The B-17 Desert Rat is apparently on the move soon

[Pat Carry]

The B-17 known as Desert Rat currently under restoration in Illinois is apparently moving to a new museum forming in Utah. check https://warbirdwatcher.com/2016/08/27/v ... ion-museum. An interesting development if it comes to pass.

[Jerry O'Neill]

Nice to hear some help will be speeding up the process. And a flying B-17C? Nice!

[JohnB]

Good luck to him.

Just wondering, how many visitors does the Hill museum get in that area?
Is SLC and Utah particularly good area for historic aviation museums?

[T J Johansen]

Which A-26 do they have? Their website is not quite there yet.

T J

[bomberfan]

Which A-26 do they have? Their website is not quite there yet.

T J

Mike owns My Mary Lou which was the Collings Foundation Invader that crashed on take off at an airshow some years back. It's a 100 or so mission combat vet. He is trying to sell it to help finance the Desert Rat but the main problem is the Collings Foundation still has the tail. With no tail, it's proven to be very hard to sell.

[Tim Savage]

Which A-26 do they have? Their website is not quite there yet.

T J

Mike owns My Mary Lou which was the Collings Foundation Invader that crashed on take off at an airshow some years back. It's a 100 or so mission combat vet. He is trying to sell it to help finance the Desert Rat but the main problem is the Collings Foundation still has the tail. With no tail, it's proven to be very hard to sell.

If I recall correctly the Collings Foundation still owns the identity and paperwork....effectively making this parts...

[wendovertom]

Hill AFB museum gets a TON of visitors each year. The base air show gets well over 250,000 attendees as well. Being centrally located they get lots of school groups as well. They have a really good youth education program as well. Having said that, the Museum "Desert Rat" is going to is obviously NOT the Hill museum.

I have never heard of this new group but if they are at the Ogden Hinckley airport they are very close to a good size population of aviation enthusiasts. I know a lot of the work at the Hill museum is done by off duty USAF folks and contractors and I cannot think this project will receive any less support - especially when it is going to be a flyer! I know the Wendover volunteer group has already expressed interest in organizing to go support the B-17 project. It will be nice to eventually have a flying B-17 here in Utah!

Tom P.

[aerovin]

The museum is (or will be) located at the South Valley Regional Airport located about 5 south-southwest of KSLC (the old #2 airport).

[wendovertom]

Thanks Scott. I am pleased and surprised! South Valley (or maybe the past management) had it out pretty good with the Utah CAF wing and would not let them set up a museum there. I am glad to hear that perhaps cooler heads have prevailed! Personally, South Valley is VERY centrally located and they should be right in the "thick" of the Salt Lake population and be able to get a lot of volunteers.

Tom P.

[JohnB]

Thanks for the demographic information...I was wondering.

[kmiles]

Which A-26 do they have? Their website is not quite there yet.

T J

Mike owns My Mary Lou which was the Collings Foundation Invader that crashed on take off at an airshow some years back. It's a 100 or so mission combat vet. He is trying to sell it to help finance the Desert Rat but the main problem is the Collings Foundation still has the tail. With no tail, it's proven to be very hard to sell.

If I recall correctly the Collings Foundation still owns the identity and paperwork....effectively making this parts...

And pretty much anything that was salvageable. Would be a very a tall order to even put together a static airframe for display from what was left there. What was left was pretty well twisted, so would be very difficult sell given the current value of viable A-26 projects.