Question out of left field

[ChadK]

Hi all..I will apologize ahead of time for this question but it's driving me crazy (short trip)
I was heading northbound I-5 near Bow, Washington the other day and this guy was hauling the fuselage of an old banged up military plane on a trailer. The only markings I had time to look at said "NAS Arlington". Now, I've spent time in the Navy but didn't remember that airfield (could be a base long ago). For some reason I got to thinking of a post recently where Paul Allen was putting together a collection of military planes. I'm sure that's a huge stretch but it popped into my head.

Anyway, anybody know what I'm babbling about? I know there are lots of Pacific Northwesterners on this board - ring a bell anyone??

Thanks!
Chad

PS - I just found out that a barge tankerman I've known for a little while has a home just over the mountains from the Air Races in Reno!!! Says he watches them every year from on top of the mountain and can just about see their eyeballs!! He's already invited me to come down and stay with he and his family during the races!!

[Air Boss]

Re: Question out of left field

Hey Chad,
Yes, there was a NAS Arlington, back in the day. In fact, there's still an old NAS hangar located on the east side of Rnwy 16/34. Some time back (early 2000's) Mr Allen's collection was housed in a number of T-hangars on the west side and during that time there was some talk about converting the NAS hangar into a musuem. Ultimately, that concept was abandoned in favor of a newer facility at PAE, now called Flying Heritage Collection.

Cheers,

Owen

[ChadK]

Re: Question out of left field

Wow, thanks for that! One mystery solved! I wish I had had more time to study the plane so I could track it down!. I'm sure, though, that fellow drivers, much less State Patrol, frown on staring at objects other than the road for more than a few seconds!

[eagledriver]

Re: Question out of left field

As Owen said, KAWO is the old NAS Arlington. It was a fighter training base during the war, Wildcats and Hellcats mostly. If you go to the new airport office and look in their conference room, they have a few pictures up on the wall from the 1940's.

The restaurant on the field is called "NASA", a tribute to NAS Arlington.

Here are some links:

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Pacific/NAAS13/

http://snohomishcountybusinessjournal.com/article/20100826/SCBJ02/708269906

Now regarding museums... Yes there's the two collections at Paine (Flying Heritage Collection and Historic Flight Foundation). There's also the Heritage Flight Museum in Bellingham. Lastly, there is a small, but growing, collection once again at Arlington. But that doesn't mean that it was bound for any of them, there are a lot of warbird enthusiasts up here.

[Flashonyrsix]

Re: Question out of left field

The plane you saw was probably the SNJ that once belonged to the Air Station Museum at Arlington. It was traded for a S2F. It was damaged in a landing accident. To be accuret it should have been marked NAAS Arlington.
Norm

[ChadK]

Re: Question out of left field

Any idea where it was going?

[Flashonyrsix]

Re: Question out of left field

No I don't.