Bill Turner wrote:
Woody wrote:

Bill, have you considered a career in politics?

Yes, but I'm not crooked enough to get elected.

Exactly where would you suggest we park general aviation?

General aviation doesn't need parking as far as I can tell.

The B-17G should be parked in the desert, in a hangar, where there is
low humidity and no violent weather. It would last practically forever,
and at five or ten bucks a ticket, would be a source of income also
practically forever. And guess what... no maintenance cost either,
except maybe for a feather duster now and then. :-)


One of the "great moments" of my life was watching a B-17 coming in to
land at the local airport. I didn't know it was coming in,and the noise
and profile when I figured out just what I was seeing was
overwhelming. I'm richer for it, and so are all those who have the
experience. I've seen a lot of historic planes and spacecraft in
museums. They are very nice and all, but to see one actually working is
orders of magnitude better an experience. Museums bear more than a
passing semblance to funeral parlors. Interesting idea to store the B-17
in the desert - that is where the plane graveyards are.

I'm a machine man, and machines are made to be used IMO. I don't care
if it is automobiles, trains, radios, or airplanes.

- 73 de mike KB3EIA -

Hmmm, another 'museum' request. See 'em all the time.

So, who actually owns the aircraft? I mean when it is sold off who will get
the money.

I have been approached by 'museums' for my BC-375, ART13s, 348s etc even my
BC-610.

But in the end it was an individual or his kids who would finncially
benefit in the end.

So where does the financial ownership of material donated utilmately end up?




"=K=5=D=H=" wrote in message
...
WANTED: B-17G Flying Fortress radio equipment

This is a long message... please read it all!

The Vintage Flying Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, home
of B-17G N3701G, "Chuckie", is seeking DONATIONS of
any kind of radio and radar equipment that would have
been used aboard B-17G's built from early-1944 on.

Our airplane is a B-17G-70-VE, serial number 44-8543A.
She was built in January, 1944, by the Vega division
of Lockheed (B-17G's were built by Boeing, Douglas,
and Vega). She was converted to a "pathfinder" model,
which means she had a radar set installed in place of
the ball turret which allowed bombing through overcast.
Very few Forts were converted for this mission, and it
is possible that our Fort saw combat time over Europe.
The combat records of the pathfinder Forts are still
classified, so we may never know for sure.

Right now, the only original radio gear installed in
the airplane is a BC-348-P receiver and shock mount.
We need everything else. Some of the specific items
we seek are the BC-375-E transmitter, tuning units
TU-4B through TU-10B, BC-306 antenna matching unit,
the wooded tuning unit storage rack that mounts to the
rear bulkhead, ceramic feedthrough insulators, power
and control connectors, and cables. We're also looking
for command set transmitters, receivers, racks, cables,
control boxes, spline cables (the LONG ones that will
reach the flight deck ceiling), modulator, and so on.

Obviously, we are looking for NICE equipment that is
in display condition because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins. We'll
certainly accept donations of "parts units", but the
primary focus is on acquiring gear that looks good
enough to be installed in the airplane. We want to
impress our tour guests at the air shows with a great
looking radio room! Do you have some surplus military
WW2 airborne radios stashed in your garage or attic?
Would you like to see them go to a good home? Please
donate your equipment to VFM and help us restore the
radio compartment in our beloved B-17! Any radios and
accessories that we don't use in the airplane will be
either put on display in the Museum's exhibit hall or
sold off to generate money to help finance the effort
(no matter how much gets donated, we'll still end up
having to buy some stuff to complete the job!).

We are a small museum, and we have very limited funds
available to spend on things that don't actually help
us to keep the airplane flying. We are looking for
DONATIONS of equipment. We are a 501-c-3 tax-exempt
charitable organization, and we will provide a tax
receipt for your donation.

"Chuckie" is one of approximately 15 B-17s worldwide
that are still in flyable condition, and one of about
10 that is flown regularly. Please don't "bash" me
if my numbers are off by a plane or two; the numbers
go up and down as some Forts come out of restoration
and others go down for heavy maintenance or retirement.
She participated in the fabuluous Thunder Over Michigan
air show in 2005 in which EIGHT of the remaining B-17
population were not only present at the show, but flew
together! It was the largest gathering of civilian
B-17s in history, and it may never be repeated.

Please visit the Museum's web site:

http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org

I have been authorized by the Museum to be the focal
point for this effort. Please address your messages
directly to me.

We're also looking for a complete chin turret if you
happen to have one stashed in your barn! Actually,
we will graciously accept donations of ANY B-17 parts
that you might have lying around.

My final request is this: If you have nothing nice to
say about this effort, please say nothing. If you are
not a warbird fan, if you believe our effort is a waste
of time and money, if you think we're "glorifying" war,
if you think operating antique warplanes is dangerous
and should be outlawed, etc, etc... you're entitled to
your opinion, but I respectfully ask that you keep it
to yourself.

Thanks and 73,
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Vintage Flying Museum member