Warbird Information Exchange

I don't comment on these touchy topics, but I think if there is any chance of him getting it back by a lawsuit or ? then I would much rather see her in a climate controlled museum than shoved behind a building on some base where most people will never see her. At least she is safe from the elements, and the scrappers.

_________________
Remember, the propeller is only there to keep the pilot cool.If you don't believe me, have it stop and watch the pilot start sweating!

I have had a hand in this fight. I am not passing judgement on the owner or who is at fault with the importation.

1. It appears that the plane was imported illegally. I was hopping this was not the case.

2. The plane could have been destroyed and run through a shredder.

3. It now is on public display indoors.

4. I still disagree with Naval policy on the abandoned wrecks they claim to care for.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

_________________
An ego is no match for gravity.

We have fires and floods, too.

It's a shame that Mr. Henrickson lost the airplane, but the law was broken, and punishment was dealt. That's the way the legal system works; break the law and suffer the consequences. Knowing what could have happened to the airplane -- like being scrapped, for example -- this is not such a bad outcome.

_________________
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

All the AD would need is an annual, I hope they fly it to Mobile as that would probably be cheaper and less onerous than over the road shipping. It would be a short barge ride from Brookley to the museum; no disassembly required.

I should probably let this go and drop it.......but here's a few thoughts that someone maybe able to answer.....I might question the level of "illegally" when discussing being imported illegally. From what I read in the newspaper accounts by the owner and the Feds....there is/are/was two issues. One was the aircraft coming in at the border. The second was the weaps. If the aircraft was coming in at the border, like thousands of other aircraft coming into the country, and the paperwork was not completed, why wasn't the aircraft stopped at the border instead of allowing it to continue? If there was a paperwork issue, hold the aircraft where it's at (in this case Alabama), get the proper import/approval paperwork completed, assess a fine if need be and go from there. I'd suspect this maybe consistant or in precident with other aircraft coming into the country and "break the law" with import/approval issues. Was this particular aircraft singled out?? How/when/why did the Navy Museum get involved with a privately purchased aircraft involved in litigation? I guess that's for the sea lawyers to figure out as things go forward.

Secondly, the weaps. They were shipped separate from the aircraft with all the other parts. Was there something nefarious going on? I don't know and wouldn't even hazard a guess. The Feds say yes. As I'd speculate....couldn't the aircraft and weaps be handled as two different issues and addressed separately. Would that not be correct? What is the precident for situations such as this? Was the owner treated differently in this?

I would speculate this particular aircraft would have never been scrapped as that was a scare tactic. Govt heads would have rolled had that of happened. It would have been horrible PR for the govt and I'd further speculate there would have been Congressional intervention after the onslaught of newspaper and tv exposure. As with any high dollar seizure....it would have (and maybe should have) gone to auction as the govt wants the bucks.

I can see a few black eyes on this. The first is for the owner for not insuring the I's were dotted and T's crossed. Another for the govt's predatory actions and another for the Navy Museum....all this my opinion of course.

BTW....whatever happened to all the aircraft parts/pieces in the shipment? Or should that not be asked?

From the owner's website, it appears Congressional involvement has been and/or is being worked on.

Ok....off the soapbox...err...checkstand in this case.

I'm not sure what it exactly means, but it says that the pilot gave fals information at the border with the aircraft. The weapons were in a crate burried under bunch of parts. They were not listed on any paperwork. As far is the Navy being involved, once again objects are turned over to the controlling body. The US Customs identified it as a Navy type aircraft and turned it over to the Navy who in turn passed it to the NMNA.

For the record, I have nothing against Mr. Hendrickson, and do not know him. I am sure that he was just trying to get a warbird to fly. That being said, I can completely understand that several laws were broken here.

_________________
Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

I agree too. Poor guy probably just made a mistake. He didnt need to get burned.

_________________
Shop the Airplane Bunker At
www.warbirdbunker.com

Without debating the law and who did or did not break it the fact is Uncle Sugar decided the plane was now his. And also last I checked Uncle Sugar was a bit on the broke side. So why not auction the aircraft off instead of stashing it away. I am sure there are a few people out there that might have parted with some cash to own and fly it.

_________________
Flying Piper L4-J 45-55209

Since the NMNA needs funds to raise a certain airplane off the coast of California, I say sell the Skyraider and let it fly then use the funds to get that airplane that's corroding away! It's a win win for all of us.

That's what I thought would be the final outcome of this. I'm kind of surprised it didn't end up in some sort of government liquidation auction or sale.

I am very disappointed that this aircraft has become static but considering other possible outcomes, it's not as bad as it could have been. The aircraft, or parts of it at least, were imported illegally. Considering the possible outcomes, a public display in a climate-controlled building isn't so bad. At least the aircraft is still around for us to gripe about the outcome.

_________________
Matt

Adding my $0.02 to the mix, I too would much prefer to see this SPAD cruising around the pattern on any given day than sit in a museum, but it's under the competent and capable hands of Mike Thompson and the staff and volunteers, and rest assured it is in good hands at Battleship Park. The argument about the museum's location/hanger location, while true, it's feet from the Mobile Bay; is just as safe there as it would be anywhere, and Owen pointed that out.
There is a hard lesson learned that I wasn't even aware of regarding importing aircraft, or more specifically, former combatant military aircraft. It's a shame to have a dream smashed due to possible under oversight or the laws, but ignorance to laws is not an excuse to break existing laws. If the intent was to fully duck under laws, than this outcome could have been worse for everything involved, including the aircraft and Mr. Hendrickson. I do feel for Mr. Hendrickson, but as stated before, it's going to a good place. Hopefully this story will encourage others to ensure all paperwork is in place.
I don't know if this would help, but maybe this would be a topic for collectors like Paul Allen, or Jerry Yagen, to explain somewhere the whole process that they have completed successfully numerous times over in the past. Granted, I'm sure they had lawyers on top of this.

We had WIX's own Jim Beasley on to talk about importing a Mustang and a Spitfire a few weeks ago.

http://www.warbirdradio.com/2012/01/the ... m-eastern/

_________________
Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Wouldn't it be nice if people could conduct business with a handshake and no lawyers involved? I'm sure that if the Goverment didn't have thousands of lawyers on hand and all our money, the ourcome of all this would be different.

In case I missed something, which I may have, let me say that I know Claude Hendrickson, he flies into my airport once or twice a year. That's how 'well' I know him. I haven't seen him in a while. My question is, did I read where all of this falls back on the importer & apparently the pilot? Claude just got caught in the middle, is that right? If that's the case, it seems to me Claude has grounds for lawsuits. Whether he could do any good with them is another deal.

The owner hired a customs broker to get the paperwork taken care of. Unfortunately, because he was the registered owner, the government came after him. 5-6 customs agents checked over the airplane in Buffalo when she came into the country. None flagged the airplane for paperwork issues. As for the guns, they were not supposed to come in the container with the parts. The French in charge of packing the container did send the guns. This was caught as we all know. What isn't being reported, is the Form 6 was allowed to be filled out and they now own the guns legally!

An unfortunate ending to an event that could've been handled better. As someone else stated, usually this can be worked out by filling out the correct paperwork, and a max fine of something like $ 10,000 is usually assessed.