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- Path: sparky!uunet!dtix!mimsy!hoel
- From: hoel@umiacs.umd.edu (Erik Hoel)
- Newsgroups: rec.models.scale
- Subject: Re: NASM Archives address change
- Keywords: NASM Restoration Facility
- Message-ID: <62222@mimsy.umd.edu>
- Date: 20 Nov 92 21:51:30 GMT
- References: <1992Nov19.160148.22142@samba.oit.unc.edu>
- Sender: news@mimsy.umd.edu
- Organization: UMIACS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
- Lines: 57
-
- In article <1992Nov19.160148.22142@samba.oit.unc.edu> thorn@phoenix.radonc.unc.edu (Jesse Thorn) writes:
- >
- >Andrew Bennett had originally posted the address for the National Air
- >& Space Museum archive search service. They have recently moved. Their
- >new address is:
- >
- > NASM
- > Archives Division
- > Room 3100
- > MRC 322
- > Washington, DC 20560
- >
- >Same deal - send them a letter requesting info on no more than 3
- >aircraft. They will respond (hopefully) within 2 weeks on what info
- >is available. You then send a check & they ship the stuff via UPS. The
- >prices quoted were very nominal - something like $0.35 square foot for
- >reproducing large size plans. There is a $3.50 UPS shipping charge.
- >
- >The fellow I talked to said they had things like the original
- >manufacturer's drawings and maintenance manuals for some aircraft as
- >well as plans specially made for modellers.
- >
- >I recently requested info on some aircraft that I want to model. I
- >will post a followup when I get a reply from the folks in DC. This
- >sounds like a good use of my Tax Dollars at last! (Has anybody out
- >there got info from them?)
- >
- >--Jesse "Can't wait until work is over so I can go home and airbrush
- >my Hobbycraft MS 406 kit tonight" Thorn
-
- Yes, I've received a list of all aircraft drawings which they will send you
- for a nominal charge. I ended up purchasing ~10 such drawings (everything
- from a 6' long USS Ackron (airship) to various 1910-15 seaplanes (I'm not the
- biggest buff on this stuff (Nyuck-nyuck) so I can't remember any specific
- names). The drawings are generally $3 - $7, depending upon size and number of
- sheets. I ordered a couple of planes which came with 3-4 different sheets. I
- ended up washing the drawings with watercolors and hanging them on the wall. It
- turned out quite nicely. My recollection is that there were roughly 150
- different aircraft available. If I can find this list at home, I'll post it
- along with drawing sizes, number of sheets, and cost. The drawings came via
- UPS as Jesse stated in a very heavy poster tube.
-
- Incidentally, I got this list during an open house at the NASM restoration
- facility in Suitland, MD (out by Andrews, look for the intersection with
- the Polaris missle). Once a year, they open the facility
- and you get to walk around, inspecting the various aircraft (~200) that are
- in various stages of restoration and asking the restorers various questions.
- I enjoyed seeing the Enola Gay disassembled into convenient 20' pieces ;-).
- They were in the final stages of restoring a P-47 and an F-87 - both done
- quite beautifully. I was personally most surprised to learn that some of the
- control surfaces on the B-29 are fabric covered.
-
- During the rest of the year I think that it is possible to arrange for group
- tours of this site in Suitland.
-
- Erik Hoel
- hoel@asgard.umiacs.umd.edu
-