Virginia beach museum closure

Posted by Lynn Ritger on the Warbird Information Exchange, so all is not as we all first thought.

I was out at the museum today to bid goodbye to “Chuckie”, the B-17G which departed for her new home at Tillamook, OR this morning. My friend Terry and I spent quite a bit of time prior to her departure talking with Museum folks, and this is where things appear to stand currently and for the foreseeable future:

– Effective 1 July, the museum will become a static-only facility. This will save somewhere around 250K annually on insurance.

– The B-17G will be joined in Tillamook by the Flugwerk Fw 190A-8 “White 11” soon. No other sales have been announced, although it is widely known that there is interest in several other Museum aircraft. To quote a friend who works there, “Everything is for sale, but not everything is being sold.”

– The expectation is that “5 or 6” aircraft will be sold in total. The Museum has no intention of closing and in fact, was very well attended today- all lots were full, and people were parking in the fields across from the main hangars. Operating hours remain as before and there was no indication these were to be changed.

So while it is disappointing to see some of our favorite aircraft depart, I feel somewhat more comfortable with the status and direction of the Museum. Ceasing the flying portion is regrettable but understandable under the circumstances; the word “indefinitely” was used, but that does not mean “forever”. Naturally, things are subject to change, but this does seem to be a pretty definitive course at the moment.

Let’s continue to wish the best to Jerry and Elaine, and to the wonderful staff of the Museum as they work through this situation.

Lynn

So things are looking up.