Vanwall wrote:
> On Apr 6, 1:08 pm, John <jdupre5...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> I see in Classic Wings and at the Annals of the Brewster
Buffalo,http://www.warbirdforum.com/buff.htm,
that the Museum of Naval
>> Aviation has transferred the Brewster 239 BW-372 to the Finnish Air
>> Force Museum at Tikkakoski for a 5 year period. The Finns will finish
>> cleaning and preserving the aircraft and then complete the assembly of
>> the dismantled relic and return it to the condition it was in when
>> recovered from Russian Karelia about 1996. The transfer is in honor
>> of the 90th anniversary of the Finnish Air Force. There is a
link,http://www.pienoismallit.net/galleria/referenssi_3090/
, to a Finnish
>> modeling site that has some really fantastic pictures of this the only
>> surviving Brewster 239 and one of only two surviving Brewster
>> aircraft.
>>
>> The aircraft is remarkably well preserved. I know the current trend
>> in restoration is to preserve aircraft as found but I think it is a
>> shame that the Brewster could not be fully restored to a condition
>> more representative of its service life. I would however not repair
>> the bullet and shell holes that downed the aircraft.
>>
>> John Dupre'
>
> Nice gesture. They have the Humu in full colors, so it would be nice
> to just straighten the panels on BW-372, and preserve the paint
> better, but that would be OK for me. Maybe someday I'll see her.
>
When the aircraft is the sole surviving example I think it's proper
to restore it to as close to flyable as possible. I think it makes a
better presentation for those who aren't heavily into aviation history
to visualize. There are plenty of wrecks of other types to make a life
size diorama from.
Replicas don't do it for me. The Mercury capsule in the Navy aviation
museum at NAS Pensacola my be life size, but it's plastic. It's just not
the same.
Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired
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