Airplane « Pacific Northwest Photoblog

I have not been to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon in at least six years. I’ve driven by many times, but never had the time to pay another visit so this one was long due. In fact last time I was there, it was only the Evergreen Air Museum!

The crown of their collection has to be one of the most distinctive planes in existence, Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose. This plane is famous for having flown a grand total of one time with Mr. Hughes himself at the stick, and being the largest all wooden plane ever built. Even the bolts were removed after the glue had set.

This plane is so big, and so completely fills the museum building that I think it sneaks up on a lot of people. Other airplanes are tucked underneath it’s immense bulk and the entrance is nearly under one of the wing tips.

Evergreen also has two of my favorite airplanes. The General Motors TBM-3E Avenger, a dual purpose fighter/bomber equipped with torpedos for air to surface attacks against ships. I will admit that part of that is just the name.

My other favorite plane being the B-17 bomber. Evergreen’s is nice, but is so surrounded by other planes that getting a good picture is near impossible. But you can go inside it on certain days for an extra $4 which is pretty cool.

Next door is the new Space wing. This building looks like it’s even bigger then the other one. This is with a reason as the Museum is on the short list to receive a decommissioned Space Shuttle as NASA has been working over the past couple of years to put together a list of equipment to be put on display. One of the requirements is the museums suitability both financially and physically to house the equipment. If they do get a Space Shuttle, it’ll probably be the Enterprise which was a non-flying equipment test bed and mockup.

For now the building is filled with a variety of space related equipment such as a German V-2 Rocket and TWO different Titan Rockets. I assume the nuclear warheads have been removed.

And of course what space museum would be complete without an actual space artifact or two? In this case a Gemini capsule being hoisted by a rescue helicopter, with the whole thing suspended from the ceiling.

And there is even a moon lander in the background!

Over all this is one air museum that is worth checking out in my opinion. In this one visit I believe it has surpassed the Boeing Field Air Museum in Seattle for best Air Museum on the West Coast.

At the Tillamook Air Museum was the B-17 Bomber, Sentimental Journey. I have no clue why, but this is literally my favorite aircraft ever, so getting to see one in person and be able to touch it and see inside was a big thrill. You can also purchase rides on this plane, but they were fully booked already.

This airplane also happens to be in Hillsboro Oregon from August 10th to August 14th, 2009.

The B-17 Bomber was built by Boeing under contract to the US Army. This airplane literally saved the company from bankruptcy and closure in the 1930′s. Despite the Army’s need, only forty two airplanes existed when Germany attacked Poland in 1939. Twenty of the B-17C variant were delivered to the Royal Air Force where they first saw combat. Lessons learned from that lead to many improvements in the B-17D and B-17E variants.

On August 17,1942, the United States used B-17Es to start bombing German targets at Rouen, France. In all, about 13,000 B-17s were built. The bulk of them were the B-17G variant which had the “chin turret” as this one does.

This particular plane has quite an interesting history in itself. It was built to late to go to Europe, but use in the Pacific against Japan. From 1947 to 1950 she was converted to a photo mapping plane and flew all over the Pacific Ocean doing so. She was then converted to an air-sea rescue plane, before being assigned to the 3215th Drone Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.

In 1951 as a member of the 3125th she was a mother ship for drone aircraft during “Operation Greenhouse,” the fourth postwar atmospheric nuclear weapon test series. She was finally retired from military service in early 1959. The Aero Union Corporation of Chico, California purchased and converted her to forest fire duties. She did this for eighteen years and flew at least ten times more missions that she was designed for.

In 1978 she was formally donated to the newly created Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force where she was lovingly restored. The plane went through an extensive re-conversion back to her wartime specifications in 1981. Since then she has been performing at Air Shows around the country. An estimated 80,000 people tour through her every year.

Sentimental Journey’s specs