Warbird Information Exchange

Interesting news just received from a good source............

PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Directorate of Public Affairs

Release No. 1004043
Oct 4, 2004

Memphis Belle to find new home at Air Force's national museum

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Air Force officials announced plans to relocate the World War II B-17 "Memphis Belle" to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio today.
No date has been set, but the move is expected to occur before the end of the year in conjunction with activities planned to observe the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"We are grateful to the Memphis Belle Memorial Association for its preservation and restoration of the Memphis Belle," said Maj. Gen. (Ret) Charles Metcalf, director of the NMUSAF. "We have enjoyed the partnership over the years and look forward to the continued collaboration as we make this transition," he added.

The aircraft has been located in the Memphis, Tenn. area since 1946. It was on loan from the Air Force to volunteers and aviation enthusiasts until the 1980's when the MBMA became its leaseholder.

"The Memphis Belle is a prominent and famous part of the Air Force's historic collection," said Mr. Dick Anderegg, director of Air Force history. "As such, it is only appropriate that it be displayed at the service's national museum where it can be viewed by millions and exhibited in a manner consistent with its proud legacy."

The museum's restoration team, which maintains all of the nearly 350 aircraft and aerospace vehicles in the museum's collection, will continue the restoration on-site. The effort will begin immediately upon the aircraft's arrival and is expected to take several years to complete.

Museum officials plan to exhibit the aircraft as the centerpiece of its considerable WWII aircraft collection once restoration is complete.

"We will give it a level of care and public visibility befitting its legacy to ensure its continued preservation for future generations to learn about the heroism and bravery of its crew," said Gen Metcalf.

The Memphis Belle is a national and cultural icon with a name recognition comparable to that of the B-29 Enola Gay on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

In 2003, nearly 1.35 million people visited the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum. Current and future museum expansion promises to generate increased attendance.

Note to media: For more information on the Memphis Belle announcement, contact Jackie Hampton in the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs at (703) 697-4424. For more information on the aircraft's transport to the NMUSAF and future restoration and exhibit efforts, contact the museum's public affairs division at (937) 255-4704, ext. 332.

Comment: A lot of people in Memphis are going to be very upset. Perhaps it was too little, too late, as it seems the communitity was slow to realize the jewel in olive drab they held.

Where does that leave the B-17 Shoo Shoo Baby? I hope not out in the rain someplace!

I wouldn't be surprised if they had both airplanes on display at Dayton, though that would be a bit unusual to feature two aircraft of the same type, especially from the same war in the same theater. However, even if "Shoo Shoo Baby" lost its vaunted spot, I am certain that it would go to a good display indoors at another USAF Museum facility or perhaps loaned to a prominent museum that could properly display it.

One wonders also if they did move "Shoo Shoo Baby", would they fly it? It was flown in. If the engines were properly prepared for storage, it would be possible to put it back into airworthy condition without too much time or expense. It would be cheaper and better on the airplane than trying to disassemble and move it.

I doubt it would go to Memphis, but I wonder if the Museum or USAF plans to somehow compensate the Memphis group, even though there is no legal obligation to do so.

is there something wrong with displaying this airframe, "Shoo Shoo Baby", as a european theatre aircraft? it would only be a very few of the people going through there that would even know it is worng and if a line on the display card were to say " this airfame displayed as a representative of the aircraft type that served in the ETO as it served in the asian theatre of operations." then who could argue?

as for Memphis, considering the efforts they have made and skills they would undoubtedly have from working on the Memphis Belle I reckon another airframe in need of some resoration, assuming their work is up to standard, but a bit further down the list or from storage would be a good idea. Saves the skills, restores an airframe otherwise out of view and keeps the people there active and happy.

I wished she would have stayed in Memphis.

But I can only hope that Dayton will "preserve" her better.

.[/quote]

is there something wrong with displaying this airframe, "Shoo Shoo Baby", as a european theatre aircraft? it would only be a very few of the people going through there that would even know it is worng and if a line on the display card were to say " this airfame displayed as a representative of the aircraft type that served in the ETO as it served in the asian theatre of operations." then who could argue?

