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Author Topic:   Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum (Oregon)
Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 06-03-2008 07:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum release
Evergreen Space Museum Launches June 6

Oregon's largest space facility will compliment the home of the "Spruce Goose" and IMAX 3D Theater

The Evergreen Aviation Museum is famous for the world's largest wooden flying boat, the Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, and the world's fastest aircraft ever built, the SR-71 Blackbird, but soon visitors will also enjoy another world class addition on June 6, 2008 - a new space facility.

Evergreen teamed with Hoffman Construction of Portland, Ore. and began construction of the new Space Museum in late September 2006. The 120,000 square foot facility will compliment the museum campus and reflect the same design as the home of the famous Spruce Goose.

The new museum will feature artifacts the facility has already acquired including the Titan II SLV missile, the Titan IV SLV missile, the Willamette Meteorite, the replica Lunar Module, the replica Lunar Rover and the Russian Photon Space Capsule.

The new facility also boasts a 65,000 square foot space gallery that will include dozens of authentic space artifacts, some of which are in the museum's permanent collection and others that will be loaned to the museum by he Kansas Cosmosphere and National Air & Space Museum. Major exhibits will include an X-15, a Redstone Rocket, Gemini capsule, Apollo capsule, Saturn Rocket, space food and a collection of space suits. Historic artifacts, full-scale replicas of spacecraft and interactive exhibits and simulators will all be used to tell the story of spaceflight. The centerpiece of the new facility will be a Titan II SLV missile. With this new exhibit, guests will be able to participate in a hands-on missile launch experience. The museum also plans to host a series of educational programs and space camps.

In addition to the exhibits, the Space Museum will feature visitor amenities including: An aviation and space themed playground, The Right Stuff Gift Store, The Cosmo Cafe, The Tasting Station Wine Bar, The Milky Way ice cream shop and the Sweet Space treat stop.

The new Space Museum will also become the home of McMinnville High School's Engineering and Science Academy (EASA) in September 2008. The Academy will be home to local students who will spend half day increments in labs and classes in the museum's new classroom facility.

mercsim
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From: Phoenix, AZ
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posted 06-03-2008 09:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mercsim   Click Here to Email mercsim     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I didn't see it mentioned but Mercury Capsule no. 10 will also be there. It was at the Cosmosphere for many years and was moved last year when Liberty Bell finally got home. It never flew but it is pretty complete...

E2M Lem Man
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From: Los Angeles CA. USA
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posted 06-04-2008 01:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for E2M Lem Man   Click Here to Email E2M Lem Man     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am curious about the X-15. Since the two survivors are at the National Air and Space Museum and the Air Force Museum - is it a new replica?

AFGAS
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From: Merritt Island, FL
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posted 06-04-2008 09:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AFGAS   Click Here to Email AFGAS     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The X-15 is a fabrication - used to be at Huntsville a while ago.

Lou Chinal
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From: Staten Island, NY
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posted 06-25-2008 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mercsim:
I didn't see it mentioned but Mercury Capsule no. 10 will also be there.
Yes! Mercury Spacecraft no. 10 was used as a static test article and did not fly (Project Mercury: a chronology, page 212).

RichieB16
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From: Oregon
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posted 01-05-2009 12:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for RichieB16   Click Here to Email RichieB16     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
So, yesterday I took a trip to visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon and I have a blast. The museum is broken into 3 parts (air museum, space museum, and IMAX) and I bought passes to the whole thing because I didn't know when I would be able to come back.

The air museum was amazing, they had a great collection highlighted by the H-4 Spruce Goose. I would greatly advise anyone who loves aircraft and is in the area to stop by and check it out as it is an amazing museum. Here is a pic, but there is a lot of stuff on the other side of the Spruce Goose.

