Yaknee Air Force museum destroyed by fire

[MarkVZ]

From: http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1097403595299010.xml

Luckily, the returning crew of the B-25 noticed the fire and was able to save the airworthy B-17G and C-47 housed inside.  However, an OV-10 being restored to static condition and an un-named static aircraft on loan from Dayton were destroyed.

A sad day indeed.

[Hawklore]

[SunTracker]

I guess the owner will just have to collect the insurance money and move to the carribean with his new wife

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by SunTracker
I guess the owner will just have to collect the insurance money and move to the carribean with his new wife

nice comment jerk...

That museum is not owned by a private source.  It is a 501C3 organisation and is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the preservation of the artifacts and memories of those that gave you the right to make suck an ignorant statement.  

Sheesh... I really have to wonder about a person such as yourself.

[Torque]

That sucks...

[SOB]

Originally posted by Bodhi
unnecessary spite

Lighten up, Francis.

[Fishu]

They were lucky to save some of the precious planes!

[G0ALY]

I was fishing that evening in Mitchell Bay on the very east side of lake St. Claire. You could just see the very top of the Renaissance Center in Detroit. (the tallest object on the horizon) I believe we were about 20 miles away when I took these pictures… With no radio to hear what was going on over there, I was afraid something bad was happening…
I’m only glad nobody was hurt.

[gofaster]

Michigan's Yankee Air Museum Destroyed In Fire
 The Yankee Air Museum's 50,000-square-foot hangar, at Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti, Mich., burned to the ground Saturday evening, destroying at least four airplanes and countless aviation artifacts. The crew of a B-25D who had just returned from a flight were able to save the airplane and the museum's two other flying classics -- a C-47 and a B-17G. The hangar, which is owned by the Wayne County Airport Authority, has been cited in the past for fire and structural safety concerns, according to the Detroit News. A 2001 report, commissioned by the museum, said the 63-year-old building lacked a fire-suppression system and proper fire exits. No one was hurt in the fire and the cause has not yet been determined. Museum President Jon Stevens told the Detroit News damage is estimated at between $5 million and $7 million. "Obviously, we had concerns with the old building," Stevens said. "We have been working over the last three years to raise money. At this time, we cannot do so." The hangar was originally built as part of a plant designed by Henry Ford to produce B-24 Liberator bombers on assembly lines for World War II. "It's a terrible loss, not only for us, who have put so much time and our hearts into that place, but really it's a loss for southeast Michigan and the aviation world," museum member Raymond Nickels told the News.
(Image removed from quote.)