Quote:
DoraNineFan wrote:
I am unsure if the work being done to stabilize it will hold over the decades, or would it have been better to recreate the structure and archive the original wood separate from the display. I just don't agree that pickling rot and corrosion is the best approach.
Well, you do bring up an interesting option. In a perfect world, I think the best approach would be to preserve/conserve the original Ho 229 as it is now, including all the Allied markings it acquired, and built a structurally and historically accurate reproduction to display next to it in original German markings. It would really be a fascinating before and after display.
I am just glad to see the Horten out on display. Unfortunately, most if not all of the old "hard" restoration staff have retired, and NASM has simply not prioritized restoration since the Harwit administration in the late 1980s to early 1990s (before that, there were always four hard restorations in progress at a time, with enough prioritization that these were finished quickly).
I think the only NASM "hard" restoration done in the last 20 years was the Curtiss-Wight Junior, and that was done by retired NASM employees and volunteers. By my understanding, the Curtiss Helldiver and Heinkel 219 restorations were "mixed" as these were not taken down to most basic elements since they were in relatively good condition to begin with (the Helldiver had been previously restored by the NMNA and I think the Heinkel has been had been stored inside for most of its history).
I think one reason for this change away from hard restorations was costs, The Nakajima Irving and Arado 234 restorations took 17 and nearly 19,000 hours respectively, according to Appendix E of the Mikesh "Restoring Museum Aircraft" book (which I helped to edit). I have no idea what the salary + bennies cost per hour may have been, but these cost a lot of money.
I do worry about the Axis aircraft at NASM. The Me 163, He 162 and Ar 196 (also the Cierva) were slated for hard restorations back in the 1980s. While some of the aircraft can go the "soft" route, many of these (for example, the Ar 196 and Cierva of the above list) badly need the "hard." Certainly, very little will be happening in terms of new NASM restorations the near future, with the downtown museum being refurbished. I hope that, when that is finished, there will be a shift back to restorations of whole aircraft, but that will require a pretty significant shift from the present.
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