The space museum was nice, but a much newer attraction and still has quite a room to grow. They have a few nice things in there... but they need to add more. The biggest highlight in my eyes was unflown #10 Mercury capsule with retro rocket pack. It was really the only authentic manned space vechile at the museum. They had Jim McDivitt's flight suit from Gemini-IV which was cool... but most everything else were replicas. The had replicas of a Gemini capsule, Apollo capsule, LEM, Lunar Rover, etc.

In my eyes, the Mercury capsule is the highlight. They also have an SR-71 Blackbird and a replica X-15.

They also have a couple rockets on display including a V2, Redstone, and Titan.

My honest opinion of the whole experience is the air museum is 100% worth seeing and worth the cost of admission. I liked the space museum, but they really don't have a whole lot yet. If you're on a tight budget, the space museum isn't worth visiting... but the air museum is.

blue_eyes
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From: North Carolina, USA
Registered: Jul 2005

posted 01-05-2009 11:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for blue_eyes   Click Here to Email blue_eyes     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yeah, but the space museum carries my new space music CD... what more could you want?!

swbailey
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Posts: 2
From: McMinnville, Oregon, US
Registered: Jan 2009

posted 01-22-2009 10:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for swbailey   Click Here to Email swbailey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by E2M Lem Man:
I am curious about the X-15.
This is a full size mock up built by North American for wind tunnel work. It is currently on loan to Evergreen from the Kansas Cosmosphere.

Stewart W. Bailey, Curator
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

Lou Chinal
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From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 01-22-2009 03:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
At the New York 1964-65 Worlds Fair they had a full sized mock-up of an X-15. Neil Armstrong painted his name on it. I wonder if it's the same one?

E2M Lem Man
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posted 01-22-2009 04:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for E2M Lem Man   Click Here to Email E2M Lem Man     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mr. Bailey, respectfully, there is a major chance that you are incorrect. I have spoken to some of the old NAA team here in Downey and none remember a full size X-15 built just for wind tunnel work. They feel that there were small scale models built for the wind tunnels but nothing that large.

I believe they are correct, as Scott Crossfield would not have had the landing issues he had on the first flight if it had been tested in a tunnel.

swbailey
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From: McMinnville, Oregon, US
Registered: Jan 2009

posted 01-22-2009 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for swbailey   Click Here to Email swbailey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You may be correct. The only information I have on the mock-up is that which was given to us by the Cosmosphere, being as it is really their artifact. We just have it on loan.

As for the replica signed by Neil Armstrong, I'm guessing that this one is not it, because during the restoration process, our volunteers found nothing like that on it. However, during the opening ceremonies for the new Space Building, we had Joe Engle sign it just below the canopy with a white paint marker. So... it has at least one authentic signature on it.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 01-22-2009 07:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have found a few different references to a full scale engineering model being produced by North American in December 1956. Perhaps it wasn't a wind tunnel model but used for other purposes?

AFGAS
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From: Merritt Island, FL
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posted 01-22-2009 09:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AFGAS   Click Here to Email AFGAS     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have seen a few cases where 'engineering model' was interpreted as 'wind-tunnel model' so I would not be surprised if this was so. Remember too that the folks at the Cosmosphere did an awesome job in bringing this artifact to the excellent condition it is in today. So we can't base its past history on the way it looks now.

golddog
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From: australia
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posted 01-23-2009 01:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for golddog     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Can anyone confirm whose pressure suit that actually is? It doesn't look like the one McDivitt wore on Gemini 4 and looks to me more like an EVA suit. The covers on the zipper and pressure gauge are indicative of an EVA suit, to see the difference you could view a photo of McDivitt and White on the carrier after recovery.

As it is my understanding that White's original suit is on the mannequin at the Smithsonian, it may be a training suit of White's perhaps, though there is no name tag or NASA meatball present, which is a bit odd. I am just curious as to its origin.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 01-23-2009 09:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Both White's and McDivitt's suits (and their display mannequins) were removed Gemini IV within the last couple of years at the National Air and Space Museum.

