Warbird Information Exchange

Yuuuuuuup.

...said the guy who likes to play dress up.

Tsk, tsk. Glass houses my friend. And I'm not talking about Jerry Jones' Death Star.

My 2 cents worth...if that.

Of all of the places mentioned in the press release San Antonio makes the most and the least sense.

SA has the population, demographics weather and tourism to make it work. It's a great town. (danged hot in the summer...that's the 1st of March to November for you northerly folks)

But...Kelly Field is the worst for this idea. It is still basically a military airfield. There is a C-5 and F-16 unit plus the Boeing KC-135 mod shop and some C-130 and other work. And we all know how the military security folks enjoy a bunch of tourists running the edges of the field. I just don't see that working well. Plus Kelly is kind of hard to get into compared to the rest of the idea spots.

I'll stand with Dean on the bias table and vote Alliance in Fort Worth. It's not too busy, with lots of land, two big runways and just down the road from growing tourism. (just need to fix I-35...but that is, supposedly, coming)

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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Does anyone else feel that just moving to another Texas city is pointless?

I mean they want it to be a national attraction. So let's keep it just as far or even farther away (depending on where it goes) from the majority of the US' population.

While I don't think Smyrna TN, is the best place, it is probably the best of the 8 in my opinion due to being in the center of the Midwest, East Coast, North and South.

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Tyler Pinkerton
Active Member of Air Heritage Inc. of Beaver Falls, PA.
Aircraft: C47B, C-123K, Fairchild F-24, Funk Model B, L-21B, T-28B, T-34B
Static: F-4C Phantom II, F-15A, T-3 Provost

I guess my fantasy of the CAF moving to Hagerstown, Maryland just wasn't going to happen. Oh well, one could always dream.

It really would have been a good spot. Airport definitely big enough, close to the intersection of two major interstates (70 and 81), close to the Baltimore / Washington area, and a little bit of a stretch from Philly and Pittsburgh, and just an hour from ME! And has the advantage of being close to the NASM.

That being said, I would go for the DFW area...more population / more visibility.

Kelly is still sort of a military field, but if the city was willing to work out something on the East side of the field, it could be good, ESPECIALLY if there was some sort of deal where the Lewis collection could be in one part and the CAF next door. Now that would be something. I just don't see it happening. I personally think that DFW or Ellington is probably the CAF's best bet in the long run, just because I can't see the backwards San Antonio city leadership - which right now is trying to do some really stupid political stuff (ie. worse than usual)- pulling it off.

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.

I vote for New Century (IXD).....not just because I just landed there a little over an hour ago, but because it is central in the Country, so it would be easier to get to shows anywhere else. Great area, easy to get to, growing, etc. Oh, and I have to come out here every week for work...that helps too! But I could see operations here. Would have to build some hangars, but there is plenty of room at IXD for that. But I would guess that the DFW area is where it is going to be headed, so that the B-29/B-24 ops would be nearby.

Moving it to another Tx city isn't pointless, IMO. Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston (for instance) are all serviced by major airlines and have many other attractions. There is a lot of traffic (both vacation and business) through those cities, which means you should be able to drive a lot of "Superbase" traffic. West Texas? You really, really, have to be a diehard warbird fan to go there if that's the "destination" for your trip, and there are relatively few other activities for a family vacation, so your wife and kids aren't gonna be particularly enthusiastic about going there.

Question - why wasn't San Marcos considered? Not enough space?

We went to Midland HQ in 2012. The facility was nice, the noseart museum was great. But there were very few aircraft there....

If it were in a better place, would there be more aircraft? Because if most of the aircraft are maintained at the wing locations, the CAF 'superbase' could really be a relatively small complex: the museum, admin facilities, and a hangar for just a few airplanes at any given time.

How much 'overhead' expense is really needed?

I would assume with the "Superbase" you'd probably see a few extra aircraft either reclaimed from some squadrons or some wings folded into the new main location. Would the main hangar at Midland be dismantled and reassembled elsewhere or just sold and a completely new facility built?

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

Alliance Airport holds an annual air show...wink wink...nudge nudge...say no more.. ...and there's a LOT of space there.....and there's a DFW wing in Lancaster and B-29/B-24 wing in Addison......

And the Invader Squadron just down the road at the VFM complex.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

A few things about Smyrna (KMQY)
It is a former Air Force training base for C-130's, C-119's, CG-14's, L-16s, B-17s and B-24, C-47, etc. SO it has many acres of hardened concrete. Second, it has hangars that could hold anything the CAF would ever have to bring in for MX.
3) The AIrport Mgr. John Black, and the folks at the two main FBO's CFM and Smyrna Air Center love B-17s and all warbirds.
4) There are actually a few thousand acres of undeveloped land available.
5) There are a handfull of empty hangars available that are USAF surplus, all metal, designed for the C-119. They are huge.
6) There are a few shops on the field that refurbish ancient, DC-8s, 727's, Jetstreams. There are some specialty shops close byif needed that can do almost anything. There's even a paint and upholstery, and avionics shop on the field.
7) 85% of the U.S. population lives east of the Mississipi River. (Nashville is 200 miles east) and has 5 interstates that intersect in Nashville.
Nearby BNA has excellent airline service.
9) Nashville is a tourist town and oriented to marketing public events.
10) There are a couple aviation schools nearby, MTSU and Baker's School of Aviation. Possibly they would help spool off interest, volunteers and donors.
11) They have had an airshow "offand on" there since 1968. the military has been a strong supporter at these events.
12) The airport property has about 300 acres on Percy Priest Lake. Seaplane ops are possible.
Okay, Ill shut up!

A few things about Smyrna (KMQY)
It is a former Air Force training base for C-130's, C-119's, CG-14's, L-16s, B-17s and B-24, C-47, etc. SO it has many acres of hardened concrete. Second, it has hangars that could hold anything the CAF would ever have to bring in for MX.
3) The AIrport Mgr. John Black, and the folks at the two main FBO's CFM and Smyrna Air Center love B-17s and all warbirds.
4) There are actually a few thousand acres of undeveloped land available.
5) There are a handfull of empty hangars available that are USAF surplus, all metal, designed for the C-119. They are huge.
6) There are a few shops on the field that refurbish ancient, DC-8s, 727's, Jetstreams. There are some specialty shops close byif needed that can do almost anything. There's even a paint and upholstery, and avionics shop on the field.
7) 85% of the U.S. population lives east of the Mississipi River. (Nashville is 200 miles east) and has 5 interstates that intersect in Nashville.
Nearby BNA has excellent airline service.
9) Nashville is a tourist town and oriented to marketing public events.
10) There are a couple aviation schools nearby, MTSU and Baker's School of Aviation. Possibly they would help spool off interest, volunteers and donors.
11) They have had an airshow "offand on" there since 1968. the military has been a strong supporter at these events.
12) The airport property has about 300 acres on Percy Priest Lake. Seaplane ops are possible.
Okay, Ill shut up!

I second this location! It's only a few hours drive from the house and I enjoyed spending some time up there recently working on "The Movie Memphis Belle". The folks at CFM were very friendly and helpful!!

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Rod Schneider
Ball Ground, Ga