Re: The First Warplanes

August T. Horvath (HORVATH@HULAW1.HARVARD.EDU)
Wed, 22 Feb 1995 21:08:11 -0500 (EST)

On Wed, 22 Feb 1995, Douglas R. Jones wrote:

> >
> > Aw, Geez....
> >
> > First Rheinbeck, and now First W.... This is a catastrophe! I mean,
> >who's next? How can this be happening with historical aviation interest
> >at an all-time high? Or, is that just *WWII* interest...?
> >
>
> I am concerned that it is WWII interest! Being that it is still "fresh"

I disagree. My impression is that the Ryder museum was only part, albeit
a major part, of the biggest upsurge in WWI replica building since the
60s. Also, note the upsurge in 1930s types with new replicas of the P-6,
F3F, Gee Bee R-1, etc. I very much doubt that the Ryder replicas will be
left to rot, although admittedly it is more likely that they will end up
being static displays with Champlin or something than flying.

> One thing that could be done is to find a group who already has an
> interest and funnel money into them. Perhaps the Old Rhinebeck Foundation
> might be interested insome of the replicas. At least those that are
> "correct". They wouldn't have much use for the non-100% scale replicas,
> I don't think. Maybe the EAA would be interested. I can do some poking
> around. If anyone has closer ties to the Old Thinebeck folks than I do
> try them. Or write letters to the EAA, Chino, Shuttleworth etc and see
> what they might do. I can check with the Air Museum here to see if they are
> interested. Unfortunately other the the Old Rhinebeck folks, I think
> most places are static only. That's a shame.

I would suggest the Weeks Air Museum. Kermit has some lovely WWI
replicas, and originals, some of which were reduced essentially to
kindling by the hurricane a few years ago. He could be looking to
replace them for his new museum. There is some chance that
with Weeks they would also be flown occasionally. I don't think there is
any need to contact the museum, though, because none of is is any better
networked into the warbird market than Kermit! And he has been on a
shopping spree the last few years so if he's interested, I'm sure he's
made an offer already.

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August Horvath horvath@hulaw1.harvard.edu
Harvard Law School