Midwest - Tour offers access to Memphis Belle restoration




rwoman
Jun 11, 12, 10:47 pm
Fox: Tour offers access to Memphis Belle restoration (http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/06/11/tour-offers-access-to-memphis-belle-restoration/)

I have seen other WWII bombers and have always found them impressive. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is a short drive from where I live in the UK and also offers a fantastic collection of WWII and US aircraft.

I'd really like to see the Memphis Belle at some point and am glad to see their restoring her!

:)

The most celebrated American aircraft to emerge from the great war rests these days in a cavernous hangar at a southern Ohio Air Force base undergoing a loving and fastidious restoration — from its clear plastic nose cone down to the twin .50-caliber machine guns bristling in the tail.
...
On most Fridays, museum visitors who sign up in advance online are bused over to the remote hangars for a three-hour "behind the scenes" tour that includes a number of planes being restored for display in the museum. The place looks like a boneyard for once-proud flying machines, strewn with fuselage shells, unattached wings and other pieces, but the tours led by volunteer guides who know their stuff bring the old aircraft to life.


mendel k
Jun 12, 12, 12:17 am
Thanks, just added something else to do this summer. Being from Memphis originally, my mom loves the Memphis Bell. This should make her happy. Last year when we went to the air force museum my mom was looking for it and they said it was being restored. Now we'll be able to see it. Thanks for the info

JDiver
Jun 12, 12, 9:58 am
Given WPAFB - Dayton are in the Midwest, we'll leave this here for the moment... And anyone who is an aviation buff, and particularly a military aviation buff, should visit the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Pat" (and definitely Duxford - there is also quite the collection of civil aviation aircraft there, and if you are lucky you can catch a ride in a historical aircraft - we flew in a De Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide there!).

From the Fox article:

The plane will eventually be displayed at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. But in the meantime, the public can see the progress of the Belle while museum staffers and volunteers finish the painstaking process of reassembling it over the next two years at the base. This is great news for military aircraft buffs.

On most Fridays, museum visitors who sign up in advance online are bused over to the remote hangars for a three-hour "behind the scenes" tour that includes a number of planes being restored for display in the museum. The place looks like a boneyard for once-proud flying machines, strewn with fuselage shells, unattached wings and other pieces, but the tours led by volunteer guides who know their stuff bring the old aircraft to life.

National Museum of the U. S. Air Force
1100 Spaatz Street
Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433 (near Dayton)
Tel. (937) 255-3286
Virtual Tour: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/virtualtour/index.asp
Website: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/index.asp
FREE admission! Open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
(Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day)
Nearby airports: Dayton, OH (DAY) and Columbus, OH (CMH)

GPS: If above address does not work, try building across street:
5717 Huberville Ave., Riverside OH 45431
or the coordinates of Latitude: 39.7811, Longitude: -84.1101

BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOURS: Free tours of restoration work on the Memphis Belle and other aircraft start most Fridays at noon, but advance online registration is required. Fil lout form from http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/visit/tours.asp
Can also call (937) 656-9436.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/120103-F-XN622-002.jpg
Memphis Belle in restoration hangar

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/111026-F-NV267-085.jpg
Memphis Belle - extending landing gear




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