Naval Air Museum

[mustangdriver]

I wonder why the P-40 has that zinc paint on it.

[Rajay]

Fantastic shots.

I really hope that I have a chance to see it for myself in the not-too-distant future. As a "boat" fan, I'm particularly interested in seeing the P-5 Marlin up close and "personal." Aren't they completely nonexistant outside of tis museum now?

I was also surprised by the number of non-"Naval" types - friend and foe - at the museum. The two-seat Me-262 for example was cool, but what does that have to do with "Naval" aviation?

[Holedigger]

On the 262, after being captured at Schleswig in May 1945, this ’262 was taken to the USA and test-flown at NAS Patuxent River. Thus, NAVY OWNS this war booty. One of the few bits they didn't look over then bulldoze into a pit.

[airnutz]

Yep, bits of rotting Arado jet are still visible at the waters edge of Pax.

[the330thbg]

I see a road trip in my future. Albeit a LONG roadtrip.

[APG85]

I wonder why the P-40 has that zinc paint on it.

I'm not sure what the point of the zinc paint was. The plane was recovered in Russia and fully restored. Is the primer paint someones idea of a "worn" look? Not sure...

[airnutz]

I wonder why the P-40 has that zinc paint on it.

I'm not sure what the point of the zinc paint was. The plane was recovered in Russia and fully restored. Is the primer paint someones idea of a "worn" look? Not sure...

...or faulty prep work which has revealed the primer underneath...I couldn't imagine someone would think such an area of localized stress would add to the presentation of the aircraft.

[Steve Nelson]

I've seen the P-40 up close. It's definitely primer where the top layer of paint has flaked off. It almost looks like it was pulled off by tape or something. I thought maybe somebody had used the cowl to make a mold, and some of the paint came off in the process, but that's just wild speculation on my part. None of the docents I talked to at the museum had any idea. It's not actual weathering, as the aircraft is a purely static restoration and I don't believe it was ever flown after being restored. The "exhaust staining" and "muzzle blasts" are painted on.

SN

[mustangdriver]

OK found out that is was pulled off from when a company was making a mold of the aircraft. It is in que to be fixed. Just alot going on there.

[seabee1526]

Wonderful museum, I'd love to visit someday.

[Dan K]

I've seen the P-40 up close... It's not actual weathering, as the aircraft is a purely static restoration and I don't believe it was ever flown after being restored.
SN

No, this aircraft was most-definitely never flown after being restored. In fact, I'm a little amused at another poster's comment about it being "fully restored".

A personal examination of it in 2005 revealed bits and pieces that Curtiss certainly never used in the original assembly of a P-40. Here are some comments pulled off Dan Ford's site about the same bird:

The plane is owned by Don Brooks of Brooks Aviation in Douglas, Georgia, pending formal transfer to the museum. The rebuild was done by Tom Wilson of the Hawk Factory in Griffin, Ga. Don told me that parts of two Tommis went into the final product, one from the Murmansk area and another from around Archangel. "You have to understand that the Russians went at them with pickaxes, trying to find something worth salvaging," he said. The job also involved some original castings for parts of the cowling, which work was done in collaboration with the folks who are on the Chino P-40C.

In 1999 I had a chance to inspect this plane in the company of Ben Schapiro. According to a spreadsheet provided by Don Brooks, it contains 37.7 percent original materials from the Tomahawk IIB (RAF serial AK255) that it supposedly was restored from), 22.1 percent from "the same type aircraft," 10.4 percent "remanufactured parts from the same type aircraft," and 30.3 percent newly manufactured parts. The impression we got, however, was that the plane was pretty much built from the ground up, with lots of pop rivets, plastic automobile fasteners, iron pipe (for machine guns), and newly bent sheet metal.

http://www.warbirdforum.com/tommi.htm

[michaelharadon]

Has a successor to Trader John's opened up? If not, does anyone know what became of all the "stuff" that was in the original? That place was a museum in and of itself.

[Steve Nelson]

I once ran into someone at a model show in Atlanta who claimed to have helped restore the NMNA P-40. He said they used P-40N wings with some mods. I have no idea if the guy was blowing smoke or not.

SN

[wendovertom]

Did you get any photos of the Cutlass?! I love that beast.

Tom P.

[Chris]

Hey Tom. I only have one of the P'Cola Cutlass but I have a few of the one under restoration for the Seattle Museum of Flight.

Heres the one at Paine Field