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PUBLISHED: JUNE 7, 2001

Visitors marvel at majesty of Howard Hughes' flying boat

By STARLA POINTER
Of the News-Register

At 9 o'clock Wednesday morning, flocks of visitors pressed their noses against the glass walls of Evergreen's new air museum, straining to see the HK-1 Flying Boat. They could hardly wait for the dedication ceremonies to end and the building to open, so they could get an even closer look at the largest plane ever built.

"We've heard about the Spruce Goose for years, and here it is," said Marty Fenton, pointing out the plane to his 5-year-old daughter, Nicole, and his wife, Sheryl. "It's big," Nicole said.

The Fentons drove from Beaverton to take advantage of the free admission day. They were disappointed that the museum didn't open at 9 a.m., as it will now that the opening event is over. But they laid plas for a return trip with their four other children.

Eric and Edith Bartel of McMinnville also brought their kids, Jamie and Andrew, out for the museum's opening day. They've been waiting a long time for this, he said.

"My dad's a private pilot and I've been reading about this since it was in Long Beach," he said. "We followed it when it came up here and kept up with the web page. It's one of the reasons we moved here."

The Bartels weren't disappointed. "It's huge!" she said. "It's amazing anything that big every flew!" he said.

Inside, prior to the opening, volunteers tidied brochures on the membership sign-up table, straightened paintings in the aviation art show and arranged model airplanes on gift shop shelves. Other volunteers guarded the doors, letting people in only to use the restroom, not to look around just yet.

"We're here to please, but they have to wait a few more minutes," said Ken Mills, assigned to guard duty that morning.

The McMinnville man, who was a ball turret gunner in a B-17 in World War II, understood the visitors' excitement. His own passion for airplanes and history led him to become a volunteer at the museum.

Mills had already toured the exhibits and picked out his favorite plane in the museum, the Spitfire. "But I'll change to the P-51 when they bring it in here," he said, pointing out the WWII fighter that was zipping over the building along with a larger, slower B-17 bomber that morning.

"I like the P-51's looks and you can't miss the sound," he explained. "I have a tape of it, and when I turn it up, the floor starts to vibrate."

Nearby, volunteers Mary Brillas of Newberg and Ann Trombley of Keiser and docent Ed Pouillon of Tualatin prepared to sell memberships. All three said they give their time to the museum because they're interested in aviation.

Pouillon served in the Army Air Corps in 1944-45 and trained in a B-17. Trombley was an Air Force wife. For four of her husband's 22 years in the service, they lived in England right next door to a taxiway for F-4 fighter jets.

Brillas is a retired Air Force major. She joined the service in 1954 and was based in Germany, Spain, Vietnam and Thailand during her career. "I wouldn't have traded it. I loved it," she said.

Being around the museum reminds her of being on an air base, she said. And, although she already was familiar with many of the military planes, she's learned a lot about aviation through her volunteer job.

The name tag Brillas wears shows a picture of an SR-71 Blackbird, her favorite plane.

"It's the fastest, most beautiful plane ever built," she said. I used to watch them fly out of Beal Air Force Base. The museum doesn't have one - yet - but I'm hoping we'll get one."

Another volunteer docent, Dave Sears, has no background in aviation. Rather, the retired Hood River County school administrator said he is interested in the educational aspect of the museum.

One of his jobs is cataloging books, magazines and videos about aviation for the museum library. The catalog will be computerized to aid in research.

On opening day, though, Sears spent his time greeting visitors.

"This is a very exciting day," he said. "A lot of nice people are asking a lot of great questions."

With a capacity crowd Wednesday, Jerry and Susan Eveland were lucky to find a parking place for their motorhome, which bears California license plates. They were among hundreds of out-of-state visitors who signed the guest book with addresses such as Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and even Germany.

"We were up visiting relatives in Longview and Dallas, and found out about this on the Internet," Eveland said, explaining how they worked the museum opening into their travels.

It was their first look at the Spruce Goose.

"I'm a little disappointed you can't go inside yet," he said. "But we'll just come back in a year for that."

By contrast, Yamhill resident Jacob Seward, 13, lives near enough to the museum to be able to visit frequently. He attended the opening Wednesday with his grandparents, uncle, aunt and a cousin his age, C.J. Nelson of Utah.

Both boys said they liked seeing the planes flying over the museum - the B-17, the P-51 fighter and the F-15s that went over with a deafening whoosh, then disappeared.

But what they'd really come to see was the Spruce Goose. "It's the biggest," Jacob explained.

After driving by the museum construction project many times, Wayland Henry of Lafayette was pleased to get to go inside Wednesday afternoon. "It's a huge plane, no question, but it's the building that's really impressive," he said.

Henry, a collector of antique Fords, enjoyed looking at the other aircraft, as well. The 1903 Wright Flyer, for instance, was built in the same year as Henry Ford's first automobile. Both plane and car are delicate and toylike compared to modern models, but both depend on much of the basic technology still in use today, he said.

Tessa Henry, 8, patiently accompanied her dad to the air museum. But she admitted feeling bored by the aviation displays.

"This would be better if they had some horses," she said.