[Milsurplus] Purity

[Mike Hanz]

Michael Tauson wrote:
> While the discussion is on radio equipment and I mentioned
> automobiles, it occured to me that the NASM and other museums have
> pieces on display that are impure.  According to those who would have
> equipment completely unmodified, then aircraft like the F4Fs recovered
> from the bottom of Lake Michigan, for example, aren't worth the metal
> they're made of.   Let's take the Enola Gay as a huge example.  Mike,
> if you're reading this, how much of the aircraft is original and how
> much is repaired/replacement?

I can't give you a percentage, Mike - mostly because I've never seen 
that type of statistic being gathered in the time I have been involved 
with the NASM.  A goodly percentage has been repaired or replaced, 
simply because it received normal USAAF maintenance during its active 
duty lifetime, and even while it was in storage it continued to get the 
normal B-29 updates until it was transferred to the Smithsonian.  Since 
then, the documented 300,000+ man-hours spend in dismantling and moving 
it from Andrews AFB to the Garber Restoration facility, and all the 
subsequent restoration, proceeded with the fairly standard museum 
approach - which means repainting and refurbishing damaged parts, 
replacing missing items with like kind (the APQ-13 radar had been tossed 
and replaced with an APQ-23 in 1946, for example, so an APQ-13 had to be 
located and the newer radar removed.)  The engines were completely 
rebuilt with replacement parts, even though they would never be run 
again.  I had to fabricate missing items like the long wire command 
radio antenna wire tensioning unit (a Boeing special) from the original 
drawings, using the materials specified on the drawing 
(http://aafradio.org/NASM/Enola_restoration.htm) because no original 
could be located anywhere.  I'm in the middle of making a shock mount 
for the disk recorder scheduled to go in the radar compartment, simply 
because the chances of finding an original is slim to non-existent (it's 
a complex multi-layer job like the ART-13 mount, which makes it 
considerably more difficult to replicate.)

After transferring from restoring old Corvettes to radios back in 1988, 
I had no problem with the above philosophy, though for some collectors 
the thought of fabricating parts is considered a no-no.  As I've often 
remarked to folks with whom I disagree, their position is noted with 
interest.   :-)   Whatever floats your boat...which is why I had no 
problem with the ham who was playing with the hacked ARB.

73,
Mike  KC4TOS