britfrog 180 Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 The former maintenance hangar at the Fantasy of Flight aviation attraction in Polk City, Florida, will reopen to the public soon to display some of Kermit Weeks' aircraft collection, including a 1944 B-24 Liberator, the museum announced this week. The opening day is tentatively set for Saturday, Dec. 6. Meanwhile, Weeks said the next evolution of the attraction will continue to develop over the next three to five years. During the transition, the site remains open for corporate and private events. The maintenance-hangar collection will be open to the public Thursday to Sunday. The doors closed in April and staff was laid off at the site, after 18 years of operation. The museum featured a variety of aviation displays, a restaurant, "immersion exhibits" that helped visitors imagine the airplanes in their historic roles, and tours of the restoration shop. When announcing the shutdown, Weeks said, "This isn't the end of Fantasy of Flight, it's just the next step on the company's journey … Think of this as a caterpillar going into its cocoon. We expect to re-emerge as a brand-new butterfly!" 2 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 That's great news and is something I had not yet heard of. It's less than 100 miles from me. I've seen that B-24 several times and they have a lot of other interesting stuff in there too, not least a wall with racks of Packard Merlins or Allisons (not sure which, but definitely liquid-cooled V-12s), probably 40 or more of them. The airplanes within that hangar are mostly a changeable lot, whatever is being worked on at the time, but the B-24 seems to be a permanent resident. It's probably no longer flyable but was flown in originally. It's said to be the only existing B-24 that's in the original wartime configuration. It has never been modernized or upgraded as the other flying examples have. The times I've visited, one could not closely approach the Liberator. They had a line that couldn't be crossed and the plane was a good 20 feet behind that. I do recall that they said the original nose art had been replaced with something more politically correct and patriotic. John Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted November 15, 2014 Report Share Posted November 15, 2014 ooh! I can feel another visit coming on, that is great news! Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 I'll drive. John Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 I'm glad they are re-opening, It would be a shame if my hard work was kept away from the public! (When I worked for Personal Plane Services at Booker we were restoring several aircraft for Mr Weeks, A lot of work went into those aircraft! ) Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Which ones? Chances are Joe and I have seen them. John Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 A Focke Wulf Stieglitz and if I recall correctly a Bucker Jungmeister. I think some of the team were also responsible in part for the Sunderland. That wasn't my work though sadly. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted November 21, 2014 Report Share Posted November 21, 2014 Have seen the Jungmeister a number of times and have seen it fly. Not familiar with the Stieglitz. The Sunderland is there in all it's shabbiness, having been stored outside for a number of years. It's now inside, more or less in a place of honor, but sadly is not in the building that is being re-opened to the public. The saddest story there, in the storage warehouses across the street from the main part of the place, is a very down-in-the-mouth P-38. The center section is standing on the landing gear but the wings are still unattached. In a true horror story, he found it in South America and bought it but trusted the seller or someone else to dismantle and ship it - the morons removed the tail booms just aft of the trailing edge of the wing with a chain saw!!! It's beyond ugly and has made what would have been a relatively easy restoration into a nightmare. John Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Thats sad, I do hope they can restore it. A shame about the Sunderland, she was beautiful when she left our shores. That lightning story though reminds me of a tale my father-in-law drags out from time to time , It was when he was at Sylt with the RAF. A number of early Vampires were due to be replaced by some brand new Venoms. The Vamps were all lined up on the ramp when the Venoms arrived from England and the delivery pilots parked their aircraft alongside the older jets. They had been there a short while when the scrap merchants turned up to reclaim the Vampires that were parked out on the ramp, ( you can see that this will not end well can't you!) Well the scrappies went out to do their work, and basically not knowing the difference between the two...............destroyed the lot! Apparently the base commander was not amused! Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Have seen the Jungmeister a number of times and have seen it fly. Not familiar with the Stieglitz. John It's a small biplane trainer that was used by the Luftwaffe in WW2. Looks very similar to an early Boeing Stearman .http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2013-6/4/294039.jpg Link to post Share on other sites
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