B-52 “Midnight Express” Begins Journey to Seattle, Reassembly for New Memorial to Follow [Video]

Last week The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington received the first truckload of parts for their B-52G Stratofortress “Midnight Express” following an exterior restoration.

As previously reported, the bomber (S/N 59-2584) has been parked outdoors at the museum’s Paine Field facility in Everett for the past 26 years. A $2.2 million effort was launched to restore the machine for use as the centerpiece of a new Vietnam Air War Memorial Park, which will pay tribute to the aircraft of the Vietnam War and honor the service members who flew and supported them.

Now repainted, the aircraft has been partially disassembled and is now in the process of being moved to the memorial park site on west side of the Museum’s Aviation Pavilion. The museum reports that the “small parts” will be stored until final assembly takes place later this spring.

Click below to check out a video of the first parts following their arrival.

Welcome Home B-52! Bit-by-Bit

Welcome home! This morning we got our first truck loads of parts from our B-52, Midnight Express, that is being disassembled Paine Field, Everett, for shipment to the Museum, where we will put all back together at its new home next to the Aviation Pavilion (for more info see, Project Welcome Home http://www.museumofflight.org/Explore-The-Museum/Vietnam-Commemorative-Park). We will be storing the "small parts" in the Aviation Pavilion until the final assemby later this spring. The first to arrive is a landing gear door!

Posted by The Museum of Flight on Thursday, March 29, 2018

 

To learn more about the project or contribute toward its completion, click here.

(via The Museum of Flight Photo: Clemens Vasters via Wikimedia Commons)