National WWII Museum looking to aquire a Corsair

[Warbirdnerd]

From ANN:

Pratt & Whitney Donates $1M, Engine To Museum Donation Will Help National WWII Museum To Acquire &
Exhibit Corsair Fighter

Pratt & Whitney announced Monday it has donated $1 million
to the National World War II Museum to help tell the story of
America's experience in the war that changed the world. The
company is also donating a Twin Wasp R-1830-90D, an engine that
powered several different World War II aircraft.

Company president David Hess commented, "We applaud the great
work being done by the Museum to honor and commemorate the courage,
determination and sacrifice of the 'Greatest Generation' that won
the war."

The donation will be used in part to obtain and exhibit a
Corsair, a World War II-era fighter aircraft made famous by "Pappy"
Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron. The Twin Wasp engine will
provide museum visitors with a close-up look at the technology that
powered thousands of aircraft during the war. Pratt & Whitney
produced over 360,000 aircraft engines during the World War II
era.

It was also announced that Hess will be joining the board of
trustees for the museum. The National World War II Museum opened in
2000 and lays claim to being the only museum in the US that
addresses all the amphibious invasions of World War II, honoring
the more than 16 million Americans who took part in that global
conflict.
FMI: www.pw.utc.com

[Warbird Kid]

..... All I can say is that it's a shame P&W doesn't know about our efforts here in Stratford. A donation of $1m would supply us with the funds to restore the original 1929 hangar where our Corsair could be completed and put on display. While I too applaud the efforts and great strives the WWII museum has done, it sort of feels like a punch to the gut when the original company that made the freakin' engine thats still in the same state after all these years is more willing to donate $1m to another museum then rather try and help a local one, located right in the epicenter of where the Corsair was designed and built. Am I missing something here or can you see the dilemma Im seeing?

[Pat Carry]

..... All I can say is that it's a shame P&W doesn't know about our efforts here in Stratford. A donation of $1m would supply us with the funds to restore the original 1929 hangar where our Corsair could be completed and put on display. While I too applaud the efforts and great strives the WWII museum has done, it sort of feels like a punch to the gut when the original company that made the freakin' engine thats still in the same state after all these years is more willing to donate $1m to another museum then rather try and help a local one, located right in the epicenter of where the Corsair was designed and built. Am I missing something here or can you see the dilemma Im seeing?

Excellant point!

[RyanShort1]

..... All I can say is that it's a shame P&W doesn't know about our efforts here in Stratford. A donation of $1m would supply us with the funds to restore the original 1929 hangar where our Corsair could be completed and put on display. While I too applaud the efforts and great strives the WWII museum has done, it sort of feels like a punch to the gut when the original company that made the freakin' engine thats still in the same state after all these years is more willing to donate $1m to another museum then rather try and help a local one, located right in the epicenter of where the Corsair was designed and built. Am I missing something here or can you see the dilemma Im seeing?

So, first, two questions:

1. Have you contacted P&W politely about this?
2. Do you have an organized plan to complete the museum?

If you have an organized plan to complete your goals, complete with some sort of Powerpoint presentation, slick graphics, etc... to present your vision. That would probably go a long way to convincing SOME corporate sponsor to help.

Second, as they say, a bird in hand... the National WWII Museum is already established, and people go to visit it. This is a natural and better fit for P&W as their "donation" can of course be a good "visibility" and public relations move that will be seen by all of the visitors that already go to this museum.

Ryan

[PbyCat-Guy]

It's all politics and a way to somehow make money. I'm sure P&W might put some merchandise in the museum store with their logos and they have to get a certain percentage of sales with every time sold that has their logo.

Way to stick it to the little guy P&W

[RyanShort1]

It's all politics and a way to somehow make money. I'm sure P&W might put some merchandise in the museum store with their logos and they have to get a certain percentage of sales with every time sold that has their logo.

Way to stick it to the little guy P&W

Well, they ARE a business... and may have not even HEARD about the CT group. Cut 'em some slack. Probably someone went on vacation, saw the museum, and thought it would be a great idea, OR the Natl. WWII Museum got a presentation together and presented it well to P&W. That's how these things often work. Nothing to be cynical about! I'm glad that P&W even considered doing this.
Good Grief!

Ryan

[Pat Carry]

If they can secure the funding, I would like to see the museum get a few more planes from Lake Michigan for their collection.

[Warbird Kid]

Have you contacted P&W politely about this?

I did right after I finished reading the article. Emphasis on the polite.

Do you have an organized plan to complete the museum?

Ahhhh yeah I'd say so. With local government I'm sure you know the routine of things moving painfully slow. I'll fully admit its more of verbal ongoing discussion right now than a cold concrete project packet. I'd say the requirement of progressing on our hangar would involve:

1. The lease and confirmation for the Airport and City of Bridgeport (which seems to be a go). Airport and City would still in fact own the property.
2. Understanding of the procedure of what would have to be done to the property in order to make it habitable. This is a list as I see it from most crucial to least crucial.

