gkainz
Final Approach
from CO Pilots Association email:
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(F-82 "Twin Mustang" seen above, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-82_Twin_Mustang)
Original documentation shows where the USAF GAVE the CAF this rare and historic aircraft many years ago, but this evidence was somehow deemed insufficient when the case was recently heard in Federal Court located in Dayton, OH - the same city that the USAF museum resides. The CAF asked for a neutral court venue but that request was also denied. The offer below was done after the Federal court decided that it wanted the F-82 back just as the CAF was nearing completion of a full restoration.
The USAF Dayton museum already has on display a fully restored F-82 and does not show more than one example of each type. In fact the CAF's collection is more complete that the USAF's pertaining to WWII aircraft yet receives no federal funding. The CAF was founded in 1957 to acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States, and selected aircraft of other nations, for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans.
I just saw our F-82 at the CAF in Midland, TX last weekend. It is being displayed there plastic replica (non-flyable) propellers, but otherwise almost complete. The CAF museum (http://www.airpowermuseum.org/) is fully affiliated with the Smithsonian, and has a very large and wonderful WWII exhibit, besides their unique flying aircraft. See http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/ for further overview.
Please write your senators and congressmen on this further injustice, and forward this to anybody else you think can help or is interested.
-----Original Message-----
From the desk of the CAF President, Steve Brown...
Air Force Museum Rejects F-82 Settlement Offer from CAF
The National Museum of the Air Force (USAFM) Board of Directors rejected the Commemorative Air Force's (CAF) offer to drop its lawsuit concerning the ownership rights of the F-82 in exchange for allowing the airplane to remain on static display at the CAF Airpower Museum in Midland, Texas.
In a written proposal, hand-delivered to the Air Force History Department in Washington D.C., the CAF proposed to drop its appeal and let the ruling in the trial court stand, in exchange for allowing the CAF to retain physical possession of the F-82 in the USAFM’s Loan Program. The same loan program is used across the country for static Air Force owned aircraft at aviation museums.
The proposal submitted by the CAF states, “This proposal is put forth in the spirit of trying to put this unpleasant disagreement behind us….. Although we still disagree with the position of the Air Force to not allow its vintage warbirds to fly, we would prefer to continue this discussion through persuasion versus litigation.”
“I had great hopes that this would be an amicable way to agree-to-disagree, yet still concede to the USAFM’s policy to not fly the F-82, which has supposedly been their concern. This decision to reject our proposal is confusing and disappointing.” said Stephan Brown, President and CEO of the CAF. “Our mission is to Honor American Military Aviation, through the flight of these historic aircraft, but we felt it was better to keep this important piece of our history on static display, rather than lose it altogether.”
The response to the CAF’s proposal by the Director of Air Force History and Museum Policies and Programs states “After a robust and thorough discussion, the voting members of the Heritage Board unanimously decided that, based on the history of this matter and the precedential import of the judicial determination concerning the ownership of the F-82 to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the other Armed Services, the offer of settlement could not be accepted.”
As a result of the declination of the CAF settlement proposal, the F-82, which has been a part of the CAF history for 40 years, must be shipped back to the USAFM in Dayton, Ohio immediately.
“Of course, the Judgment will be obeyed”, said Brown. “And it will be a sad day for 9,000 active CAF members and those before them, who have poured tens of thousands of dollars and man-hours into saving this airplane. How ironic that our founders Lloyd Nolen and Marvin “Lefty” Gardner saved this airplane (and many more) from the Air Force’s destruction, just to have the Air Force Museum repossess it in order to ‘preserve’ it.”
“However, now we will continue forward with the Appeal. The Appeal is a de novo review, in which the Appellate Court is not bound by the trial court, but reviews the entire case. We are hopeful that the Appellate authority will see things differently,” Brown concluded.
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(F-82 "Twin Mustang" seen above, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-82_Twin_Mustang)
Original documentation shows where the USAF GAVE the CAF this rare and historic aircraft many years ago, but this evidence was somehow deemed insufficient when the case was recently heard in Federal Court located in Dayton, OH - the same city that the USAF museum resides. The CAF asked for a neutral court venue but that request was also denied. The offer below was done after the Federal court decided that it wanted the F-82 back just as the CAF was nearing completion of a full restoration.
The USAF Dayton museum already has on display a fully restored F-82 and does not show more than one example of each type. In fact the CAF's collection is more complete that the USAF's pertaining to WWII aircraft yet receives no federal funding. The CAF was founded in 1957 to acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States, and selected aircraft of other nations, for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans.
I just saw our F-82 at the CAF in Midland, TX last weekend. It is being displayed there plastic replica (non-flyable) propellers, but otherwise almost complete. The CAF museum (http://www.airpowermuseum.org/) is fully affiliated with the Smithsonian, and has a very large and wonderful WWII exhibit, besides their unique flying aircraft. See http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/ for further overview.
Please write your senators and congressmen on this further injustice, and forward this to anybody else you think can help or is interested.
-----Original Message-----
From the desk of the CAF President, Steve Brown...
Air Force Museum Rejects F-82 Settlement Offer from CAF
The National Museum of the Air Force (USAFM) Board of Directors rejected the Commemorative Air Force's (CAF) offer to drop its lawsuit concerning the ownership rights of the F-82 in exchange for allowing the airplane to remain on static display at the CAF Airpower Museum in Midland, Texas.
In a written proposal, hand-delivered to the Air Force History Department in Washington D.C., the CAF proposed to drop its appeal and let the ruling in the trial court stand, in exchange for allowing the CAF to retain physical possession of the F-82 in the USAFM’s Loan Program. The same loan program is used across the country for static Air Force owned aircraft at aviation museums.
The proposal submitted by the CAF states, “This proposal is put forth in the spirit of trying to put this unpleasant disagreement behind us….. Although we still disagree with the position of the Air Force to not allow its vintage warbirds to fly, we would prefer to continue this discussion through persuasion versus litigation.”
“I had great hopes that this would be an amicable way to agree-to-disagree, yet still concede to the USAFM’s policy to not fly the F-82, which has supposedly been their concern. This decision to reject our proposal is confusing and disappointing.” said Stephan Brown, President and CEO of the CAF. “Our mission is to Honor American Military Aviation, through the flight of these historic aircraft, but we felt it was better to keep this important piece of our history on static display, rather than lose it altogether.”
The response to the CAF’s proposal by the Director of Air Force History and Museum Policies and Programs states “After a robust and thorough discussion, the voting members of the Heritage Board unanimously decided that, based on the history of this matter and the precedential import of the judicial determination concerning the ownership of the F-82 to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the other Armed Services, the offer of settlement could not be accepted.”
As a result of the declination of the CAF settlement proposal, the F-82, which has been a part of the CAF history for 40 years, must be shipped back to the USAFM in Dayton, Ohio immediately.
“Of course, the Judgment will be obeyed”, said Brown. “And it will be a sad day for 9,000 active CAF members and those before them, who have poured tens of thousands of dollars and man-hours into saving this airplane. How ironic that our founders Lloyd Nolen and Marvin “Lefty” Gardner saved this airplane (and many more) from the Air Force’s destruction, just to have the Air Force Museum repossess it in order to ‘preserve’ it.”
“However, now we will continue forward with the Appeal. The Appeal is a de novo review, in which the Appellate Court is not bound by the trial court, but reviews the entire case. We are hopeful that the Appellate authority will see things differently,” Brown concluded.
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