Our June event really got messed up and I was forced to change the venue. Originally we were to tour a home in SW Hillsboro that is retired Boeing 727 aircraft. Doing a dry run of the event two weeks in advance I discovered the road to the aircraft is not fit for Explorers much less Thunderbirds. So after several other ideas were eliminated due to various circumstances we settled on visiting the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville. I think partially because we have been there several times the attendance was low; however, those who attended had a good time.
No matter how many times I see the Spruce Goose I am dumbfounded by its size. There is just no way to expect it and no way to describe it. It is plain and simply HUGE!
One very unique plane there is a ME-262. The ME stands for Messerschmidt, and it was the world's first jet fighter. The Nazis developed this during WWII and got it into use in the last few months of the war. American and British fighter pilots were totally surprised when they first saw these planes not only by their speed but their maneuverability. Fortunately they were put into use too late to make a difference in the war. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it. The tail of the ME-262 is visible in front of the Spruce Goose in one of the photos.
We had 4 Classic T'Birds, 1 Retro T'Bird, & 2 Family Trucksters. There were 11 people in all. After several hours touring the facility we headed into McMinnville and had lunch at Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant.
After lunch Jim Sweet and his son Jay went back to Evergreen and took a cockpit tour of the Spruce Goose.
