The Natl Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force gets a B-24!

[Pat Carry]

As has been rumored for awhile, the B-24 currently at Barksdale AFB will be coming to thye Natl Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force. This is great news! www.facebook.com/mighty8thmuseum A good museum just got better!

[kalamazookid]

Awesome! This will be a great move for the airframe. Looking forward to seeing it properly restored, painted and preserved indoors where it belongs. Congratulations to the Mighty 8th Museum!

[sandiego89]

Great news. I seem to recall she is pretty gutted inside. Can anyone confirm or have pics?

[Steve Nelson]

I've seen photos of her at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in the 1960s with no engine nacelles and looking pretty well stripped. I assume she's basically an exterior restoration. I'm just glad she's finally coming in out of the weather, and will hopefully get correct markings.

SN

[JohnB]

If the IWM/AAM can restore its ex-Lackland B-24 (a EZB-24M to be precise) interior to stock, perhaps there is hope for a proper interior (of sorts).

[Ken]

This is awesome news. I’ve followed this one a long time and have been quick to say, “Write to the AF Museum and encourage them to save this airplane”. Well, to be fair, I now suggest we have a campaign of sending them words of thanks. I have met some of the newer leadership and they do want to see history preserved, albeit within their real limits of budget, manpower, etc. You never know, maybe more good things can happen.

Ken

[JohnB]

I have met some of the newer leadership and they do want to see history preserved, albeit within their real limits of budget, manpower, etc. You never know, maybe more good things can happen.
Ken

I'd like to see the remaining WWII fighters and bombers on their books, get under cover at the various bases.

The trouble is the cost and once you put an airplane in a building, who is going to staff it for open hours. The local bases don't have the money and they'd have to recruit volunteers which means setting up an honest to gosh museum in lieu of a simple airpark. And taking away air frames won't be popular with the locals...which mean a Congressman might get involved.

So no easy answers...maybe replace the B-17s on outdoor display (Dyess, Grissom, Lackland,, Offutt, etc) with fiberglass replicas like the ones used in the recent TV series and give the real ones to museums who can put them under cover.

[Pat Carry]

I have met some of the newer leadership and they do want to see history preserved, albeit within their real limits of budget, manpower, etc. You never know, maybe more good things can happen.
Ken

I'd like to see the remaining WWII fighters and bombers on their books, get under cover at the various bases.

The trouble is the cost and once you put an airplane in a building, who is going to staff it for open hours. The local bases don't have the money and they'd have to recruit volunteers which means setting up an honest to gosh museum in lieu of a simple airpark. And taking away air frames won't be popular with the locals...which mean a Congressman might get involved.

So no easy answers...maybe replace the B-17s on outdoor display (Dyess, Grissom, Lackland,, Offutt, etc) with fiberglass replicas like the ones used in the recent TV series and give the real ones to museums who can put them under cover.

The Grissom B-17 is now on display inside the Museum of Aviation. A step in the right direction.