Category Archives: vintage

Return to Evergreen

I have made one previous visit to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville Oregon. That was probably ten years ago. I was in Portland for the morning Open House at the ANG unit so, having gone that far, I decided to go to the museum to see what had changed. I underestimated a couple of things. One, McMinnville is a bit further from Portland than I thought it was so it took about an hour to get there and that hour was also going to be added to my return journey. Also, a lot of things have changed so I was going to spend more time there than I thought. I was not getting home early that evening!

When I last went, one building housed the exhibits and a second was being built. It was close to completion and they were talking of space exhibits and, hopefully, a Space Shuttle. That didn’t work out but now there is certainly a lot more to see. There are two main exhibition buildings – pre-Vietnam and post-Vietnam eras – housing civilian and military exhibits. There is also a theater building. None of this includes the water park that is close by.

The amount of space means that the exhibits are not crammed upon each other although some areas are a little more cramped than others. Some helicopters that I rather liked were jammed together. There is a shortage of space I guess, though, because lots of exhibits are outside and there are a few still scattered around the parking lot awaiting restoration. That is not a criticism though. The museum has plenty of great stuff to see (although the Beech Starship was in the parking lot last time I was there and still is, looking a little more forlorn now than it did then).

If I were to try and pick out highlights, it would be tricky. The Spruce Goose is the main feature of the original building and it still dominates things there. Indeed, it is so large that, at times, you actually forget it is there because it either is way above you or it fills the view becoming invisible in the process. The SR-71 is a delight to see at any time and the way that one engine pod is opened up is a nice touch and gives a good idea of the installation for a unique engine.

The rockets and missiles are well displayed and I shall come back to them in another post. Some of the aircraft are painted up in unusual schemes although these are not always original to the airframe on display. Even so, they are a change from what you might normally see. Having a 747-100 parked outside the front of the museum is a nice touch too – a reminder of Evergreen’s operations before the airline went bust.

I only had a couple of hours so I was in a bit of a hurry working my way around but this is definitely a place that you could spend a lot of time. The journey there is long enough to make doing so something that you should really plan for. I saw plenty that I had seen before but plenty that was either not there or was not displayed in the same way. If you are in the vicinity, make a trip to McMinnville.

Stirring Spitfire Performance

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In my younger days, I was all about modern aircraft and didn’t have much interest in warbirds. Over time and having been involved with a number of groups that operate these aircraft, I have grown far more interested. Being in the US, you get a lot of American vintage aircraft to see. In the UK I might not have been so bothered about Spitfires but, now I see them less often, they have become of greater interest.

The later model Spitfires seem less graceful to me but the earlier models have a simpler and more elegant appearance. This one was carrying out some flybys at Paine Field during the Open Day. The rumble of the Merlin is well known and common to the P-51s. The line of the Spitfire is unique, though, and seeing it swooping by was really quite exciting. What a great looking aircraft.

An Old School Cobra

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The Cobra is still a big part of Marine Corps aviation with the Zulu model the current favorite as it replaces the previous Whiskey models. However, the Cobra started out life as an Army attack helicopter. While they are long retired from Army service, old examples still are airworthy and one of them was performing at the Olympia air show. I was rather pleased to see it when it initially arrived and then it performed a flying display alongside a Huey.

A lightly loaded Cobra is still an agile beast and this one was being thrown around with some zeal. Unfortunately, the sky was rather overcast so the shape was a bit disguised by the shadows but it was still great to see the narrow fuselage combined with the broad chord rotor as it thrashed its way around the display. What a cool looking machine.

The Only Airworthy Huskie

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This one is about as rare as something gets. If you are the only airworthy example, the only thing that is going to beat you is the only example at all. The Kaman Huskie is a neat little helicopter. It features the Kaman intermeshing rotor design which removes the requirement for a tail rotor and results in a pretty compact configuration. These used to be in widespread service with the US forces. Now they are scrapped or in museums.

