Warbird Information Exchange

I am attaching a post about BW-372 from NMNA's
site. It should be of interest to all.

Today I spoke with one of the NMNA employees.
They were only allowed back aboard NAS Pen-
sacola Monday. When Ivan hit BW-372 was still
in the restoration hanger. The old building held
up well and the Buffalo is in fine shape!

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AIRCRAFT
FEATURE AIRCRAFT

Message from the Museum Director Regarding
Disposition of Brewster Buffalo

Since the recovery of the only known surviving Brewster F2A Buffalo and its
acquisition by the National Museum of Naval Aviation, much as been written and
discussed regarding its disposition. Most of this has been supposition and conjecture
and, as a result, inaccurate and results from the fact that almost none of the
information presented has come from the organization responsible for the disposition
of the aircraft. The following can be considered the official position of the National
Museum of Naval Aviation regarding the disposition of this historic aircraft.

The Buffalo possesses a unique historical significance that calls for some unique
handling. Most of the aircraft that the Museum acquires arrive in a configuration that
does not demand or even lend itself to preservation in that configuration. Thus, after
appropriate assessment, the decision is usually made to restore the aircraft to a
configuration that displays it as an operational machine appropriate to its most
historically significant period of use. This usually means complete restoration or repair
of all damage, and reconfiguration to the period chosen, including replacement of
components and equipment either with original type components or material or that
which is authentic to the highest possible degree. However, the Buffalo both demands
and lends itself to preservation of its configuration without restoration.

This unique aircraft was built to serve naval aviation and assigned a bureau number,
but before it was delivered to the fleet, it was one of 43 sold to the Finnish Air Force.
Unlike the Navy and Marine Corps experience with the Buffalo, which was marginal at
best, the Finns had great success with it, achieving better than a 30:1 against the
Soviet Air Force during World War II. The aircraft now at the Museum was flown by
one of Finland's top aces, Lieutenant Lauri Pekuri, who had over 18.5 kills, 8 of them
in this machine. Thus, the intrinsic historic value of the aircraft lies mostly with its
service in the Finnish Air Force. And that is well worth preserving. In addition, another
strong influence in this decision is the condition of the aircraft, which is excellent
despite the fact that the aircraft spent more than a half century underwater. This
fact allows preservation as is, or almost so.

Therefore, the Museum will not restore it in the markings of Marine Corps aircraft that
flew during the Battle of Midway or even as Finnish Air Force aircraft. Our objective is
to preserve and display the aircraft as close as possible to its original configuration
and condition when it was crash landed after being shot up in a combat mission on 25
June 1942. Only components, coatings and aircraft equipment that cannot be
preserved because of problems with structural integrity, major distortion of
appearance, and corrosion deterioration will be repaired or replaced. Damage caused
by enemy fire and subsequent crash landing will not be disturbed. Only damage done
during recovery, storage and movement operations will be repaired. All of the coatings
on the aircraft surfaces will be preserved and only accumulations of preservatives,
petroleum products, dirt, marine and corrosion deposits, and other foreign material will
be removed. Disassembly will be limited to that required for corrosion control,
structural integrity and repair of handling damage. All reassembly and repair will use
authentic material as close as possible to the original.

The end result will be the display of an aviation treasure in a configuration appropriate
to its most historic period of service with the Finnish Air Force affected only by the
stabilization of deterioration from its years in cold water and the obvious repairs
necessary to make it complete and structurally sound. As near as possible, it will be
fully authentic and original and instantly recognizable as a Finnish Air Force Model 239
Buffalo at a point in time when it made its last flight in hostile skies and settled to the
bottom of the lake.

So ever glad to hear so..........

This what I was trying to convey also for the Memphis Belle

In some rare cases preservation beats the hell out of restoration

I remember posting about the George in Japan. The fact that I like it the way it is presented.................just patched up together.

Or ever the Betty in Chino or the Ju87 in Germany.

Sometime preserving history like it is means more to me than shinny new metal.

A damper on this however. The preservation methods need to insure that it will last a century or more. There is no point of fishing out something to leave it rot after. The conservation of the artifact needs to be insured for the future generations.

Is there a bird you would think qualify or not for this ?

As examples:

To fly; OK in my book: the FW189
To preserve as is with current markings: The recently recovered HE111 & JU 88

Why these and not others ?...............wells its only emotional

I'm also inclined to agree with you that preservation sometimes beats restoration. The prime example of this is the nose of the B-26 "Flak Bait" on display at the NASM in D.C.

I disagree that the "Memphis Belle" should fall into the same category of the Buffalo (or the Flak Bait for that matter) because of the fact that it was so poorly preserved, exposed to the elements and to vandals, for so many years.

