FHC (Flying Heritage Collection) Seattle, flying schedule

[DoraNineFan]

I have been told on numerous occasions that the FW190 will not fly due to it's rarity. Apparently it's the only long nose version extant and they don't want to risk losing it. The Zero has been sitting unfinished for more than a year now, it's close, but not there yet. As more airplanes come available from restoration shops around the globe, the museum intends to expand the current hangar to accommodate.

I was referring to the A-5 model that is still under restoration. I'm not bothered by keeping the D-13 long nose on the ground where it belongs because it's one-of-a-kind. FlugWerk built a couple of long nose fuselages that could get a D-9 in the air one day, like the Tom Blair Allison-engined model. (I'm hoping a Jumo engine finds a home there one day too.) I'm aware of three D-9 projects (including the Allison model) but the others are years away.

[spookythecat]

You will probably never see this collection fly so far away as to lose sight of the hangar in which they sit. The curators are afraid to send them to any air show just in case a paying visitor comes to see an airplane and it not be there some weekend. It does not matter if 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 or 400,000 other people would get to see it, they are mostly concerned with the one person and the $26 they paid being upset. Too bad, they are truly beautiful airplanes.

The part about wanting the planes there for visitors is true from what i've heard. Imagine the disappointment of someone who traveled cross country to see these birds only to find half of them weren't even there.

One correction though. The place doesn't cost $26

Tickets Adults $12
Seniors/Military $10
Youths (6-15) $8
Children (5 and under) Free
Groups (15 or more) $10 per person

I still think they should have a membership program.

Now to continue filling up my calendar.

As for the days listed with "guests" those will be joint fly days with John Sessions planes.

[Mike]

That sounds like a sound business plan to me. If you don't take the aircraft to shows, anyone wanting to see them has to visit the museum. It will probably work for me - a trip to see the Bf109E and I-16 in the air on the same afternoon would certainly be worth the price of an air ticket to Seattle.

[spookythecat]

That sounds like a sound business plan to me. If you don't take the aircraft to shows, anyone wanting to see them has to visit the museum. It will probably work for me - a trip to see the Bf109E and I-16 in the air on the same afternoon would certainly be worth the price of an air ticket to Seattle.

Plus you get to see all his other planes, you can pop over to the other side of the runway to see John Sessions stuff and if you're up for it, you could head down to Olympia on Sunday to catch the second day of the airshow at the Olympic Flight Museum which will likely include some Warbirds, I believe an F-18 demo and some choppers (Huey, Cobra, Huskie).

http://www.olympicflightmuseum.com/airshow.php

[warbird1]

You will probably never see this collection fly so far away as to lose sight of the hangar in which they sit. The curators are afraid to send them to any air show just in case a paying visitor comes to see an airplane and it not be there some weekend. It does not matter if 100,000, 200,000, 300,000 or 400,000 other people would get to see it, they are mostly concerned with the one person and the $26 they paid being upset. Too bad, they are truly beautiful airplanes.

The part about wanting the planes there for visitors is true from what i've heard. Imagine the disappointment of someone who traveled cross country to see these birds only to find half of them weren't even there.

That doesn't seem like a big deal. All they would have to do is publish a calendar of where the planes will be in advance, so somebody who came half way across the globe could be forewarned if their favorite plane would be there or not. Either way, I don't care, the main thing is that the planes are indeed flown on a regular basis. That's more than I could say about a lot of collections out there.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Steve Hinton flew Allen's P-51 to Oshkosh a few years ago for it's public debut after restoration, FWIW.

[p51]

That sounds like a sound business plan to me. If you don't take the aircraft to shows, anyone wanting to see them has to visit the museum. It will probably work for me - a trip to see the Bf109E and I-16 in the air on the same afternoon would certainly be worth the price of an air ticket to Seattle.

Exactly. The area is filled with airplane things to see. FHC is a pretty sanitary collection, just airplanes arranged indoors with nothing really else to see, it’ll bore little kids and spouses to tears. But never fear, you also have at least three good facilities immediately in that area, the Boeing factory tour (which is amazing), the MoF in Seattle, McChord AFB’s museum south of Tacoma, and the Olympia museum south of there. Too much for even a long weekend. Then if you keep pressing toward Portland, you have stuff there too, including the Evergreen museum with the Hughes HK-1 which every airplane needs to see once in their life. These could occupy any airplane fan for the better part of a week. If I didn’t already live in the area, I would have come out here on a museum tour to hit all these places already. Even still, I’ve been to each more than once and never tire of any of them.

[The Inspector]

Right on KPAE the MoF's restration facility is @ the fields main entrance about 1 mile from FHC and you can drive the perimeter road to get to it from FHC, holding an FM2, an F7U, a Navy TV-1, parts of T square 54 the B-29, and too many items to list, all sitting around in organized piles.
Take the Boeing tour, and hit the Boeing gift shop for trash and trinkets, but skip the Future of Flight- the best thing there is the BEECH STARSHIP, the rest, just old random stuff, HOWEVER do plan to be @ FoF in September for the third WARBIRDS WEEKEND.
The McChord museum is off limits unless you are active or retired military, and that's a shame because they have a B-23 and a C-124 and lots of other significant aircraft and historical items and displays but since it's located inside the fence @ joint base Lewis-McChord, the great unwashed are not good enough so go away you smelly person.
Over the hill in Wenatchee is the Clyde Pangborne museum @ Pangborne Field that holds the 'Miss Veedol' that Clyde flew from Japan to Wenatchee in 1931, there are smaller museums in Port Angeles and Concrete, Bill Anders is up @ KBLI in Bellingham (Valhalla, Proud American, and the gravel gobbler Hal B is working on for the museum there)
As I've said here before, Vulcan and FHC do things @ their own pace and pleasure and sort of randomly, it helps to have warehouses full of MICROSQUISH bux-