Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum - Savannah, GA

corsairkid · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 7:09 pm **Posts:** 52

Tried a search to see if this museum has been covered at all and couldn't find squat, so I'm going to post a few pics that I took there yesterday when Madame Corsairman and I visited. Not a large museum, but had a nice feel. The ME-163 was the highlight for me. Check out the stained glass windows from the chapel! There are 5 more - if anyone is interested I'll post them.

Ivan

P51Mstg · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:36 am **Posts:** 1202

I've been there a few times, really nice place. Before someone asks, the 51 and 109 are not real. Well they are real, but they are replicas. Lots of really good stuff in there, you need to spend some time looking and there is a nice B-47 in the back next to the interstate.

Mark H

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:00 pm

Great pics! I dont recall ever seeing photos from this museum. Love to see the others you have! Is the B-24 nose peice "Fighting Sam" currently at the museum? I heard it was on loan from the Imperial War Museum in England.

corsairkid · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 7:09 pm **Posts:** 52

Thanks. There was a B-24 nose piece there but I did not photograph it. Here's 2 more stained glass windows, tho'.

B17news · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:15 pm

its a tough museum to get good photos in. I've been there a couple of times, its worth the visit for sure.

B

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:53 pm

Pat Carry wrote:

Great pics! I dont recall ever seeing photos from this museum. Love to see the others you have! Is the B-24 nose peice "Fighting Sam" currently at the museum? I heard it was on loan from the Imperial War Museum in England.

The B-24 nose "Fighting Sam" was there on display when I visited in 2005.

Cheers,
Richard

PS. The Me-163 belongs to NASM, and the B-47 is the one which was displayed at the now-closed museum in Florence, SC.

bax101 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:00 am

Those are some really cool stained glass pieces. And its amazing to see that ME-163B-1a Komet and how it looks like it was taken straight from the battlefield and not restored. Thanks for sharing.

corsairkid · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 7:09 pm **Posts:** 52

More stain glasses winders.

warbirdguy · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:32 am

Those stained glass windows are amazing. Thanks for sharing.

warbird1 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:25 pm **Posts:** 2760

Are those stained glass displays recovered from Church's in England, or are they modern reproductions?

corsairkid · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 7:09 pm **Posts:** 52

Without having read the literature I cannot hazard an intelligent guess concerning the glass. It strikes me as post-modern.

Ivan

JDK · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:36 am

Thanks for the photos.

bax101 wrote:

And its amazing to see that ME-163B-1a Komet and how it looks like it was taken straight from the battlefield and not restored.

It looks to me that the Komet has its original German paint - camouflage and markings, plus remnants of the Foreign Evaluation 'FE' tail number applied by the USAAF. It's heavilly worn, probably in preservation rather than in service, but that's a real time capsule. Looks like it's got (at least part of) it's engine.

The glass is magnificent work, but not the subjects you'd find in British churches, although the church shown looks very accurately rendered by the artist(s). Any post W.W.II stained glass made for a church in the UK would still be there; despite the dramatic collapse in churchgoing in the 20th century, most Churches in the UK that were there in 1945 are still in use, and the glass wouldn't be for sale. Finally, there can't be more than a couple featuring such representative versions of aircraft.

If you want to see 'the wind' from whence Germany 'reaped the whirlwind',visit Coventry Cathedral.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Cathedral

Regards,

warbird1 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:25 pm **Posts:** 2760

JDK wrote:

Thanks for the photos.

bax101 wrote:

And its amazing to see that ME-163B-1a Komet and how it looks like it was taken straight from the battlefield and not restored.

It looks to me that the Komet has its original German paint - camouflage and markings, plus remnants of the Foreign Evaluation 'FE' tail number applied by the USAAF. It's heavilly worn, probably in preservation rather than in service, but that's a real time capsule. Looks like it's got (at least part of) it's engine.

Does anyone know the history of this Komet? I seem to vaguely remember that this airplane might have come from a complex airplane trade to a Canadian museum.

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:31 am

A museum I need to see for sure.

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:38 am

warbird1 wrote:

JDK wrote:

Thanks for the photos.

bax101 wrote:

And its amazing to see that ME-163B-1a Komet and how it looks like it was taken straight from the battlefield and not restored.

It looks to me that the Komet has its original German paint - camouflage and markings, plus remnants of the Foreign Evaluation 'FE' tail number applied by the USAAF. It's heavilly worn, probably in preservation rather than in service, but that's a real time capsule. Looks like it's got (at least part of) it's engine.

Does anyone know the history of this Komet? I seem to vaguely remember that this airplane might have come from a complex airplane trade to a Canadian museum.

This aircraft has been in the NASM collection since 1954. A reasonable potted history can be found below.

Cheers,
Richard

http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/me163.htm

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Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum - Savannah, GA

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