BT-13B Valiant Return to Flight!

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Vintage Flying Museum Inc

Vintage Flying Museum Inc preserves aviation history by restoring and showcasing vintage aircraft. Their mission is to educate the public about WWII pilot training through flight experiences and events, ensuring that history continues to take flight.

Your gift helps return Jackie Cochran&rsquo;s historic Beech 18 to the sky, where it can be seen, heard, and experienced as it was meant to be &mdash; in flight, not just behind a rope. &nbsp;Once flying, our goal is to educate as many people as possible about the role that women have played in aviation in the past, present and in the future. &nbsp;People will be able to experience what it was like to fly in an early, radial engined private airplane.&nbsp; By supporting this restoration, you help preserve a rare piece of aviation history for students, families, and enthusiasts who visit the Vintage Flying Museum to learn how aviatrix Jacqeline &quot;Jackie&quot; Cochran carved new paths for women in aviation. &nbsp;Jackie Cochran holds more aviation records than any other aviator, alive or dead, male or female. &nbsp;She founded the Women&#39;s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). &nbsp;During WWII while the men were fighting the war, they needed pilots to fly the bombers, fighters, and transports from the factories to the airfields where they would be sent off to war. &nbsp;WASP&#39;s flew every type of aircraft that America built in WWII to accomplish this mission.&nbsp; We are restoring the Beech 18 aircraft that was the last aircraft she owned before she lost her FAA medical certificate. &nbsp;The 6 year restoration is almost complete, but we need your help to get it to the runway! &nbsp;The first phase was to get it mechanically airworthy and safe, we are just about there. &nbsp;We need your help with phase 2, restoring the interior and exterior to make it look like it would have when Jackie flew it in the late 1960&#39;s and early 1970&#39;s. &nbsp; The cockpit and passenger seats have already been reupholstered, now we need to recover the cockpit and cabin headliners, as well as the upper and lower sidewall panels and install a floor covering. &nbsp;There are also the cockpit and aft cabin bulkheads that need to the bare metal covered. &nbsp;All of this interior work we estimate will cost $35,000.00 due to the cost of complying with FAA regulations and having to build most of it from scratch. The exterior of the aircraft needs to be completely repainted to reflect an early mid-century paint scheme. &nbsp;Painting an airplane of this size will cost approximately $40,000.00. &nbsp; <span contenteditable="false" draggable="false" fr-original-class="fr-img-caption fr-draggable" fr-original-style="width: 578px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" style="width: 578px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; max-width: 100%; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1782778972/wysiwyg/buweh11aqveya4odqg1i.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; -webkit-user-select: none; max-width: 100%; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><span contenteditable="true" fr-original-class="fr-inner" fr-original-style="" style="outline: 0px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; font-weight: initial; opacity: 0.9; width: 100%; margin: auto; padding: 5px 5px 10px; display: block;">Current Cabin Interior<span contenteditable="false" draggable="false" fr-original-class="fr-img-caption fr-draggable" fr-original-style="width: 578px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" style="width: 578px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; max-width: 100%; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1782779088/wysiwyg/eeg4oz6joszm4wkbs0xx.jpg" style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; -webkit-user-select: none; max-width: 100%; position: relative; box-sizing: inherit;" fr-original-style="width: 600px; display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable"><span contenteditable="true" fr-original-class="fr-inner" fr-original-style="" style="outline: 0px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px; font-weight: initial; opacity: 0.9; width: 100%; margin: auto; padding: 5px 5px 10px; display: block;">Current Exterior Paint

Your gift helps return Jackie Cochran’s historic Beech 18 to the sky, where it can be seen, heard, and experienced as it was meant to be — in flight, not just behind a rope. Once flying, our goal is to educate as many people as possible about the role that women have played in aviation in the past, present and in the future. People will be able to experience what it was like to fly in an early, radial engined private airplane. By supporting this restoration, you help preserve a rare piece of aviation history for students, families, and enthusiasts who visit the Vintage Flying Museum to learn how aviatrix Jacqeline "Jackie" Cochran carved new paths for women in aviation. Jackie Cochran holds more aviation records than any other aviator, alive or dead, male or female. She founded the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). During WWII while the men were fighting the war, they needed pilots to fly the bombers, fighters, and transports from the factories to the airfields where they would be sent off to war. WASP's flew every type of aircraft that America built in WWII to accomplish this mission. We are restoring the Beech 18 aircraft that was the last aircraft she owned before she lost her FAA medical certificate. The 6 year restoration is almost complete, but we need your help to get it to the runway! The first phase was to get it mechanically airworthy and safe, we are just about there. We need your help with phase 2, restoring the interior and exterior to make it look like it would have when Jackie flew it in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The cockpit and passenger seats have already been reupholstered, now we need to recover the cockpit and cabin headliners, as well as the upper and lower sidewall panels and install a floor covering. There are also the cockpit and aft cabin bulkheads that need to the bare metal covered. All of this interior work we estimate will cost $35,000.00 due to the cost of complying with FAA regulations and having to build most of it from scratch.The exterior of the aircraft needs to be completely repainted to reflect an early mid-century paint scheme. Painting an airplane of this size will cost approximately $40,000.00. Current Cabin InteriorCurrent Exterior Paint

Vintage Flying Museum Inc

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Return Jackie Cochran's Beech 18 Airplane to the Air!

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