I HOPE I'm not repeating myself, but I saw FiFi right after she was declared "airworthy" back in the 70's or early 80's here in Indiana. The (then) Confederate (now Consolidated) Air Force brought up a bunch of planes to celebrate formation of the Great Lakes District Squadron of the CAF with their first plane, a Beechcraft bomber-trainer, if I remember. (Sorry, I don't 'member the nomenclature/number.) It was a pretty awesome sight, but I didn't get to see FiFi up close. I'd used up all my film, didn't have the ca$h to buy new, so I departed a bit early. Fifi was the closing attraction, so I took off myself - I saw her fly, but by leaving early, I beat the huge traffic jam. If I'd still had film (where were digital storage devices with room for thousands of pics THEN?) I'd have stayed and taken close-ups, but ...
GREAT memories, friends!