JimH wrote:
I don't know all the ins and outs of what happened...but what I do know is the primary person responsible, Fred Lewis, lost his life flying pipeline patrol in 2013. Fred was spearheading the museum and working out an arrangement to move the display aircraft from Travis to Nut Tree. The loss of Fred resulted in a loss of momentum in the museum and fund raising. They were running rides with Tondelayo as a primary fund raiser. With Fred gone, Collings took the B-25 back out on the Tour and the Museum lost its primary tie to Doolittle. With Fred gone they did their best to keep it going...BUT like anything...it is hard to keep interest peaked without someone really motivated.
Jim
Unfortunately, I remember when all of that happened. I was fortunate enough to meet Fred once and was really impressed by his enthusiasm, and motivation to do good for both the Collings foundation as well as the Doolittle Center. He told me a little bit about what he was doing and I was looking forward to a first class Doolittle Museum.
What was the eventual cause of the accident? IIRC, wasn't he doing pipe-line patrol or something like that in NorCal for a company in a Decathlon/Citabria?