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National Museum of Naval Aviation damage

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Hugh Jorgan

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 25, 2001
Posts
2,307
Not as bad as initially feared.
I for one, am particularly relieved the Cubi O'club made it through okay.


National Museum of Naval Aviation For Immediate Release MUSEUM ENDURES
HURRICANE IVAN'S WRATH

The storm struck with all the might that Mother Nature could muster and
for the inhabitants of the Pensacola area, life will never be the same.
Many returned to their homes to find them smashed by walls of water or
at the very least missing sections of the roof. NAS Pensacola suffered
some $1 billion dollars in damage, its landscape marked by fallen trees
and some of its historic nineteenth century buildings damaged beyond
repair.

If there was one bright spot in the ordeal, it was the fact that the
National Museum of Naval Aviation suffered relatively minor damage.
Situated on some of the highest ground on board NAS Pensacola, the
Museum was not threatened by the strong storm surge that devastated the
waterfront areas of the air station, but the high winds of Hurricane
Ivan took somewhat of a toll on the Museum's main building sending a
section of high wall of the Blue Angels Atrium flying. In addition,
sections of the skylights in both the West Wing and the Quarterdeck
were lost and a window in the Cubi Bar Café blew in, allowing some
rainwater to drench sections of carpet and some ceiling tiles.
Fortunately, not one artifact or aircraft on display within the main
Museum building was damaged. This was not the case with respect to
other structures on the air station in which the Museum stores aircraft
and artifacts and conducts exhibit fabrication. The Collections
Department storage facility in Building 3221 located behind the Museum
had flying debris break a window, which allowed water to enter a
storage room. Luckily, the only item of significance that was
destroyed was an early 1900s U.S. Naval Academy Lucky Bag yearbook.

The restoration facility at the opposite end of Building 3221 also
suffered water damage and a falling tree damaged the roof on a small
artifact/artwork storage building across the street, but caused no
damage to items inside. Building 604, located across the street from
the bay, suffered the most damage of any building operated by the
Museum. Between three and four feet of water entered the structure,
whose brick face emerged from the storm with a gigantic hole in it.
The result was water damage to the Museum's Exhibit Fabrication
Department spaces as well as the loss of ordnance publications and
archival supplies. Fortunately, the collection of aviation flight
records from the prewar and World War II eras survived without so much
as a drop of water on them. However, we still await reports from some
of the sites on the air station at which the Museum has materials on
loan, though it appears that most artifacts in this category are intact
and in excellent condition.

The greatest damage occurred on the flight line behind the Museum,
where about 75% of the vintage aircraft on display sustained some
damage. Most of it was minor and, with possibly one exception,
repairable. Our NU-1B Otter took the heaviest beating, losing a wing
and having its empennage twisted about forty degrees, which will require
a major effort to repair. "Que Sera Sera", the first aircraft to land
at the South Pole, also took a hit, but it is not as bad as it looks.
The venerable C-47 lost its right wing and rudder among other things,
but she should be back together before long. We lost a few canopies
and a lot of fabric from control surfaces and our PB4Y-2 Privateer left
its number 4 engine on the ramp when it broke
its tie downs and went for a short trip. Ironically, the EC-121 that
is displayed in the markings of the "Hurricane Hunters" squadron lost
its dorsal radome. Following is a list of aircraft that suffered damage:

1. F-14 (Damage to port vertical stabilizer)
2. CT-39 (Vertical stabilizer damage)
3. KA-6D (Canopy blown off and destroyed/Damage to starboard wing fold)
4.. HU-16 (Port float blown off and wing damaged)
5.. P2V "Truculent Turtle" (Cockpit wind screening off and starboard
hatch out)
6.. SP-5B (Vertical stabilizer and rudder damage)
7.. P-3 (Vertical stabilizer and rudder damage/Port wing access hatch
out)
8.. P-3 (Rudder blown off and antenna down)
9.. AJ-2 (Damage to starboard elevator, port elevator, rudder,
ailerons, and port tip tank)
10.. EA-1F (Hole in starboard wing and rear canopy blown away)
11.. A-4 (Damage to both wing tips, rudder, port aft fuselage, and dent
in the nose cone)
12.. A-7 (Canopy blown off and damage to starboard aileron)
13.. EC-121 (Top radome blown away and damage to starboard wing and
elevator)
14.. TC-4C (Rudder and elevator damage as well as damage to the nose
strut)
15.. EA-3B (Tail damage and dent in aft radome)
16.. C-118 (Aileron, rudder, and vertical stabilizer damage)
17.. RA-5C (Starboard flap, nose section, and horizontal stabilizer
damage)
18.. R4D "Que Sera Sera" (Aircraft suffered tail wheel damage and an
aileron and rudder were blown away. The port wing broke away and there
is fuselage damage to the aircraft) 19.. C-117 (Fuselage holed and
damage to tail wheel and elevators)
20.. C-131 (Wing scraped and damage to engine nacelle)
21.. E-1B (Damage to port wing fold)
22.. T-2C (Damage to pitot tube and trim tab)
23.. T-38 (Horizontal stabilizers blown off)
24.. PBJ (Damage to fabric on flaps and tail)
25.. RF-4 (Forward canopy blown off and damage to starboard wing slat
and leading edge port wing)
26.. JD-1 (Nose section blown off and damage to ailerons)
27.. RC-45J (Damage to port aileron)
28.. PBY (Damage to elevator fabric, aft section of the fuselage,
nose turret, and port wing)
29.. NU-1B (Tail section twisted approximately forty degrees, starboard
wing off, and damage to tail)
30.. PB4Y (Rudder blown off and damage to fuselage, cockpit canopy,
tail and wingtip. Top hatch is missing and starboard outboard engine
blown off the aircraft)
31.. SP-2H (Aft stinger radar off and damage to ventral radome, and
port wing and aileron)
32.. S-2E (Damage to rudder, port elevator, and trim tab)
33.. C-46 (Port and starboard aileron damage and also damage to
rudder, trim tab, and elevator. Damage to access door)
34.. F/A-18 (Port and starboard landing gear door damage)

The museum will reopen for business on Monday, 11 October, at 0900
hours, after being closed to the visiting public for almost four weeks.
 
Thanks for the report, Hugh. It looks like a long list, but thankfully, mostly minor damage. That IS a great museum. I went there a few years ago and am looking forward to seeing the place again sometime soon.
 
Went up there last spring to pay homage to the Navy folks. There is a nice little airport (Ferguson - 82J) that you can fly into. It is about five miles from the base. The nice folks at the FBO will take you over there and pick you up. Apparently, the original FBO owner was a former Navy driver.

The restaurant is good plus you can't beat the atmosphere. If you get into WWII Navy aviation you'll enjoy the displays. FWIW, Pensacola is on Central time. Wrongly assumed Eastern when we went up there.
 

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