I'm all jazzed now. Time to complete an aviation twofer. **PICS ADDED**

[bull]

I just got done watching The Aviator last night with that prepubescent wiener Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes. Yea, I know, DiCaprio is a good actor but I still think he's a wiener. Anyway it was a great movie and I already told my daughters a few days ago that I want to take them to the Evergreen Aviation Museum next week to see the Hughes Flying Boat, H-4, HK-1 (aka Spruce Goose) as well as all the other cool stuff they have there: http://www.sprucegoose.org/ like the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, the Lockheed P-38L Lightning, the North American P-51D Mustang and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10 Gustav. They also have a McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle and a Goodyear FG-1D Corsair and lots of other stuff.

Last time I was there my 5-year-old daughter was horizontal in a stroller and the 2nd was just a twinkle in my eye. Now they both love airplanes and are always going through my Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft so it should be a good hit for a day trip.

Anyway, I'm going to take a bunch of pictures and give you guys a free tour when I get back.

Edit** I'm back and here they are. More below.

[Blown70]

I saw that movie too.  the wiener play a pretty good part in that one.

I would love to see pictures of that.

[Charger4404spd]

Ahhhh, the P51D Mustang. The sexiest plane ever made. Not to mention the sound is like none other. The SR-71 is very impressive also. That thing is huge.
Be sure to get a good pic of the Mustang!

[bull]

Ahhhh, the P51D Mustang. The sexiest plane ever made. Not to mention the sound is like none other. The SR-71 is very impressive also. That thing is huge.
Be sure to get a good pic of the Mustang!

I will. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to get all of the Goose in one frame. I don't think it's going to happen.

[Drache]

Ahhhh, the P51D Mustang. The sexiest plane ever made. Not to mention the sound is like none other.

Don't forget one of the fastest aircraft in it's day!

[John_Kunkel]

I viewed the Spruce Goose when it was in Long Beach; no words can describe the experience.

[Charger_Fan]

I'd love to see the Spruce Goose.

At Hill AFB here in Utah, there's a blackbird on display...damn cool plane!
http://www.hill.af.mil/museum/photos/coldwar/sr-71.htm

Lookin' foreward to some pics!

[Lowprofile]

Anybody near Dayton, OH......  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base  has one of the best Air Museum's in the world. I give it      Way up there

Bull, looking forward to your pics....Have a great day!

[Troy]

Anybody near Dayton, OH...... Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has one of the best Air Museum's in the world. I give it Way up there

Bull, looking forward to your pics....Have a great day!

Don't forget the best part... it's FREE admission!!! Ohio is close to a lot of great aviation museums, displays, and air shows. I guess that's a perk of living here (gotta find something good about it). I'd still like to see the Spruce Goose some day.

Troy

[mustanghater]

Anybody near Dayton, OH...... Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has one of the best Air Museum's in the world. I give it Way up there

Bull, looking forward to your pics....Have a great day!

Don't forget the best part... it's FREE admission!!! Ohio is close to a lot of great aviation museums, displays, and air shows. I guess that's a perk of living here (gotta find something good about it). I'd still like to see the Spruce Goose some day.

Troy

I was their 2 yrs ago. but I don't remember any of it.

[Badbob]

Did some of those WWII warbirds used to be housed in the blimp hanger near Tillamook, I love the P-51, the ME 109 and especially the P-38. The 109 is extremely rare and was not restored or complete when I saw it several years ago.

[bull]

Yea, I believe Evergreen owns a blimp hangar out there and there might be one in McMinville too, I can't remember. Evergreen Aviation has really done a lot to preserve the aviation heritage of this country.

My wife and I decided we're going to go on Wednesday and it's going to cost us $11 a head. Kids are free though. Last time I went the place had pretty much just opened up so they didn't have as many planes. The cool thing about this place is that most of the planes you see there are still functional. Many of the "exhibits" have oil drip pans under the engines because they fly them once in a while to keep them limber.

[Troy]

Anybody near Dayton, OH...... Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has one of the best Air Museum's in the world. I give it Way up there

Bull, looking forward to your pics....Have a great day!

Don't forget the best part... it's FREE admission!!! Ohio is close to a lot of great aviation museums, displays, and air shows. I guess that's a perk of living here (gotta find something good about it). I'd still like to see the Spruce Goose some day.

Troy

I was their 2 yrs ago. but I don't remember any of it.

I can't say that surprises me...

Troy

[bull]

Sorry guys, no P51 Mustang for some reason. They must have had it out for a test drive and I didn't think to ask anyone where it was. First off here is one more shot of the Blackbird and then the B-25 that sure was looking good. I never really was a fan until I saw this one today. What a beauty!

