wdolson -> RE: OT - Why no modern float plane/flying boat (4/3/2007 1:59:31 AM)
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ORIGINAL: Feinder There's a somewhat eccentric millionaire in Lakeland, Kermit Weeks, that spends his fortune restoring warbirds and other historical aircraft. He hosts a museum (Fantasy of Flight). Behind the place is really big man-made lake that hosts working seaplane pier, for his Sunderland flying boat. 99% of the time, it's in the hanger. But it is still flyable, and I guess he (yes he does fly them) was returning from an airshow somewhere, because it came in low over my house about a year ago (I recognized it, and knew it must have been on approach to Lakeland). -THAT- was cool. For a private museum, it's exceptional. Not the crates of junk that you see at the side of regional airports. It's certainly nothing on the scale of Dayton or Pensacola, but I'd say it's better the 8th AF museum in Savanna. Definately worth the stop if you're in Central Florida. It seems that lots of cool stuff flys over my house (in Pasco county, not Tampa actually). That travelling B-17 and the B-25 have buzzed over while on approach to Zypherhills. And whatever is lined up for the Bucs games on Sunday usually goes right over as well (B-2, pairs of F-18s and F-16s). -F- Kermit Weeks is interesting. In the warbird circles, he's a bit of a legend. His goal is to have one of each type of aircraft in flyable condition. His B-24 doesn't fly anymore, but at one time it was one of 2 flying. He also has a B-26A that crashed in Alaska in early 1942. An entire flight of them went down in the wilderness and someone recovered them in the late 1970s. Parts were mixed and matched to get one flying at Chino, CA. When I was a kid, we used to go to Chino a few times a year and I remember the B-26s sitting out at one of the restoration places there. (Chino is far, far better than Disneyland if you're into planes like I am/was.) The B-26 is no longer flyable either, unfortunately. Hurricane Andrew hit Weeks' museum and damaged or destroyed some of his planes. A number of them were sent to restoration facilities all over the US for repair. I think one of his hangers collapsed. Bill
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