Warbird Information Exchange

Here are the rest of my pictures from Sunday morning.

If you haven't visited the museum, you should know that there are a lot of aircraft that I didn't photograph. WW I, Korea, Vietnam, all the civil aviation fans- sorry about that.

The Enola Gay is displayed on jacks so that it doesn't take up all the floorspace:





P-47 next to her:



P-38 on the other side. This one was once flown by Richard Bong while he was a test pilot at Wright Field:



Another shot of the Lysander. Looks good hanging:



F4U arresting hook:



Pretty little P-26:



Hurricane. Not so glamorous as some of the stuff around her, but still a beauty:



SR-71:

Thanks for sharing all those photos Rich. They are very nice and they make me want to head out east again soon.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

I so need to make it down there! Looks great. Many thanks for posting.

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www.tailhookstudio.com

the do 335 was a 1 big assed bird!! i always wonder how it would have held up in regard to shell hits / battle damage. from the side profile it just looks so vulnerable with both engine systems fore & aft. how could you miss hitting ether 1, or their related components?? & i always wonder how she'd fly on 1 engine. i'd guess that the aft engine would perform better due to less drag. best, tom

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Thats some cool lighting on the SR-71.

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The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Gus Grissom

Yes, but my photo doesn't really do it justice. I need some more practice with that lighting.

They've got the Blackbird situated in the perfect spot, at the entrance to the Space gallery. (The Space Shuttle Enterprise is in there.)

Are they still restoring the Enterprise?

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The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. - Gus Grissom

To tell the truth, I didn't really go in there. Not enough time or energy (had the family with me).

From the entrance, it looked like they've added more artifacts to the gallery, or at least rearranged them.

Cracking set of images there Rich... especially the Luftwaffe types! Makes me want to make the trip over and see them myself!

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kind regards,

Peter D Evans
LEMB moderator
http://www.luftwaffe-experten.org

The NASM F4U-1D has the most "right on" tri-tone camouflage scheme I've seen on any surviving Corsair. I'd love to get a hold of whatever paint samples they referenced! Makes me wonder if they found some old-stock original paint in their inventory. Does anyone know how 1940's era paint differed from today's compounds?

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

There's an F6F hanging from the ceiling, too. Also looks great, but I neglected to get a shot of it.

I felt like a kid in a candy shop. Couldn't decide what to look at first. My wife was a sport, but I finally had to send her and my son to the restaurant to wait for me.

Almost wet myself when I saw that Do-335!

Got any more of the Enola Gay? I saw her in the early 80's - stored in peices. Wonder why the bombay isn't open (like Bockscar)? I know they did a lot of work making a replica A-Bomb support. It would be nice to get a look in there..........

No, that's all I took this time.

I saw her, too, in 1980 (81?) at Silver Hill. It was a real thrill. I was able to duck underneath the fuselage and stand up in the bomb bay.

I've got some pretty good slides I took that day. Will digitize them someday so I can share them.

I know a little bit about paint...enough to get me in trouble, I suppose

I am told the major difference (not the only difference) in "modern" paints vs. "older" paints is the "binder" they use.

Not exactly sure what that means, but, I do know there have been big changes in paints since WWII (in the 1980's in particular), most often related to how they were applied. In other words, they changed the paint because they had to change the way it was applied (and how it affected the environment and worker's health).

Again, from the little bit I know, I have trouble imagining what 60 year old paint (even properly stored) would look like upon opening the can.

maybe they used a couple thousand bottles of Testors model masters and monograms instruction sheet.