Transportation
Century Aviation offers a unique approach to the aviation collector and museum community. With our museum-trained staff, we treat the aircraft as a historical artifact. We thoroughly research the aircraft before each move. We disassemble the airframe with out compromising the historic integrity of the artifact. Then we provide technically skilled cross-country transportation to protect the aircraft. Upon arrival, we offer a basic or a complete reassembly depending on the customer's preference and budget.
Museum of Flight,
Seattle, Washington
In August of 2004 we completed the movement of a Lockheed-Martin-Boeing RQ-3A "Darkstar" to the Museum of Flight. The DarkStar is one of the three existing airframes that are on display or in storage at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The unmanned spy plane with a 56-foot wingspan was shipped in parts and reassembled at the Museum of Flight.
Client: Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum
From Suitland, Maryland to Savannah, Georgia
We disassembled, transported an ME-163, German, rocket-powered airplane from the National Air & Space Museum Garber Facility to Savannah, Georgia and reassembled it at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum.
Museum of Flight,
From Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington
We disassembled and transported an F-4 Phantom from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington and reassembled it at the Museum of Flight.
Evergreen Aviation Museum
from Long Beach, California to McMinnville, Oregon
The HK-1 Flying Boat, more popularly known as the "Spruce Goose" has a long and varied history. No portion of this history is more spectacular than its move from Long Beach, California to McMinnville, Oregon.
The Spruce Goose was acquired by Evergreen Aviation Museum. Its new display site would be McMinnville, a city 40 miles southwest of Portland, Oregon. To move an aircraft of this size, 220 feet long, 76 feet high with a 320 foot wingspan, to a city not on a major interstate highway or a large waterway required a team of planners, schedulers, riggers, equipment operators, engineers, mechanics, tug and barge operators and truck loaders and drivers.
Century Aviation was contracted to coordinate all aspects of the move and insure the safety of the aircraft as an artifact. The assignment included:
Coordinating and negotiating contracts with companies for barging, trucking, crane work, rigging, equipment leasing and crating
Sequencing each portion of the move - making sure that each took place in the correct order, at the correct time
Preparation of the aircraft for the move after disassembly. Stretch wrapping of the interior fixtures, desiccant (moisture absorbent) placed in humidity sensitive areas. Shrink wrap exterior surfaces, using 130,000 square feet of shrink wrap, to protect the aircraft from wind, rain and salt water during move
Coordination of loading and transport by barge and truck
Supervise permitting process for over the road travel with state, county, and city agencies and public utilities
Arrangement for temporary storage facilities during the move and at the museum's future site
Removal of shrinkwrap from the smaller sections (ailerons, flaps, horizontal stabilizer, elevators) and inspect condition
Oversee installation of the four largest components into temporary storage buildings.
February 27,1993 saw the completion of this highly publicized project with the arrival of the fuselage, wings and tail in McMinnville.
Museum of Flight
From Palmdale California to Seattle, Washington
From its conception to its retirement, the Blackbird was, and is, a unique aircraft. The move of a Blackbird from Palmdale, California to Seattle, Washington was no less special.
In 1990, when the United States Air Force Heritage Program made 19 Blackbirds available to museums, the Museum of Flight was one of the few civilian museums assigned a Blackbird. The airframe designated for the museum was an A-12, an earlier version of the more familiar SR-71. This aircraft had not been flown for almost 25 years and the cost of returning it to an airworthy condition was prohibitive. It had to be disassembled, transported to its new site and reassembled there. Reassembly was to include long-term preservation, historically accurate restoration and preparation as a museum exhibit.
Disassembly had many potential stumbling blocks. The Blackbird had to be reduced from its 55 foot wide stance to a size that could be transported through three states. Due to the nature of a "spy plane" and its missions, very little information concerning assembly, much less disassembly, was available from the U.S. Air Force or from Lockheed. The disassembly process was designed, on site, during inspections prior to the move with a special emphasis on not cutting the airframe.
Transportation included designing the cradling to carry the fuselage and directing the loading of it and the four other components onto the trailers. Transportation also meant accompanying the aircraft during its trip to provide public relations and 24-hour security as well as monitoring the safety of the loads and supplying technical assistance to state agencies and transportation crews.
Reassembly first took the aircraft through a complete inspection from tip to tail and a thorough cleaning. The next step was the preservation of all internal parts and reassembly of all components. Following extensive research for historical correctness of the paint scheme, the Blackbird's external surfaces were prepared and painted and the markings were applied.
The aircraft was moved from its reassembly site to the Museum of Flight's Great Gallery and placed in its permanent exhibit site. Finishing touches were provided and the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird exhibit opened to a large and enthusiastic aviation community.
Museum of Flight,