By your own standards, the preservation needs to be able to last 100 years. Quite simply, the "Memphis Belle" would not have that in her...the corrosion problems would kill her long before that. Restoration is the only way to ensure that our grandchildren's grandchildren will be able to see her.

I've faced a similar situation (albeit on a much smaller scale) with my collection of vintage saxophones. I had one rare 1927 baritone saxophone that had led very hard life. It began to show pitting in its brass (the saxophone equivalent of corrosion on the main spar). Had I continued to let the horn deteriorate, eventually it would have been useless. Instead, I did a full-blown restoration on the sax, including restoring it to its original silverplate finish. The sax is spectacular now, both as a player and as a visual piece and will be able to be maintained in that condition for at least another 75 to 100 years.

On the other hand, I also have some well-preserved original saxophones from the same time period that I would not restore. These horns were well cared for for their entire lives and restoration is not necessarily the viable option and preserving their original condition is relatively easy.

I believe the decision to preserve or restore should be based on how they were maintained over the years and what the long-term viability of each option would be.

It's nice to have a place like this to visit...where cooler heads prevail
and smarter solutions are given time to germinate. Regardless of the behind-the-scenes intrigue in the recovery of BW-372 and the Navy's official position...I am relieved that 372 will be preserved as "the Vet that
she is".

This decision by the Navy gives one hope that maybe, with this sensitive attitude toward preserving 372's history...that the Navy may "warm-up" to the efforts of the citizenry to preserve the heritage the USN allows to
languish to dust on the oceans floor. A citizenry who is the owner and caretaker of the machines and the History. Bought in Bonds, Blood, and
Scrapdrives!

_________________
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

Sorry I do not intent to highjack the tread, my apologies Owen

Saxman.....you are absolutely right that these are my own standard.

And by NO MEANS am I an expert

As for the Belle. What I saw was very, very little corrosion. The airframe seemed to me in pretty good condition.

Some of the skins replaced where OK by my book. Again not knowing very much................

I saw that some lower section where corroded and in need of repair.

I know that a lot was replaced when first brough indoor. Engines, Instruments....a lot had bean looted.

But the airframe is still very original.

Again, I am not putting down the efforts being made by the volunters. Just the fact that a group of dedicated volunters are looking after her is MORE THAN commendable.

Again just my 2 cents worth. ( Non expert again.



Back to topic...........

Thanks Owen. Super report.

Would you please comtact me off line? I have several Brewster related topics I would like to discuss with you. My email address is: pscreamer@msn.com.

Many thanks in advance.

Owen et al--

Magnificent news. Many thanx for the post. Must admit this comes as a surprise--certainly no knock against NMNA, but after all, in that context the Brewster 239 would have been expected to "morph" into an F2A! This is the kind of surprise I like getting. Have never made it to NMNA. Look forward to doing so sometime and now, especially, to seeing the 239.

Now they will have to take BW-372 apart at least somewhat to ascertain just what needs repair. Could she still be, er, "photocopied" like a certain Me262 from NAS Willow Grove...??

S. (shooting for the moon...since NMNA's already opted to give the stars!)

To copy the Buffalo as was done with the Me-262 is an
intreaguing idea. I don't recall where the funding for
the '262 project came from. Can anyone provide the
details?

Blue skies,
Owen

262 funding was done by a private individual through his company, mainly on speculation. The original guy is now deceased.

While the 262 program on the surface has been a wonderful boost to the warbird community and fabricators, beneath it has been much turmoil, backstabbing, false charges and just outright bad blood between everyone involved.

From what I can gather from friends that have been involved with Herb and TAF over the years, the current project is progressing much smoother all around.

Craig C.

Excellent news, that they will preserve her 'as is'.

Its a shame the same wasn´t done with the 'Grün Herz' FW 190 of Paul Allen (?) - nice though it will be to see it fly again.

James

The good thing with the 190 is that it has been restored to nearly full original condition...rather than being 'rebuilt'. This was possible due to the very good condition of the aircraft when recovered. Should be a stunner when finished, which is apparently in the near future.

Dave

Another, probably superfluous opinion on restoration/preservation:

The highlight at Dulles among the WW II aircraft seems to be the P-38. Aircraft that show their age convey much more emotionally. As it is, I am all for preservation, unless, of course, the plane is ins tructural danger or decay. Anyway, not an experty, and I just had to say that.

I am posting a link to one of NMNA's pages. It contains
several images of the Buffalo. Some show BW-372 as
she currently sits.

Ooops...

http://broadcast.illuminatedtech.com/di ... cfm?bp=131

you'd approve the australian war memorial's decisions regarding some of their axis stuff then. I think it is the me262 that is still wearing it's original paint and the decision to leave it like that was taken during a restoration which turned into a preservation effort. I believe there are a couple more artifacts they have in similar condition.