Swoose at NMUSAF

[gemmer]

My two cents here, although I admit my opinions may be worth even less than that.

I agree with Mustang Driver - I'd like to see her displayed as The Swoose, but as close to her combat condition as is historically accurate. As The Swoose, she's a tribute to some overlooked men - the mechanics who kept 'em flying in the early days of the war. Those guys almost always found SOME way to fix the aircraft, come Hades or high water. It didn't matter if they had to ransack scrap heaps for the parts and components they needed, and then work for 48 hours straight in the heat and mud/dust and bugs. The Swoose shows what the mechanics could accomplish under dreadful circumstances. They established an unmatched legacy of resourcefulness and dedication to duty.

This would be a much easier debate if there were at least one more Sharkfin. I keep thinking of a photo in Pete Bowers' book, showing a D model lying in a scrap heap at Kelly before the war ended. Maybe it's 20-20 hindsight, but doggone it, why didn’t someone from either the Air Force or Boeing have the foresight to preserve at least one Sharkfin?

The best bet would be to display some sort of graphic illustration next to the aircraft that explains her entire service history, combat and all.

Good point about the men who were not acknowledged to be part of this aircraft's history. With all due respect to General Brett's opinion to the contrary, it was right to save the Swoose, but I honestly believe it was done for the wrong reason.

[Garth]

I really hope the new restoration facility at the Hazy Center carries the name Paul Garber. I think it would be fitting...

It's going to be named "The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar".

http://www.nasm.si.edu/getinvolved/givi ... ration.cfm

Mrs. Engen is the widow of Admiral Engen, who was the NASM Director who really made the Udvar-Hazy Center happen (with the $65 Million donation from Udvar-Hazy, of course). The Engen family recent gave a significant bequest (I can't remember how much, but it was in the multiple millions of dollars) to get Phase II started.

(edit: the graphic is interesting in that it shows Enola Gay, which doesn't need further restoration, inside the facility. My guess is to demonstrate how much of the facility is behind the viewpoint in the picture.)

[cott]

[quote="GarthWRT the Swoose, SSSB, Memphis Belle, Flak Bait, etc, everyone should keep in mind that it's much better to be fighting over where and how a surviving and priceless piece of history should be displayed than lamenting that it somehow slipped through our fingers and no longer exists.[/quote]

Absolutely.

[Django]

As The Swoose, she's a tribute to some overlooked men - the mechanics who kept 'em flying in the early days of the war. Those guys almost always found SOME way to fix the aircraft, come Hades or high water. It didn't matter if they had to ransack scrap heaps for the parts and components they needed, and then work for 48 hours straight in the heat and mud/dust and bugs. The Swoose shows what the mechanics could accomplish under dreadful circumstances. They established an unmatched legacy of resourcefulness and dedication to duty.

Interesting... I wonder how that would go over, if the front and rear were 2 different shades of OD to illustrate that point?