Flying Heritage Collection
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The Flying Heritage Collection is Paul G. Allen's collection of rare military aircraft, which comprises examples from the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, and Russia, and pays tribute to veterans and the struggle required of humanity during the challenging days of World War II and other world conflicts. The Collection opened to the public in 2004 at the Arlington, Washington airfield, but in 2008 moved to a larger location at Paine Field in Everett, Washington.
The Flying Heritage Collection includes artifacts and interpretive materials vividly illustrate the extraordinary technical renaissance that took place between 1935 and 1945, demonstrating how these wartime innovations paved the way to contemporary aviation and aerospace.
The Flying Heritage Collection facility is located at the southeast corner of Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Set in an 51,000 square foot hangar, FHC is a private collection of great rarity, rather than a formal museum. Each summer various planes from the Flying Heritage Collection are flown to keep them operational and exercised on a regular basis. History buffs and aviation enthusiasts can witness the beauty and mechanical precision of these vintage aircraft as they are returned to the skies.
The Flying Heritage Collection is operated by Friends of Flying Heritage, a 501 (c)(3) organization committed to educating the public about these rare, historic aircraft.
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[edit] History
In 1998, Paul G. Allen began acquiring and preserving iconic warriors and workhorses, many of which are the last of their kind. Allen's passion for aviation and history, and his awareness of the increasing rarity of original WWII aircraft, motivated him to restore these artifacts to the highest standard of authenticity and share them with the public.
Examples include U.S., British, German, Russian and Japanese types, which were often pitted against each other in great air battles. These rare survivors were researched, hunted down and sometimes recovered from former battlegrounds and airfields. While a few specimens were rebuilt by previous owners, the majority on display have received restoration of the highest authenticity.
[edit] Restoration
The painstaking process of restoring the Flying Heritage Collection's aircraft sets them apart from all other aviation artifacts, each restored to a level of authenticity never attempted before. FHC's team exhaustively researches and seeks out original vendors to reconstruct materials and components that have become obsolete. From cotton-coated wiring and lacquer and enamel paint to vintage cockpit furnishings and original radios that still operate, these planes are as authentic as is possible.
Careful examination of long-lost or overlooked factory drawings and specifications have also been resurrected for Flying Heritage Collection restorations, resulting in highly accurate specimens. FHC also explores more ephemeral historical elements that are easily lost to time, such as the innovation, manufacturing techniques, and teamwork that went into each aircraft.
Finally, each plane's individual history—manufacturing, deployment, combat, post-war activities, locations and repairs—is also comprehensively researched and archived, so that the artifact's story is left to posterity as well as its airframe.
[edit] The Planes
- Curtiss JN-4D Jenny — Used as a military trainer and barn-storming entertainer; this example is the finest of its kind left in the world.
- Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk — Recovered from its WWII crash-landing site in Russia and the only known original P-40C in flying condition.
- Fieseler Fi 156-C2 Storch — A genuine combat veteran, this is one of only a few remaining airworthy German examples.
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-13 Dora — Advanced variant of the German fighter that served from the barren deserts of North Africa to the frozen landscapes of Russia. Flown by Franz Götz.
- Grumman F6F Hellcat — One of only a few surviving “Hellcats,” the Navy’s fighting workhorse of the Pacific Theater battles.
- Hawker Hurricane Mk.XIIb — The plane model that shot down more enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain than all others combined.
- Messerschmitt 163B Komet — Capable of carrying just eight minutes worth of fuel, the Komet smashed speed records using rocket power.
- Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 Emil — The most powerful engine available was married to the smallest possible airframe for maximum performance.
- Mitsubishi A6M3-22 Zero-Sen — Employed as Kamikaze weapons and synonymous with the rise and fall of Japan itself.
- Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa Oscar — Japan’s most significant army fighter and master of the dogfight.
- North American P-51D Mustang — Reunited with its pilot after 58 years, this P-51D is the most authentic example of its type in the world.
- Polikarpov I-16 Type 24 Rata — Sturdy enough to take heavy damage and be used as a battering ram in mid-air when ammunition ran out.
- Polikarpov U-2/PO-2 — Used by the famous Night Witches and one of few remaining examples of the most-produced aircraft in history.
- Republic P-47D Thunderbolt — The largest single-engine fighter aircraft of WWII, which fought in every theater of war and served six Allied air forces.
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc — Flew for the Royal Air Force 312 “Free Czech” Squadron, fighting for the liberation of Europe from German occupation.
[edit] Artifacts
- Avro Lancaster B. Mk.I nose section — Destroyer of the German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship to the Bismarck; over 3,000 of them dropped food to the starving Dutch in 1945.
- Fieseler Fi 103 V-1 — An unmanned flying bomb, the first rocket-powered aircraft in history to be used as an offensive weapon.
- Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg) — Designed to be released by an aircraft near the target, the pilot would direct the bomb into a dive and bail out.
- Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne — Rocketed into history by becoming the first privately built spacecraft to enter sub-orbital space. The craft successfully attained space twice within five days, and thereby claimed the $10 million Ansari X-Prize. Underwritten by Paul G. Allen and designed by renowned aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites, SpaceShipOne’s unique form and abilities portend a new future for independent space travel.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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