Help ‘Doc’ soar, stay

Congratulations to those dedicated local volunteers who are fast turning “Doc” back into a model of the B-29 Superfortress at its best. The 5-year-old restoration has turned a corner on the structural work. The community can help cover the remaining $800,000 needed for the restoration of engines and fuel tanks (payable to United States Aviation Museum, care of Wayne M. Gomes, B-29 Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 2417, Grand Junction, CO 81502). There also is a separate project to build a hangar at the Kansas Aviation Museum in hopes of keeping the bomber in Wichita (contribute to Kansas Aviation Museum, 3350 S. George Washington Blvd. Wichita, KS 67210). Help out these efforts to honor an airplane that safeguarded the nation.

3 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted July 25, 2005 at 12:27 pm | Permalink

    That’s a lot! So many facilities and projects are begging for community support. I actually do not think there is enough decrecionary charity money to go around! $800,000 is a lot of money to ask for, especially when we have the Ice Sports Rink, Exploration Place, and other places that need help as well.

    I wish we can help everybody. A wealthy person just donates millions to the city and county and get it back on our feet again. But then there will be something else after that.

    It’s a hard choice for many people to decide where to spend their money to help causes, organization, and foundations.

  2. ljmatney
    Posted July 25, 2005 at 4:18 pm | Permalink

    That is not too much to keep something this great here and get it done. If everyone in Wichita kicked in $3.00 we would have the restoration done and be started on the hangar. Everyone waits for someone else to go first or for the wealthy to foot the bill. We need to step up ourselves and as Nike says “Just do it”

  3. James
    Posted July 26, 2005 at 9:24 pm | Permalink

    The community should rightly get behind this program. It means something to the history and legacy of the city and the country and to the great credit of the many volunteers, working to make this project happen!

    When completed, this project will generate more, in tourist dollars for the city , than Exploration Place, Ice Rink and Genesis Health Club, combined. It will probably never happen, in spite of the many volunteers working on this project, including “Doc.” at age 86, because of the attitude in Wichita of “Let Somebodyelse Pay for It.”