USS Midway Corsair now on display...

[Warbirdnerd]

The Midway Museum received a new addition to its flight deck during a celebration on Veterans Day.
A crane hoisted up to the deck an F4U Corsair donated by Lori Crown.
Museum President and CEO Mac McLaughlin, a retired Navy rear admiral, said Crown visited the museum and was so impressed with it she decided to donate the plane.
While any donation is important, a World War II plane is rare.
"Airplanes from the World War II generation are very hard to get," McLaughlin said. "Essentially, there are none unless you want to go to the bottom of Lake Michigan."
He said the lake is home to planes that crashed during training missions for the war.
But this particular plane now graces the Midway flight deck, honoring VMF-225 with its new paint job in the squadron's colors.Now VMFA(AW)-225 is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where it carries on the squadron’s aviation tradition.
The Corsairs in VMF-225 flew missions in the Pacific during World War II. One of those pilots attended the Wednesday ceremony to share his story.
Byron Comstock first flew a Corsair in 1943, and he still thinks fondly of his flying days.
He says the most exciting experience he had during World War II started when his commanding officer asked for volunteers to deploy on an aircraft carrier for an extended tour.
Comstock was one of a couple dozen pilots who accepted the challenge.
He told the crowd that gathered Wednesday about one particular day toward the end of the war when he found himself in air-to-air battles with the Japanese and could not find the carrier.
Ultimately, he found the ship, but not before taking down some Japanese planes. His group took some hits as well.
“That was a great aircraft,” he said. “I loved every minute of the 600 hours I flew in it, whether I was in combat or not.”
Other guest speakers at Wednesday's ceremony included Marine Col. Doug Pasnik, who recently turned over command of VMFA-225, and Jerry Coleman, a former Corsair pilot and San Diego Padres announcer.

Found it with video here:
http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?So ... 0091111czj

[Warbird Kid]

Where did this one come from? Was she a flyer?

[Holedigger]

appears to be this one
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairr ... 96885.html

[Jack Cook]

A little shocked she did that after the the way they acquired it on loan

[Rob Mears]

That cinches it then. To their credit, the restoration looks quite gorgeous, but I've been holding out hope for decades that this one would fight its way back to airworthy status. I fear it's now certainly doomed to serve as yet another permanently grounded salt mist recepticle. I hope they gave Lori a oversized receipt for her tax write offs. It's not often you see a million-plus dollar airframe just handed over willingly to stand guard in an ultra-corrosive outdoor environment.

Does anyone know what kind of long term preservation program the USS Midway curators have in place?

[warbird1]

Does anyone know what kind of long term preservation program the USS Midway curators have in place?

I hear they called Lackland AFB and got tips on outdoor preservation techniques.

[warbird1]

A little shocked she did that after the the way they acquired it on loan

Was Lori "forced" or "coerced" into donating the plane?

[Jerry O'Neill]

What's the deal with the Midway and the F4U-7 from the Alabama?

I thought the Dash 7 was going to be restored and placed on the Midway.
It gave me hope that the Dash 4 was only going to be on loan and someday be "unshackled".
Is the Midway now going to have two Corsairs?
Jerry

[Chunks]

Rob Mears wrote:

Does anyone know what kind of long term preservation program the USS Midway curators have in place?

warbird1 said

I hear they called Lackland AFB and got tips on outdoor preservation techniques.

I think I know someone here on WIX that can administer corrosion inspections using Google Earth. Wonder if I could get my annual done that way

Chunks

[Rob Mears]

I think the F4U-7 is going to the nearby San Diego Air & Space Museum. I believe it's still at their Gillespie Field annex being worked on.

[mustangdriver]

Rob Mears wrote:

Does anyone know what kind of long term preservation program the USS Midway curators have in place?

warbird1 said

I hear they called Lackland AFB and got tips on outdoor preservation techniques.

I think I know someone here on WIX that can administer corrosion inspections using Google Earth. Wonder if I could get my annual done that way

Chunks

wix is an amazing place. I know someone who is an expert loan agreements without getting involved in those pesky term and conditions