Restoration photos at NMUSAF

Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:45 pm

There are new photos posted for restorations at the Natl Museum of the USAF. check them out at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/photos/index. ... leryID=535 Do they have alot of projectas going on or what!

Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:15 pm

Yeah you can see that the whole interior of the Belle was painted, but should not be. So the whole inside has to be cleaned up. The Belle is the main concern with the restoration staff, although the other projects are being finished up as well.

Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:19 pm

Mustangdriver, how large is the restoration staff?

Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:46 pm

Well, I am not sure. There are three groups. YOu have the volunteers that come down on a different schedule. Some of them go down weekly, while some are there daily. Then you have the the paid staff that are there Monday thru Friday. Then there are the active USAF personell that comeover and work as well. SO I am not really sure. I am not on a paid staff member, just a volunteer. I live in Pittsburgh so only get down there once a month, and that is tougher than it sounds. Now when I do work down there, I try and help with research and items like that. What is normally done withthe aircraft is that the serial number is researched along with the airframe to see where it served, and what paint schemes it had. After that, many three view drawings are designed to see which of the paint schemes it wore will be selected. A lot of times it has to do with figuring out what time frame you want to display the aircraft as. If for some reason the airframe at the museum does not have a significant history, a paint scheme will be selected to honor a specific person or squadron. Recently the museum has gotten away from doing that and displaying the aircraft in it's real markings. Obviously with some of the more rare airframes, you can't do that.

Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:10 pm

Thanks for all that info Mustangdriver. Does the museum still have plans to start construction on the new buildings this year?

Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:13 pm

They are still fundraising, but they do have something like 85% of the funds needed. I heard that by the end of the year they will break ground. It will be great to get all of the aircraft indoors. We are also on the drawing board to get a the Space Shuttle Discovery and a C-5.

Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:52 pm

Why are theying doing a French fighter for the U. S. Air Force Museum?

Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:57 pm

mustangdriver wrote:They are still fundraising, but they do have something like 85% of the funds needed. I heard that by the end of the year they will break ground. It will be great to get all of the aircraft indoors. We are also on the drawing board to get a the Space Shuttle Discovery and a C-5.

I'm so excited. This is just going to be amazing! With another building, they are going to need to put in a tram or something from the Vietnam hanger to the new hanger!

Speaking of the restorations, where is the He-111 at right now?

Sun Apr 22, 2007 3:25 pm

That MiG is looking good...she was just being prepped for paint when I was there in December. I don't recall seeing the X-19..is it a recent acquisition?

I noticed that the Belle had been painted inside (the wrong color, as well.) Looks like a lot of the work will consist of undoing previous restoration attempts. I remember back in the '80s they stripped away all of the restorations and touch-ups from Leonardo's "Last Supper," in an attempt to leave only what he had originally painted. They uncovered some surprising little details that had been lost, and also discovered that only a ghost of the original painting was left. Obviously, the Belle is a different case..I'm really looking forward to seeing her returned to her former glory.

SN