Posted on 08/14/2005 12:13:48 PM PDT by Mark
SIMI VALLEY- An F-14 Tomcat fighter jet will be hoisted into a permanent display area next week close to the nearly completed Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
The 30,000-pound Northrop Grumman aircraft will be carried by a crane outside the pavilion in a ceremony celebrating Reagan's "peace through strength" strategy and marking a milestone in the making of the Air Force One Pavilion.
"This is the last of the really large artifacts coming to the library to complete the Air Force One Pavilion," said Melissa Giller, director of communications for the Reagan Library. "Although the F-14 will sit on the Peace Plaza and not inside the pavilion, it helps complete the story of President Reagan's initiative of peace through strength."
There will be standing room only for the Aug. 22 ceremony as the aircraft is craned over a 35-foot-high outdoor colonnade viewable from the Peace Plaza.
Following the aircraft's placement, Rear Admiral David Venlet will discuss the role of the F-14 in current warfare. Venlet received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the shooting down of two Libyan Su-22 aircraft in 1981, marking the first combat kills for the F-14.
"This incident played a critical role early on in the Reagan administration as it sent a clear message to those governments who chose to provoke the United States," said R. Duke Blackwood, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Library and Foundation. "The Tomcat went on to serve an important role in President Reagan's rebuilding of our defenses and will forever remind us of the importance of a strong military."
The F-14 will be trucked from Point Mugu to the Reagan Library overnight to avoid problems with traffic, starting Saturday, and arriving around 3 a.m. the next day, Giller said. Library officials will have to take out some light posts to bring the plane to a point where it can be carried by crane to the Peace Plaza at the Aug. 22 ceremony.
It will be placed on the surface of the Peace Plaza and possibly mounted on a pedestal there in the future, officials said.
The $31 million, 87,000-square-foot, Air Force One Pavilion is scheduled to open this fall to showcase the Boeing 707 known as "The Spirit of 76" that was moved to the Reagan library in 2003.
The 707 flew 445 missions as Air Force One for Reagan from 1981 to 1989 and was also used by presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and both George H.W. and George W. Bush.
Inside the pavilion, Air Force One sits on a pedestal as if flying out over the open hills of Simi Valley.
A catwalk leads into Air Force One just behind the cockpit, and visitors will be able to look out the cockpit windows, then tour the plane to see it as Reagan did. The pavilion will include exhibits explaining Reagan's role in ending the Cold War.
Motorcycles and a police car from the Reagan era, donated by the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, will be set up inside, representing a presidential motorcade.
The pavilion also will house a Marine One helicopter and presidential limousine.
The pavilion is visible from Tierra Rejada Road between Simi Valley and Moorpark and is built in the same Spanish mission-style architecture as the rest of the Reagan library and museum. At the entrance to the Air Force One Pavilion will be a replica of the White House Rose garden, which should be in bloom for the opening.
-- Eric Leach, (805) 583-7602
eric.leach@dailynews.com
IF YOU GO
The F-14 Tomcat jet will be lifted into place in a program beginning at 10 a.m. Aug. 22. The event is free to the public. Complimentary parking shuttles will run on Presidential Drive throughout the day. The Reagan Library and Museum at 40 Presidential Drive in Simi Valley is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors may visit the library and scenic grounds, including Ronald Reagan's grave for free, but admission for the museum is $7, or $5 for people over 62 and $2 for children 11 to 17. Children 10 and under are free. For further information, call (800) 410-8354 or go to www.reaganlibrary.com.
Amen.
Me too ..... : )
You just cant help yourself, can you?
Let me tell you something. While I have not 'lost' any children in any conflict, as I have none; let me tell you what I have lost, okay? I have lost very, VERY good friends, people I considered brothers, people I went through flight school with, people that I loved. I have trained people to fly the Tomcat, who before a year out of school, got killed while training to defend your right to be stupid. Hell, CDR Hank Kleeman, the pilot who shot down that first Fitter, who was commanding the Black Aces the day he shot that a-hole down, died on the main runway at Miramar after ground-looping an F-18.
To do any job in this nations' armed services, is to put your life at risk knowingly and do your damned job anyway Casey Sheehan deserves to be honored, not shamed by that crazy bitch in Texas.
Don't you suggest for a minute that I have not done enough or seen enough to go after that crazy bitch in Texas. Don't you dare.
Maybe, when you are not too busy going after me to learn something, why don't you look up one of my very best friends, Scott Speicher who to this day, we don't know if he is alive or dead in Iraq, before you question whether I have enough bonofides to attack that crazy bitch in Texas.
Don't cross that line with me again.
Yeah? I remember that post, and you can think what you want, when you remember HOW to think. Maybe after a night's sleep and some aspirin?
As far as significant roles, I didn't know we were keeping score. What a silly way to think about it. But know this, crazy-person; were I a Russian military pilot, out for a ride over unfriendly waters, it would cause me all kinds of grief to know that one moment I could be flying along, minding my own business, and in another moment get my ass all blowed up by a missile fired from 120 miles away traveling at Mach 5, before I could say 'valkyry'.
Have a nice life.
yup
Thanks
tears came to my eyes---remembering pass pilots --from victory
rolls over udorn ,waiting for the jolly greens
all pilot that were shiiit hot were great guys and good friend
but keep your girl, away from any tdy pilot
lol the F-15 can't carry the pheonix missile... That missile is what made the f-14 invincible in aerial combat.
Something about the arresting gear limited the Tomcats to I think 52,000lbs. Not 100% sure. My only experience with the America was T-2 CQ.
You need to go to bed. I've read posts from you before, and read your work about the XB-70. You do a great job and are normally a coherent writer. Tonight, it appears you have been drinking. When you sober up you might want to reflect on the fact that people who don't even know you can tell over the internet that you've been drinking. What do you suppose people actually in your presence are thinking? Your research and writing ability are too good to drown in a booze bottle.
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