starting to assemble Flak-Bait?

[old iron]

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWeLX8ZhfZk, forward to circa 14:30...

Looks like things may be starting to come together with Flak-Bait.

[menards]

looks more like they rearranged the bits in a "this is what it should look like fashion" i doubt that it gets reassembed anytime soon.

[APG85]

Definitely looks like they are doing something with it. Interesting...

[old iron]

They have cleaned up the whole north side of the hangar - Lincoln Standard moved to the south side - and moved the Wittman "Buster" (racing airplane) and Wright VinFiz through the restoration hangar and onto the Udvar Hazy floor in the past month. We have not seen that level of activity in ... years.

Another small racing airplane, the Mong "Full Tilt Boogie", with an extensive and successful Reno record, is a new accession and can be seen at the southern end of the hangar.

[JimH]

Stopped in about a month ago. As can be seen the engines, props, and the turret is sitting under Enola Gay. Buster was also on display and nice to see again. There isn't much room left...Shoo Shoo stuffed in the back...it'll be interesting to see how they bring it all together and where they will put them. I hate driving in DC so I skipped going to the Mall...

Jim

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[Warbirdnerd]

They are adding on to the Hangar. 20% increase in display space.
https://airandspace.si.edu/newsroom/pre ... azy-center

[Warbird Kid]

I cannot believe they are adding onto the north side and not the south. I really thought they were going to add on here:

[old iron]

They are adding on to the Hangar. 20% increase in display space.

This adds up to four new arches, on the Modern Aviation end of the hangar. That is the most that can be added given constraints on access roads and natural areas. This may presume some additions of new post-1945 accessions (F-117, A-10, others?) and adding the Pogo, FJ-1 Fury and Skyraider/SPAD from Garber, perhaps also the H-5 helicopter, F-104 +others? Four new bays will almost double the space on that end of UH, so this means a lot of additions to that end. I would like to see the Constellation (in National Guard markings) move over the the Modern Aviation side, which would make room for more civil aircraft on the south end.

I agree that addition of arches on the other (commercial and helicopter) end of the hangar is desired, but maybe that is planned for another (larger) donation. There is room for about eight new arches on that end. What I would love to see is those eight arches dedicated to the World War II aircraft, with the current WWII area being replaced by especially historic aircraft (the B-29 would thus stay there, but most everything else would be moved); I think it would be nice to see the current Axis end of that area go to the display of some of NASM's extensive art collection.

What is not being increased is the size of the WWII portion of the hangar. There is talk about adding the Shoo Shoo B-17 and Flak Bait, Sikorsky seaplane + the DH Mosquito, but there is little room for anything else. There are a number of restored ac that should be moved to the UH floor - Me.262, P-80 (prototype), Macchi 202, Spitfire, Zero. I hear that the P-61 will likely be withdrawn to storage.

[APG85]

They are adding on to the Hangar. 20% increase in display space.

I hear that the P-61 will likely be withdrawn to storage.

That would be a shame. If that were to happen, I would rather see the P-61 go to another museum and get restored to a combat configuration.

[Steve Nelson]

They are adding on to the Hangar. 20% increase in display space.

I hear that the P-61 will likely be withdrawn to storage.

That would be a shame. If that were to happen, I would rather see the P-61 go to another museum and get restored to a combat configuration.

Unfortunately it's a P-61C, a variant that came out too late to see combat. It's very different from the A and B. The Black Widow at the USAF Museum is also a C-model, but it's been painted as a B.

SN

[lucky52]

Why was that historic time capsule of a combat veteran taken apart in the first place? I thought when it came in it was as it came from the combat zone and was going to be left that way. Was it corrosion, just dirty, or something else?

[sandiego89]

Why was that historic time capsule of a combat veteran taken apart in the first place? I thought when it came in it was as it came from the combat zone and was going to be left that way. Was it corrosion, just dirty, or something else?

I do not know for sure but when the Mall museum opened up in the mid 1970's the WW2 gallery was rather small, and space was already at a premium. The WW2 gallery had the P-51, Zero, Spitfire, 109 and an Italian aircraft. Not nearly enough room for a bomber sized aircraft, so perhaps the nose of Flak Bait was a compromise. I cannot recall any large combat aircraft in the main or side galleries. Many often lament that a B-17 was an obvious missed opportunity. The museum seemed more interested in a mix of civil, space and historic airframes at the time (Vietnam mid 70's syndrome?) in the main galleries with fighter sized combat aircraft being relegated to the smaller side galleries, and no large ones were downtown.

I would guess attitude and space were the main drivers for no larger bombers downtown.

[quemerford]

They are adding on to the Hangar. 20% increase in display space.

I hear that the P-61 will likely be withdrawn to storage.

That would be a shame. If that were to happen, I would rather see the P-61 go to another museum and get restored to a combat configuration.

I strongly disagree with fake combat aircraft being derived from those with an equally historic back story. We need to get away from the narrative that our aviation history was only about 'combat'. It's also deeply disrespectful of those who died and served doing anything other than 'combat'.

[StangStung]

I strongly disagree with fake combat aircraft being derived from those with an equally historic back story. We need to get away from the narrative that our aviation history was only about 'combat'. It's also deeply disrespectful of those who died and served doing anything other than 'combat'.

This x1000. The P-61 (like the P-38 and the JRS-1 and Flak bait and others) can only be original once, and there it is, original. Warts and all. Once you start trying to "clean it up" be "restoring it" you lose the authenticity. Moreover, you turn it into something that it is not. It's a P-61C, that has its own story to tell. You can also use it to tell the story of the A/Bs right there with it. But it will never really be an A or a B.

Besides, there are plenty of examples of restored planes literally all around it. It's a good contrast to see an actual work horse in contrast to all the museum perfect (which they never were in their service history) warbird all around it.

[Noha307]

Why was that historic time capsule of a combat veteran taken apart in the first place? I thought when it came in it was as it came from the combat zone and was going to be left that way. Was it corrosion, just dirty, or something else?

They are preserving it as is as much as possible, but there was some work that needed to be done:

• The paint on the left side of the nose had been worn off from so many visitors touching it when it was on display.
• The nose had been overpainted on the top and bottom to make it more "presentable" before it went on display. This had to be carefully removed.[1]
• The interior soundproofing had been damaged by moths while in storage and had to be repaired. The holes were actually very carefully infilled in some places.[2]
• The fabric on the rudder was coming loose. It was recovered with fabric and then the original material attached to that fabric.[3]
• There were lots of little things found in nooks and crannies of the airplane. Matches, cigarette buts, bomb safety pins, pieces of flak, etc. that would not have been discovered without taking it apart.
• Generally, I think they wanted to check that there wasn't any degradation or corrosion in hidden places that could cause problems in the future.