By Abigail W. Adams
The Texas Flying Legends Museum’s Naval Avenger on display during the 2014 Wings Over Wiscasset. Wings over Wiscasset was cancelled in 2015, due to the Texas Flying Legends Museum initial unavailablility. However, approximately six of the museum’s warbirds are expected to arrive in Wiscasset at the end of July. (LCN file photo) |
Due to last-minute cancellations, the Texas Flying Legends Museum is planning to make an appearance in Wiscasset at the end of July, General Manager Scott Tollefson said. Whether a public event will be organized to coincide with their stay at the Wiscasset Municipal Airport, however, remains up in the air.
“As it stands right now, this is an informal thing,” Tollefson said. “But everything is in flux right now, so I can’t say for certain what we’re going to end up doing.”
Three years ago, Wings over Wiscasset was organized through the help of the Texas Flying Legends Museum, a traveling museum of World War II warbirds, which makes Wiscasset its summer home. The air show became a popular public event.
Originally scheduled for Aug. 15, Wings over Wiscasset was canceled by the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce, the event’s parent organization, in June, due to the high cost of putting on an air show without the support of the Texas Flying Legends Museum.
The museum initially did not believe it would be able to visit Wiscasset this summer, due to the number of requests for fly-overs pouring in to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in August.
Those plans have since changed. According to Tollefson, approximately six of the museum’s fleet of a dozen aircraft from WWII will make their way to Wiscasset around Monday, July 27 or Tuesday, July 28. The current plan is to station the planes at the Wiscasset Municipal Airport for approximately one month before they make their way to their next destination, he said.
“We are trying to reschedule things and figure out how to do some good things while we’re up there,” Tollefson said.
Ed Bosarge, of Houston, Texas and Southport, is the chief benefactor of the Texas Flying Legends Museum. The museum’s visit to Wiscasset coincides with Bosarge’s birthday.
According to airport manager Frank Costa, there are currently no public events scheduled for the arrival of the museum’s aircraft. “My understanding is that this is a personal thing,” Costa said. “We welcome them even if they’re not here for public show. It’s always great to see them.”
According to Costa, the airport’s base pilots usually park their planes outside and offer their hangar space for the museum’s warbirds. “That’s something (the pilots) do out of courtesy and friendship,” he said.
Organized through the chamber of commerce, the Wiscasset Municipal Airport did not financially benefit from Wings over Wiscasset and the cancellation of the event had little impact on the airport’s revenue stream, which primarily comes from fuel sales, Costa said.
The benefit of the event was primarily symbolic, Costa said. “It is a nice event for the airport, without a doubt,” he said. Even with no public event, “it’s going to be great to have them here,” Costa said.
According to Tollefson, the Texas Flying Legends Museum may potentially organize a static display of their aircraft for the public, but nothing is definite yet.
“We have a lot of friends in Maine,” Tollefson said. “It did break our hearts when it looked like we wouldn’t be able to make it out. It’s going to be nice to be able to visit after all.”
