Warbird Information Exchange

Canso42, the folks who owned the vacation house on Bolivar Penn are fine, they don't live there full time. From their report after doing a flyover, their house and other near it are gone.
Dan, As for as my Spitfire, it is in Colorado, so no storm exposure. The Hurricane wing came back with it, but the fuselage was in Galveston. I sure hope it did not get submerged in salt water. Same for the Spitfire, which I think was still waiting on the fuel tank repair. Too bad it could not have been flown out, but maybe it's not soaked. A foot of fresh water would not likely hurt it.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

The problem with that statement is that the water was brackish at best. It hadn't started raining yet when the flooding began. Offats Bayou backed up with the storm surge, and that ain't fresh.

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If God had wanted man to fly behind a flat motor, Pratt Whitney would've built one.

Trae, No I haven't heard from Tom Crawford. I think they live in Magnolia, Tx. Lots of tree damage and down lines.
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

And the sewers and storm drains were flowing backwards too. yuk. Bill, glad your friends are safe. The Bolivar Peninula is now considered a string of islands.

Did anybody see the KHOU interview on the peninsula where the alligator swam through? Looked like at least a six footer.

Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Trae,
I thought the Stearman got out! Pardon my ignorance but what's a P-6? Is the "Lode-Stone" still extant?
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

I looked at the Falcon jet video again and still can't get the pause feature to work. I can't see the F-100 anywhere. It's probably in someone's back yard. If anybody else can pause it, it's at the extreme front of the property out by the street.
Doug

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

P-6 Hawk--20's- 30's fighter. BUt there's only one left and it's at Dayton...Is there something in Texas I missed?

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Trae and Airnutz - Very glad to hear that you both made it okay, although I'm sure you incurred property damage. What a shame if the hangered aircraft at LSFM got it bad. Thinking of all the years of work on the Privateer; hoping for the best. Of course, first and foremost thinking of all the people who have had their lives so affected.

Audrey wiped out the great Million Dollar Pleasure Pier on Lake Sabine in Port Arthur, then I think Carla got the big roller coaster at Galveston, and I assume Ike probably got the Murdock Shell Shop, Guidos and the neat old Balinese Room pier. How did the new amusement park on Galveston Bay make it - I assume not good. Most of my fun childhood memories from that area have been destroyed by hurricanes. Don't even want to think about the beach house we used to stay in at Gilcrist.

I hope the best for you folks in the recovery efforts of the area, and again, thankful that you got through it okay.

2/3'rds or 3/4 scale replica 'Boots..I saw it in one of the outer hangars at Fly day last year.

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Well crap. I hope it made it. I was planning on driving out to Galveston in the spring...Do they still let you buy a beach pass in Aransas and park over night on the beach?

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Unfortunatly I don't think there is a beach left to park on

Not sure about a P6 at the museum- I moved away almost 2 years ago but have been back several times and don't rember seeing one, even among the replicas.

I fear that the longer it takes for anyone to get back to the collection the more damage will be done as the salt water takes its toll

George- You are correct - the Balinese, Murdocks, and the Hooters are completly gone. In fact all the piers are gone or only a gutted shell remaining with the exception of the Flagship, and that still took some pretty serious damage.

Now that I am in Maryland and have to sit by and watch what my friends are going through withough being able to do anything I think I can begin (and only begin) to understand the phenomenon of "Survivors Guilt." This has been so hard to watch and I am lucky enough to be safe and secure with AC and Electricity.

I know that much has been written in the past regarding monetary donations to various causes- and if ever there was a time to step up and help out your community this may be it. As some of you have seen from my past posts and rants LSFM has done okay but is not rolling in dough or by any means financially independent and relies on the hard work of the volunteer who are now faced with ther own crisis over the next several months.. On a personal note - and this does not come from anything I have heard - I fear that this may be to much for the museum to overcome. While there is much discussion about the aircraft don't forget about all the little stuff that has added up over the years- things like the mechanics tools, ground support vehicles, maintenance equipment for hte building itself, all of which I can only guess are trashed( or at best will never be the same)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE- I encourage everyone out there to chip in and help out in any way possible. Hopefully the museum will set up a PO box in the near future to allow us to send in whatever we can afford to help get it back on its feet.

THANKS
Steve S (very sad former Crew Chief LSFM Thunderbird)

Well guys....This makes me sick at my stomach to have to write this.

I called and spoke to a very reliable source from the museum to check on him and his family, they are ok but the rest of the news is very grim! They were able to get down to the Island via helicopter and get inside and survey the inside of the museum. There was at least six foot of water or more inside the museum. And things are almost a total wash out. I dont know how much of the TAHF stuff was moved upstairs before the storm but in the hall of fame there is nothing left. I was told it looks like an empty storage closet. Due to the high water and wave action the B-58 took some damage to a wing. It looks like the Hurricane, Spitfire and F3 can be salvaged. The AT-11 remained in the hangar as well and Im not sure about the fate of the rest of the aircraft. The gift shop even took on water and it is higher than the hangar floors..Its going to be a waiting game now as far as the next step...LSFM is down but not out of the fight.

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Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!!

http://www.390th.org/
www.LSFM.org

Trae

Argh! I'm glad I got to go before this.
Hope that y'all find that more is recoverable.

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

To tell you the truth Steve, nor am I. I'm a bit fried lately, but I think it was a private project. It was in
one of the small hangars to the left walking out the 1st LSFM hangar door.Elroy or RickH would have a
better idea of what it was.

To the right of the P-6(?) replica was a midget mustang project fuse with bits standing on its nose in front
of the A-20 which was in beginning a stage of disassembly, presumably, on its way to it's new home back then.

This is truly disturbing news to hear of all the damage at LSFM and the loss of the Hall of Fame. Very sad...
HOF was a first-rate presentation of Texas aviation history, IMO. I wish the best for Lone Star and her people
and hope the museum can go on and put this tragedy behind them.

Thanks for the news folks...

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

I just posted this in the Galveston news thread...

A current overhead shot of Scholes Field....at least the roof didin't come off and the F-100 is still on the pole...


click on the photo to enlarge...
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/ike/geo-C25886033.jpg

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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