes,
Bill Wheeler