Madras Airport getting crowded

[maxum96]

That's a lot of round engines and one nice Allison powered twin in one place

Thanks for the pictures Larry.

[Enemy Ace]

Thanks so much for posting these pictures Captain Krause! One of the best threads on WIX in quite some time.

[Larry Kraus]

I realized that I haven't really posted a good picture of the SBD. At the moment,it's hidden in a corner of the maintenance hangar undergoing an annual inspection.So,here's a picture from last fall.The "For Sale" sign is bogus.One of the mechanics put it on there as a joke.



Here's a partial shot from the doorway of another section of the hangar from about a month ago when our DC-7B Tanker 60 was finishing up on winter maintenance.



Here's one more shot from about two weeks ago

[Mark Allen M]

Great stuff Larry. Thx again. You know looking at that SBD sitting there in the hangar it's truly amazing those airplanes were so instrument in helping turn the tide of the war in the Pacific. Fantastic machine.

[Sasquatch]

Thanky you Larry; outstanding stuff! Thank you for keeping us up-to-date on the move and fire tanker activities. Can't wait to visit the new museum location!

Were all these airplanes flown over to Madras, or are some being trucked?

Thanks again...

-Tom

[Larry Kraus]

So far,all of the museum airplanes have been flown with the exception of the P-39.I posted several pictures of that airplane being assembled like an oversized model kit on a previous Madras thread last week.Nobody commented on them,so I don't know if there's any interest in that subject.

Here are some pictures that I took in Madras this morning:



It's hard to center a moving target in the viewscreen on my little Canon SX210,but one of the MD-87 took off for a test flight while I was out on the ramp:





Here's the data block on the tail of the PBY:



Here are shots of the nose art on the PV-2 from either side:





The P-47 and the P-51 have arrived in Madras and were in the noth bay of the new museum hangar this morning:









Here's the TBM from a different angle:



A few detail shots of the Fw-190:











A different angle for the SP-2H:



The DC-7's have been moved to concrete pads beteewn the runway and the taxiway behind the P-2:







There are now three MD-87s that are more or less ready as air tankers:









A few more shots from inside the new hangar this morning:











The plan is for the floors in the new museum hangar to be either painted or polished tomorrow and the mechanics told me that all of the airplanes will be outside tomorrow.I'll go back to Madras tomorrow and see if I can get some shots from different angles.

[Mark Allen M]

Thanks Larry, fun stuff. I forgot some of the planes the museum has. P-47 looks outstanding. Imagine the Fw190, P-38, P-47 and Oscar in the air together for a photo shoot. Super groovy thought.

Thanks again, great photos

M

[Sasquatch]

My drool cup overfloweth! Beautiful, Larry, just beautiful!

-Tom


PS...here's Larry's P-39 disassembly sequence photo thread...very cool!

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52977&p=528109&hilit=madras#p528109

[Richard W.]

I've always loved this Oscar. Just a superb job on the splotch camouflage.

They didn't get too fussy with it and make the pattern too regular, like other Japanese a/c operators have done.

[planeoldsteve]

Larry do they let you exercise the B-17?

Steve

[GARY HILTON]

Thank you Larry for the updates and photos.....Wow! those airstair doors on the -87's make me want to grab a parachute and ask for ransom! When was the Harpoon last flown? And who is her pilot/pilots?

[Larry Kraus]

Gary,the Harpoon was ferried from Tillamook to Madras on either Monday May 12th or Tuesday the 13th.I was pretty busy with getting my DC-7 checkride out of the way and I'm not sure which day it arrived.I believe that Brent Conner flew it over.I don't know who was in the right seat.I'll ask the next time that I see Brent.Here are some shots of that airplane from this morning:
























Steve,I'm pretty sure that I could fly the B-17 sometime,but I always flew working airplanes and I don't think that the museum guys would like our old power settings.I might go up in the old girl someday on a test flight,or something.I always wanted to fly a '17 with all of the turrets just see what difference they made.

Nothing new here,but a few more shots of the B-17:








The P-47 was out of the hangar.Keep in mind that the viewfinder on my camera makes it difficult to to determine what's at the edge of the frame:



I'll continue with today's pictures a little later.Photobucket just shut down for maintenance,so I can't get at my album at that moment.

[AG pilot]

Wow, these are great! Thanks for posting them up, and keep them coming!

[GARY HILTON]

Thanks again for the info.....one of the few Harpoons I have not seen in person....I am happy that there are 4 current airworthy Poons out there...with a couple of potential fliers as well....g

[JohnB]

I know we're not supposed to be critical of paint jobs, but the portrait of Rose is off.
She was much bigger than that in the chest