The Spruce Goose; McMinnville, OR

Hopefully, you've seen The Aviator, the 2004 movie about reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Well, his Spruce Goose resides right here in McMinnville, right next to our campground!



I wanted to check out the Evergreen Aviation Museum, Laura wasn't interested(It's a boy thing!). She dropped me off at the museum and she went to go check out the town of Dundee. I borrowed the above pic from their website. In my pic below, you couldn't see the "goose" inside the building!



The Spruce Goose is not the only thing on display. The museum takes you through the history of aviation. Of course, starting with a replica of the Wright Brothers Plane.

Here are a few random pics:
























What amzed me was the shear size of the Goose vs. everything else on display! Each plane had a detailed discription and history about it. There were ton of interactive displays and videos about design and building of the aircraft. I thought it was a nice touch to have a few volunteers on hand that had actually piloted the exact planes that were on display during WW2.






They did let you inside the Goose, but only on a small platform , about midship. You could only see the cargo area and it was huge!. My only complaint was not being able to see the cockpit area of this massive beast. When you see her in person, it's just hard to believe it actually got of the ground(or water, in this case).
Well worth the $10 entrace fee. I think I spent 2 hours just wondering around, reading the history of the various planes on display and watching some of the videos. If you find yourself in Portland or McMinnvile, be sure to check it out! (in between wineries, of course ;))

-Rich-