Fantasy of Flight question

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:20 pm

Does anyone here recall when the ground breaking ceremony was held for the Fantasy of Flight Museum (if any), and what day the museum actually opened its doors?

N3Njeff · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:24 pm

Another question............was in that area last week, seen what looked like a B-17 sitting on the north side of the ramp.........this is one that he had inside, the andrew victim???? wish I could have stopped, maybe next yr.......was in charlotte in jan, asked her if we could go to the museum there......and she agreed, did not want to do that to her on another getaway.

Warbirdnerd · **Joined:** Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:34 pm **Posts:** 2923

N3Njeff wrote:

Another question............was in that area last week, seen what looked like a B-17 sitting on the north side of the ramp.........this is one that he had inside, the andrew victim??

Brad's "Georgia" thread states that the Brook's B-17 Liberty Belle has been at FOF giving rides.

TonyA · **Posted:** Sat Feb 25, 2006 4:30 am

Brad's "Georgia" thread states that the Brook's B-17 Liberty Belle has been at FOF giving rides.[/quote]

That is correct. Here she is returning from a flight a couple of weeks ago:

She's probably leaving for home round about now.

http://www.fantasyofflight.com/

Craig · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:16 pm

Hi Rob,

Fantasy of Flight opened in November of 1995. We had flown the B-24 in several weeks prior to that. There were four Mustangs flying over for the Opening Day, Lee Lauderback was one, maybe Selby Burch as well. The Grand Opening Gala was after that, I don't recall the date. But it was a great party, with over 1,000 in attendance. I can check my logbook to see the date we flew the -24 into Polk City, we had it parked at Lakeland for a while, and in Georgia before that.

Craig

Randy Haskin · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:28 pm

TonyA wrote:

She's probably leaving for home round about now.

Wasn't there Saturday night during the NWOC party...

B-29 Super Fort · **Joined:** Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:12 am **Posts:** 871

TonyA wrote:

Brad's "Georgia" thread states that the Brook's B-17 Liberty Belle has been at FOF giving rides.

That is correct. Here she is returning from a flight a couple of weeks ago:

She's probably leaving for home round about now.

http://www.fantasyofflight.com/[/quote]

Beautiful view of Liberty Belle, I wish I was there to get a ride on her.

Craig · **Posted:** Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:01 pm

Hi Rob,

That's me. I am doing fine, how about you? Its been a long time since we have seen each other, hasn't it? I hope you are well!

Craig

RickH · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:49 am

Hey, Craig. Good to hear from you. Thought you'd dropped completely out of sight. Hows the Corsair coming ?

Rick

ww2John · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:29 am

Craig,

The story I heard about the B24 and the opening celebration of FOF is that a catering truck hit one wingtip of the B24. That accident and the fact that some engine "parts" were later used on the Sunderland (for the Olympic Torch flyover) are two reasons why the B24 is no longer flown. Do I understand any of this correctly?

...thanks for any enlightement....

Craig · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:52 pm

When Kermit and I flew the -24 into Fantasy of Flight, it was a good solid aircraft, and still is. Prior to performing the ferry flight when Kermit purchased it from David, we performed a thorough inspection on it over a 10 day period. We were all impressed with the sound condition of the airframe and systems, and we were able to ferry it with no problems. We were able to fly it in formation with the Collings -24 before bringing it to Polk City.

Some time after the Grand Opening, one wing tip did get crunched, (I think is was in fact a catering truck), and I think it was the left one. We found a set of spare tips, but I believe Kermit had the original one repaired instead. No parts or pieces were used from the -24 when we got the Sunderland flying for the 1996 Olympics. As far as I know, the aircraft is just as it was when last flown in 1995, but you would have to check with somone at FOF to confirm that.

Craig

Craig · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:21 pm

Hi RickH,

This must be the same Rick from the Clover Field days?! How is Tommy? Good to hear from you. The Corsair is coming along, the website is going through a major transition right now, changing the host server, the webmaster and adding more content. The address is staying www.connecticutcorsair.com, hopefully it will be done in the next month or so, with progress photos posted on a regular basis. Nice to hear from you!

Craig

RickH · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:26 pm

Craig I was in it in Dec. It's just as you guys brought in but the interior is rougher. Nothing has been done with it except that it's now inside.

Yeah, you got the right Rick. Tommy is fine.

Remember the little kid that you let run the feather pump and sit in the cockpit when you did the engine run ? He was 7 then, now he's 22 ! Man, you're gettin old ! Ryan is on here a bunch he goes by Invader696.

Craig · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:49 pm

Hey Rick,

We are all getting old! Regarding Kermit's -24: I do recall that we did go through it once it was in Polk City, completely de-greased it, steam cleaned it, flushed out all of the dirt and so on and treated it with ACF-50, inside and out.

So is Ryan the 7 year old who is now 22?

Craig

Jack · **Joined:** Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:34 pm **Posts:** 45

Craig,

I was just telling somebody at NWOC about our take-off out of Palwaukee.

We went through the 24 again a couple of years ago. New paint on the fins, cowlings, markings and props. Interior is still like it was. Stop in sometime, new hangar is up.

Jack

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