Oregon's World Class Aviation Museums

[hobbit]

In my RV travels over the past 9 years, I’ve had the chance to visit dozens of famous aviation museums and venues: Oshkosh, the Smithsonian, the Planes of Fame Museum, the Confederate Air Force, etc. All of these collections are huge and rank as the finest in the world, yet I’ve grown to like aviation museums that are unique rather than just overwhelmingly impressive with their sheer volume of memorable aircraft. The Lancaster Bomber Museum in Nanton, Alberta falls into this category, as does the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, a beautiful museum devoted almost entirely to the history of bush flight in Northern Canada and Alaska. Yet on my return trip to Northern California from Canada recently, I discovered what for me is the new Holy Grail of unique aviation museums: Oregon’s Tillamook Air Museum.

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but only a few years ago, I had no idea the Tillamook Air Museum even existed. Apparently that’s the rule rather than the exception since this remarkable museum draws only 75,000 visitors a year. Its gross annual revenues don’t even come close to the value of a single one of its beautifully restored and 100% flyable WWII fighters. And they’ve got nearly all the fighters people go to air museums to ogle: a P-38, a Spitfire, a BF109, a Corsair, a P40, a Mustang, a P47, a Focke-Wulf, and at least a dozen other memorable WWII warbirds including one of the only flyable Japanese Zeros in existence. There are at least a dozen post-WWII aircraft as well, including the most beautiful DC3 I’ve ever seen and a very impressive F14 Tomcat display.

For its owners, the museum is a labor of love that’ll never turn a profit. Locals sympathize with that dedication and nearly 30 act as noncompensated volunteers who run the museum and restoration shops on a daily basis. Other displays include many aspects of airship operation during WWII, and a wing dedicated to female fairy pilots of WWII (almost 50 of whom were killed). This is a world class museum ranked #5 in the US by aviation historians and aviation museum directors and staff.

What do I think is the coolest thing about the Tillamook Air Museum? How many air museums have you ever visited where under the right atmospheric conditions, clouds can actually form INSIDE the museum building? Now THAT’S an air museum! If you go, you can find reasonable motel rates in Tillamook, or something a little more pricey on the beach in Seaside. Lots of campgrounds in the area too. It’s a lush, green dairy farming locale with a beautiful coastline and one of the most memorable museums you’ll ever visit.

If you aren’t too burned out after several hours at the Tillamook Air Museum, drive 100 east to McMinnville, Oregon and cruise into another of the world’s most unique aviation museums, the Evergreen Aviation Museum (also know as “the Spruce Goose Museumâ€

[RTO]

I've been to the Tillamook air muesem. I concur. I was overwhelmed at the sight of it all. I had to go back to the gift shop and buy extra film twice while I was there. Another highlight for me while in town was visiting the Tillamook cheese factory.

Next on my list of favorites is the Seattle Air Museum at Boeing Field with the first Air Force One Presidential Airplane along with a Concorde Supersonic Jet and the amazing SR71-Blackbird to name just a few.

[Slowpoke]

Besides housing the "Spruce Goose", the Evergreen Aviation Museum also has a SR-71 Blackbird and EVERYTHING in between. I thought the coolest display was a bi-plane with the fabric removed so you could see all the inner workings.

AND.....another cool thing about the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville Oregon.........I live about 15 miles from it in Newberg...






you shoulda given me a shout ASSHOLE.....I'd have at least bought you a beer!

[hobbit]

Besides housing the "Spruce Goose", the Evergreen Aviation Museum also has a SR-71 Blackbird and EVERYTHING in between. I thought the coolest display was a bi-plane with the fabric removed so you could see all the inner workings.

AND.....another cool thing about the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville Oregon.........I live about 15 miles from it in Newberg...

One thing I thought was cool, was their F-14 exhibit is out on the front lawn. Apparently they're going to exhibit other fighters outdoors as well. The new Space Museum they're building is huge. You're right about their collection being extensive. In a year or so when the new wing and the Space Museum open, that museum will be an all-day visit if you intend to really check out every exhibit.

[ANGRYCivilian]

Awesome place. I was in Tilamook, well Manzanita, about a month ago for vacation. I didn't get to go to the Air Museum, but I did go to the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I'll probably go back to Manzanita in 2009, and go to the Air Museum.

Quick question: Is everyone on the Oregon coast a hemp-wearing queer, or is that just Manzanita and Canon Beach?

[Slowpoke]

Awesome place. I was in Tilamook, well Manzanita, about a month ago for vacation. I didn't get to go to the Air Museum, but I did go to the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I'll probably go back to Manzanita in 2009, and go to the Air Museum.

Quick question: Is everyone on the Oregon coast a hemp-wearing queer, or is that just Manzanita and Canon Beach?

