Stonehenge Aviation Museum
While on vacation in NW Montana, we took the opportunity to visit a private aviation museum owned by Jim Smith. The museum is noted for several things the most prominent among these is that Jim owns the only flyable Seafire Mk 47 in the world. In fact every aircraft in his collection has been restored to flying condition. And the engines on all the aircraft are run up on a scheduled basis when they are not flying for some occasion. The museum has a 4,000 foot runway so often visitor fly in to see his exhibits. And being an engineer Jim decided to recreate Stonehenge on his property right down to the originals' specifications, which he obtained after visiting England to view Stonehenge. Being private one has to contact them for a viewing and you are given a private tour. All in all it was well worth our visit. For more information click on the link below.
http://stonehengeairmuseum.org/
Very impressive, Tom (@tom-bebout). I can't imagine how much it costs to restore and maintain this many planes. I guess if you are worried about what it costs, you can't afford it.
Wow, that is so cool and very impressive Tom @tom-bebout ! That's something I would love to see sir, thanks for the virtual tour and for the "head's up" too! 🙂
Thanks, Tom, for the absolutely outstanding group of photos from "Stonehenge" Montana.
Did Jim build all of the models in the cases? Impressive.
No. They were donated from a deceased’s modelers family
Looks like a place from Heaven, Tom!
And it's privately owned!
Thanks for sharing this amazing info and pics!
That looks like a terrific museum, Tom. What the heck is that “inflatable aircraft” inside that crate? Thanks for the details shots of the Seafire. Beautiful restoration.
Eric @eb801 the inflatable A/C was developed by Goodyear. Only 12 were built and none were ever used by either the Army or USAF. The next pic after the box is the actual A/C deployed.
Looks like a great place to spend an afternoon with some nice subjects. Thanks, Tom!
What a fantastic private collection, Tom @tom-bebout
It must have been a perfect day for you.
I was also wondering about the inflatable aircraft, not sure if it feels comfortable when getting airborne in that 'plane'.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for posting Tom. Always a treat to see some nicely restored aircraft. That Seafire looks too good not to fly, amazing aircraft.
I just learned today that you can tell if the aircraft has flying hours when it has oil dripping, so look for the oil pan drip trays.
Fantastic, no less.
Thank you for sharing Tom.
I second the Wow! Thanks for sharing these great photos!
very cool