IVAN, NMNA, and Battleship Park

[Owen Miller]

I'm back and in one piece. We got power earlier this evening,
only a couple of hours short of exactly one week since IVAN
took it out. We have some damage here but consider ourselves
most fortunate in comparison to others who lost everything they
had.

My admittedly limited information about NMNA is that an EA-6 lost
its' canopy and the C-47 lost a wing. A local TV station flyover
showed that some of the planes displayed behind the restoration
hanger were out of line. This would indicate to me that they broke
loose from their tie downs. At least one skylight in the WWII area
of the museum failed and some water got inside. That's about all
I know.

At Battleship Park the news is also good. Because the storm hit
east of the ship the CCW wings pulled water out of Mobile Bay rather than flooding the park as normally happens. A section of
the hanger was peeled up, some water got inside, and there is
insulation everywhere. The Huey helo in the Vietnam Vets memorial was blown down from its' pole. The ship is undamaged.

I was reading through some of the last weeks posts. There was
some mention of taking up a collection to aid in restoring/repairing
the planes at NMNA. I think that is a wonderfully gracious idea and I would like to expand on it for a moment. I know they would
appreciate any donations and put the money to good use. However in conversation with some friends who work there I have
learned that some of the guys who work there have lost EVERY-
THING or close to it. You probably know from following the news
how hard PNS was hit. Whay say we take up a collection to help
some guys like ourselves who love history, old airplanes, and the
guys who flew them?

Your thoughts............

Finally, thanks to overyone who sent good thoughts and wished
for storm survival my way!!!!!

Blue skies,
Owen