Much to the dismay of museum goers and Michigan aviation enthusiasts alike, the Michigan Flight Museum formerly known as the Yankee Air Museum until May of this year, announced the sale of its B17 bomber. N3193G known as the “Yankee Lady” was built in 1945 as serial number 44-85829. The news of its sale was sent out to members via email from the museums President and CEO Kevin Walsh who wrote the following:
“For almost four decades, the Museum has been honored and privileged to be the restorer and caretaker for an important, valuable piece of American aviation History: the B-17, Yankee Lady. However, after evaluating the future of the aircraft and its role in our organization, the Board of Directors unanimously has determined the Museum is no longer the best option for continuing as its caretaker.. Furthermore, it was determined by the Board of Directors that now is the time to entrust this beautiful aircraft’s future to another caretaker.
The Yankee Lady has become a significant generator of revenue for the museum, to the extent that we have developed an unrealistic dependency on it. Simply put, interruptions in its revenue stream due to the aircraft’s inability to participate in our flight program have become hardships for the Museum. In other words, we don’t feel the museum can ensure her flying future to the extent we feel is appropriate for an historical artifact of her importance and rarity.
This was a difficult and emotional decision for all concerned, but it was deemed appropriate to ensure the future well-being of the aircraft and museum. The Yankee Lady is headed to a new home and new owner who has the resources to ensure her preservation and flyability for decades to come.”
The aircraft was rumored to have sold for 15 million to a private collector in Sacramento who already has quite the collection of warbirds.
Over the past couple years, the Yankee lady has had quite the string of bad luck. In 2023 the aircraft, as well as the other 8 still flying b17s, was grounded following the cracking of the EAA’s “Aluminum Overcast”. The aircraft was hangared at Yankee’s Roush Aeronautics Center at Willow Run airport while the museum as well as the other operators waited for the FAA to release the AD and instructions for the inspection that would be performed. Thankfully for the Yankee Lady, the inspection found no defects and it would be allowed to return to the air. During the following fall, the hangar door would fail, collapsing onto the ramp. Because of the impending cold of the winter, the opening for the hangar would be walled off with plywood in order to keep the pipes inside from freezing, once again trapping the Yankee Lady inside.
The Michigan Flight Museum is located at the historic Willow Run airport with various building locations on the airfield. Notably the museum takes up a portion of the historic Willow Run bomber plant which used to produce the B-24 in World War II. With the sale of the B17, the museum is down to 4 non static aircraft. These consist of its North American B25 named “Rosie’s Reply”, a Douglas C47 named “Hairless Joe”, a UH-1 Huey helicopter, which all fly to and in airshows and give rides, as well as a a 4-AT-B Ford Tri-Motor that is currently being brought back to an airworthy state.
much to the dismay of Museum goers and Michigan Aviation enthusiasts alike the Michigan Flight Museum formerly known as the Yankee Air museum until May of this year announced the sale of its B7 bomber November 3193 golf known as the Yankee lady was built in 1945 as serial number 444-8585 CEO Kevin Walsh who wrote The Following for almost four decades the museum has been honored and privileged to be the restorer and caretaker of an important valuable piece of American aviation history the B7 Yankee lady however after evaluating the future of the aircraft and its role in our organization the board of directors unanimously has determined that the museum is no longer the best option for continuing as its caretaker furthermore it was determined by the board of directors that now is the time to entrust this beautiful aircraft’s future to another caretaker the Yankee lady has become a significant generator of revenue for the museum to the extent that we have developed an unrealistic dependency on it simply put interruptions to its Revenue stream due to the aircraft’s inability to participate in our flight program have become hardships for the museum in other words we don’t feel the museum can ensure her flying future to the extent we feel is appropriate for a historical artifact of her importance and Rarity it was a difficult and emotional decision for all concerned but it was deemed appropriate to ensure the future well-being of the aircraft and Museum the Yankee lady is headed to a new home and new owner who has the resources to ensure her preservation and flyability for decades to come the aircraft was rumored to have sold for $15 million to a private collector in Sacramento who already has quite the collection of warbirds over the past couple years the Yankee lady has had quite the string of bad luck in 2023 the aircraft as well as the eight other still flying b7s was grounded following the cracking of the eaa’s aluminum overcast the aircraft was hangered at Yankees Rous aeronautic Center at willowrun airport while the museum as well as the other operators waited for the FAA to release the ad and instructions for the inspection that would be performed thankfully for the Yankee lady the inspection found no defects and it would be allowed to turn to the air during The Following fall The Hanger door on the same hanger would fail collapsing onto the ramp because of the impending cold of Winter the opening for the hanger would have to be walled off with plywood in order to keep the pipes inside from freezing once again trapping the Yankee lady inside the Michigan flight museum is located at the historic willowrun airport with various building locations on the Airfield notably the museum takes up a portion of the historic willowrun bomber plant which used to to produce the B24 in World War II with the sale of the B17 the museum is down to four non-static aircraft these consist of its North American B25 named Rosy’s reply A Douglas c47 named hairless Joe a uh1 Huey helicopter which all fly in and out of air shows and give rides as well as a 48b Ford Tri motor that is currently being brought back to an airworthy State thanks for watching many Aviation enthusiasts have already voiced their opinions on this situation so feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think of this situation as always don’t forget to like And subscribe [Music] [Applause] [Music]
45 Comments
Video games have increased pressure to fly these old war birds for profit. They fly without maintenance or qualified pilots and crews, resulting in tragedy's like Windsor Ct. where 7 lives were lost and virtually nothing was left of the B17 Nine-O-Nine. Nine-0-Nine also belonged to a billionaire private owner. Lets hope it's owner doesn't regard it as a toy of his that can be smashed without much fuss on his part. I wish the government would step in to see they weren't flown unless safe, but billionaire's can have what they want.
