Warbird Information Exchange

I was just reading on their website about the American Air Museum closing for a year starting in early March. It does not give any other details. Just wondering if anyone has anymore info they could share about this.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

From the website it almost sounds like they are moving the planes out to other buildings. Wonder if they are expanding the building or doing some sort of structural repairs...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

they are cleaning and rearranging, from what I have read, concrete dust from the ceiling has been a on going issue.

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Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
Check out the Ercoupe Discussion Group on facebook

I wonder if they'll start sending requests for money to my old Florida address?
I donated to them on the very first round of begging for money when it was still a dream. I swear they spent that money (and then some) sending my requests for more money, for many years.
They are the reason I no longer donate anything to any non-profit to include my name.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

You too huh P51? Same scenario as you, I sent them money and they inundated me with requests for more. And more. And more. Eventually, I stopped sending them money and went so far as to call them and ask them to remove me from their mailing list. My father's name is the same as mine. They must have gotten his name and address off of the interweb somehow and they have been sending him requests for money. Certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you try to help an organization like them and they attach themselves to you like a leach!

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

The problem with the AAM is that, in spite of all the architectural awards it has won, it has some serious design flaws and it is not fit for purpose. Firstly, it has no doors. This is the third time since it opened that they have had to remove the entire glass frontage, using cranes, in order to move the exhibits. This time they will be disposing of some altogether (F-100 and T-33) and a couple will be removed and not replaced (TBM, B-25) but may well still stay part of the Duxford collection, just no longer in the AAM. Secondly, the concrete, as has been mentioned, is giving off corrosive dust which is damaging the exhibits, hence the need to pull everything out and do some remedial work on the structure and the aircraft. That's the reason they need to have a constant flow of funds. A shame they didn't do a better job of specifying the basic building requirements in the first place.

I've never been a fan of the building style. It's not "in-keeping" with the vintage hangars that were already on the field. Of course they didn't consult me during the design phase...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

What a cluster. Why not just build a hangar type structure to honor the men who flew in these aircraft? Nothing fancy is needed. No need to build something that will win awards. A simple building would have given them minimal problems and maintenance. People just dont get it.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

As the client, did anyone at the time at the IWM actually have an understanding of what was required to be able to spec what was needed...?

Unlikely.

I suspect all they wanted was to 'win' an award, which would bring in publicity for the IWM, which would be the only reason to have appointed Fosters as architects. Clearly VFM wasn't a requirement. Having worked on projects they have been architects for, they aren't all they are hyped up to be, and I wouldn't have let them anywhere near the project in the first place.
The same can be said for a few other 'big name' architects where style over substance is the priority.

I think as a general rule, if you need a building, you should never hire an architect anyone has ever heard of. Every architect you can name is/was a sculptor that works on a large scale. Wright, LeCorbusier, Pei, Ghery - none of these guys could design a working cowshed if their lives depended on it.

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

They sure as heck should have listened to you.That structure is so completely out of place as to be some kind of joke.

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Hang The Expense

The IWM are serial offenders when it comes to wasting money with architects. The latest revamp of the IWMs London home is a masterpiece in how NOT to layout a museum.
Going further north into England the IWM North in Manchester is a building full of architect 'style' and is meant to represent a 'fractured world'. The trouble is it lacks the one thing a museum should contain - exhibits.
At Duxford not only is the modern style of the AAM out of place with all the period buildings but someone needed to tell the architects that positioning a building's only windows facing due South will result in lighting problems for both viewing and cooling (even in a British summer).
The IWM at Duxford isn't just the only UK aircraft museum cursed by allowing architects to have their heads. The RAF Museum's Cold War Museum at RAF Cosford has a main public entrance (and emergency exit) partially blocked by a diagonal piece of the buildings steel structure.

I was amazed to see how they "extracted" their B17 a few years ago for restoration.
How building a aircraft museum without a correct door ?
Just for the fun : the military museum's aviation hall here in Brussels (Belgium) has a wider door and this building was build at ....the end of the 19 century...

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Sorry for my bad English:-(