Warbird Information Exchange

NASA went with the PC idea of putting shuttles in two urban science centers.
I guess it's to interest ikids in science, not a bad goal, but I wonder how many inner-city kids will "stay off drugs-stay in school" because they saw a shuttle onn a field trip?

The MoF in Seattle must be disappointed, but at least they won't have a distraction from building a place for the B-17, B-29 and its jetliners. (I might even suggest that the MoF dedicate itself to becoming America's top airliner museum).

I read in a NBC news story that the Concorde will be displaced for the Enterprise...they'll build a glass building around it, open its payload doors and have interactive exhibits.
Hopefully, they'll release the Concorde to a place where it will be better treated...or at least away from salt air.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Totally agree. It really would have been nice to have the other two end up in places where people really cared about them and not just how populated the area was. I was hoping for Dayton and either Houston or MoF in Seattle. Dayton it would fit in wonderfully with their continued expansion of the space exhibits, Houston would've had been a big thank you to those at Johnson, and Seattle would have made more sense then LA with a wonderful air museum and Boeing already present there. I heard Seattle at least got the training craft.

Thanks Chris for the link, I hadn't seen that proposal.

There's no reason to think that the Enterprise wouldn't be as well maintained in NY as anywhere else. The key is money, which can be raised here. How many places have completely overhauled a WWII-vintage capital ship in recent years?

The LA museum was a little more of a surprise to me, considering how aviation has declined as a percentage of its exhibits over the years. But, we airplane nuts should remember that interest in the shuttles goes far beyond our little hang-up. Also, we should remember that the orbiters were built by Rockwell in L.A. and Palmdale, so this one will be coming home. As far as getting it to the museum, they'll probably shut down the 105 and 110 freeways for a few hours one night to truck it from LAX, no real issues apart from the on- and off-ramps. It'll be a nice rearguard action against the rapidly disappearing evidence of LA's aerospace heritage.

August

I thought you meant the ship.from what I have heard.The ship must be cut apart to remove the reactors and other glowing goodies.the rest will go to some beach in Bangaladesh

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"WHAT ME WORRY?"

Well I guess it would have been to hard to ask for one here in the middle of the USA. Oh well, at least we still have a half of a shuttle at the Cosmosphere here in Kansas.

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Kevin Orr
https://b-25history.org/index.htm

Well, two out of four ain't bad.
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."

Well I may get suspended but here goes:

CA = 55 electoral college votes and NY = 31 ... the $14M was just a smoke screen to protect one's butt and there was no way it was going to be used.

60% of the taxpayer's, who covered the cost, can drive to the NMUSAF in a one day drive.

Yes I am a volunteer, but also a veteran and I consider this a slap in the face of all the men and women who served not only in the USAF but the AAF as well many of our wars.

But what the heck, we were apologized in Berlin in spite of all done during the Berlin Airlift of '48-'49 (I was in HS) so why expect anything else.

It was political and nothing else ...

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Jerry
S/Sgt. - USAF Radio Operator '52-'56
C-119 "Flying Boxcar" - Korea & Japan

Volunteer: National Museum of the US Air Force (2007-2016)
LTM 381st Bomb Group Memorial Association

Jerry-

Though I disagree that Presidential politics played a significant role in the decision making process, to complete your thought Florida has 27 electoral votes and DC has 3. Both of them, plus NY and CA, went for President Obama in 2008. For those who are inclined to believe that politics was injected into the process beyond the basic lobbying that was done by the congressional delegations from the states of most of the applicants for a shuttle, a cursory argument can be made.

However, I am more inclined to think that even less thought went into this decision. I think that quite simply, the nation's collection got one and NASA kept one. That was probably a given from the get-go, though we the public didn't know about the NASA part. Having only 2 shuttles left, they put one in each of the two largest population centers in the country. There, I would assume their logic went, the shuttles have the potential to be exposed to the largest numbers of people based on demographics and existing tourism. Potential is a loaded word, as my feeling is that there is already so much to do in NYC and LA, having a shuttle is just piling on. The impact a shuttle might have made somewhere else might have been greater relatively speaking, but we will never know. I will guess that Dayton, Tulsa, Houston and others lost out because they weren't big enough. I would also guess that if Columbia had not been lost, Dayton would have received a shuttle. It is still all conjecture.

The more interesting question, I think, is whether or not Congress decides to inject itself into this mix. I think it is most likely a done deal, but what are the chances that a disgruntled Senator or two might get a band of folks together to hold NASA's budget hostage while it gives the administrator a chance to change his mind? Not likely, but a distinct possibility.

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Maybe now, the MoF can bring the B-17 and the B-29 in from 'Siberia'.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

We probably wouldn't be talking about retiring shuttles if Columbia was never lost. At least not at this time.

Any respect I had for NASA just went out the window. No shuttle at the NMUSAF! What a bunch of horse k**p. I hope Congress cuts NASA's budget to shreds!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

I think they just put em where lots of people will see them. No sense in putting them at Edwards in the middle of nowhere or Dayton. Who is gonna travel across to Dayton Ohio just to see a Shuttle? Lots of people go to NYC for tourism, millions go to the Intrepid to see aviation history and now can see the Shuttle as well.

My vote was for MoF btw.

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Cessna 195

I agree Jerry!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

1 million people visit the NMUSAF each year. I think a shuttle there would have been a very large draw.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

That would be very nice!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!