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The Flying Heritage Collection at Everett

Around the world there are a lot of collections with old war birds on display for many to enjoy. However, there aren’t too many that are kept in original condition and are still flyable.

This is one of the things that makes the Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) stand out from others..

The collection is the work of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. At first site, it might seem the Flying Heritage Collection is about showing off a very slick collection of aircraft, but it is not only about the story of the planes, but also the story of technology. Finding any of these aircraft is a hard thing to do, but to find them in flying form is extremely rare. The FHC works hard to refurbish the aircraft with as many original parts as possible. Something like wiring needs to be updated according the FAA, but they will re-wire the plane and wrap them all in the original fabric to keep to as close to rolling out of the factory as possible.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, aircraft and components began to be purchased from other museums and collectors by Vulcan Warbirds, Inc. Sellers signed "non-disclosure" agreements and little or no publicized information was available about the collection or museum. With all the secrecy, Allen's project was dubbed "Area 51" until the Flying Heritage Collection officially opened at Paine Field during early 2004. They acquired about three dozen vintage planes since 1998. Off which fifteen are on display in two hangars at Everett airport about 40 miles north of Seattle.

The collection's oldest model is a 1918 Curtiss Wright JN-4D Jenny, which was used as a military training plane during World War I. The only thing on it that didn't win a 100 percent authenticity rating was its engine -- the original had just one magneto, a device that feeds electricity to an engine's spark plugs. To meet modern safety requirements for airworthiness, the restored engine needed two magnetos. Everything else, from the Irish linen that lines the wings and fuselage to the copper fire extinguisher behind the navigator's seat, has been restored with the same materials that were used when the original plane was built.

At the other end of the hangar, there's a Polikarpov U-2/PO-2, which was designed to be a training plane but was quickly put into use as a World War II bomber after the Germans destroyed much of the Russian Air Force. Until bomb racks were installed beneath the wings, the navigator seated behind the pilot would drop bombs from the plane by hand. Allen's PO-2 was piloted by the first regiment of women ever to fly in tactical combat. They flew at night, in some cases more than 1,000 missions per crew by the war's end. Germans nicknamed them the "Night Witches." "They'd fly up to the German line, shut the engine off, drop their bombs, start the engine, go back, land, rearm, refuel, go back and do it again ... up to 10 times a night," . One side of the plane bears the message: "Revenge for Ducia," hand-painted in Russian as a tribute to Soviet Union war heroes killed in combat. About two dozen women who flew PO-2s earned the title Ducia, the Soviet Union's equivalent to the United States' Medal of Honour.

The collection includes a 1941 Curtiss Wright P40-C Tomahawk flown by the famed "Flying Tigers" -- a fighter unit of Americans that battled Japanese forces in China. It bears the signature painted shark teeth on the nose and is riddled with patched-over bullet holes. The plane was shot down in Russia and sat on the tundra for 50 years until a British collector spotted it in a satellite photo. And it was recovered and restored to its current state.

State of the art restoration techniques have been used to refurbish these vintage airplanes and other artefacts. Many of the planes have stories. For example, the Messerschmitt BF 109 E-3 (Emil), was found in several pieces buried in sand along the English Channel by a man walking the beach in the late 1980s. With time and the right replacement parts, plus liberal funding, it has been returned to its original form. The planes look as sharp as they did when they were manufactured over 70 years ago.