Though White's suit as he wore during the EVA had both NASA meatball and name tag patches, there is a NASA photo of him wearing a suit missing both.

golddog
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From: australia
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posted 01-23-2009 04:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for golddog     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It could very well be that training suit then.

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 12-13-2014 10:43 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Evergreen Vintage Aircraft, which owns about half the land on which the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum sits, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Oregon Bankruptcy Court, the McMinnville News-Register reports.
Both the Evergreen Aviation Museum and the Captain Michael King Smith Education Institute, which owns much of the remainder of the museum campus filed special notice requests with the court, to be kept apprised of the case, as did Umpqua Bank, which holds a deed of trust against the aviation museum display hall and the theater, and was assigned all of the rent from those two buildings, as collateral against an unpaid loan in 2008.

MrSpace86
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From: Gardner, KS
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posted 12-15-2014 09:20 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MrSpace86   Click Here to Email MrSpace86     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This doesn't seem like good news. I always wanted to go visit and now it seems like I better hurry before the doors shut for good.

p51
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From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 12-15-2014 10:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for p51   Click Here to Email p51     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The museum has had a lot of issues over the years, which required them to sell off at least a few of their planes to pay for debts. They lost their Ford Tri-Motor that way.

I went there last week, for the first time in several years (it's really not on the way to anywhere) and was impressed with the 'space' museum which is really more of a place for their helicopter and jet fighter collection. Most of the 'space' stuff is replica but cool to look at anyway.

If you go, ask at the ticket counter about the cockpit tour of the spurce goose, it's a great deal if you have a group of 4 or less!

Robert Pearlman
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posted 10-13-2015 06:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum release
Official Museum Statement

We have been notified that our landlord, the Michael King Smith Education Foundation, has received a writ of execution on the sale of both the Space Museum and Wings & Waves Waterpark. The Foundation is a separate entity that owns buildings on the Museum Campus including the Space building, chapel and the Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark.

The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is an independent non-profit organization. Museum Management is actively working on solutions to address this situation with the landlord. Visitor count at both the Museum and Waterpark is strong, and the Museum is profitable. We will continue to operate as usual and look forward to welcoming our guests.

Headshot
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posted 05-25-2022 02:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Headshot   Click Here to Email Headshot     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
We had the opportunity to visit the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon last week. I was pleasantly surprised and my wife had fun watching me run around taking picture after picture.

The aviation aspect is very well-displayed, the highlights for me were the Spruce Goose, an A-10 Warthog, their SR-71 and the D-21 drone. They had a lot of jet fighters on display, both American and Soviet.

I really liked their space exhibit building (which had planes in it as well). There seemed to be a lot of nicely-detailed replicas on display, like a Mars Exploration Rover, a Russian Vega spacecraft, a Lunakhod, an American lunar rover, an Apollo lunar module, a Gemini (suspended from the ceiling), etc. Space hardware displayed included the twin-engine assembly from a Titan II, an S-IVb ullage rocket assembly, the trainer of Skylab's airlock module (the Gemini-style door of which had a window), a nitrogen purge van for a Titan IV, a multi-axis space satellite tracking camera etc.

I also noticed, while driving in the parking lot, pieces of a space shuttle SRB replica that will obviously be used for a future exhibit.

The items that I listed are a small fraction of what is on display. It was not crowded on a Friday afternoon, but it was not empty either. The place seems well-run and the staff is very pleasant and accommodating. I also enjoyed the fact that there were plenty of seats scattered around for us aged people to sit down and rest. It is a cute touch that these are all airline seats from one of their jetliners!

They also had a small, but very interesting telescope/astronomy exhibit, including a beautiful 133-year old antique refractor. I had a great time talking to the docent there, comparing observing and telescope "war" stories.

This is a place that we will definitely visit again.

dss65
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From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 05-25-2022 08:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dss65   Click Here to Email dss65     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I fully agree, Headshot, this is a really worthwhile place to visit. My wife (who is not the fanatic that I am but consistently enjoys air and space museums) is completely with me on the idea that we will go there again someday.

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