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WILDCAT ON ITS BACK
Grumman FM-2 Wildcat BuNo 46867/N909WJ (various sources give
conflicting Bureau Numbers) was substantially damaged on 1 June when it went
over on its back near Bad Krozingen in Germany. The aircraft made its initial test
flight after reassembly on 20 May. This is one of the Warbirds saved by the late,
great Earl Reinhart and was on display in a Chicago suburb gas station for many
years before being transferred to his Victory Air Museum at Mundelein, Illinois.
It would appear the aircraft never received a civilian registration during this time
period. It was rebuilt for World Jets and carried the registration N909WJ when
it was shipped off to England for new owner Doug Arnold. It then went into
storage in the UK before being shipped to The Netherlands for further storage as
the family squabbled over assets following the collector’s passing. It was then
returned to the UK for even more storage until being sold back to the USA in- From that point, it went through three owners before moving to Germany.
Sadly, it did not take long for the little Grumman to come to grief after it returned
to the sky and the plane ended up on its back following a photo flight.
During its transatlantic travels, N909WJ was used in the States as an
aerobatic mount for several years.N909WJ displaying its new markings during the flight that saw engine
troubles result in a forced landing.The Wildcat after going over on its back.SAVING AN HISTORIC HANGAR
The process to reskin the all-metal hangar built to house the airship USS
Macon (ZRS-5) at the former NAS Moffett Field, California, is now underway
reports Nicholas A. Veronico. The hangar had been deskinned in April 2011
because its coating, made from Robertson Protective Metal, was leeching toxins
into the surrounding tidal wetlands of San Francisco Bay. Robertson Protective
Metal is made of annealed sheet steel, sandwiched with asphalt-saturated asbestos
felt containing polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, then coated with an asphalt-based
weather proofing topped with lead-based paint. It was state-of-the-art technology
for the 1930s but the awareness of how toxins impact life in the San Francisco
Bay ecosystem required its removal. The massive Hangar 1, built in 1933, stands
210-feet tall, is 1133-feet long, and 308-feet wide at its base, covering eight acres.
Each of the four doors weighs 200-tons and are moved by electric motors. Macon
was brought in and out of the hangar on a mooring mast that traveled on railroad
tracks. At the north and south end of the hangar were mooring circles that enabled
the airship to weather vane when outside. Two additional airship hangars are
located on the east side of Moffett Field, which were built from redwood during
WWII and are known as Hangars 2 and 3. In 2014, Google subsidiary Planetary
Ventures was awarded the contract to operate Moffett Federal Airfield. As part of
the agreement, Planetary Ventures will cover the estimated $33 million cost of
reskinning the hangar. Completion of the project is anticipated in 2023.
On 5 October 1934,
the USS Macon
arrived from Opa
Locka, Florida. At
the time, the dirigible
was a technological
marvel with
thousands turning out
to watch the airship’s
arrival. Macon
operated in the San
Francisco Bay area
for just four months
before crashing
into the Pacific on
12 February 1935.
(USN)Scaffolding has been installed on the interior and exterior of the north
side of the hangar as work begins to reskin the framework. (NAV)Hangar 1 has been a skeleton for more than a decade. When the skin
was removed in 2011, the frame was coated with an epoxy paint to
preserve the structure. Reskinning the hangar is now underway with
completion in 2025 predicted. (NAV)