Warbird Information Exchange

their 747 has been getting some TLC and there is talk about construction of a new building to house it. www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/20 ... /17696495/

Nice plane. Glad it was preserved...and now restored...

Wow she looks fantastic well done. Hope the 727 gets the same treatment!

Isn't this the one that a pilot did an axial roll with?

Bill

The famous roll was done with the prototype 707, now at Udvar-Hazy (NASM Smithsonian).

old iron wrote:The famous roll was done with the prototype 707, now at Udvar-Hazy (NASM Smithsonian).

More formally known as the model 367-80 but even better known as the "Dash 80"

It rolled out of the Boeing Renton factory on May 15, 1954 and the famous 1G barrel roll was done at about 1,000 ft over Lake Washington on August 6, 1955 during the Seattle Seafair hydroplane races.

Boy, I sure would have loved to have seen that! (But it happened several years before I was born....)

But as to the original topic at hand, the efforts going into restoring and preserving 747 no. 001 is both amazing and appreciated by many I'm sure. My folks currently live in Seattle and graciously sent me an article about it from the Seattle newspaper. One of coolest aspects of the restoration as far as I'm concerned is the fact that the interior is being restored to original flight test configuration complete with test gear and no or very little upholstery, trim, etc. Wires and plumbing are all exposed. One thing it mentioned about which I was not so sure is that the exterior was recently repainted to help seal up the airplane against the weather, but it was not sprayed on, they used rollers!

old iron wrote:The famous roll was done with the prototype 707, now at Udvar-Hazy (NASM Smithsonian).

Sure was, Alvin M 'Tex' Johnston, 1955

http://www.military.com/video/commercia ... 290602001/