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Famed Bomber To Get New Hangar

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By JACQUELINE TRESCOTT, The Washington Post

Published: November 4, 2007

WASHINGTON - After more than a half-century mothballed in a Maryland warehouse of the National Air and Space Museum, a storied World War II bomber will finally be moved.

Not to the queue of the restoration team, however, as some of the museum specialists would like.

The B-17 combat bomber, nicknamed "the Swoose," will head instead to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

The debate over what to do with the Swoose has split restoration staff members and curators. Both groups contend the historic aircraft should be restored but disagree over who should do the work and whether the Smithsonian Institution should lose one of its oldest airplanes.

The Air and Space Museum's collections committee, an advisory group on the acquisition and transfer of aircraft, voted 5 to 4 on Sept. 28 for deaccessioning the airplane. The panel forwarded its decision to Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, the museum director, and Donald S. Lopez Sr., the deputy director, who are retired pilots.

The decision has to be approved by the Smithsonian's National Collections Program office. The Air Force Museum is not commenting on the exchange until the internal process at the Smithsonian has been completed.

For Dailey, the practical concern of having enough space to store and to restore aircraft was his primary concern. The planned construction of a conservation and display facility at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport has been delayed until a portion of the needed $33.5 million can be raised.

Even when it opens, space in the 147,000-square-foot building will be an issue, Dailey said.

The plane, covered in camouflage paint, is a large aircraft with a wingspan of almost 104 feet. Unloaded, it weighs 30,000 pounds.

The class of B-17s earned a place in the public imagination when was used as a symbol of American military power in the Hollywood films "Twelve O'Clock High" and "Test Pilot."

"We had more than the usual interest from the staff as a whole, from the restoration staff as a whole," said Patricia Williams, an acquisition archivist and chairwoman of the air and space collections committee.

"It is an iconic object for people on the staff. While people may have different ideas, most people want to do the best for the artifact and the museum," Williams said.

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