Warbird Information Exchange

Yeah, it appears that they've made an.... interesting decision. Why isn't she in Willow Run yet?!

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

This plane needs to go inside somewhere soon.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Simply put: Not enough political power to put it there.
The NMUSAF is nothing if not a political organization.
Generals have influenced locations and paint schemes of aircraft for years.
Aircraft are sent to locations based on rank and perceived need rather than what's best for the aircraft.

Thus, there are 2 B-17s in the Omaha area, one parked outside.
The bigger the base and the more powerful general on it, the more power they have with the NMUSAF.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Has the YAM requested it along with a plan for the air frame?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Good luck with that!
As long as Barksdale is home to the 8th AF, they'll have a B-24 as part of the unit's history...and it should have one.

The only way the YAM could get it is to offer a fiberglass B-24 in exchange and make a solid case that the real airframe needs to be indoors.
Even then it will need some pretty high firepower to support it...the CSAF, SECDEF or President would help.
Too bad the YAM isn't in the Prez's old home turf of Chicago...or someone from Michigan isn't president (dig up Gerald Ford or perhaps elect Mitt Romney since he was born there).

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

^^^ That ^^^. Seen it many times.

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In California? Stop by and visit us!
Castle Air Museum

Yeah, much better to do nothing.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

A fresh coat of paint will at least protect her for a few more years...

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Cheers,
Peter

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looks like a bad paint job, but better than nothing for now.
Remember they are hiding another B-24 Liberator, RCAF KK237, in storage at Barksdale (info posted on another thread). They need to send Louisiana Belle to the Y.A.M. when the new bomber plant museum building is finished next year.

looks like a bad paint job, but better than nothing for now.
Remember they are hiding another B-24 Liberator, RCAF KK237, in storage at Barksdale (info posted on another thread). They need to send Louisiana Belle to the Y.A.M. when the new bomber plant museum building is finished next year.

So THAT's what the old "Diamond Lil" would have looked like with turrets... ...sort of...

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WWI & WWII Warbird Fan.

Wow, that's rough looking. I wonder what the thinking was with that paint scheme.

All we can do is keep fighting to get her indoors - eventually someone will take heed. Who knows, maybe the museum in Savannah will expand one day and they can get put it beside their B-17. It's coloring ain't accurate either, but they have taken the time to get its radios and turrets working (which is impressive). This Lib deserves to have just as much TLC.

-G

Which makes the paint scheme all the more bizarre, as I was under the impression that only 9th AF B-24's were painted in desert colors.

WTF?????

A B-24M, and one of the few remaining Ford-built machines, and they slather it with a desert D paint job? That's just beyond forgivable! It's one thing to put a blatantly inaccurate paint scheme on a privately-owned warbird, but this is a museum aircraft. By definition it should be portraying the artifact in as correct a context as possible. And here I was hoping to make a trip to see her next year..by then they'll probably have her painted in AVG shark mouth markings.

SN