TEXAS - Hurricane Ike Takes Toll On Aviation History Museum

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                                             Storm takes toll on aviation history



                                  Rare artifacts were damaged in rising tide of saltwater






By DALE LEZON and MIKE TOLSON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 28, 2008



 
BRETT COOMER CHRONICLE
A World War II-era photo sits in a pile of items damaged by flooding.


GALVESTON — They are the last living remnants of another era, when all airplanes had propellers and the speed of sound was something for engineers and a few crazy test pilots to dream about.

And like the rest of this storm-ravaged city, the rare collection of vintage aircraft that makes up much of the Lone Star Flight Museum — not to mention the museum itself — faces a long process of recovery after Hurricane Ike's storm surge sent a wall of water through its sprawling hangars.

First the bad news: All the aircraft that remained behind sustained some degree of damage. The restored Jeeps and other vehicles were under water. The Texas Aviation Hall of Fame, devoted to the contributions of Texas aviators and business pioneers, was wiped out. The gift shop is gone. Much of the metal siding is peeled up or off.

Now the good: A number of the museum's star attractions, including some irreplaceable World War II warbirds that are mainstays on the air show circuit, made it to safety before Ike arrived. That includes its two big bombers — the B-17 and B-25 — the P-47 Thunderbolt, F4U Corsair and Grumman Hellcat and Bearcat fighters, SBD Dauntless divebomber, T-6 and Stearman trainers and the DC-3 passenger plane that had been restored and donated by Continental Airlines.

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Building anew



"We were hit hard, but we'll be back," said Larry Gregory, president of the 21-year-old museum. "Right now we've got to devote all our resources to staying in business. But I think this can be a benchmark for the organization. It's a great opportunity to build something great from what seems to be nothing."

The storm flooded the museum with 6 to 8 feet of saltwater. About a dozen restored airplanes were caught in the floodwater. The briny brew corroded their metal frames and engines and soaked their wooden ribs, said John Cowart, the museum's director of aircraft maintenance.

Volunteers were still drying out the water-soaked planes Thursday morning. They ripped painted fabric from the exterior of some planes and flushed the frames with fresh water before soaking them in anti-corrosion chemicals.

The idea is to stop the deterioration and then get the planes sent to restoration experts to be further cleaned and fully rebuilt, Gregory said. There is little else museum workers can do on the premises, he added, in part because the repair shop is ruined and all the tools are gone.

Cowart said the saltwater particularly damaged a Hawker Hurricane, which had already suffered damage in a ground collision at a recent airshow. It also flooded a PBY Catalina, a Spitfire and a TBM Avenger, the type of torpedo bomber George H.W. Bush flew during World War II.

The PBY, a floatplane used during World War II, floated during the storm and smashed into the hangar wall. One of its stabilizing floats was damaged, Cowart said.

"The museum took significant losses," Cowart said, in significant understatement.

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Piles of debris



When he first opened the hangar doors after the storm had passed, seaweed, uprooted trees and debris stood about 4 feet deep on the concrete floors. Planes were resting in it. Some were likely destined for static display, even with restoration. Others that needed only a little work to get back in the air now need a lot more.

The sparkling DC-3, which Continental restored in 2002 and used for promotional purposes before donating it to the museum, was almost a casualty. It sat in the hangar as Ike was closing in on Galveston on Sept. 12. The water and winds were rising.

"We had a crew fly down in a private plane Friday morning," Gregory said. "As the water was rising over the ramp, they jumped in the DC-3 and took it to Hobby, where it rode out the storm."

A couple of others that could still fly were unable to be rescued before Hobby Airport closed its runways, Gregory said. One was the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan bombing and navigation trainer.

The task before museum staff and supporters is immense. Because the museum had no flood insurance, it will depend heavily on donations to recover. That includes everything from air conditioners, which were ruined by the water, to basic shop materials to special boxes designed to store artifacts, a few of which were found in the debris.

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Displays destroyed



The Texas Aviation Hall of Fame will have to be completely rebuilt. Bits and pieces of various displays — flags, uniforms, photographs — were recovered from the muck. Most were not. The gift shop also will have to be restocked. Only a batch of T-shirts were salvaged.

Amid the despair of his battered museum, Gregory did find one bit of encouragement: volunteers. People who dote on these priceless pieces of the American past are willing to work to save them.

Gene McKinley, 64, of Texas City, was helping with the aptly named Hawker Hurricane in the shadowy hangar Thursday. He's been volunteering at the museum for 18 years, not just as a hobby but from a sense of duty.

To McKinley, the place is far more than a tourist novelty. It is a tribute to the men and women who fought in World War II and other wars, he said. Its contents remind him of their sacrifices, and the damage Ike inflicted was not injury to mere artifact but to history itself.

"I love these planes," McKinley said.

More information about the museum, the hurricane damage and its needs can be found on its Web site,


 http://www.lsfm.org/.


dale.lezon@chron.com


 mike.tolson@chron.com