MUSEUM ENDURES HURRICANE IVAN'S WRATH

The storm struck with all the might that Mother Nature could muster
and for the inhabitants of the Pensacola area, life will never be the
same. Many returned to their homes to find them smashed by walls of
water or at the very least missing sections of the roof. NAS
Pensacola suffered some $1 billion dollars in damage, its landscape
marked by fallen trees and some of its historic nineteenth century
buildings damaged beyond repair. If there was one bright spot in the
ordeal, it was the fact that the National Museum of Naval Aviation
suffered relatively minor damage.

Situated on some of the highest ground on board NAS Pensacola, the
Museum was not threatened by the strong storm surge that devastated
the waterfront areas of the air station, but the high winds of
Hurricane Ivan took somewhat of a toll on the Museum's main building
sending a section of high wall of the Blue Angels Atrium flying. In
addition, sections of the skylights in both the West Wing and the
Quarterdeck were lost and a window in the Cubi Bar Café blew in,
allowing some rainwater to drench sections of carpet and some ceiling
tiles. Fortunately, not one artifact or aircraft on display within
the main Museum building was damaged.

This was not the case with respect to other structures on the air
station in which the Museum stores aircraft and artifacts and conducts
exhibit fabrication. The Collections Department storage facility in
Building 3221 located behind the Museum had flying debris break a
window, which allowed water to enter a storage room. Luckily, the
only item of significance that was destroyed was an early 1900s U.S.
Naval Academy Lucky Bag yearbook. The restoration facility at the
opposite end of Building 3221 also suffered water damage and a falling
tree damaged the roof on a small artifact/artwork storage building
across the street, but caused no damage to items inside. Building
604, located across the street from the bay, suffered the most damage
of any building operated by the Museum. Between three and four feet
of water entered the structure, whose brick face emerged from the
storm with a gigantic hole in it. The result was water damage to the
Museum's Exhibit Fabrication Department spaces as well as the loss of
ordnance publications and archival supplies. Fortunately, the
collection of aviation flight records from the prewar and World War II
eras survived without so much as a drop of water on them. However, we

still await reports from some of the sites on the air station at which
the Museum has materials on loan, though it appears that most
artifacts in this category are intact and in excellent condition.

The greatest damage occurred on the flight line behind the Museum,
where about 75% of the vintage aircraft on display sustained some
damage. Most of it was minor and, with possibly one exception,
repairable. Our NU-1B Otter took the heaviest beating, losing a wing
and having its empennage twisted about forty degrees, which will
require a major effort to repair. "Que Sera Sera", the first
aircraft to land at the South Pole, also took a hit, but it is not as
bad as it looks. The venerable C-47 lost its right wing and rudder
among other things, but she should be back together before long. We
lost a few canopies and a lot of fabric from control surfaces and our
PB4Y-2 Privateer left its number 4 engine on the ramp when it broke
its tie downs and went for a short trip. Ironically, the EC-121 that
is displayed in the markings of the "Hurricane Hunters" squadron lost
its dorsal radome.

Following is a list of aircraft that suffered damage:
1.. F-14 (Damage to port vertical stabilizer)
2.. CT-39 (Vertical stabilizer damage)
3.. KA-6D (Canopy blown off and destroyed/Damage to starboard wing
fold).
4.. HU-16 (Port float blown off and wing damaged)
5.. P2V "Truculent Turtle" (Cockpit wind screening off and starboard
hatch out)
6.. SP-5B (Vertical stabilizer and rudder damage)
7.. P-3 (Vertical stabilizer and rudder damage/Port wing access
hatch out)
8.. P-3 (Rudder blown off and antenna down)
9.. AJ-2 (Damage to starboard elevator, port elevator, rudder,
ailerons, and port tip tank)
10.. EA-1F (Hole in starboard wing and rear canopy blown away)
11.. A-4 (Damage to both wing tips, rudder, port aft fuselage, and
dent in the nose cone)
12.. A-7 (Canopy blown off and damage to starboard aileron)
13.. EC-121 (Top radome blown away and damage to starboard wing and
elevator)
14.. TC-4C (Rudder and elevator damage as well as damage to the nose
strut)
15.. EA-3B (Tail damage and dent in aft radome)
16.. C-118 (Aileron, rudder, and vertical stabilizer damage)
17.. RA-5C (Starboard flap, nose section, and horizontal stabilizer
damage)
18.. R4D "Que Sera Sera" (Aircraft suffered tail wheel damage and an
aileron and rudder were blown away. The port wing broke away and
there is fuselage damage to the aircraft)
19.. C-117 (Fuselage holed and damage to tail wheel and elevators)
20.. C-131 (Wing scraped and damage to engine nacelle)
21.. E-1B (Damage to port wing fold)
22.. T-2C (Damage to pitot tube and trim tab)
23.. T-38 (Horizontal stabilizers blown off)
24.. PBJ (Damage to fabric on flaps and tail)
25.. RF-4 (Forward canopy blown off and damage to starboard wing
slat and leading edge port wing)
26.. JD-1 (Nose section blown off and damage to ailerons)
27.. RC-45J (Damage to port aileron)
28.. PBY (Damage to elevator fabric, aft section of the fuselage,
nose turret, and port wing)
29.. NU-1B (Tail section twisted approximately forty degrees,
starboard wing off, and damage to tail)
30.. PB4Y (Rudder blown off and damage to fuselage, cockpit canopy,
tail and wingtip. Top hatch is missing and starboard outboard engine
blown off the aircraft)
31.. SP-2H (Aft stinger radar off and damage to ventral radome, and
port wing and aileron)
32.. S-2E (Damage to rudder, port elevator, and trim tab)
33.. C-46 (Port and starboard aileron damage and also damage to
rudder, trim tab, and elevator. Damage to access door)
34.. F/A-18 (Port and starboard landing gear door damage)

The museum will reopen for business on Monday, 11 October, at 0900
hours, after being closed to the visiting public for almost four
weeks.

SITE NAVIGATION