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Work schedule allowed me to visit the USS Lexington in Corpus over the weekend. First time I had seen the old girl since the early '80s, when we toured it in Pensacola while still active.
Considering the ship has been stuck in the mud there for almost 20 years, the ship itself looks pretty good. At least in the publicly accessible areas. There are areas outside, particularly in the gun tubs along the flight deck, where the metal has just about rotted away. However, given 20 years in the salt with no heavy maintenance/repair, she's still presentable.
The aircraft, however ...
Below decks are an SNJ-5, TBM-3S, N3N-3, and a lake recovery SBD-3 (still undergoing a very lengthy restoration). The TBM was getting a respray. The SBD fuselage looks pretty good from the outside, up to the cowling. One of the wings was sitting nearby, looking to be in pretty good shape. I don't know how often it gets worked on, but from the layers of dust on it ... These 4 aircraft are protected from rain and sun, but the hangar deck is not sealed. They spend 24/7 exposed to salt air.
Above decks - F-14A, F-18A, F-4A, F2H-2, TA-4J, A-4B, T-2C, KA-3B, A-6E A-7B, T-28B, T-34B, TF-9J, and an ex- Army AH-1S. The condition of these aircraft ranges from not very good to downright bad.
The F-4A, a very rare beast, is pretty much just a pile of rust. It is literally disintegrating where it sits, several pieces of the aircraft were laying on the deck underneath where they had fallen off. The corrosion is so bad and so thorough, that I believe if they try to move the aircraft it may fall apart. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near it if they lifted it with a crane!!
The KA-3B isn't in much better shape. The port main mount brake assembly was laying on the deck. It had been removed, I guess because the wheel was locked up. The rust was so bad the brake assembly had broken down into about a dozen pieces.
The F-14 is a mess. It is rotting from the inside with rust, and many areas are delaminating.
It looks to me that restoration/maintenance consists of bondo, fiberglass patches, and some paint spray.
I know there are numerous discussions about paint schemes on historic aircraft, so I won't bother you with details. Suffice it to say there have been some imaginative attempts at painting these machines. The KA-3 is an overall bright blue, with a white tail and a silly sharksmouth on it. The A-4B carries an aggressor style camo - a scheme no A-4B ever carried. The AH-1 has some kind of sand and sea blue camoflage pattern on it - just very strange. The A-4B on a pole on the beach is a nice presentation, but the Blues never flew that model of aircraft.
Please - I am not berrating the staff or volunteers there. I know what tight budgets and dwindling pools of volunteers means. However, it is just sad to see them in this condition. I would hope that better locations for the rare aircraft, the WWII birds at least, could be found - locations where they wouldn't rot in place.
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