Charlotte, NC, Carolinas Aviation Museum

[cadet77]

I had the opportunity to visit the Carolinas Aviation Museum last week. They have a good collection of aircraft and like most museums these days they need support and volunteers. Most of the collection is stored on the ramp and a few hangars would help in the preservation of the collection.
Here are some the aircraft.

North American T-28B


Douglas Skystreak


Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star


Republic F-84G Thunder Jet


Douglas A-4A Skyhawk


F-4S Phantom II


AV-8B-II Harrier


F-102A Delta Dagger


F-14D Super Tomcat



A-7E Corsair II


Douglas C-47


Two Grumman OV-1D Mohawks


The recovered wreckage of a Republic P-47





The cockpit of a KC-97






Bell UH-1H Huey


Bell AH-1J Cobra


CH-46D/E Sea Knight


There is more to see in the collection. This is a good museum to visit if you are in the area.

Fly Fast, Fly Safe,
Larry

[seaknight15]

You wouldn't happen to have the serial# on the H-46 ?

[retroaviation]

For such a small museum, they really have some cool stuff. Glad to see the Skystreak in the hangar now. It was outside when we were there in '04 with FIFI. A great bunch of folks there, that's for sure! And they did a wonderful job on restoring that C-97 cockpit! Pictures don't do it justice!!!

Gary

[cadet77]

seaknight15, The CH-46D Sea Knight is Serial #153389. There is more info at the museum site: http://www.carolinasaviation.org/collec ... 53389.html

Larry

[old iron]

This is the third Douglas D-558.1 Skystreak (BuNo 37972 NACA-142), not a reproduction (or Hollywood copy from "The Right Stuff"). The airplane made 81 flights. I have always been surprised that this is at such a small museum - and until recently displayed outside (well, still outside but now at least with a roof over it).

The D-558 #1 is at the NMNA; #2 was destroyed in an accident. All three D-558.2s survive.

[mustangdriver]

Which one is at the NASM? THey have one as well white in color.

[krlang]

Douglas C-47


Larry

Sad to see "Piggy" looking like that.
I have pictures of her getting that paint on the ramp in Bedford, MA
It was for a movie, it was a shame to see the Canadian colors go, but the movie company was paying good money for it.

1991 Purchased by Erik L Fleming, Concord, Mass
1993 Awarded "Best Transport Aircraft" Oshkosh
1995? Acquired by by Saber Cargo Airlines for Cargo out of Charlotte, North Carolina
9/26/2000 Last flight - Landing Accident at Charlotte-Douglas Airport

This came from DC-3.com...
The tail number was 12907, and she was a sorry sight. In addition to the wear and tear of being torn apart and mucked about with for years, some artistically inclined type had painted the name "Miss Piggy" on the nose. Sometime during my first year in the Training Section, someone who was probably promoted (or tossed out) for his remarkable foresight, was reading through the aircraft maintenance sheets. He (or she) discovered that poor "Miss Piggy" had the lowest number of airframe hours of any of our nine Dakotas. At the time, she had a mere 12,000 hours....a child. The rest of the fleet were up around 18,000 at the time.

[old iron]

The NASM example is a D-558.2 Sky[/u]rocket, the second of three built.

The other two Skyrockets also survive, one at the Planes of Fame in Chino and the other at the Antelope Valley Community College (sic?) in California (the last I saw of this it was still on outdoor display, anybody have pictures or information on this?)

[cadet77]

This is the Douglas D-588.2 Skyrocket that is at Planes of Fame in Chino, CA.

[DoraNineFan]

The P-47 wreckage might be the one that was uncovered on the beach by a storm near Wilmington, NC several years ago.

I had wondered if the data plate would found its way into a restoration some day.

[Warbirdnerd]

The P-47 wreckage might be the one that was uncovered on the beach by a storm near Wilmington, NC several years ago.

I had wondered if the data plate would found its way into a restoration some day.

According to WD#5 it is: 42-22331

[richkolasa]

Wow, great collection! Thanks for posting. I'll be sure to stop by the next time I'm around there!

Rich

[Jerry O'Neill]

This is the third Douglas D-558.1 Skystreak (BuNo 37972 NACA-142), not a reproduction (or Hollywood copy from "The Right Stuff"). The airplane made 81 flights. I have always been surprised that this is at such a small museum - and until recently displayed outside (well, still outside but now at least with a roof over it).

The D-558 #1 is at the NMNA; #2 was destroyed in an accident. All three D-558.2s survive.

It was at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, but they decided that they didn't want it and The Carolina's Museum was able to acquire it. I believe WWII Marine Ace Marion Carl flew this aircraft.

Also, in regards to the other three D-558-2 Skyrockets in existence, there is a fourth airframe that was built and still exists. It was a structural test airframe that was used to test the integrity of the airframe and it never flew. It did have a BuNo assigned to it, so it should be included in the list of survivors. It was not a mock-up and the New England Air Museum had it for a number of years before selling it to a private individual.
Jerry