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.

Darkstar

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.

Fighter Aces Collection

Museum of Flight
From Mesa, Arizona to Seattle, Washington

From September, 2002 to October, 2003 we were involved with the planning for and movement of 22 World War I and World War II aircraft from Mesa Arizona to Seattle Washington. The Museum of Flight acquired the Doug Champlin/Fighter Aces Collection in Mesa, and contracted with us to assist with the move. We were responsible for packing and loading of the aircraft in Arizona and unloading and moving the aircraft into the new building in Seattle.

Century Aviation was in charge of transporting the following aircraft:

World War I
Albatross D VA
Aviatik D-1
Fokker D VII
Fokker D VIII
Nieuport 27
Nieuport 28
Pfalz DXII RumplerTaube
S.E.A. 5a
Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Snipe
Sopwith Triplane
S.P.A.D. XIII

World War II
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk
Goodyear F2G-1 Super Corsair
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Messerschmidt 109
P-47D-2-RE Thunderbolt
YAK-9

Messerschmitt ME 163B-1

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.

F4 Phantom

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.

Hughes HK1 Flying Boat "Spruce Goose"

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.

A12 Blackbird

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.

The Flying Heritage Collection

The Flying Heritage Collection is the collection of WWII aircraft that belong to Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Inc. FHC is now located at a WWII hangar at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. FHC currently flies 11 of their WWII aircraft during the summer months. While most of the FHC collection is flyable, there are a few aircraft awaiting restoration which needed to be transported to their new facilities at Paine Field.

Our first opportunity to work with FHC came in spring of 2008 when we moved a set of WWII aircraft from the hangars at Arlington, WA to the new facilities. We were assigned to move a F6F Grumman Hellcat, an "Oscar" (the American nickname for a Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa") and their 2 static display WWII Fieseler V-1 Flying bombs (also called buzz bombs and Doodle Bugs) from Arlington to Paine Field.

In each case the aircraft needed to be partially disassembled and prepared for the move. The next step was to move them out of their hangars and lift them with a crane to be positioned on flatbed trailers. The move from Arlington to Paine Field, 36 miles, was made at midnight with police escort due to the wide loads. (The Hellcat was 14 feet wide at the wing stubs.)

With the safe arrival of the aircraft at Paine Field we reassembled each to a display worthy condition.

Our next assignment was to work with them to move their FW-190 from The Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA, where it had been on temporary display, to Paine Field. We moved the FW-190 out of the Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA and pulled it across the airport to one of Paul Allen's hangars which had been cleared for our use. There we partially disassembled and prepared it for loading and transport. The FW-190 was moved on two flatbed trucks to Paine Field. The aircraft arrived safely at Paine Field where we reassembled it to a display worthy condition.

We also assisted them to move their Mitsubishi A6M3 Type 22 "Zero" from Chino, California to Paine Field. Like the FW 190, we partially disassembled the Zero. We removed the prop, engine and tail section. We then removed the fuselage from the one piece wing and loaded the Zero on to a transport. The Zero was moved on one flatbed trailer to the Museum at Paine Field where we assisted the staff to reassemble the Zero.

Our next task was to move the empennage of a B-17 from Caldwell, Idaho to Paine Field. The empennage was 32 feet long, 10 feet wide, 10 feet high and in a large fixture. We added steel to the fixture to stand the trip and secured the empennage. The empennage was loaded on to a flatbed and delivered to the Museum at Paine Field.

The most recent project, January 2009, was to work with the Flying Heritage Collection staff on the prototype of the Space Ship One, the winner of the $10,000,000 Ansari X Prize. Our assignment was first to design the rigging for the Space Ship One to hang in the Collection's facilities at Paine Field. Second, we worked with the staff to reassemble the Space Ship One. The last portion of this project was to lift the Space Ship One up to its new display position. For the design and rigging portion of this project we worked with Dick Delay Rigging, LLC.