Happy Holidays from all of us at the museum...

Scroggins Aviation has donated the tail section and N-number area of this former Scenic Airlines Cessna 402. It was totaled in an off field emergency landing in which all passengers and crew walked away. Scenic operated out of Las Vegas doing Grand Canyon air tours.

Day 6 and 7 or the Great Adventure back to Atlanta..

After driving from San Antonio, we were lucky enough to see the 1940's Airline Terminal Museum at Houston Hobby airport. It is going to be a great museum, much like our own, it is geared mainly toward the airlines and aircraft that made up that airport's history. We look forward to a great relationship with them and wish them the best of luck in their progress. The location in the terminal is beautiful. Below are some shots inside and out. They only have a small portion open right now. Worth the time to stop by if you are in the area. We left Hobby at 1430hrs local and drove all the way to Greenville, Alabama that day. After a short rest at a roadside hotel, we were on the way to Atlanta. We were back at the museum by 1330hrs local and started to unload our treasures. Thanks to our former intern Eric and his friend Josh we were able to get it all off the truck and into our warehouse. The trip took 7 days and 2800 miles of driving. It was well worth the effort when you see what we were able to get. I will update the blog with a full rundown of what we did and what we have including pictures as soon as we are able to get them all sorted out. Thanks for keeping up with the move. Our Southern Martin 404 sim is now in it's new home safe and sound. Those folks that want to help restore it please let us know. We also need funds to got toward the restoration. Any amount is helpful, no matter how small, we do appreciate your help.









View from the ramp side...



One of the great photos the museum has hanging in the halls...













You don't want to ask how we got it out of the truck...



Back home at last...now the restoration begins..

Day 5, Driving and more driving....

The drive from El Paso to San Antonio was a long one for us. We had many hours of looking at sage brush. We are leaving this morning to visit the 1940's Air Terminal Museum. Then it is off to home. Should be home by Monday afternoon.









The long road ahead...





Many of the little border towns look like this one.

Day 4..Tucson, Pima Air Museum and more...

This was a very busy day. We left Phoenix early for Tucson. Made a visit to the international airport and made some new friends at the Hamilton Aviation maintenance facility, and the Pima County Community College maintenance school. We were donated a great Braniff jetway sign by Pete Stogsdill, director at the school. We also met with one of our board members, Jim Bateman, and had lunch and dinner with him to discuss what he can help us with in the Tucson area. Thanks for your help Jim. We left at sundown and drove on to El Paso, Texas and we are planning on driving all the way to Houston on Saturday. More to come...keep checking back.
Thanks


The Braniff sign that Pete donated to us.













Great display of Pan Am memorabilia at Pima..











Horizontal section is like the piece we obtained in Victorville.












Oldest Lockheed Connies in existence flown by TWA and L649...









Viscount Airliner
























One of the aircraft I actually worked on when I was an Air Force mechanic. Boy am I getting old when the planes from my past are in this museum.








Former flying boat for airline in Hawaii



















As the sun set we started our drive to El Paso, Texas

Day 3 Victorville, Palm Springs

We started very early at Victorville with Doug Scroggins of Scrggins Aviation. We were like a couple of kids at a candy shop in Dougs yard. Doug donated so many items for our museum for display that we filled up our truck to the brim. You will have to wait to see them on display in the museum. There are too many to list here.
We have stopped in Phoenix for the night and will head for Tucson in the morning and the Pima Air Museum. We are also meeting with one of our board members Captain Bateman. Please check in again as we continue east.
Thanks







Just a sample of the probably one hundred airliners stored at Victorville, California either for scrapping or mothballed.


























Chuck and Grant standing in front of a Delta Boeing 757 cockpit which we would like to acquire.























What a L1011 looks like after it has been scrapped.


















Landing gear truck off an L-1011 of Delta Airlines
























Palm Springs Air Museum, one of the nicest museums you will find. If you are ever in Palm Springs it would be worth the visit.








Palm Springs Air Museum

One of three hangars at the Palm Springs Air Museum

Day 2 of our trip across the country..

We had a fairly early start this morning and we were on the road for Mojave, California. As we hit 405 north we happen to see a sign for Van Nuys. I remember seeing a Caravelle there in a documentary video called 16R. We stopped in at the airport to check it out. We found the Caravelle and took some pictures and plan to research the owners and see what the plans are for the plane. We continued to Mojave and met with Doug Scroggins of Scroggins Aviation. Doug gave us some really great pieces to display. Some of the items were; Convair 880 engine cowling with Delta logo, Scenic Airlines vertical fin from a wrecked Cessna 402, Continental Airlines ticket counter sign, Flying Tigers poster, DC6 wingtip, tire and wheel of Boeing 337 Stratocruiser, Boeing 720 emergency exit from former Northwest Orient airplane, Boeing 737 nose gear door from former Aloha Airlines plane, Engine spinner from JT3 engine off the same Boeing 720, TWA cabin bulkhead with logo. These are just some of the items we were donated today. When we are able to get a better Internet connection we will download more photos.
Stay tuned for more.



Caravelle located at Van Nuys Airport. Would make a great addition to our collection someday.








Cabin divider for TWA DC9....






Tire and wheel from Boeing 337 Stratocruiser...Alan Radecki and Doug Scroggins load it up...












Convair 240 cockpit saved by Doug Scroggins in Mojave, California. Once a Mohawk Airlines airplane.


















Grant Wainscott and Doug Scroggins examine the Convair 240 cockpit.

First Day of the cross country adventure with Southern Airways Sim

What a day we had the first day out. We started at the museum at 7am. Heading for the airport and checking in for our Airtran flight to LAX. Had the truck rented and on the road before 1pm pst. First stop was Chino Airport and two museums. First was Yanks Museum, which was a surprise to us that it was there. Very nice collection of warbirds and civilian airplanes. Then onto the Planes of Fame Museum. What a great collection of military aircraft and other equipment. We met with the Founder and Director Ed Maloney. What a great meeting it was, and we look forward to a great relationship with their museum. We left Chino for a three hour ride through LA traffic, (I will not complain about the Atlanta driving anymore), over to Camarillo Airport to meet Jeff Whitesell and to load up the Martin Procedure Trainer. Jeff was waiting for us at the gate and in 15 minutes we were loaded up and on the way to dinner with Jeff. We hit the hotel before 11pm and are now preparing for our trip to Mojave and meeting Doug Scroggins for more donations. All in all it has been a very productive first day out. More on our trip after today.



Our ride for the next week on on way back to Atlanta..












Grant taking the drivers seat.











Chuck getting settled in for trip.













Lockheed Electra at Yanks Museum










Yanks Aviation Museum at Chino...


Truck all loaded and ready to go..

Jeff Whitesell loading sim in our rental truck...
Control Console for Martin procedure trainer...

Southern Airways Martin 404 sim

Some exciting news, we have been donated the only Martin 404 fixed based simulator in the world. This procedural trainer was owned by Southern Airways in Atlanta. Many pilots that trained on this machine are still living in the Atlanta area. So on December 9, 2008 we will be travelling to California to pick up the sim and bring it back to it's original home. Our plan is to make it operational and allow people to try their hand at flying the Martin 404. We are asking for those interested in helping out in any way to call the museum. Even if you can only spare a few dollars to the effort we would greatly appreciate it. I plan on giving updates along our road trip back to Atlanta as we are stopping at several museums and bone yards along the way to see if we can acquire any other artifacts for the museum. Please stay tuned for our excellent adventure.