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The Evergreen Aviation Museumadvances their mission — “To
inspire and educate. To promote and
preserve aviation history, and to honorthe patriotic services of our veterans.”To better understand their mission, wemust understand their foundation.
The Evergreen Aviation Museum
is located in McMinnville, Oregon inthe heart of Willamette Valley’s winecountry. McMinnville is positionedin the oldest county in Oregon. It is
halfway between the Oregon coast andPortland — 30 miles from the state’scapital city of Salem. The town ishome to about 30,000 residents.
The Evergreen Aviation Museumis located across the highway fromthe McMinnville Municipal Airport.The museum is a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational and scientific
organization, which began in a smalldisplay hangar. A new facility openedin 2001 — accommodating about 3,000visitors for standing events and about1,500 for seated events.
“Many people do not realize thathalf of our aircraft are flyable and wehave more than 80 aircraft and exhibitson-site,” said Nicole Wahlberg,
Director of Marketing & PublicRelations.
Wahlberg has worked for the
museum for the past nine years and
says it has plentyof displays andattractions tocaptivate guests.
“We haveeverything fromthe famous“Spruce Goose,”to recreationaircraft towartime aircraft.Museumvisitors have the
opportunity togo into a B-
17, which is veryrare. People aresurprised at whatwe have here in
this little town.”Phil Jaeger, Vice President of
Operations says until you visit, you
do not know what kind of world-classfacility this is.
“It’s like the hidden gem of Oregon,” said Jaeger.
Other than airplane and helicopter
exhibits, the museum showcases anartifact and research library, andarchive collections. About 200,000visitors from around the world
walk through the museum’s doorsevery year. In fact, the facility hit amilestone late last year with its one-millionth customer.
“In the summer we draw a largernumber of visitors, including manyinternational visitors,” said Wahlberg.“They come to see the “SpruceGoose” and are shocked at what else
we have to offer.”The museum promotes the skills
needed for careers in aviationsuch as mathematics, teamwork,determination, perseverance, scienceand technology. Dedicated volunteersteach these skills to visitors of all ages.
“We always have wonderfulcomments about our volunteers,” said
Wahlberg. “We have World War IIVeterans who stand at their aircraftevery single day to inform the public.
They are a big attraction.”
All volunteers go through abackground check and attend a full-day training class led by VolunteerTraining Official Laurel Adams.
Adams has been volunteering since1995 and oversees the development of the museum’s training curriculum.
“I was an elementary schoolprincipal in McMinnville and I wasalways interested in airplanes,” saidAdams. “When I read about themuseum I decided I wanted to getinvolved. I talked to a fellow who
worked here and he said ‘come outand we will get you started’.”
Adams says his favorite thing aboutvolunteering is being associated withthe displays.
“It is great being around theseairplanes and meeting new friends,meeting the public and talkingwith them. We get to meet people
who have an interest in what wedo.... aviation enthusiasts and evencelebrities. I love being around theseexotic airplanes that I grew up readingabout.”
After a training class, volunteersshadow a docent. A docent issomeone who has passed all trainingcourses and is very knowledgeable.
“People definitely do not realize thequality of our volunteers,” said Jaeger.“We have 278 volunteers who doeverything from restoring aircraft, toguiding museum tours, to helping outat our new IMAX® 3D Theater.”
The BeginningCaptain Michael King Smith grew
up in McMinnville. He went to theUniversity of Washington and receiveda commission as a Second Lieutenantin the U.S. Air Force. Michaelgraduated first in his class fromColumbus Air Force Base, receivingnumerous awards including theCommander’s Trophy, DistinguishedGraduate and Flying Excellence. He
eventually became an F-15 pilot andLead for the 123rd Fighter Squadronof the Oregon Air National Guard.
Coming back home to McMinnville,
Evergreen Aviation Museum — Bringing
Education to the Forefront of Aviation
Clean goose. Photo courtesy of Don Arner.
by Amanda Gustafson
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Michael put his love for aviation to
work. He wanted to educate peopleabout the early days of air travel andurge aviation enthusiasts to dreambig. Delford M. Smith, the Founderof Evergreen International Aviationand Smith’s dad wanted to help. Theduo set out collecting vintage warbirds.With these aircraft, and Michael’sown private collection, the Evergreen
Aviation Museum was formed.Michael served as President, while
his dad was the Founder. MichaelSmith was killed in an automobileaccident in 1995. The museum isdedicated in his honor. Delfordcurrently serves as the Chairman of the Board and is heavily involved inthe museum’s daily operations.
“Spruce Goose”
The flying boat, known around theglobe as the “Spruce Goose,” is at thecenter of the museum. This aircraft,which was both designed and builtby Howard Hughes’ Hughes AircraftCompany, marked a technologicaladvancement in aviation. The “Spruce
Goose” was built out of a plywood-like series of thin wood laminations,with grains laid perpendicular to eachother. Engineers found it light, yetstronger than aluminum.
Hughes went to Washington D.C. tostand behind this aircraft after criticsaccused him of wasting governmentmoney. During a break in the dispute,
Hughes flew back to the west coastto examine the plane. On November2, 1947, Howard Hughes and a fewengineers started up the eight radialengines to conduct taxi tests. WithHughes at the controls the flying boatlifted 33 feet off the surface of LongBeach Harbor and flew one mile at 80miles per hour in less than a minute.
This is known as Hughes’ ‘accidentalflight,’ although many questionwhether or not it was an accident. Theshort flight quieted critics, but endedthe project and the “Spruce Goose”was placed in storage until becoming adisplay at the Long Beach Dome andthen eventually becoming EvergreenAviation Museum’s main attraction.
Museum FeaturesThe museum also displays the
world’s fastest aircraft ever built,
the SR-71 “Blackbird.” This aircraft
has been called by many names, the“Habu,” “SR,” “Lady in Black,”and “Sled;” but many know it as the“Blackbird.”
In addition to viewing aircraft,cinema buffs can now see films in 3Dat the museum’s new IMAX® Theater— the first of its kind in Oregon.
“We will change the films we show
every three months, but the ‘FighterPilot’ movie is our signature film,” saidWahlberg. “This film is dedicated toMike [Smith] and will be shown everyquarter year-round.”
The taste of the wine countryalso found a spot on the museum’sgrounds. A new wine tasting roomshowcases Evergreen Vineyards
Spruce Goose wine and juice. Grapesto make the signature wine are grown
in a vineyard at the front of themuseum. Wine tasting is free.
It is also hard to miss Evergreen’snew multi-colored concrete plaza,measuring 73 feet in diameter with12 directional points. The area wasspecifically fashioned for outdoor
public events and serves as the centerbetween the aviation museum, theIMAX® Theater, and the future spacemuseum, which is set to open in 2008.
With summer in full swing, the
museum has a full calendar. “We offera summer camp for kids, which runsJune, July, and August and is aimed ata variety of ages,” said Walhberg.
“We will also be doing featured
events around the ‘Fighter Pilot’ moviethis summer and are hoping to bringin some of the stars from the film tohelp us celebrate the occasion. Wewill be honoring the different branchesof the military as well. The list of ouractivities goes on and on.”
The Museum is open every day,including weekends, from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. excluding certain holidays.Guided tours run daily – 11 a.m. and 2p.m. For more information visit http://www.sprucegoose.org
Amanda Gustafson is Public
Relations Assistant for HAI.
Education tour. Photo courtesy of the
Evergreen Aviation Museum
Early fl ight gallery and famous “Spruce Goose.”
Photo courtesy of Evergreen Aviation Museum.