[bull]

You guys will have to help me with the ID on some of these planes. I quickly ran out of time and didn't get a chance to write them down. The 2nd one is the Goodyear FG-1D Corsair and the 3rd is a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10 Gustav but the other two I'm unsure of. The first one is a British fighter but the name I can't recall.

[bull]

Copter pics

[Drache]

The last navy WW2 plane is a Grumman Avenger Torpedo Bomber. That parge bump on the bottom was where the torpedo was put and that would open up like huge bomb bay doors.

[Drache]

The British plain looks like the a Recconaissence version of the Spitfire. It was stripped of all it's guns, radio, etc so it would fly faster and equiped with a camera! *pictured Below*




The Spitfire most people know and see in the movies (like Pearl Harbor) are the Spitfire Mk2 and 3s.

[bull]

Thanks Drache.

Here's another one I don't know the name of pictured first. The second is a retired F4 Phantom from the Oregon ANG and 3rd is the Flying Tiger or Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. Outside they had three tanks and a bunch of armored personnel carriers that were unidentified. Not sure what the plans are for those.

[metallicareload99]

EDITED:  jeeze I'm off: First plane is a North American FJ-4 Fury, tank is Russian PT-76 Amphibious Tank

[bull]

I was just looking in my book and figured that first one might be a North American F-86E Sabre but it was just a guess.

[bull]

Here's some Spruce Goose facts: (from http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fpt/nwfp/goose/goose.html):

Wingspan
320 ft
96.9 m

Tailspan
113.5 ft
34.4 m

Vertical Tailspan
49.5 ft
15 m

Hull Length
219 ft
66.4 m

Hull Width
25 ft
7.6 m

Hull Height
30 ft
9.1 m

Overall Height
79 ft
24 m

Gross Weight
300,000 lbs
136 200 kg

Wing Area
11,430 sq. ft.
1050 sq. m

Max. Wing Thickness
11.5 ft
3.5 m

Payload
130,000 lbs
59 020 kg

Fuel Capacity
14,000 gallons
56 000 L

Power
24,000 hp

Design Cruising Speed
200 mph (322km/h)

Landing Speed (sea level)
10% above stall with 45’ flap:
81 to 87 mph

Maximum Range
3,000-3,500 miles

Endurance
20.9 hours at Best Cruising Speed

Maximum Service Ceiling
20,900 ft

Maximum Rate of Climb
1,000 ft/min

Engines*
8 Pratt and Whitney 28 cylinder R-4360’s, 3,000 hp each

Propellers**
8 four-bladed Hamilton Standards, diameter 17’2"

*Largest radial reciprocating engines ever built.
**The four inboard propellers have reverse pitch capability.

The Hughes HK-1 Flying Boat was conceived of during World War II, as a solution to the Allies’ critical need to fly over enemy submarines that were devastating shipping lanes. The brainchild of Henry Kaiser, it was designed and constructed by Howard Hughes and his staff. Built of wood--primarily birch, not spruce--to avoid using materials considered essential to the war effort, the massive plane became better known as the Spruce Goose. Unfortunately, it was not completed until after the war had ended, and flew only once, on November 2, 1947.

The Spruce Goose is still the biggest plane ever built. The wingspan (320 feet), chord (51 feet), depth (11 feet), and area (11,430 square feet) remain unapproached to this day. To fully appreciate its size, consider that its wingspan is about half again that of a modern Boeing 747-400!

The HK-1 Flying Boat (later changed to H-4 Hercules when Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project) is of a single hull, eight-engine design. It has a single vertical tail, fixed wing-tip floats, and full cantilever wing and tail surfaces. All primary control surfaces except the flaps are cotton-fabric covered. Its hull is divided into a flight deck and a cargo deck, access between which is provided by a circular stairway. Giant fuel bays divided by watertight bulkheads are located below the cargo deck.

The Goose’s entire airframe and surface structures are composed of laminated wood, almost entirely birch, and are almost entirely devoid of nails and screws. The ‘Duramold’ process used to form each component of the plane uses layers of 1/32 inch wood veneer. Layers are arranged with their grain running perpendicular to that of their neighbours, bonded with special glues, and shaped with steam. The end product is a material of amazing lightness and strength.

Designed as a cargo-type flying boat that would transport men and materials over long distances, the Goose was capable of carrying up to 750 troops, or 2 Sherman-class tanks. Its large-opening front doors (not installed at the time of its flight) would have allowed drive-on access, and quick loading and unloading. Its complex power boost systems gave the pilot the strength of a hundred men. Dismissed as impossible even by many of Hughes’ colleagues, and dubbed ‘the flying lumberyard’ by a disgruntled US senator, the Spruce Goose was decades ahead of its time. Its development shaped modern flight, solving tremendous design and engineering problems, testing new concepts for large-scale hulls and flying control surfaces, and revolutionising jumbo flying bodies and large lift capability. The cargo planes of today bear the Spruce Goose a striking resemblance in some important ways.