.[/quote]


Huh?.....it IS a ETO aircraft.

Dave

Huh?.....it IS a ETO aircraft.

Dave[/quote]

oops. named wrong theatre. meant to have them the other way around. I guess that's what happens at 3 am eh?

Here's my suggestion:

Have the USAFM send the "Shoo Shoo Baby" to the NASM for display in the Udvar-Hazy Center. In return, the NASM will give "The Swoose" to the USAFM, where it stands a much better chance of being restored. I don't think anyone would mind having "The Swoose" and the "Memphis Belle" sitting side by side at Dayton.

Since the NASM would now have the "Shoo Shoo Baby" on display, the B-17G currently in their collection would become superfluous. They could then trade/sell this B-17G so that they could obtain and/or restore a B-24.

As an aside, the NASM didn't complain too much about Boeing restoring the 307, even if that process got sidetracked just a bit.

Nonetheless, it is a great idea for the NASM to trade the "Swoose' for "Shoo Shoo Baby." The Air Force Museum would know what to do with a B-17D. The history of the "Swoose" with the NASM is a national aviation disgrace and this could be rectified with such a swap. The "Swoose" needs to have all of its later mods stripped off and the airplane restored to its condition as it existed on December 8, 1941. This is a major undertaking and should be done by a group that appreciates the airplane and its historic value.

And, in the process, the NASM B-17G (44-83814) that has laid in mothballs for two decades should be traded out of that collection. What a waste of a good airplane.

The allocades directed at the NASM are undeserved, even with their new facility. Perhaps it should be called the Global Air and Space Museum, as its interests appear directed far beyond the shores of the U.S.

Hi Aerovin,
'National' collections holding items from other countries is quite normal - it's 'the nation's collection of x' not 'items from the nation of x'; the National Gallery of Most Countries have paintings from all over the world (And the old joke: the British Museum isn't. )

Just playing devils advocate - Later 'in service' mods of Swoose are an important part of it's history - though less important perhaps than the Dec 7th configuration. Most major collections are wary of throwing away bits of an artifact that are part of it's history, as a rule.

Cheers

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Yep... You are correct in that statement. However the exceptions are interesting. Didn't the USAFM restore a B-25J in the B-25D configuration and mark it as a Doolittle Raider? Anyone know of any other similar reconfigurations for display purposes?

I don't really mind the USAFM's B-25 conversion as there are many preserved examples of the J model. However the B-17D is rare... I am not so sure I would be comforable with it being reconfigured back to it's original configuration. Perhaps an extensive display illustrating how it was modified over it's service life from the Dec 8th date? That might be interesting as very few museums focus on engineering related aspects of airframes, but rather the politics and human interest stories. These are important aspects of history of course, but the designer's and engineering work is often over looked.

Sorry about straying off the threads topic. The thoughts popped into my head and I thought I should bang it into a post.

Regards,

Mike

_________________
Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Regarding the NASM, if so much money and time were not spent on the restoration of foreign airplanes at the expense of valuable aircraft from U.S. history it wouldn't be a problem. The B-17D is but one example, but probably the best of how badly a historic aircraft can be treated by a "national" museum. All it takes is money and time, but the NASM has had both for other less significant (for the U.S. anyways) airplanes.

As for the "Swoose," the airplane was completely rebuilt in February 1944 and had the interior basically stripped out and replaced with a transport interior. At that point the blown nose was installed and other B-17E and later components installed. B-17B wings were found in Panama and installed in place of the original wings. The historical significance of the airplane is, at least to me, in that it is a survivior of the first dark days of the American involvement in World War II, flew early combat missions against the Japanese, and is the only surviving small-tailed B-17 in the world (wreckage aside). As such, I would think a restoration to the B-17D combat configuration would be warranted. If it were to be left in its last operational configuration, it would be bare metal, B-17G nose glass, and a passenger interior. Not particularly representative of the type, and less interesting than the combat airplane.

Actually the USAFM used a B-25D to represent a B-25B "Doolittle Raider". The Naval Aviation Museum has a B-25J that was restored to represent a PBJ-1D (B-25D).

so you are against the NASM restoring a spitfire or a Bf109 I gather?