Museum of Flight - Seattle Washington

[milspec]

Greetings Gentlemen,

Here are some pics from the Museum of Flight in Seattle Washington. One of the more excellent aviation museums.

Information pamphlet




Outside displays: Grumman F-14 "Tomcat"

Grumman A-6 "Intruder"

Inside the Museum: McDonnell Douglas F-4 "Phantom"

Russian MIG-21

WWII Gallery: Curtiss P-40 "Warhawk"

Japanese Ki-43 "Oscar"

Japanese Flag

General Motors FM-2 "Wildcat"

Goodyear FG-1 "Corsair"

North American P-51 "Mustang"


Milspec

[rickthelibrarian]

Thanks for the report on my favorite air museum, The Museum of Flight. I was a member, off and on, for over 20 years. I participated as a member of the Teacher Advisory Board for several years and it got me into some neat stuff. One year there was a convention of fighter pilots from WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I got to guide around a Korean War ace. A year later, all the astronauts gathered for the 35th anniversary of Apollo 13. I got to shepherd one of the flight controllers whose son was responsible for the movie of the same name.

My stepson, who I brought as a guest, got to meet James, Lovell, Fred Haise, Neil Armstrong and others. Lucky guy!!

One correction: The Wildcat in your picture is actually an earlier F4F-4. It was on loan to the Museum and will eventually be taken away to be replaced by the Museum's FM-2 Wildcat, which is currently being restored at their restoration facility.

Below is a picture of me standing in front of the same Wildcat, which is my favorite WWII fighter, together with the P-40. Obviously, the markings were changed from the time of my picture (about 2005) to yours, two years later.

[VeeVee]

I think the one with the red ball inside the star is the more accurate marking for early war.

Rick, we have the same favorite fighter planes. F4F and the P-40.

[milspec]

Greetings Rickthelibrarian,

Thanks for the correction. I thought that the tail of that F4F was the tall tail one of the FM-2. I must have been mistaken. I only wish they had more space to display all the planes on the ground. The FG-1D has a very interesting history. It being recovered from Lake Washington then being restored. The P-38, the P51, and the M109 were too far away to appreciate. But overall the WWII wing was great. I used to live in Renton about 12 years ago and I would frequent the museum as much as I can. They didn't have a WWII section then yet. I read somewhere that most of the WWII aircraft were acquired from the Doug Champlin collection. Is it true that they are restoring an original B17F which was the plane used in the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora". Allegedly it was the plane that was used to do the one wheeled landing. Have you heard about the air museum that Paul Allen of Microsoft fame is putting up or is already up? Apparently the sky is the limit with regard to restoring his aircraft to original factory condition to include authentic woven insulated wiring and inspector's stamps stamped even in places where the sun never shines.

milspec

[rickthelibrarian]

VeeVee -- I KNEW you were were a man of IMPECCABLE taste - in a/c as in most other things historical!!

You're correct about the origin of the WWII aircraft. The Doug Champlain collection from AZ. I am aware of the Paul Allen collection/museum - it used to be based in Arlington WA,(N. of Everette) where I taught for 20+ years. I never made it there. He has since re-located it to Paine Field, in S. Everett. Among the several treasures is a P-40C (the earlier model with the shallower "scoop"), which is occasionally taken out for a spin. The P-40B was used in the Philippines by the 20th Pursuit Squadron and was based at Clark Field. Now if I could just talk Mr. Allen into repainting it into colors of the 20th instead of that tiger shark dress-up!!!

Here's the link to Mr. Allen's museum:

www.flyingheritage.com/TemplateHomeNoFlash.aspx?planeId=0