Warbird Museum and FBO

[mtpopejoy]

I love the idea of Anderson as my Mother and Grandparents both grew up there (Grandparents just moved out up to Michigan for ease of care).
Anderson is a dying town though with the closing of many of the Delco Remy (Delphi) plants.
Would the main runway be sufficient for warbird operations at 5,400x100?
If Anderson is in the running I would be more than willing to help out in any way I can.
Regards,
Mark P.

[PJ]

We have flown the Harpoon in and out of Anderson, so plenty of runway for a bomber. A resturaunt is a great idea....no more nasty fast food. I wouldn't know how to act if I could work inside a heated hangar.

PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org

[mtpopejoy]

PJ,
Yeah, I agree. I saw a picture on their website with a Connie on the ramp so....

On the aerial view of the field it looks like a good candidate Mustangdriver. Lots of open grassy area for static displays. Right next to Mounds State Park. Anderson has a new horse racing/casino facility and lots of traffic for the 500 and the Brickyard races.

[DocThrock]

Bring it on.. to Terre Haute. We have an awesome airfield and a HUGE hangar that is in the process of being restored. Thankfully, the airport management is changing and now would be a good time to move in and take over.

You could buy the FBO, flight school AND maintenance operation from the airport authority, and lease the huge "IVY TECH" school/hangar. So there's a chance you could actually make a profit.

Believe me, if you wanna get a great physical facility that is ripe for the picking, this is the place to come. And we LOVE Warbirds. We also LOVE airshows!

Drop on by, I'll get NAIL32 (ex F100 pilot/board member) to give you a tour.

[mustangdriver]

First let me thank you guys and gals for the support. It is aweosme. We are going for it, and have alot of details to work out. We are working on some plans, and we are open to all ideas on displays. For the restaraunt we were thinking a real pilots pub for decoration. Lots of B&W pics. Lots of parts of warbirds, with large bay windows that look into the display hangar. Our goal is to house both static and flying aircraft. We even had an idea to recreat a small part of a USO for a dance club and banquet hall.

[Django]

I agree that IND would be tough, if not impossible. Mt Comfort, Anderson, or Terre Haute sounds like a more likely option. With Mt Comfort, you have an established airshow too.

[mtpopejoy]

Matt,
Are you refering to Sky King or Terre Haute Int'l?

[DocThrock]

KHUF. We have 3 runways (5K, 7K, 9K), Huge ramp space, ANG base, nice terminal (with restaurant), 2 larger exec sized hangars (one used to house an A&P, trade school and lots of aircraft) and a few smaller ones. Radar, tower. Close to US 40 & 41, directly adjacent to I-70. Lots of hotels and restaurants now (better than even two years ago).

Sky King is dinky. But I've heard it's for sale. Wouldn't be my first choice for plunking down a venture. Lotsa nice planes and pilots there, but pretty small and a little off the beaten path.

I'd like to say TH also has an established airshow, but alas.... One of these days we'd sure like to bring a show back to our airport. Preferably Warbird oriented, but any show would be nice. If there were Warbirds based/museumed (can I say that?) here, it'd make it a whole lot easier.

Mt. Comfort is a great choice, too. But you better be prepared to build. Does the Indy Airport Authority control that airport?

As far as the tower at IND not being user friendly, evidently someone earlier had a bad trainee or something along those lines. Those guys are usually anxious to have something interesting happen. When I was in the tower cab a couple weeks ago, the day controllers, including the Supe, were saying they LIVE for something interesting like a Warbird to come and go. Seems they have a huge overnight push (not as big as it used to be with the USPS gone and FEDEX scaling down/mothballing planes), but during the day they said they don't get all that busy. They actually encouraged us to come over and even do touch and goes if we want to. Just try to keep your head on and keep up with the flow. I like that!

If you wait a few more months, I hear ARR might even be available. Now THAT would make a nice museum. Just about everything would fit indoors! Talk about HUGE!

[DocThrock]

[Hijack]

BTW, the KHUF manager just resigned to take a job elsewhere. If anyone is looking for a nice place to have a decent airport managerial job, send the THIAA your resume! Sure would be great to have a Warbird enthusiast running the place!

[/Hijack]

Mustangdriver, I sure hope you get something close to us over here in Indiana. That would be great! Good luck with your dream!