Warbird Information Exchange

With the P-38 likely to leave "any day now," I popped over to the museum again today. The P-38 was still there, but all of the technicians and tools and such were gone -- it certainly looks like it's ready to fly away at any time. I didn't find anyone who knew when it might leave, but it would seem that this might be the last weekend to see it at the museum.

So, here are some new pictures of the plane, all ready to go:













These are now also in my SmugMug gallery, here:

https://thoots.smugmug.com/Evergreen-Museum-Warbirds/

I rather expect that the next time I visit the museum, presumably next week, the P-38 will be gone.

Nice photos!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Oh, I forgot to post this. I went to the Museum on Friday (October 7), and the P-38 was still sitting there, same as the week before. Nobody seemed to have any idea of when it might fly away.

I have some information which I feel is from a very reliable source. Both engines on the P-38 will be overhauled. That will take awhile. So at this time I would say that the P-38 won't be flying out until sometime in 2017. The old adage better safe than sorry so I don't blame Collings for erring on the side of caution in regards to the P-38.

What's the helicopter in the back with what looks like plexi skin?

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

The P-38 will not be flying out until 2017. It has been decided to replace both engines with freshly overhauled units. In the 80's and 90's it was common to leave off the bottom scraper ring when Allison's were overhauled. The reasoning was that to replace the heads and banks required pulling the entire engine because of the placement of the lowest ring. Leaving the ring off would simplify the process of changing heads and banks to be more like it is on a Merlin. By leaving that ring off, it would allow the piston to chatter against the cylinder liners, eventually causing them to crack causing a major engine failure. There are several documented cases of this happening, so it was decided it would be best to have the cores that we have overhauled, then swap engines before attempting to fly the plane across the country. Would have liked to have it back in Florida this fall, but engine changes would have had to happen there anyways, so better safe than sorry.

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Ken,

I know Utah left you guys with no warm fuzzies but remember Wendover Airfield (KENV) gives a pretty good fuel discount to warbirds - for when the B-17 heads East!

Tom P.

First of all, thanks everyone for the new insight regarding why the P-38 is still sitting there. It makes me wonder if work might move to the B-17, or dismantling the fighter planes so they can be trucked out of there. Not that I've seen any movement on any of those planes lately, either.

Secondly, I don't know what the helicopter is, but I can provide some deep crops that might help you guys identify it. But first, a bit of a story: The Museum had a restoration shop in a building on the other side of the highway, either on the McMinnville Airport grounds, or land adjacent to it. But, as part of all of the bankruptcy proceedings with the various entities involved with the museum, they "lost the lease" to the restoration shop building, so they're doing restoration work in other areas of the museum facility. There is quite a bit more going on in the Space building, mostly with early jet fighters. That said, let me give you a few pictures:



Very slightly different angle:



And finally, here it is behind the other planes and artifacts:



I hope these help!

The helicopter being restored is indeed a Piasecki HRP-1 Rescuer, known as "the flying banana." It has been under restoration since October 2013, with hopes to be ready for display later this year or early next year. Serial number 111823. I took many pictures of it this morning, and I'll process some up and post them.

I visited Evergreen Museum a week or so ago, and found that work had resumed on the P-38. I'm planning on going back tomorrow, with hopes of taking some good pictures -- if the P-38 is still there. I'll report back soon.

As for the B-17, I have never seen much of any work happening on it -- just some panels around the engines were open during one or two visits last year. It certainly hasn't moved an inch since it landed in its current position in the museum.

P-38 engine runs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBL6EcyZ9Xk

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Somewhere, (perhaps WIX facebook page?), I read that Collings was putting new engines on the P-38 and that is the reason there is such a delay for getting it out of there. Apparently, the engines on it now, though low time, were built some time ago when the standards for engine rebuilding was much different than today. There is real concern that if they flew the P-38 out on the original engines, that either or both could fail in flight.

I visited today -- I'll post pictures later. But the news is that the rebuilt engines are in the plane, and it should fly out of McMinville (home of the Evergreen Aviation Museum) "within a week to ten days." If you can make it to the museum in the next few days, take your opportunity to see this plane for the last time before it flies away.

I was able to talk with two of the folks who are working on the restoration, and that was the word they gave me. In fact, they said that it would have already flown away, if not for an oil leak that they had to fix. Or words to that effect.

They confirmed that the plan was still to fly the P-38 to the Aurora State Airport (UAO), about 20 to 25 miles roughly due east of McMinnvile -- on the east side of Interstate 5. Then, after some further work, it will be flown to Florida. Presumably it's all the same plan as was described several months ago.

I'll get some pictures posted soon. But I have hopes of returning to the museum several times over the next week, hoping to bring friends to see the plane for one last time.

Pictures: