Sat Nov 26, 2022 8:58 pm
Sat Nov 26, 2022 11:18 pm
Sat Nov 26, 2022 11:18 pm
Sun Nov 27, 2022 5:18 am
Sun Nov 27, 2022 5:35 am
Sun Nov 27, 2022 5:35 am
Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:26 am
Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:54 pm
JohnB wrote:After all, it is the "national collection", yet it has been in no hurry to add a B-17 or B-24 to its collection, arguably two of the most important aircraft in U.S. history.
Yes, some are preserved elsewhere, but given their role in WWII, deserve to be in the national collection.
Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:03 pm
As with Sabres, I have nothing against Fortresses and Liberators and I wish NASM had all of the space and resources in the world, but unfortunately they don't. I would much rather they select something rare or unique that exists nowhere else – which is hard because they have so many deserving examples to choose from. I think my top votes might have to be either the XC-35 or JFK's Convair 240. If you want to stick to World War II, they have a BT-13, PT-19, and SNJ-4. All three are: 1) excellent, unrestored time capsules (see pictures of the SNJ-4), 2) small aircraft that can much more easily be inserted into U-H, and 3) cover a topic, flight training, that is both currently underrepresented at NASM (the only World War II trainers they have on display are primary trainers: a PT-17 and PT-22) and arguably more forgotten by the public (how many people realize that 15,000 aviators died in training accidents?). On top of that, this ignores all of the foreign equipment they have in storage: the B7A, the BV 155, the G4M fuselage, the Ju 388, etc.
Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:15 pm
Mon Nov 28, 2022 8:13 am
To tell visitors, "Yeah the B-17 is great, go to Dayton to see it" misses the point of a national collection. Most of the people who go there will likely only go to one aviation museum in their lives, so having the "greatest hits" is justified.
Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:34 am
Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:42 pm
Mon Nov 28, 2022 5:37 pm
old iron wrote:Ilyushkin Sturmovik
JohnB wrote:Not an terribly historic type per se, unless the Jeopardy category is "Post war short range airliners'. Memorable for having nose gear and pressurization, and they had a long career, but not exactly earth shaking.
JohnB wrote:To tell visitors, "Yeah the B-17 is great, go to Dayton to see it" misses the point of a national collection. Most of the people who go there will likely only go to one aviation museum in their lives, so having the "greatest hits" is justified.
JohnB wrote:Also, as the national collection, it shouldn't be a repository of war booty...especially the technically interesting odd balls that played no part in the war.
My long held opinion is to repatriate war booty to their homelands, so they can be appreciated by the descendents of the people that created and flew them.
JohnB wrote:Other countries have a right to appreciate their national heritage.
If there were 2 B-17s or Spitfires left in the world, wouldn't you want them to be in their home countries to be most appreciated?
Wikipedia wrote:Nearly every removable part had been stripped from the boat's interior by the time she went to the museum; she was in no condition to serve as an exhibit, so Museum director Lohr asked for replacements from the German manufacturers who had supplied the boat's original components and parts. Admiral Gallery reports in his autobiography Eight Bells and All's Well that every company supplied the requested parts without charge. Most included letters to the effect that the manufacturers wanted her to be a credit to German technology.
JimH wrote:The NASM has been after Witchcraft for quite a long time. They were willing to trade the P-61 at one point.
Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:53 am
JohnB wrote:
Any DC-8s preserved in the U.S.?
Noha307 wrote:JimH wrote:The NASM has been after Witchcraft for quite a long time. They were willing to trade the P-61 at one point.
I'm going to catch some hate for this one, but I'm glad that didn't happen. A more or less time capsule airplane for one that served with a foreign country for decades overseas and has probably been restored multiple times over the years is not a trade of equivalent value. Besides, it's one of only two (technically one, since the other is an LB-30) remaining flying B-24s. If anything, NASM should have gone after one of the static display examples.......