This one lives in Olympia and it comes out to fly at their annual air show. Apparently, there are only about 14 hours left on the rotor blades and there are no more blades so the flying is rationed carefully to get a few more years out of her. Kaman’s rotor blade design includes control surfaces on the blade so these are not a simple item.

Seeing her towed out was a lot of fun and I was delighted when she taxied out and took off for the display. What a fascinating shape and something genuinely different. I was so pleased, even if the light was rather sketchy. A cloudy Huskie is better than no Huskie at all.

Consequences of a Doolittle Style Takeoff

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Grumpy got airborne using the Doolittle technique I posted about here. During the takeoff, there were some puffs of smoke from one of the engines. Initially I thought this might just be some oil blowing through but, as they climbed out, the output from the engine was clearly not as it should be and the one engine was clearly not healthy. They cut short the flight (although not as short as it could have been) and brought the plane back down. I saw Grumpy fly a few weeks later so I guess they dealt with whatever the issue was.

Doolittle Style Takeoff

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Paine Field held an open day which included some flying from the local aircraft. The Heritage Flight Museum had a number of the aircraft taking part including their B-25, Grumpy. On one of the takeoffs, they used a technique that was reminiscent of the Doolittle Raid. They applied power and full back controls to lift the nosewheel from the ground and roll down the runway in a wheelie. It was quite an interesting thing to see.

Preserved KC-97

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A strange airfield means time for a trip around the perimeter to see what is around. Medford didn’t disappoint. A small museum included a nicely preserved Boeing KC-97 tanker aircraft. Sadly, everything was closed up so I couldn’t take a closer look. Meanwhile, the fencing around it was pretty close in so it was a bit of struggle to get a clean shot but there will still some options. The boom was no longer fitted but, otherwise, it looked just like you would hope.

The Old Seattle Streetcar and Its Modern Counterpart

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We were wandering around down by Lake Union checking out the sights of the city. When it was time to head back, the easiest thing for us to do was to grab the streetcar that runs back up to Westlake. This is a relatively new addition to the city and they are expanding their streetcar system at the same time as Sound Transit expands the light rail system.

It did remind me of a previous trip we had to Seattle quite a few years ago. At that time, there was a vintage streetcar that ran along the waterfront. We had stayed down there on that trip and the streetcar tracks ran right outside the hotel. During the course of some redevelopment activity, the barn where the cars were stored and maintained found itself in the way and it was demolished. The system went away and clearly has not returned.

The tracks are still along the right of way but obviously aren’t used anymore. I thought it was interesting to contrast the old style of a streetcar with the modern vehicle that is appearing in cities all across the US today. The return of streetcars are gaining momentum all across the country.

A Different Trimotor

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EAA undertake nationwide tours where they take a Ford Trimotor to local airfields and give people the chance to experience a ride in a plane from another era. One of their regular stops is San Carlos CA. When I saw them operating there on a previous occasion (and posted about it here), they brought an airframe that I had seen a number of times before at Oshkosh and around Illinois. This time they brought a different airframe which is slightly larger and accommodates one extra passenger.

It would have been rude not to pop along at least once to see it in action. It did appear to be slightly larger to my eye but that was not a scientific assessment. The different paint finish was the real giveaway that they had brought something different. The conditions were nice to get some shots. I was planning on catching it again when it came to another local field but the weather ended up being pretty awful so this was my only encounter.

Oh, a Lockheed 12!

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My visit to Port Townsend Aero Museum (which is covered in this post) was followed up by a quick walk around the ramp near the museum. There were plenty of cool types around but I was instantly drawn to a Lockheed 12 that was parked up. From a distance you could confuse this with a Beech 12 if you weren’t paying attention but, as soon as you look closer, the longer lines of the Lockheed show themselves.

Apparently this airframe is for sale. I am not familiar with the pricing of old aircraft but I believe that the Lockheed goes for an awful lot more than the similar Beech. I guess there are a lot more Beeches around. This one was tail on to the sun which was a touch inconvenient but, since they were willing to let me shoot to my heart’s content, I was hardly going to complain. A little HDR helps too.