Kermit Weeks explains the closing of Fantasy of Flight

The facility is on a private airport, does not wish (allow?) visitors flying in to see. Secretary said liability reasons, which with lawyers is understandable.

I wonder if being at small active airport is better, however….

In related news, some guy popped up on a FB group & asked “If you are looking for any airplane parts comment or private message me.”

I decided to have some fun.

So I asked if he had any Napier Sabers. 2 minutes later he said yes & posted pics of Kermits engine… busted.. lol

JohnTerrell
Thanks for the response! I’m eagerly awaiting his P51A! Such a shame about his B25J.

Eagerly awaiting the A26 projectbtoo

Agh, nevermind! For a moment there I thought there was a third Typhoon project on the go, as if two isn’t exciting enough. Thanks for clearing that up.

Yeah, Cal Pacific does phenomenal work – Cal Pacific has been responsible for the restoration of all three of Weeks’ Mustangs. Not the “authentic to the nth-degree” type restorations as companies like AirCorps Aviation and Midwest Aero specialize in, but their work is at the finest level, and paint/primer finishes and minute details aside, are very stock. I should think that as long as the project is still a priority for Weeks, Cal Pacific should have it completed not too long from now. As of 2016, the basic fuselage assembly and skin work was just about done, and the wings looked fully fabricated in the jigs. This P-51A will be a bit different when completed, as Kermit Weeks is having Cal Pacific restore the wing to be fitted with 20mm cannons to match the configuration of an NA-91/F-6A (the first USAAF P-51 variant, which came before both the A-36 and the later P-51A).

Speaking of his Spitfire 16, and the work that has been put into getting it flying, it also reminds me of some of the other projects at Fantasy of Flight which have been worked on in recent years to get flying again, only to be put back in the hangar and let be again. His stunning B-25J (one of the 3 most authentically restored examples out there), which has been sitting, hangared for years, seemed to have had a lot of work put toward getting it back flying again a few years ago. They got as far as getting the engines and systems all back up and running, gear swings as I recall, and even taxied the thing around, but it now sits idle again.

Does anyone know how far along his P51A is? His P51’s are some of the best looking aircraft I’ve seen! He also has a Spitfire 16 that’s not a.million miles from flight

Sorry Ant, now corrected (I was thinking of the Napier engines he has and my mind went to Typhoon instead of the Tempest V I know I should have written).

Do you have any details on the Typhoon project you mention, JT? Haven’t heard of it before. I know he has the Tempest II and Tempest V, a Typhoon would make a great trio!

This was pretty widely reported on back when it was originally posted to Facebook by Kermit Weeks/Fantasy of Flight in 2014. Since then, Weeks has continuously referred to there being an “Act III” in the works, or in other words, the next stage in development of his Fantasy of Flight attraction (refraining from the use of the term “museum”, which he hates). Having seen some of the original plans/drawings for the Fantasy of Flight site, it was to be incredibly expansive, and all of the hangars that have been built to-date were only ever intended to be used more/less in a background/support role to the actual attraction/site itself (dwarfing what is currently there, and including other significant structures, such as a 1930’s seaplane base/terminal located on the edge of the lake, where the seaplanes would be based/housed and flown from) – all of the hangars you currently see at Fantasy of Flight were originally only going to be used for the background maintenance and restoration work on the airplanes, not for the actual displays. As I understand it, when 2014 came, the pause button was pushed, after Weeks reassessed how the facility was doing, having reached a perhaps stagnant “status quo”, and started thinking more about what it was going to take to actually fully realize the original plan work for Fantasy of Flight. Since that time, at least one of the hangars that had been used for displays has been converted back into and is currently being used the way it had originally been intended for, aircraft restoration. As long as everything goes to plan, the site will reopen, on a “grand scale”, some years down the road, when the site has expanded to match more closely to what the original vision had been and since developed upon.

Weeks currently has a number of vintage aircraft and warbirds under active restoration and refurbishment, including a P-35, Lockheed Vega, Bf-109G, BT-13 (very close to flying), Wirraway (very close to flying again), Boomerang, Bucker Jungmeister (very close to flying again), Hawker Tempests, Sopwith Pup (very close to flying), Standard J-1, Curtiss Jenny, Fokker D.VIII, P-51A, A-26 Invader (set to be completed/flying this spring, to debut at Oshkosh this year), and a Boeing Model 100 (to be completed/flying in 2019). Of course there is a huge list of aircraft that are in storage, pending possible future restoration, and some other more back-burner projects.

I guess it is hard to sell of your babies he loves everyone of them.
Kermit has saved some really rare birds some I had never heard off so for me he has educated me and many others I would think.

Is there another collector like Kermit in the world of aviation? I would think no one comes near.

Being about his age (but with nowhere near his assets), I certainly understand his mortality/legacy concerns and the future of his collection.

Personally, I’d like to see him sell off some of his long term projects so others can take a turn at restoring them. That way, he’d have the pleasure of seeing them completed or flying.

I think running as a museum was more expensive than he thought and the money would better going toward the restorations he has in and out of house.
I would hate to think how much the running costs are.
Reading between the lines he is thinking of his mortality and how long he may have left, the ‘shop window’ was an interesting comment.

I met Kermit many years ago he is as dedicated as it gets a true gent but I believe no one to leave it to, I may be wrong.

Interesting. I watched that twice to understand quite what he was saying and what the future holds, but I am still not really quite clear.
He has another enterprise planned, somewhere else perhaps ?

I have never met Kermit, but people I know who have, speak highly of him. His personal contribution to aviation and its heritage is perhaps without parallel.