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PUBLISHED: JUNE 7, 2001

A grand opening for the Spruce Goose

By DAVID BATES
Of the News-Register

The Evergreen Aviation Museum on Three Mile Lane may symbolize different things to different people, but Wednesday it officially become one thing to everyone: Open for business.

Thousands of visitors spilled through the doors Wednesday morning after an outdoor ceremony featuring patriotic speeches and a deafening flyover by two F-15 fighter planes.

Many gravitated to the interpretive displays near the plane's massive nose. Others sought the best spot in the three-and-a-half acre museum from which to snap pictures of its centerpiece attraction, the HK-1 Flying Boat.

"You really can't imagine how big it is until you get up underneath it," said 70-year-old airplane aficionado Cliff Halvorson. "It's unbelievable. It's like flying a cruise ship."

The restored airplane and the museum that houses it and dozens of other military aircraft are a tribute to Capt. Michael King Smith, the son of Evergreen Aviation President Delford "Del" Smith.

Michael Smith, an accomplished military pilot, had hoped to see McMinnville become the HK-1's new home. But he was killed in a car crash in 1995.

The elder Smith has spent $21 million on restoring the Spruce Goose and erecting the museum, and plans to spend $8 million more before the facility is finished.

Tourism officials expect the towering glass and steel structure in McMinnville to rank among the state's top tourist attractions. The museum, meanwhile, hopes to earn that ranking by drawing from tourists on their way down Highway 18 to the Oregon Coast or Spirit Mountain Casino, the state's top tourist draw.

A quarter of a million visitors - Evergreen's stated goal for the first year - would put the museum among the state's top 20 attractions, right between the Fort Clatsop National Memorial and Shore Acres State Park, according to the Oregon Tourism Council.

Evergreen officials said they're aggressively marketing the museum and have already booked groups years in advance. But spokeswoman Olga Hailey said Wednesday that Evergreen had to do little to get the word out about this week's "soft opening."

"I think the surprise is that we didn't really go out of our way for publicity," she said. "I have just been really surprised at the amount of interest. I hope we can replicate this for the dedication."

Museum officials said about 4,500 visitors came through the doors Wednesday. The only hitch was traffic; there were too many cars for the parking lot, and the new access road Evergreen built along Three Mile Lane was closed until early afternoon because of what an ODOT official termed miscommunication.

Tribute to veterans

While the Spruce Goose was obviously the star of the day, Evergreen crafted its opening day ceremony as a tribute to U.S. war veterans - particularly those who fought in World War II - and the late Capt. Smith.

"This museum is rooted in love, a father's love for his son," said the Rev. Michael W. Maslowsky during his invocation. "What was sewn in tears is now harvested in joy,"

Col. Garry C. Dean, a commander with the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing, recalled meeting Smith in 1989 when he signed up for fighter pilot training.

"The guy was just on top of the world and put everything into what he did," Dean said. "He was totally dedicated to being the best fighter pilot in this Air Force."

The museum's opening day - June 6 - was deliberately chosen to coincide with the anniversary of D-Day. That day marked the beginning of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II, when more than 100,000 troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, a turning point in the war against Nazi Germany.

Speaking to an audience of about 700, Oregon Air National Guard Brig. Gen. James E. Cunningham called on members of that so-called "greatest generation" to stand and be recognized. About three dozen men rose to their feet, to applause. Cunningham then turned to the crowd's youngest generation - members of the Newberg High School Concert Band.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra, take a good look," he said. "If not for them, none of this would be possible. None of it."

The museum is a living tribute to aviation. Many volunteers are World War II veterans who flew missions or served as gunners in the planes on display - B-17s, P-38Ls and Flying Tigers.

"We just love airplanes," said Ken Mills, who served as a ball turret gunner on B-17s that flew weather missions over Europe. "We wouldn't work this hard for pay."

The Spruce Goose was intended by its builder, U.S. billionaire Howard Hughes, to also be part of the war effort.

The government gave Hughes and shipbuilder Henry Kaiser $18 million to build three "flying boats." But the planes had to be built without using critical war materials, including aluminum and steel.

Even before its only flight - which lasted about a minute 70 feet over the water in 1947 - the world's largest plane became the brunt of jokes. Naysayers nicknamed it the Wooden Wonder, the Flying Lumberyard and the Spruce Goose.

Even though the plane is built from birch, the Goose name stuck. Hughes reportedly hated it.

More than 100 volunteers spent eight years restoring the Spruce Goose after it was hauled to McMinnville in 1992 from Long Beach, Calif., where it had been kept for 45 years. When the pieces were hauled across Three Mile Lane to its new home last fall, thousands of people turned out to watch the spectacle.

Mike Wright, the HK-1's restoration manager, said the continued work on the plane is part of the museum's appeal. He figures about four months of work remains, and his crew is spending the next week or so coming up with plans for workers and museum visitors to safely coexist.

Wright has spent the last few years looking at the Goose, inside and out. On Wednesday, he was content to enjoy the spectacle of thousands of people swarming around the plane.

"It's awesome to have people in here," marveled Wright. "You look around, and you see fingers pointing up. It's just wonderful."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.