With the best interest at heart for the aircraft, I understand the extreme difficulty it had to be to give her up and i respect that decision .
I have been in that plane several times , got some nice pics from inside.
Selling the B-17 is a slap in the face to all the volunteers over the years who put in their time to restore her and keep her flying. Read that again- VOLUNTEERS. You had all that volunteer labor and expertise supporting that plane and you still can't afford to keep her in Michigan? Shame on you. I'm done with the Yankee Air Museum.
After events like the B-17 crash in Dallas in 2022, it becomes obvious that these old WW-2 airframes, along with their 80 year old electrical and hydraulic control systems, along with engine wear, aging/dwindling qualified pilots, etc., become more of a liability/expense for a private enterprise to maintain, ensuring safety and reliability, especially when the public is concerned.
In contrast to the aging B-52's, which have had their problems, but all of their upgrades, repairs and renovations are blanketed by the USAF's $188.1 billion dollar budget, which includes training new fresh flight personnel.
I flew on her in 2010 and her sale to a private owner, really pisses me off.
At least it wasn't destroyed with loss of life in some senseless demonstration accident.
Sad. Poor management. Too many failures.
In the UK, the RAF do not look after the aircraft tax payers have paid for!
Idiots are running this once fine establishment into the ground! R.I.P. Yankee Air Museum- farewell Yankee Lady!
You gotta do what you gotta do! Hopefully the new owner will keep her flying safely for all to see.
50 million? Cha-ching,eh?
4 planes left and not one of them? is a B24 that was built there?? Really?
To much liability. Due to incompetent operators there have been fatalities around these birds.
Who's to say the private collector wont allow rides. Im sure it will be going to shows
Otherwise, she was destined to be relegated to the static display group.
Now, I hope to add "Yankee Lady" to my 'I've flown in' warbirds list sometime in the near future.
There is some confusion with the last section of the video. The museum has more that 4 aircraft. Only the 4 non static (flying) aircraft are covered in this video. The museum has plenty of static (non flying) aircraft on display, including Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, Bell AH-1J SeaCobra, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, North American Aviation F-86D Sabre, North American F-100 Super Sabre, NF-101B VOODOO, Cessna O-2 Skymaster, P2V-7 NEPTUNE, PB4Y-2 PRIVATEER, Franklin PS-2, RB-57A CANBERRA, RF-84F THUNDERFLASH, SBD Dauntless, and SPAD S.XIII
Does this mean she wont be at Selfridge tomorrow?
I understand their logic but on an emotional level this stings. Ironically I was scheduled to fly yesterday (6/6/24) on Yankee Lady at the Reading WW2 event. There was no real reason given for the cancellation several weeks ago, but now I know why. I am so disappointed there won’t be another opportunity. Selling her to a private collector basically ensures she’s off the road for good in terms of touring and public rides. I was hoping maybe she was going to CAF. I have been a member of YAM (now MFM) for years and contributed to construction of a new hanger complex, essentially to house the B-17, or at least that was my reason to donate. At this point I will be seriously reevaluating continuing my membership, as my primary reason for support has been the B-17 mission. I don’t live in Michigan, so I’ll be donating elsewhere closer to home.
