From: "Steve Bamford ARC" To: "Stewart Bailey" References: <000001c420cf$8e0a1100$6601a8c0@STEWART> Subject: Re: Air Zoo Moving Pictures Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:34:25 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Unsent: 1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Hi Stewart, Thanks for sending in your Air Zoo article and pics. I'll e-mail you when your article goes on ARC....currently articles are taking about 3 weeks from the time they are sent in until theyn go on ARC. Steve Bamford Aircraft Resource Center http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com Live like there is no tomorrow; Love like you've never been hurt. Work like you don't need the money. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening. Live like it's Heaven on Earth. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stewart Bailey" To: "'Steve Bamford ARC'" Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 1:48 PM Subject: Air Zoo Moving Pictures > > Steve- > > Here are some pictures from the move which took place on April 7th. I > tried to downsize them for you, so I hope they come out okay. Along > with the move pictures I included a couple shots during construction > which show the mural being painted, our P-40 in bubble-wrap and the > Wright Flyer replica after it was hung. > > A total of 5 aircraft were invovled in the "parade" down Portage Ave. > for about 1/2 a mile, from our Flight & Restoration Center to the New > Air Zoo. These 5 included the F-14 Tomcat, Travelair Mystery Ship > replica, B-25 Mitchell, P-47M Thunderbolt, and SR-71B Blackbird. Other > aircraft had been moving over the previous few weeks, but these were > large enough that they could not fit through our back gate and down the > drive to the new building. > > The Air Zoo began almost 27 years ago with 7 aircraft and has grown to a > collection of over 75 machines, although not all are on display at one > time. On May 1, we will be opening our new building which will house 22 > aircraft in what we call "an aviation attraction." Our director likes > to call it a cross between the Smithsonian and Epcot Center. Along with > the aircraft there will be rides, simulators and a 4-D theater which > takes you on a WW II B-17 mission. (It features a 3-D image with seats > that move, vibrate, allow you to feel wind in your face and even the > smells of av gas and cordite from the guns... It has to be experienced > to be believed.) The New Air Zoo also features an incredible mural by > aviation artist Rick Herter (seen in one of the pictures, that when > finished will be certified by Guiness Book of World Records as the > World's Largest Indoor Mural. > > The aircraft currently in the new museum include the following: > 1:1 scale Replica Wright Flyer > 3:4 scale Replica Fokker Dr.1 > 1:1 scale Reproduction Travel Aire Mystery Ship > Waco UFP-7 (ex-Guatemalan AF) > Waco YMF > Ryan PT-23 > Fairchild PT-22 > Stearman N2S > Piper L-4 Grasshopper > Taylorcraft L-3 > North American B-25 Mitchell (Built as a G-model, it was > restored as an 8-gun nose J-model) > Republic P-47M Thunderbolt (Built by Curtiss) > Curtiss P-40N Warhawk > Bell P-39Q Airacobra > Vought F-8J Crusader > Douglas A-4B Skyhawk > Grumman F-14A Tomcat > McDonnell-Douglas F-18A Hornet (although now in VMFA-251 > markings, this bird spent its entire service life with the > Blue Angels) > Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird > Murphy Renegade Spirit (homebuilt) > Boredom Fighter (homebuilt) > > In addition to the new 109,000 sq. ft., the Air Zoo will maintain its > old 33,000 sq. ft. building as the Education & Research Center (ERC), as > well as another building which serves as the Flight & Restoration Center > (FRC). Some of the aircraft in the ERC include N3N, N2T, BT-13, SNJ, > F4U, F4F, F6F, F7F, F8F, TF-9J, AD4N, C-47, CG-4A, SBD-3, T-34B, > HA-1112, HUP-2, MiG-15, P-80, F-86, B-57, F-84F, Lear Jet 23, F-4E and > OV-1D. In the FRC, there are another handful of aircraft including our > flyable Ford Trimotor and the sole-surviving Curtiss XP-55 Ascender > which we are restoring for the National Air & Space Musuem. > > The SR-71B in the pictures is one of 2 B-model SR-71s built and the only > one to survive, the other having been written off in a landing accident. > When the Air Force stopped flying the Blackbirds, NASA took over 3 of > them for high speed research work, including the B-model. After they > were retired a couple years ago, they reverted back to Air Force control > and were turned over to museums. Ours came straight from Edwards AFB, > and was brought in on 7 flat-bed semi-trailers and assembled on the ramp > out front of the ERC. > > If you have any interest at all in aircraft, this is a place to visit. > To find out more about the Air Zoo, ARCers can visit our website at > www.airzoo.org. They can also email me with specific questions, > although I probably won't be able to do much about answering until after > our big grand opening on May 1. > > Stewart > >