After Flak Bait is finished............

[oz rb fan]

the shinden!!!!!!
the grace,myrt or Frances would be nice as well.......

but isnt the kikka in the restoration shop?...would be an interesting display next to the 262

[lmritger]

I did hear from a source "in the know" that the wings for the He 219 are in the paint shop currently.

As to what should be after the 229, I like the idea of the Ta 152 as well, but I think the Ju 388 would be even more amazing. And I'll second the call to clean up Sageburner and get her out there- let's get a flat top F-4 in there!

Lynn

[Pat Carry]

I did hear from a source "in the know" that the wings for the He 219 are in the paint shop currently.

As to what should be after the 229, I like the idea of the Ta 152 as well, but I think the Ju 388 would be even more amazing. And I'll second the call to clean up Sageburner and get her out there- let's get a flat top F-4 in there!

Lynn

On a recent NASM blog I read where the 219's wings will be reunited w/ the plane by the end of the year.

[bfowlernj]

Ta152, BV155, Ju388, Me410

[APG85]

Is there some reason that the B-25 (Carol Jean) can't be towed over and be put on display? It flew in from the airshow circuit and went straight into storage (or maybe it sat outside for years...?). Is there a corrosion problem with it or was it in worse shape than I realize? Just curious as I use to see that plane often at New Jersey airshows when I was a kid...

[redvanner]

Of course I´d say Ta 152. But to be honest, I doubt it. Why? Next year they have the airframe for 70 years, awaiting restoration / display. What will be another 10 years? it´s a mere 14 %. So what? Ok, I´d wish they would restore the 152. Period.

Michael

[Jerry O'Neill]

Arado 196 or Douglas XB-43!

[JohnB]

The B-43 is a milestone in American aviation history, whereas the Ta 152 was a very minor player in WWII.

Yes, Luftwaffe fanboys, it looks cool and has as swastika...but not very historic in operations.

And at the risk of really ticking folks off, I'd suggest the TA should be returned to Germany.
Why?
I believe more people would appreciate it there (my criteria for trading aircraft) there and it's the last one of its type.
It doesn't mean much to the US, as least the Me-262 and 163 ushered in new technologies and have a real stab at history showing the Nazi's last straw.
While more people would see it at the NASM, 95% of them would go..."Neat Nazi, where's the snack bar " whereas in Germany folks would appreciate it as the pinnacle of their piston fighter development.

[DaveM2]

The B-43 is a milestone in American aviation history, whereas the Ta 152 was a very minor player in WWII.

Yes, Luftwaffe fanboys, it looks cool and has as swastika...but not very historic in operations.

And at the risk of really ticking folks off, I'd suggest the TA should be returned to Germany.
Why?
I believe more people would appreciate it there (my criteria for trading aircraft) there and it's the last one of its type.
It doesn't mean much to the US, as least the Me-262 and 163 ushered in new technologies and have a real stab at history showing the Nazi's last straw.
While more people would see it at the NASM, 95% of them would go..."Neat Nazi, where's the snack bar " whereas in Germany folks would appreciate it as the pinnacle of their piston fighter development.

Ha- and the jet fanboys wouldn't say 'neat weird thing- but no where near as cool as the 262, so where's the snack bar?

[JohnB]

Ha- and the jet fanboys wouldn't say 'neat weird thing- but no where near as cool as the 262, so where's the snack bar?

Only the ignorant jet fanboys...I'd guess that the first American jet bomber is a historic piece of kit. Forerunner to the B-45, 47, 52, B-1....as opposed to the German equivalent of the Grumman Bearcat...a neat airplane, but hardly what our English friends would call a "world beater".

As far as the snack bar goes, from my visits to the NASM only a few really appreciate what they're seeing. There area lot of bored school kids who have more fun playing on the escalator and chasing their girlfriends. The only people who looked more bored (if that's remotely possible) were the security guards.

[DaveM2]

Nevertheless, the Ta 152 is clearly what the majority, of the non ignorant (being Wixers) want to see on display. I believe it only needs to be assembled as work was done on the wooden tail some years ago.

Few kids these days are interested in anything other than their cell phones. Museums have to have a lot of interactive computer displays, aircraft themselves are secondary, even the most unusual will get only a cursory glance by the majority, unless have an interest in kit building etc.

Hopefully the snack bar at NASM is better than that at Hendon-dreadful, although it may be better these days.

[Mike]

Sadly, the snack bar at NASM is a McDonalds

[Steve Nelson]

Sadly, the snack bar at NASM is a McDonalds

..at both the Downtown museum and Udvar-Hazy. At least they were in '08 when I was there. And don't get me started on the security guards at the downtown NASM: "Sure, beat on the priceless airplanes all you want, but if you even think about using a monopod to take pictures we'll chuck your butt out the door!"

As for the XB-43, it and the prop-driven XB-42 have been in storage at the NMUSAF in Dayton for several years now. I don't know which museum officially holds the "pink slips" though.

SN

[bfowlernj]

B-43 at Garber in 1998...

[Richard W.]

U-V has one hell of a collection of exotic, one-of-a-kind German birds going there. Ta-152 would fit in nicely, but it would certainly would start looking like a Luftwaffe museum...