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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

A little trip down the road... :)

Mach3DS

Mach3DS

Charter Member
From the Paul Allen Flying Heritage Collection located at Paine Field, WA Across the street from where I work... :icon_lol: Just thought I'd share from a recent visit I made.

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FW190A - Was told it's the only one in the world still flying with an original BMW engine.

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A fully working Norden bomb sight. If you push the bomb release the solenoids in the bomb bay close. Pretty cool. This bomb sight is installed B-25 (I've forgotten which model now) which is considered to be the most completely restored of any warbird in the world.

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Another shot of the B-25. The .50's are working and loaded with ammunition. The neat thing about this museum is that ALL aircraft other than the nose section only of the Lancaster are all restored to Flyable condition. The museum is the inside of a working hangar and the display barriers are easily removed and doors open in order to fly them...Smells like the inside of any working GA hangar in the world. In fact AP mechanics are working on the aircraft while you tour! There are drip pans for Oil/hydraulic fluids and the doors open directly onto the tarmac which is located only a few hundred yards from the end of runway 34L... They don't all fly however as some are the only ones (or one of only a handful in existence) in the world.

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This is an IL-2. Everything is original. The only compromise was the engine. Originals were too unreliable. So the restoration decided to use the left engine from a P-38 (the Russian engines originally turned counterclockwise) So the left engine was used and luckily fit perfectly! Cool story.. This aircraft will be debuting this summer at the Paine field fly in.
 
000rick000 said:
FW190A - Was told it's the only one in the world still flying with an original BMW engine.
Click to expand...

Quite correct! It was dug out of a bog in northern Russia where it had lain since 1943 or so and has been restored to flying condition at vast expense. It's a combat veteran and will be flying at FHC demonstrations this summer. Please someone buy me a return flight to Seattle???
 
I plan on attending as many of the fly days this year as I can. Should be a really good summer. Paine field also is home to the Me-262 newbuild, and a private collection of Navy warbirds. A lot of history on the field.
 
Great report, Rick! And I'm looking forward to more photos!

It's amazing how much original material is retained in that Fw 190A-5. It was already being restored before the FHC purchased it, to already very, very high standards, keeping as much of the original parts, structure, and skins as thought possible at the time. When FHC purchased it, however, that increased evern further, to the point that some of the new skins that were already on the aircraft, replacing some of the old skins, were removed, and the original skins, that could be, were re-worked to be used again. In fact, more than 80% of the skins on the aircraft are original, which is almost unheard of, especially for an aircraft that ditched in the 1940's, and is flying today.

One of the phrases I love, that refers to most of the FHC's aircraft, is "impossibly accurate". The B-25J in their collection, is the most accurate and authentic example flying in the world - its only competition would be Kermit Weeks' B-25 (which really is just as complete/authentic), but it currently isn't flying. The markings of the FHC B-25J are those from the Bomb Group that Steven Spielberg's father flew with during WWII, as a radio operator, out in the Pacific. Both Steven and his father have been out to see the aircraft, both during restoration, and with it completed and on display.

Steven Spielberg, Arnold Spielberg, and Paul Allen.

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Here's an image of the cockpit on the FHC B-25J. As can be seen, it is completely original, with the only modern element being the small com head fixed under the lip of the instrument panel shroud, and it can be removed.

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Regarding their IL-2, it's amazing what it went through since completing restoration last summer. It was restored in Russia, and supposedly it was towed, by road (wings off), something like half-way across the European/Asian land mass, before it reached the docks to be shipped to Seattle. When the aircraft arrived at FHC, the tires were still covered in mud, and all of the steal panels, rivets, and screws have various levels and nuances of rust, along with paint chips all over, all due to the prolonged exposure to the elements. It sure is a far cry from the quality that FHC wants in their collection. It even sparked some questions, after it arrived, by those who didn't know about the back-story of the aircraft, as to whether it had been restored yet or not. It sort of has the appearance of a tank that has been on outside display for a while.
 
The level of detail that FHC strives for, has also been one of the main inspirations for the work I do. For example, when the Fw 190A-5 was found, one of the wheels had a red ring around it, while the other did not. It wasn't known at the time why this was, but that was copied on the restoration, and when you see the aircraft today, that is how you will also find it - it's about taking the time and spending what it takes to not lose those types of historic details. It's for the same fact that when tearing-apart the P-51D "Upupa Epops", all of the parts that they found chromate yellow primer on, that is how those parts were re-finished, and whenever a part was found finished in interior green primer, that is how it was re-finished, and the same goes for every other paint/primer finish, stencils, inspection stamps, etc. The result is a rather complex patchwork of finishes, that doesn't look very aesthetic or pleasing to the eye, and doesn't always have a real rhyme or reason to it, but that is how it exactly was, part by part, as it came out of the factory. Both Westpac Restorations and Midwest Aero Restorations were real pioneers when it comes to that, and I don't know if you'll find many Mustang restorations which are currently being done, where that level of attention to detail isn't being taken (Even now including re-producing the original wartime Alcoa and Reynolds aluminum watermarks on the skins, where they would have been left, un-removed, at the factory).

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