8-23-2011 Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum - McMinnville, Oregon
On a business trip to Portland, Oregon, I had a few hours free that I used to tour the Evergreen Museum. This was my second trip to Evergreen, but the first trip with camera. The Evergreen Museum began as the dream of Capt Michael King Smith, an USAF F-15 Pilot and son of Evergreen founder Delford Smith. Capt Smith died in an Automobile accident in 1995. A foundation was set up to continue Capt Smith's dream of an educational Aviation and Space museum in Oregon.
The museum is relatively new - all buildings are modern and the exhibits are exceptional. Although the museum has a variety of air and space craft, perhaps its most notable achievement is the acquisition of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose". This behemoth aircraft is housed in the main aircraft building and dwarfs all the other exhibits. Due to its size, the "Goose" is difficult to photograph with a point-and-shoot camera. I was able to capture elements of the "Goose" while photographing other exhibits and I will try to point those out in the photos that follow.
The museum is relatively new - all buildings are modern and the exhibits are exceptional. Although the museum has a variety of air and space craft, perhaps its most notable achievement is the acquisition of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose". This behemoth aircraft is housed in the main aircraft building and dwarfs all the other exhibits. Due to its size, the "Goose" is difficult to photograph with a point-and-shoot camera. I was able to capture elements of the "Goose" while photographing other exhibits and I will try to point those out in the photos that follow.
This P-38 "Lightning" was placed in surplus storage until 1947 when it was sold to a private company who used it for aerial mapping and surveying. In 1967 the aircraft was purchased by Harrahs' museum in Reno, NV where it was displayed until purchased and flown to England in 1987. Evergreen obtained the aircraft in 1989, and completed a ground up restoration. The aircraft is considered one of the finest remaining P-38 Lightnings in existence. Note the tail of the "Spruce Goose" reaching into the hanger rafters behind the P-38.
Evergreen's beautifully restored 1945 B-17 "Flying Fortress" was used by Evergreen as a fire fighter until its ground up restoration from 1987 through 1990. This B-17 was used to develop the "Sky hook" retrieval system which this aircraft demonstrated in the 1964 James Bond movie "Thunderball". It is also reported that a gun turret was found on display in a bar. To obtain the turret for the restoration, the bar was purchased, then sold after the turret was secured.