Aircraft restoration/maintenance news
By Al LaPorte
Martin 404 forward section acquired from Florida donor
This past June we received the
forward section of a Martin 404 transport plane from
Bill Thompson. It had been sitting on a pallet in Bill's back yard for some time when he
decided to offer it to the Museum. Arrangements
were made with Gage Transport to deliver it to our storage facility at the Federal Building
(Martin's old Plant 2). Considering it's past history the
404 unit is in very good condition internally with
a virtually intact instrument panel and interior.
The section was a part of Martin 404 S/N 14106. It was originally delivered to Trans World
Airlines on 12/10/51 and served as TWA Skyliner Washington, D.C. After changing ownership
for a number of times, it was acquired by Piedmont Airlines and was designated "Great
Smokies Pacemaker" when it went into service with
them on 3/6/62. Bill recently informed us that he
was glad the unit left Florida before this year's hurricane season as his area was hit hard
and the 404 might not have survived in very good shape.
The Museum plans to restore the
interior and do some exterior patching. We are
currently considering painting the exterior in the
old Piedmont Airlines livery. When complete the
404 section will make a fine exhibit as a walk
in/sit down cockpit section for Museum visitors. Longer range possibilities include integrating
the unit with a flight simulator system.
The pallet the unit sits on is unreliable
and we are looking for a good used boat trailer or equivalent on which we can mount the
404 section for mobility and security. If anyone knows of the availability of a trailer or
mobile mounting system please contact Buck Dean or Al LaPorte.
Many thanks to Bill Thompson for
his generous donation and to Gage Transport for bringing the "front office" of S/N 14106
back home.
F-4 Phantom and F-101 Voodoo receive external fuel tanks
A number of external fuel tanks residing
at our Strawberry Point "tank farm" have found
a home on their respective aircraft. The restoration/maintenance team, inspired by
Lou Puls, installed the F-4 fuselage centerline external tank on the Phantom earlier this
spring. Following that, the McDonnell F-101
Voodoo, which was recently transferred from "D" lot, was fitted with
two fuselage mounted external fuel tanks. The port side
mounting lugs on the fuselage were jammed in the closed position
and it took some considerable work by Lou Puls, Will Gibson
and other crew members to successfully work the
problem out.
Lockheed Martin donates equipment to the museum
Lockheed Martin recently donated to the Museum an
aircraft towing tractor and an air starting unit for jet aircraft. Both units
are in good condition and the tractor will greatly assist our
activities involving the movement of our static display aircraft. Prior to
these contributions, Lockheed Martin had donated a number of
modular office desks units and a pair of television monitors. The
office equipment has been used in our
recently renovated archives and administration area.
As many of you know they have also allowed the Museum the use of their large
auditorium facilities in support of our popular
monthly speaker series programs. Many thanks to Lockheed Martin for their continuing support
of the Museum and its activities.
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