If so, my old friend Sam Hoyle was the director of that museum for a zillion years and is largely responsible for it's existince. When he came on board in the late 1970s, the air defense musem was a dusty, rusty collection of artifacts sitting in the sun in west Texas. He was one of the first graduates of my Stepmother's annual seminars on museum development and management at Winedale, Tx.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by MikeTangas
Anyone else ever have a museum all to themselves before?
|
As a matter of fact, yes. About 10 years ago, Dad wangled a 'sleep-over' for himself, my son and I on board the USS Lexington (CVT-16) in Corpus Christi, Tx. Our berthing area was the Air Boss' stateroom and parking for my 1972 Buick Centurion was on the stbd side aft elevator.
After dinner, Dad conked out so Thing One (about 13 at the time) and I took our flashlights and I gave ourselves the GRAND TOUR from keel to masthead, stem to stern. For example, did you know that on Essex-class carriers with SCB 27C modernization, there is a battle bridge in the bullnose bow, directly below the flight deck and above the foc'sle? Do you have any idea how eerie it is to stand in the dark at the EXACT point where a kamakaze struck her on 5 November 1944? Did you know that deep in her forward spaces there is a locomotive engine (an EMD 12V567, to be exact) that powers the emergency generating plant? And yes, you can climb so far up inside the island that you can easily touch both the port and starboard sides by simply stretching your arms.
Yes, I guess you could say I've had a museum all to myself.