June 18, 2006 - Evergreen Aviation Museum
(Home of the Spruce Goose)
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I took off from Pearson Airfield around 9:40 AM and headed south for a
short flight to McMinnville Municipal Airport (KMMV) -- elevation 163
feet). Below I am just taking off from Pearson with Fort Vancouver off
my right wing. |
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Looking back, I can see Portland International Airport just across the
river. Before you take off at Pearson, you call the Portland
Tower on the radio and let them know.
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Flying down the Willamette Valley. |
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The Willamette isn't perfectly flat like your typical valley.
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| McMinnville Airport. The
Evergreen Aviation Museum where the Spruce Goose resides is the triangular
looking building on the other side of the runway. |
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| McMinnville has a glider operation.
A glider had just landed as I flew over.
The airport had a cozy little terminal that was staffed. A DC-3 was
out front. The friendly lady behind the FBO counter called the Museum
and had them send a shuttle over. You could walk it if you had to,
though. |
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The Evergreen Aviation Museum
was excellent and really worth visiting if you're in the area. The
star attraction is the Spruce Goose, of course, but they have quite a few
other interesting airplanes and the entire museum is very well done.
It was well attended and there were also docents all over the place
available to answer questions. |
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That's a Wright Flier replica on the left, and the Curtis Pusher between
it and the Spruce Goose.
You could go inside the Spruce Goose where that platform is.
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The Spruce Goose is just huge. |
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A model of the airplane that I believe was used in the recent film The
Aviator.
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| A Grumman F6F Hellcat, the U.S.
Navy's main fighter plane during World War II. |
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| A German Me-109G painted in the
markings of Erich Hartmann, the top-scoring ace of all time, with an
incredible 352 kills during World War II. |
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The 109 was a formidable weapon in the hands of a good pilot. It was
challenging to takeoff and land; I think a large percentage of 109 losses
were due to accidents, not combat. |
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A Wright Flier replica. I never get tired of seeing one. This
is the plane that started it all. |
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A Jenny with no fabric.
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| The museum had a place where you
could get a surprisingly good sandwich for a reasonable price. |
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