Howard Hughes proved to be a demanding taskmaster on the Flying Boat project. His attention to detail and insistence on perfection were largely responsible for the beauty of the finished aircraft. But they were also responsible for its late completion and alleged cost over-runs (one report says that US $22 million of the government's money, and $18 million of Hughes' own money, went into building it.) This brought the project and Hughes under the scrutiny of the post-war Congress, culminating in his being called to Washington, DC to defend the plane and himself. The unannounced--some say unintended--flight across Long Beach Harbour was piloted by Hughes during a break in the hearings, and as legions of non-believers had to change their opinions regarding its ability to fly, both the project and the man were vindicated. However, the project was dead, and the Spruce Goose never flew again.

When the hearings had finished, Howard Hughes took responsibility for the plane and locked it in a special hangar with an extensive air-conditioning system creating a carefully controlled environment. For years, the Goose was maintained almost as an active aircraft, its engines run up each month.

After Hughes' death in April 1976, efforts began to preserve the old wooden behemoth, and by 1980 it had been acquired by the California Aero Club. In 1982 it joined the graceful old ship Queen Mary on the Long Beach, California waterfront, where it became a popular tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors. This picture shows the Goose being moved into its exhibit hall at Long Beach.

On display in its specially designed and constructed dome, the Spruce Goose appeared to have found a permanent home. However, in 1988 Disney Corporation acquired the company holding the lease on the exhibit, and two years later it announced plans for a theme park on the site. No provision was made for the further preservation of the Goose. After a mad scramble, and talk of breaking it into parts for display at nine different sites, Evergreen International Aviation was chosen to give the plane a new, permanent home in its to-be-built Air Venture Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

The huge plane had to be dismantled for transport since flying it was out of the question. Some of the original team that built the Flying Boat were brought in to help draw up a plan to get it into manageable sections while preserving its structural integrity.

Disassembly and other preparations for the move began August 10, 1992 and took over a month. The smaller sections were trucked north; the larger ones were barged up the Pacific coast, then inland via the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, reaching Portland, Oregon on October 22. The final leg of the journey to McMinnville was not completed until February 27, 1993 due to bad weather and unfavourable river levels.

[SirNik73]

In 1997 my grandpa took me to the 50th anavercery of the Air Force. at the air show there was a bunch of plains on display. one was teh SR-71. the piolet was there withthe plain. he told me that the Air Force operated 2 SR-71s still. the one he was standing next to and the one flying in the airshow. i asked him how fast it was and he said that he couldn't say, but that he could be any where in the world in 3 hrs. that just shocked me.

[bull]

In 1997 my grandpa took me to the 50th anavercery of the Air Force. at the air show there was a bunch of plains on display. one was teh SR-71. the piolet was there withthe plain. he told me that the Air Force operated 2 SR-71s still. the one he was standing next to and the one flying in the airshow. i asked him how fast it was and he said that he couldn't say, but that he could be any where in the world in 3 hrs. that just shocked me.

Yea, it was fast. It's still the fastest "air-breathing, manned" aircraft at Mach 3+. But the unmanned ramjet aircraft have obliterated the speed record:

"The X-43A flight easily set a world speed record for an air-breathing or jet engine aircraft. The previous known record was held by a ramjet powered missile, which achieved slightly over Mach 5. High-speed air-breathing engines, like a ramjet, mix compressed air from the atmosphere with fuel to provide combustion. The same is true of the scramjet or supersonic combustion ramjet that powers the X-43A. The highest speed attained by a rocket-powered airplane, NASA's X-15 aircraft, was Mach 6.7. The fastest air-breathing manned vehicle, the SR-71, achieved slightly more than Mach 3. The X-43A more than doubled the top speed of the jet-powered SR-71. 

Editors Note: The X-43A was un-manned, carried aloft by a B-52 and rocket assisted to an altitude of 110,000 feet before the scramjet engine on the X-43A ignited and boosted the speed of the craft to Mach 9.7. The X-43A is now in the Guinness Book of World records as the fastest air-breathing aircraft in the world. The SR-71 is still the fastest air-breathing, manned aircraft in the world."

[Lowprofile]

Great Pics Bull.  Thanks.

There was a SR-71 on display at battleship park in Biloxi,MS.  I wonder if it ,and all the other planes made it thru the storm? That would truly be a shame if it got FUBAR'ed in the Hurricane.