Warbird Information Exchange

Thought these might be interesting to you. On request from The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, they sent me a contact sheet of images from their Mystery Ship and these cockpit photos were among them. Keep in mind, this is a plane I have been researching for a few years now and with the exception of two others from books, these are the first actual photos of the cockpit I have seen. In fact, the museum has had the plane for 50 years and these are all they could find. They're from when the plane was taken down and moved during the 70's.

Personally, I think they ought to be ashamed of the condition this thing is in. This is probably the most historically significant plane they have and the cockpit is all torn up, the paint is faded to dull orange and it is filthy from age. The thing needs a complete restoration. I swear, if I ever hit the lottery, I'm going to pay for it for them just to see it happen.

Of course, it wouldn't be the Mystery Ship, if it didn't raise more questions than it answered. You can see the Pioneer altimeter I talked about before has been replaced with something totally different...

Thanks for posting. The cockpit looks good to me. The instruments look to not be touched since it was put in the museum.

Restorations of such untouched artifacts are challenging because once it is touched, it loses so much history. Will the restorer just cover it or take it down to the frame and lose the paint color, etc. etc. I would advocate for the minimum other than possible exterior paint and fabric, if the covering is falling off, in order to make it presentable. The Smithsonian requires such artifacts to be covered and painted with the original covering remaining under the new fabric for historical preservation.

I am searching for that artificial Horizon to go in a museum airplane.

(Including airworthy replicas) How many Travel Air Mystery Ships exist?

The only two survivors are R613K (Pancho Barnes' plane) and NR1313 (Frank Hawks). Of the other three, R614K crashed and burned in 1931, NR482N (Jimmy Dolittle) crashed in (I believe) 1933, and the last was made specifically for the Italian government and was the basis for their fighter design in the 30's. The empennage and a set of short wings from NR1313 are at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee. NR1313 is in Chicago, of course, and R613K is undergoing restoration in England.

I know of two replicas. One is of NR1313 and resides in Portage, Mi at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. It was started by someone whos name I don't recall, and when he passed away, his wife gave it to the Air Zoo. It had yet to be engined or have the cowling and canopy, which they provided and has never been flown. I went up a couple weeks ago to see it and it looks magnificent.

The second is by Jim Younkin and is of R614K. It's currently owned by Jim's grandson, Matt and was flown for years to airshows and in Younkin's air act. I don't believe they fly it anymore.

If there are any others, please let me know...

If I got my planes right, the one in Kalamazoo did indeed fly. It was a replica completed by Gemco in Ohio. The gentlemand that built it had the wrong breaks on it and on it's first flight landed and used too much break and flipped it over killing him. It was painted the famous red with black trim at the time.The Beech museum now has a real Mystery Ship. Not sure which one, it is also painted in the red and black trim. I thought a replica, but I believe Rob Rohr had something to do with it.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Not 100% sure, but I think that's reversed, I think the one in the Beech musuem is the one that flipped and killed the pilot-



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http://www.biplanerides1.com/

You may very well be right. I remember seeing it in Ohio prior to the flight. it was beautiful

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Baldeagle and Mustang Driver, I officially owe you a beer. I was about to correct you and say the Beech museum did not have one, then I remembered seeing a picture of one outside of the museum. At the time I assumed it was Jim Younkin's reproduction during a show or something, and your comment made me think maybe Matt Younkin had donated it or something since they don't fly it in shows any more. I wanted to be sure before I posted it, so I called down there and asked and got the surprise of my life.

The Mystery Ship in Tullahoma is none other than the ORIGINAL R614K! I couldn't have been more surprised if a stranger had walked up and slapped me with a wet fish. Apparently they had been sitting on the remains for years and years and finally finished restoring it. I talked for a while with the fellow on the phone and he assured me it was the real thing, right down to the green trim and that the only thing that wasn't accurate was the panel which he described as looking like a J-3 Cub...

The only thing that really bugs me about this is how the hell did I not know this restoration was happening! I don't suppose anyone knows what happened to the remains of Jimmy DooLittle's Type-R? If this has been restored, perhaps there's hope for that one...

Turns out the Kalamazoo replica was built by a man named Willie Benedict and as mentioned was given to the museum by his wife after he passed. It sat for many years at the airport in Wayland, Mi. A call to the museum confirmed it had never been flown and is not now airworthy...

There's an airworthy replica being finished up in England, should be flying this year. The original NR613K is in storage in a missile silo in the UK too.

Is there any reliable evidence for the claim it was 'the basis for their fighter design'? I've seen it repeated elsewhere, and I'm always sceptical of such technology transfer statements - and yes, sometimes I'm wrong. (The most famous examples would be the Tu-4 from B-29, true, and the Hughes Racer to Zero - false.) However the Italians had a strong dedication to remarkable innovative design; certainly I'd expect their Mystery Ship to be thoroughly examined for good ideas; how much it it was the main driver for fighter design I'd be interested in seeing evidence for.

The aircraft needs 'conservation' rather than 'restoration': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation-restoration

Regards,

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Doesn't look like a missile silo to me...

http://legendofpanchobarnes.com/film/pr ... onger.html

Those photos were taken at the restoration shop. Since then the aircraft has been shipped to the former cruise missile base at Greenham Common, and placed in storage.

Where did you get that information?

Well, I went to see it at the restoration shop about 4 years ago, just as the restoration was being completed. The owner also owns the former RAF Greenham Common, which is where the remaining airframes in the collection are now stored, in the old missile silos (Spitfire IX, P-40, possibly an S.E.5, and the Mystery Ship)