A couple of planes left and overpriced to see the air show.It's over
I did a documentary on the Yankee Lady during her restoration and it aired on local cable public access channel. Sorry to see her leave the Detroit area.
Seems like a great deal of the "revenue stream" brought in by Yankee Lady would go to the high maintenance requirements of keeping her airworthy. Flying her a few times around the pattern will cost a couple thousand dollars in avgas alone. I just hope the new owner has the wherewithal to properly care for the plane once he's purchased it.
These planes are extremely expensive to maintain in flying condition. Just fueling the tanks is several grand. Parts are getting scarce for the engines too. Insurance isn't cheap either, I don't know what it is today, but back in 2017 it costs half a million on a B-25. I can fully understand selling it to another enthusiast who will keep it flying, especially one who has a collection and readily available spare parts. Back in the 70's that plane was worth a few grand, today 15 million. That will help keep the other planes flying for the museum. I was sad that in 2021 there were NO B-17's on the airfield at OshKosh, only one was flying tours and not out of Oshkosh, only circled the area high up. The Warbird community is shrinking since many of the pilots and owners are either too old or dyeing off. Many of the men and women who know how to maintain and repair these planes have also died off or just got too old to work an them. There are fewer and fewer knowledgeable people today due to how shop classes have been removed and everything is tablets and computers, so finding people to work on them is getting harder. It's a shame since history relies heavily on these old warbirds. There is nothing like standing on the ground as a dozen Merlin engines roar overhead shaking the ground. Nothing like a flight of bombers with their radial engines, and fighters like the p-47 and Corsair shaking everything on a low fly by. This is something that hasn't happened in a LONG time at Oshkosh. The planes are just too expensive and practically priceless today.
Every year one of the B-17 and B-24 variants comes through my State for demonstration and ride along flights, they can barely sell enough for fuel. The people who remember these birds are mostly gone or too old to come out to participate and the younger generations have no interest whatsoever.. it’s a dying attraction and this sale just proves that fact.. Instead of hating on the wealthy people whom can afford to own theses birds maybe y’all should be grateful they have any interest at all in a by gone relic when they could just as easily afford a brand new Gulfstream .
It's a great loss for the Michigan aviation community. At least, Yankee Lady still has a future though not in Belleville, MI.
Ill honestly never go to that woeful museum again.
That is the poorest excuse I have ever heard for selling this beautiful, irreplaceable aeroplane. her sale is for pure greed.
American Greed.people suck
JUST AS LONG AS YANKEE LADY ISN'T GOING TO THE PHUCKING COLLINS OR LIBERTY BELL RESPECTIVE FOUNDATIONS. BOTH producing aircraft destructions I investigated with our teams!
Guess where I work folks.
How much did it sell for?
This is a textbook example of why Bob Tullius's P51 is sitting in the RAF museum rather than a US one. Bob offered up his mint airworthy P-51D for free to any reputable museum who would guarantee not to sell or trade it as long as the museum was operating and he didn't get a single taker in the country, so off to the UK it went.
Keep her flying…..please! Help raise the $$$$$ to keep this beautiful and historic aircraft in the air.
Hopefully it will continue flying with the new owner.
It's really a shame that she was sold. She was a mainstay at the WW2 weekend at the Reading airport in PA. Now, we will probably never have another 17 flying at the show.
Ouch! That hurts, Michigan 😢, especially since so much of our WWII gear was built around Willow Run (and other places in Michigan).
I do hope the new, apparently financially-capable owner keeps this wonderful historical keepsake in the air. There’s still a lot of technical expertise out there on the B-17 aircraft — I live very close to Sentimental Journey’s roost in Mesa, Arizona, and sure the staff and volunteers there will have ideas for resolving any particularly weird issues (sounds like there are some with this aircraft) 🙂.
Tell me the Economy SUCKS without telling me that the Economy SUCKS.
Hopefully, Rod Lewis purchased it and will add it to the Lewis Air Legends!!!
Typical of the way Americans think of old people these days…too big…too costly…too expensive for what it is meant to be used for after reaching age of 65yrs. and the young ones get all the attention.
Pony up some bucks then people…
I've flown aboard Yankee Lady. Amazing experience.
When you hear the term "revenue stream", you understand the focus of the museum. Did the Board of Directors grant itself a bonus after its sale? I'm sure that the volunteers who work for the museum would like to know.
The sad thing about this is that this means Yankee Lady more than likely isnt visiting the Jones Beach Airshow on Long Island anymore. It was my favorite of the WWII warbirds to watch
I am sorry to see this happen.
So long museum. This is just the start…
It should've gone to the Commerative Air Force