In the shops and tourist traps, all you're going to see on the Oregon Coast is the pole smokers and ugly chicks with hairy arm pits. The Fishermen and Loggers are some pretty hearty souls, but they're always at work.

[ANGRYCivilian]

Awesome place. I was in Tilamook, well Manzanita, about a month ago for vacation. I didn't get to go to the Air Museum, but I did go to the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I'll probably go back to Manzanita in 2009, and go to the Air Museum.

Quick question: Is everyone on the Oregon coast a hemp-wearing queer, or is that just Manzanita and Canon Beach?

In the shops and tourist traps, all you're going to see on the Oregon Coast is the pole smokers and ugly chicks with hairy arm pits. The Fishermen and Loggers are some pretty hearty souls, but they're always at work.

On my way to Astoria, and up through Washington, up to Aloha, the fishing villages were the best part of the whole trip.

[Scoty]

Great shots. I'll be sure to add this place to my list when I get there in April.

[BruteForce]

My family and I had the unfortunate opportunity to park our RV right next to the museum that houses the Spruce Goose.

I say unfortunate because my wife's grandmother (last grand-anything in her our my family) to die..

Awesome museum and a great RV park next to it.

[RTO]

This just in...

WWII P-38 fighter discovered in Wales


NEW YORK - Sixty-five years after an American P-38 fighter plane ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, the long-forgotten World War II relic has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried.


Beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers often frolicked within a few yards of the aircraft, unaware of its existence until last summer, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode.

The revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim another artifact from history's greatest armed conflict.

Based on its serial number and other records, "the fighter is arguably the oldest P-38 in existence, and the oldest surviving 8th Air Force combat aircraft of any type," said Ric Gillespie, who heads a U.S.-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving historic aircraft. "In that respect it's a major find, of exceptional interest to British and American aviation historians."

Gillespie finds romance as well as historic significance in the discovery of the aircraft, long forgotten by the U.S. government.

"It's sort of like `Brigadoon,' the mythical Scottish village that appears and disappears," he said. "Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."

Gillespie's organization, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, learned of the plane's existence in September from a British air history enthusiast and sent a team to survey the site last month. The group plans to collaborate with British museum experts in recovering the fragile but nearly intact aircraft next spring.

The Imperial War Museum Duxford and the Royal Air Force Museum are among the institutions expressing interest.

"The difficult part is to keep such a dramatic discovery secret. Looting of historic wrecks, aircraft or ships, is a major problem, in Britain as it is worldwide," Gillespie said.

British aviation publications have been circumspect about disclosing the exact location, and local Welsh authorities have agreed to keep the plane under surveillance whenever it is exposed by the tides of the Irish Sea, he said. For now, the aircraft is again buried under sand.

Story Continues Here...

[hobbit]

This just in...

WWII P-38 fighter discovered in Wales


NEW YORK - Sixty-five years after an American P-38 fighter plane ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, the long-forgotten World War II relic has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried.


Beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers often frolicked within a few yards of the aircraft, unaware of its existence until last summer, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode.

The revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim another artifact from history's greatest armed conflict.

Based on its serial number and other records, "the fighter is arguably the oldest P-38 in existence, and the oldest surviving 8th Air Force combat aircraft of any type," said Ric Gillespie, who heads a U.S.-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving historic aircraft. "In that respect it's a major find, of exceptional interest to British and American aviation historians."

Gillespie finds romance as well as historic significance in the discovery of the aircraft, long forgotten by the U.S. government.

"It's sort of like `Brigadoon,' the mythical Scottish village that appears and disappears," he said. "Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."

Gillespie's organization, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, learned of the plane's existence in September from a British air history enthusiast and sent a team to survey the site last month. The group plans to collaborate with British museum experts in recovering the fragile but nearly intact aircraft next spring.

The Imperial War Museum Duxford and the Royal Air Force Museum are among the institutions expressing interest.

"The difficult part is to keep such a dramatic discovery secret. Looting of historic wrecks, aircraft or ships, is a major problem, in Britain as it is worldwide," Gillespie said.

British aviation publications have been circumspect about disclosing the exact location, and local Welsh authorities have agreed to keep the plane under surveillance whenever it is exposed by the tides of the Irish Sea, he said. For now, the aircraft is again buried under sand.

Story Continues Here...

From what I understand, there are also P-38's in Greenland under hundreds of feet of ice. They recovered one, "Glacier Girl", awhile back.

[RTO]

I hadn't heard that Hobbit. Thank you. :D

I'll have something to Google tonight when I get home. I'd think the ice would have preserved it very nice if it didn't rust it first.

[hobbit]

I hadn't heard that Hobbit. Thank you. :D

I'll have something to Google tonight when I get home. I'd think the ice would have preserved it very nice if it didn't rust it first.

With some repairs, they took it off and flew it shortly after it was recovered from the ice. Here's "The Lost Squadron" link:

http://www.thelostsquadron.com/