Re: An Air Museum [was: What is the meaning of "buck"? ]

On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:11:57 -0700, "Frank ess"
<frank@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



Raymond O'Hara wrote:
"Hatunen" <hatunen@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:264gs4h3rid82jhsncguc3v9sqgnrhohm6@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:08:49 +0100, nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (J.
J. Lodder) wrote:

An example of the American unease about it all
occurred in 1994, when the Smithsonian thought that
(50 years after) it would be a good idea to show Enola Gay,
with some explanatory text putting what happened
in a balanced historical context.

All hell broke loose,
with indignant veteran organizations making lots of noise
about the presentation not presenting a one-sided American view,
and mentioning Japanese casualties too much.
In the end the reponsible director of the Smithsonian had to
resign.

Nonsense. The fracas occured in 1994, Smithsonian Secretary
Michael Heyman resigned in 1999. But Martin Harwit, director of
te National Air and Space Museum did resign about a year later.

The fracas was a result of making it appear that both the USA and
Japan were equally immoral (or moral, depending on your point of
view). Most of the protests originated with WW2 veterans groups.

I remember a cartoon from the period (in Nature?)
showing a mummy dragging a curious kiddie past a plane.
'What's that Mummy?'
'Nothing special dear, just another aeroplane.'

And that's just what happened aterwards.
Enola Gay is on display, as 'just another aeroplane', [1]
with no more explanation of what it is and was
than just the technicalities.
(like any other plane on view)

I don't believe that's true. And the Smithsonian NASM web pages
say that it was on exhibition

"Enola Gay

"This exhibition, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end
of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay in
securing Japanese surrender. It contained several major
components of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber used in the atomic
mission that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. The components on
display included two engines, the vertical stabilizer, an
aileron, propellers, and the forward fuselage that contains the
bomb bay.

"A video presentation about the Enola Gay's mission included
interviews with the crew before and after the mission including
mission pilot Col. Paul Tibbets. The exhibition text summarized
the history and development of the Boeing B-29 fleet used in
bombing raids against Japan.

"Another portion of the exhibit detailed the painstaking efforts
of Smithsonian aircraft restoration specialists who had spent
more than a decade restoring parts of the Enola Gay for this
exhibition. Museum specialists continued to restore the remaining
components of the airplane, and after an additional nine years
the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the
National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in
December 2003.

"This exhibition was on display in Gallery 103 from June 28, 1995
to May 17, 1998"

I don't see why you think tis makes the plane "invisible". See
http://collections.nasm.si.edu/media/full/A19500100000cp07.jpg


The Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio has
Bock's Car the plane that nuked Nagasaki on display.

The AFM beats the A&S museum for collection and display of historic
aircraft.

I've not been to the A&S yet, but I have been to the AFM and I'm
trying to figure out a way to go again (it's not near anyplace I
would normally travel)

113KB clunky panorama showing some of the outdoor collection at March
Field Air Museum
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/396104481_3aeca9b9d8_o.jpg

Inside several hangars are exhibits of smaller aircraft, as well as a
portion of a B-47 so you can try on a cockpit for size.

There is a P-38 undergoing restoration, indoors.

Nice place to spend an afternoon, if you're a 'plane fan.
http://www.marchfield.org/

The Pima Air andSpace Museum in Tucson, which also operates the
Titan Missile Museum further south, has become a uite awesom
experience. Anyone visiting Tucson or passing through on I-10
might want to take a look. They also originate tours of the
Boneyard, the final resting place of almost all military
aircraft. http://www.pimaair.org/

Has the thread drifted enough that we can close it now?

WE haven't go to Godwin's limit yeat.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@xxxxxxx) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
.

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