Category: Museums / Organizations

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Kermit Weeks Documents Tour of Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum

For the latest installment of his “Kermie Cam” series, Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks paid a visit to the late Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Washington State for a tour of the facility.

The video captures Weeks exploring the impressive collection of military aircraft and vehicles with Executive Director Adrian Hunt, and also discussing the status of the museum since Allen’s passing last year.

The visit will be chronicled in two videos, the first of which can be seen below.

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Siddeley Puma-Powered DH.9 E8894 Performs First Post-Restoration Flight

The Historic Aircraft Collection has announced the first post-restoration flight of de Havilland DH.9 E8894/G-CDLI.

As previously reported, the aircraft is one of two DH.9s discovered in an elephant stable in India and restored over a 15 year period by Guy Black’s Retrotec workshop in East Sussex, England. While the first example (D-5649) was rebuilt for static display at the Imperial War Museum, this second DH.9 was restored to airworthy status and is powered by the only airworthy Siddeley Puma engine in the world. The aircraft is owned by Retrotec’s sister company Aero Vintage and operated by Historic Aircraft Collection.

The flight was reportedly conducted yesterday from the Imperial War Museum’s Duxford airfield with pilot Dodge Bailey at the controls. It lasted 30 minutes and was described as “trouble free.”

Click below to check out photos and video of the test.

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“The Flying Machine” Spring 2019 Edition Now Available!

Aerodynamic Media, LLC is proud to announce the release of the 11th issue of The Flying Machine: Early Aero Quarterly.

Issue #11 Contents:

36 Pages – Wright Tour Guide: Examining Sites and Artifacts Connected to the Wright Brothers and the Birth of Powered Flight (Part 3); Spotlight: Woodall / MAPS Air Museum Sopwith Triplane; Brussel Sprout (NZ Warbirds Association Bristol Scout); News Briefs: Pima Air and Space Museum Sopwith Camel Project, Newly Restored Thomas-Morse S-4B Goes on Display; Products

The Flying Machine focuses exclusively on “aeroplanes” manufactured prior to 1920, as well as the current work of historians, builders, restorers, museums and collectors to preserve and promote interest in the early years of flight. Published in print and digital formats, The Flying Machine is offered on a pay-per-issue basis – no subscription required!

Join us as we pay tribute to early aircraft and the visionaries, geniuses and daredevils who conquered the air while producing some of the most fascinating, ingenious and beautiful machines in aviation’s short history.

Click here to purchase!

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NAS Wildwood Museum Welcomes F6F Hellcat Acquisition, Restoration to Follow

On Friday, Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum reported the arrival of a new acquisition in the form of F6F-3 Hellcat B/N 66237.

This particular aircraft was constructed by Grumman and assigned to VF-20. On January 12, 1944 it ditched at sea near San Diego during a training mission, sinking to a depth of 3,400 ft. It was recovered in 1970 and displayed at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, followed by the Florida-based National Museum Of Naval Aviation.

The museum, located at Cape May Airport in New Jersey, was recently offered the aircraft, which is said to be approximately 80% restored. The museum plans to launch a new project to restore the aircraft “in the most accurate manner possible” for display. When complete, it will wear the colors of of the Hellcat flown by LTJG Arthur Ray Hawkins of VF-31 who was credited with downing seven Japanese aircraft.

Click below to check out photos of its recent arrival at NAS Wildwood. Continue reading NAS Wildwood Museum Welcomes F6F Hellcat Acquisition, Restoration to Follow

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Military Aviation Museum Seeks Full-Time Museum Director

The Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia has put out the call for a full-time Museum Director.

The museum states that they are looking for “an experienced Museum Director that can oversee and manage the entire operation.” stating “There are many large functions that take place at our museum including a World War Two airshow (Warbirds Over the Beach) in May, a musical airshow (Flying Proms) in June, and a First World War airshow (Biplanes and Triplanes) that is held in October. In addition, there are also numerous smaller functions such as a Valentine’s Day costume dance, Wine Fest, children’s summer camp, radio control model airplane meets, conventions, various 5K runway races, vintage car shows, Planes and Trains during Thanksgiving, and many more seasonal events.” Continue reading Military Aviation Museum Seeks Full-Time Museum Director

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Georgia’s Museum of Aviation Foundation Seeks New President/CEO

The Museum of Aviation Foundation at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia is seeking a new President/CEO. The current CEO has released a statement which reads (in part):

Leading the Museum of Aviation Foundation over the past four years has been an amazing honor and privilege. With that, the time has come for me to transition the leadership of this wonderful institution into capable hands.

That said, the Foundation Board of Directors has initiated an immediate search for my successor.

A document has also been released which details position requirements and submission instructions. The statement reads that all submissions must be received by close of business Wednesday, May 8, 2019.

Click below to check out the museum’s complete announcement.

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Former RAN Historic Flight Sea Fury Prepared for Transport to New Home

HARS Navy Heritage Flight of New South Wales, Australia has reported that Hawker Sea Fury WG630 is in the process of being relocated from Nowra to its new home at Albion Park.

The Sea Fury was previously part of the RAN Historic Flight collection, which was acquired by HARS Aviation Museum in 2018. The flight, which was grounded in 2008, consists of the Sea Fury, as well as two Grumman Trackers, two Bell UH-1B helicopters, two Westland HAS.31B helicopters, a de Havilland Sea Venom and a C-47. The Sea Fury will reportedly be on public display while engineering staff work to create a restoration/repair schedule which will hopefully see the machine returned to airworthy condition.

The Sea Fury, which was in storage at Air Affairs in Nowra, recently had its fuselage loaded onto a semitrailer for Friday’s journey. Click below to check out a video of the process.

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Kermit Weeks Releases Second Episode of Q & A Video Series

Fantasy of Flight’s Kermit Weeks has released the second installment of his “Kerime Q’s” video series which answers select questions from his YouTube channel videos.

The second episode sees Kermit responding to questions on the P-51C paint scheme which were raised after the first episode. He then answers a broad selection of questions dealing with Hurricane Andrew and it’s aftermath, progress on the S-38 and Fokker D.VII, acquisition of the Seversky P-35, and much more.

Click below to check it out.

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EAA Museum B-25H Performs First Post-Restoration Flight [Video]

After “countless hours” of work, the EAA Museum’s B-25H Mitchell “Berlin Express” returned to the air on Saturday for its first post-restoration flight.

As previously reported, the aircraft (N10V / S/N 43-4432) was originally delivered to the USAAF in 1943 and went on to serve as an administrative aircraft at several bases around the US. Following the war, it passed through the hands of several owners, including Tallmantz Aviation, who used the machine in the 1970 film Catch-22.

The B-25 was donated to the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1972 where it was restored to flying status as “The City of Burlington.” However, it was damaged in a landing accident in the 1980s, which resulted in cosmetic repairs and static display at the museum.

In 2015, the decision was made to fully restore the aircraft and return it to airworthy condition in order to “honor veterans and promote educational outreach.”

Click below to check out a video of the flight and an overview of the restoration.

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New Kermit Weeks Video Series Details “The Saga of the Stinson L-1”

Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has shared a new two-part video series detailing the “Saga of the Stinson L-1.”

Specifically, the series details FoF’s efforts to “sort out an issue that prevented it from starting and running smoothly.” Work has been ongoing for over a year and part 1 in the series chronicles several attempts to start it during this period, as well as its failure and the frustration of crew members.

Part 2 documents additional attempts and various difficulties the crew has had in finding the source of the problem. It also reveals whether or not a fix was ultimately found.

Click below to check out both parts.

Continue reading New Kermit Weeks Video Series Details “The Saga of the Stinson L-1”