Warbird Information Exchange

Regarding the decision not to run the Memphis Belle (which I agree) has me thinking about the future of museum warbirds. As museums get closer to catching up on their collections, it'd be nice to see them put more financial focus on creating more indoor display space and less on restorations ... that is, newly retired airplanes can come indoors immediately which would allow them to be preserved as a time capsule.

The opposite is an aircraft like the Memphis Belle which was so abused that it now requires a big budget and some innovative parts work to get her into display shape.

Kudos to NMUSAF for bringing aircraft such as the MH-53, RF-4, EF-111, etc indoors fairly quickly. Unless an unforseen problem crops up, very little may ever need to be spent on "restoration" of these airframes. Pickle 'em and keem 'em clean and dry.

A tangent to this is for curators to keep an eye out for noteworthy tail numbers. For instance, the NMUSAF's B-2 and F-22 are test vehicles. Great, but when a line aircraft with actual combat time (or other significant event) becomes available, snag it. The test bird can then either be kept or loaned to another facility.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

sounds reasonable to me

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

I think we all want government and museums /groups etc... to be PROACTIVE and work together.

totally agree!

*** pay me now, or a heck of alot more (and more and more) later!

I agree completely. Having worked with a few different museums, both private and a NMUSAF satellite, it all comes down to what you mentioned in your topic title - DOLLARS.

At the VFM we figure it would cost at least 4 million to erect another hangar the size of the one we have now on the vacant lot beside us that we own. Our current hangar is a former B-29 maintenance hangar that can fit two B-29's nose-to-nose and close the doors. That 4 million is just the basic hangar without any offices, or rooms for displays, etc.

So be sure when you visit any museum to drop a few dollars in the dontation box, buy a t-shirt or become a member (or all of the above). I realize I'm preaching to choir here with this group, but it can't be said enough.

BTW, anyone wanting to make a donation towards that 4 million, visit the website below and click on the PayPal link!

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Bill Gorin
Vintage Flying Museum
http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org
https://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=57513906106

I agree. the museum did just that with the F-22 and the Predator. THey had test airframes on display, and replaced them with line aircraft when one was available.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

This is on their web page: The aircraft on display (S/N 91-4003) was one of nine F-22s built for Engineering, Manufacture and Development (EMD) testing, and it rolled off the Lockheed Martin assembly line in Georgia on May 22, 1999. Assigned to the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the aircraft made its first flight on March 6, 2000. After completing its phase in the test program, this aircraft came to the museum in January 2007.

It is painted to represent an F-22A flown by the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

You can't save aircraft if you don't have buildings.

If they are flying aircraft, as current military birds are, they spend a lot of time outside. They do, however, have crews keeping them airworthy and up-to-date ever day. A museum with outside or even inside aircraft doesn't have that kind of funding.

Gotta get them in!

The New England Air museum took a lot of crap from people a few years back when we started to sell some aircraft. These were aircraft I personally liked and would've love to have kept in the collection. (SBD, PBY, Macchi 200, just to name a few) But their sale help to get us, in order, a dedicated restoration hangar, a dry storage building, and a second display hangar.
If anyone has had the opportunity to visit the restoration hangar, you will see the photos on the wall of all the projects that have been through the building since it was first erected. It is a volume of aircraft and equipment that never would've been able to have been restored in the corner of our old display hangar. (where it use to be done!)

Museum's have to look ahead and sharpen their pencils, collections, and collection policies in order to make sure that their charges are taken care of properly and put under cover.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."