Warbird Information Exchange

Just wondering if it still open? They no longer have a website and I recall someone here recently saying they were unloading many of their aircraft. Thanks

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

All gone. Everything left is at Dakota Territory Air Museum.

And with them went dreams of a Texas-style Duxford at Ellington.

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Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas

PIC, Ford 6600 pulling Rhino batwing up and down the runway

So true...

As was explained here in the past, one of the two individuals on the financial/owner end of things stepped away, and part of the change incorporated was the transition of the aircraft moving solely to the Dakota Territory Air Museum and continuing to operate under that name. The Dakota Territory Air Museum had always been connected with the Texas Flying Legends Museum from the start, with the collection spending time at both locations, so now the aircraft just remain hangared at the DTAM year-round (that is to say when they're not flying/not on the road at airshows).

The collection remains largely the same, still incorporating the P-51C "Lope's Hope 3rd", P-51D "Little Horse", P-51D "Dakota Kid II", F8F Bearcat, P-40E Warhawk, FM-2 Wildcat, FG-1D Corsair, Mk.IX Spitfire, C-53 "Duchess of Dakota", B-25J "Betty's Dream", Iwo Jima vet L-5 and Harvard. The aircraft connected to the individual who dropped out were sold or are currently for sale (those being a P-40K and Avenger that were sold to the Mid America Flight Museum, a Zero which was sold to Ron Lauder, and supposedly the B-25 and Corsair have been for sale). Currently there is another P-51D, a Hawker Hurricane and a razorback P-47, all under restoration to fly for the DTAM, and an eventual P-38.

The Iwo Jima L-5 is currently on exhibit at Lone Star Flight Museum.

Thanks for the info gentlemen.

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Scott Rose
Editor-In-Chief/Webmaster
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John T you mentioned a P-38 in your last post for what was once the Texas Flying Museum. Is this the P-38 that is in storage with Air Corp Aviation? And might this be the remains of the P-38 that Jeff Ethall lost his life in way back around 1997 or 1998? There must be more of that P-38 than what I would have thought left to work with. I hope that someday that P-38 returns to the Wild Blue.

Whose dream was this? I live in Houston and frequent Ellington and never heard of this dream. Sounds like a great idea though. However, I've always found it difficult to just see what is based at Ellington, much less get access to hangars. Try getting a clear picture of the Guppy or one of the WB-57s from public spaces. An Ellington "open house" event would be nice. Other than LSFM getting moved in, it seems Ellington has been slowly going the wrong direction. Examples: TANG is now drones - used to be F-16s and copters, Wings and Wheels is long gone, there used to be FBOs and flying clubs, TFL gone, Continental/United gone, and probably others I can't remember. I still like the open house idea though. Anybody know the right people to contact for such an idea?

There is already an open house at Ellington every year - Wings Over Houston.

The Continental airline service was a weird thing that only existed because of exploits in public funding that made the 25 mile flight actually possible, not that it was actually profitable in itself. However, as for the rest, while Houston Hobby and Intercontinental have been seeing a steady decline in GA and Air Taxi operations, Ellington has been seeing a small decrease in GA traffic (consistent with national trends), but a pretty steady increase in Air Taxi operations. So, overall, EFD has been growing. The only thing that's changed is the military ops.

I don't know whose dream it was, but this was a published fact. There was an article in "Air Classics" magazine many years ago about this idea and the hopes of the developers to make it THE warbird epicenter of the United States. Duxford was specifically mentioned in that article, btw, and they were drawing comparisons to it. There were grandiose plans in the works for this idea. Sadly, it never came to fruition and probably never will now.

I can't argue with someone's dream, but it was a pipe dream. I would love to see such a thing happen at Ellington, or any airport in the Houston area. A "Texas-style Duxford" in my backyard. That would be great. But, it's just too darn hot! Part of the reason TFL based their planes seasonally. Ellington probably has the most going for it to get an idea like that off the ground. Just a few thoughts to throw out for discussion... Lots and lots of ramp space. Lots of parking space. Room to grow. Does the proximity to Hobby hurt (airspace issues)? A runway more in line with prevailing winds would be good. Close to population center - good and bad? Kermit and LSFM might mention something about hurricane worries. One more thing about weather (because it absolutely sucks down here in the arm pit of the Gulf), it seems the other meccas for aviation seem to do ok even though their weather is also unpredictable and severe at times, so maybe it's not as big of an issue as I make it out to be.
I absolutely love the idea of making Ellington into a grand aviation destination. Just wish it woulda, coulda, shoulda had more traction.

Here is the list of warbirds or unique aircraft that currently live at Ellington:

Lone Star:
B-17
B-25
DC-3
P-47
F4U-5N
SBD-5
TBM-3
T-6
2 x Stearman

Collings:
F-4D
F-100F
TA-4J
UH-1E
T-33
Me262B

Vietnam War Flight Museum:
AD-4N
Huey
Cobra
MiG-15
MiG-17
MiG-21
Gnat

NASA:
25 or so T-38's
Super Guppy
3 x WB-57's

The CAF Helldiver also occasionally lives on the field, and there are also at least 2 L-39's, 1 L-29, a MiG-17UTI, SNJ, C-45, and I think a T-28 now.

I knew about most of those, but other than the LSFM, can't really see any until October. Oh, occasionally I get to see a T-38 fly over my work. It is an impressive list. Too bad one can't pay an all-inclusive entry fee and walk around and see all of them, ala Duxford. I realize the inherent issues and orgs involved. Just sayin, with that list, you have a lot of great ingredients for making a dream come true.

Yep, it's the armpit of the Gulf in the summer but we have wonderful winters! Don't aim your camera at the NASA hangar when it's open, security will drop by and say, "don't do dat"!

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