Naval Aviation Museum probe

Air Classics, Apr 2000

"I have no idea," Stafford said. "It caught us by surprise."

Stafford has a lawsuit pending in which he claims the foundation and the museum violated federal law by submitting what amounted to false claims to the government when the eleven C-130s were sold to Skinazi for $200,000,

Stafford at one time was one of the museum's prime contractors fo restoring historic warplanes. He alleged that the C-130s were newer model aircraft with upgraded features that made them extremely valuable if sold as parts to operators who use the civilian versions of the Lockheed-built aircraft for global transport.

Stafford further alleged the foundation and museum were involved in a conspiracy to circumvent the federal law that enables military museums to barter, but not sell, surplus military equipment to obtain items of historical significance for their collections.

Skinazi also has a lawsuit pending against the foundation and museum, claiming that he is owed an estimated S7 million worth of parts that were not on the aircraft when he had them removed from an Arizona desert bone yard.

In past interviews and in civil depositions, Rasmussen repeatedly has declared that he complied with all the rules and regulations that apply to the exchange of surplus military equipment. Under the old Navy policy; all of the transactions were approved by a lengthy chain of command that went all the way to the Secretary of the Navy, Rasmussen said.

With 130 historic aircraft on display, flight simulators and an IMAX big-screen theater, the National Museum of Naval Aviation attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. The foundation, which spearheaded the S 13 million expansion of the museum, reported an annual revenue of 54.5 million and expenses of S4.6 million in 1998, according to the most recent report filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

Ju 52 HEADS AROUND THE WORLD

In an epic journey, Junkers Ju 52 HBHOS began an around the world flight on 11 January from Dubendorf, Switzerland. The aircraft is owned by JuAir and is one of four vintage tri-motors owned by the company (ex-Swiss AF Ju 52s HB-HOS, HB-HOT, and HB-HOP; and ex-Spanish AF CASA 352 T.2B-165/HBHOY). The trip will encompass 23,000 miles and is being sponsored by IWC, a Swiss watchmaker. The Ju 52 will be visiting the United Sates with planned stops in Seattle, Las Vegas, Dallas or Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Winchester Virginia), New York and Boston. Since being formed in 1983, JuAir has flown over 175,000 passengers in the tri-motors.

DEAN DAVENPORT

Col. Dean Davenport passed away in Panama City, Florida, at age 81 on 14 February. Davenport was copilot on the NAA B-25 Ruptured Duck during the famed Doolittle Raid on Japan. Pilot Ted Lawson wrote the book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo which was made into a film of the same title. Davenport was a technical advisor on the film which starred Spencer Tracy as Jimmy Doolittle. The Ruptured Duck was one of 16 Mitchells that took off from the USS Hornet on 18 April 1942. All but seven of the 80 crew members survived, even though most had to bail out or crash-land because their aircraft ran out of fuel before reaching landing sites in China. Davenport was injured when his plane went down in the South China Sea after the raid. Davenport retired in 1967 and had also flown 86 combat missions during the Korean War. AC