2a- Roof Replacement
2b- Steel Structure Sandblasting and repaint/prime
2c- Foundation / drainage digging
2d- Brickwork masonry replacement / repair
2e- Hangar Door repair / restoration
2f- Interior repaint
2g- Exterior repaint
2h- Installation of Heating Ducts and Heater
2i- Installation of AC unit
2j- Installation of Solar Panels to make structure a green structure

If you have an organized plan to complete your goals, complete with some sort of Powerpoint presentation, slick graphics, etc... to present your vision. That would probably go a long way to convincing SOME corporate sponsor to help.

That is something we do need. Drew King and myself have been working on some presentation displays for quite some time but like everything else, we need more people in the shop to take care of the work that needs to be done. Either way we are planning on pushing forward to make exactly what your describing.

Second, as they say, a bird in hand... the National WWII Museum is already established, and people go to visit it. This is a natural and better fit for P&W as their "donation" can of course be a good "visibility" and public relations move that will be seen by all of the visitors that already go to this museum.

Right. As I see it there VERY established. As far as a large business perspective, it makes more sense to donate to the large fully operational and established museum rather than help out a small struggling one. Does that still make it right in the end in my eyes? Cant say it does. With that single donation that P&W could have given us, we're certain that funding could have facilitated everything that was absolutely necessary to restore the hangar, build museum displays, setup kids programs and other exciting events, and generally lay the groundwork for the museum to become a fully public location within months. Thats the kind of "foot in the door" we really need to get out and start this journey.

Am I mad at P&W a little? Yeah I am. But I'm not the kind of guy to go stew over this and do nothing. We keep trying and we'll continue to keep trying until were successful. The other factor that could come into play here is that P&W might not have even known about our existence until now. So I don't take it personally, as i don't think anyone should, but you gotta admit it is pretty disheartening for us here. So maybe we will have to bang together a good presentation and start calling the president's office some more at UTC.

[Brad]

A museum I've been involved with in the past has a VERY wealthy member and supporter. While he has always been very generous to us it seemed to a lot of people that he could have done more. Instead of putting large sums of money into our museum, he put it into a much larger, more successful museum located 50miles up the same highway we were on in a much larger town.

One day I asked him why he didn't put more into our museum so that it could compete with others in the area. He told me "There is no traffic down here, up there they get people through the door. That makes that museum a better investment. If this place was in a better location then it would be a different situation."

That probably applies in some fashion to yalls museum. Just because it is your pet project doesn't make it somebody elses. It took me a long time to figure that out!

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

The Museum in New Orleans is a powerful money maker. They have very few scruples. Stepoehn Ambrose when he was president of it, accepted a fully restored LCVP from a retiree in the Mid west who drove one in the Pacific during the war. he had lovingly rebuilt the whole boat and motor out of his own pocket. They took his donation and turned around and sold it to a museum in Europe so as not to conflict with their fund raising to build one . They probably collected 4 times what it cost.

Money was a great motivating factor in Dr Ambrose's work. darn the facts !

[Jerry O'Neill]

Chris;
It's all about VISIBILITY.
P&W gets more bang for their buck with a larger, more visible entity like the Museum in New Orleans than with something in their own backyard that is not on everyone's gift list.

That museum has had some BIG backers and I hope they don't buy a flying Corsair and ground it like they did last time they bought a Corsa!r! Remember, they have a track record of doing this. The MATS Connie is down for good too.

Maybe we can slowly change their attitude, but it's gonna take time.
Perhaps the 75h Anniversary of the Corsair would be a good start?
Jerry

[Warbird Kid]

Perhaps the 75h Anniversary of the Corsair would be a good start?

I like the way you think, but I couldn't wait four years! Were gunna have to try and get up there and start knocking on their door soon! We want the hangar done by 2015!

[phil65]

As I write this I’m on my lunch break at Pratt.
Pratt has a museum in East Hartford; IMHO the Bridgeport Corsair would look good there.

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/restore/us ... itney.html

You know that I think about the Bridgeport hangars.

See you guys at Simsbury?
Phil

[Warbird Kid]

As I write this I’m on my lunch break at Pratt.
Pratt has a museum in East Hartford; IMHO the Bridgeport Corsair would look good there.

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/restore/us ... itney.html

You know that I think about the Bridgeport hangars.

See you guys at Simsbury?
Phil

Were discussing that now. And He!! no it ain't going to Hartford! Just cuz you work there! She deserves to be finished and displayed in Stratford in an equally historic hangar!!!!!!

[phil65]

From Brad:

"One day I asked him why he didn't put more into our museum so that it could compete with others in the area. He told me "There is no traffic down here, up there they get people through the door. That makes that museum a better investment. If this place was in a better location then it would be a different situation."

Nobody goes to Stratford, at least not willingly.

Phil