Very exciting news from the NASM

[Pat Carry]

This is news we have all been waiting for and have been discussing here for many years. Now that the restoration of the Helldiver is complete, next up is Flak Bait!! Work on this combat veteran will start in late summer. The current paint job will me preserved although I'm not certain how they will touch up the nose piece which has been on display for many years now and has been touched by many thousand of visitors. Hopefully this "restoration" project will be very similar to the job performed on the P-61 a few years back. A touch up here and there, make the plane whole again and get it out on the floor. I think everyone will agree, this is very good news for sure.

[Thomas Reilly]

Great to hear!

-Thomas Reilly

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352
http://warbirdwatcher.blog.com/

[Chris Brame]

Hooray! Do they have a spot picked out for it already?

[TAdan]

Well, it's about darn time!

Can't wait to see what they'll be able to do with her. They do some amazing work. Here are a few pics from a visit several years ago...

Last edited by TAdan on Fri Mar 28, 2014 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Jerry O'Neill]

I am very excited about this news! I hope that my friend, Sherman Best, will still be around by the time it's finished.
Jerry

[maxum96]

Awesome!!!!!!!

[Steve Nelson]

AWESOME!

I'm totally stoked about this!

My wife is even more stoked, as she's been listening me b**** about Flak Bait since we visited the NASM in 2008.


SN

[Cherrybomber13]

My only comment...

[Jerry O'Neill]

Good line, Drew!

[APG85]

I'm not certain how they will touch up the nose piece which has been on display for many years now and has been touched by many thousand of visitors. .

Fantastic news! There are many techniques for paint matching and blending. I'm sure they will be able to match the areas that have been worn away by visitors hands (including mine as a teenager )...

[Taigh Ramey]

Some older shots of the rest of Flak Bait on this thread starting about half way down on page 1 and throughout:

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9909

[Pat Carry]

Hooray! Do they have a spot picked out for it already?

I dont know that Chris. I would not like to see it hung from the rafters but I dont know how much open space is left on the floor.

[Cherrybomber13]

I really hope they conserve it and don't restore it... She is a Level 1 artifact like the Wrong Flyer and the Spirit of St Louis...

[Invader26]

Great to hear.

The paint "rub" on the nose is now part of her history. tens of thousands have already seen her!

[SaxMan]

I can't see this plane being hung from the ceiling. There's way too much detail that can only be seen from eye level. Maybe they'll do what they did for Enola Gay and raise her about four feet off the ground so you can get great detail from one of the skyways.