Told you it was tough! :-)Hint, huh? If no one has guessed - or I should say, figured it out, because a guess ain't gonna get it - I'll give another clue tonight, just before the Australian Grand Prix final quals start. That's my OTHER passion! The season is finally here!! :-jumpy:-beerchug Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

OK, I'm in a good mood... :-yellow1 :-yellow1 ...my Ferraris have the front row! So, here are some more clues:Fact: 'BT' is the queen of the hangar, but no hangar queen, and occupies pride of place in the center of the building, surrounded by her consorts.Fact: Planes are packed into the hangar so tightly that moving her in or out is a precision operation that Russ trusts to no one else.http://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/tow.jpgThere is another visual clue in the shot above. :-wink2Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Okay, I'm taking my last guess. In the first picture, the aircraft was away at an air show. There is evidence of this because: the plane isn't on the ground and it should always be in the hangar, yet In the last picture, the plane is being pushed back into the hangar after it was out at an air show: there are guys standing around it, Russ is facing forward, and the vehichle he is driving appears to not have any reverse lights on. You call it queen of the hangar due to it's size, but not a hangar queen because it is often not in there, just as it wasn't recently.Okay, I'm away on spring break. We'll see you. If I got it send me an e-mail I'll respond with my address and my info about volunteering.Thanks!:-jumpy-------------------Kenneth WeikTWVA 395CDG Hub Managerhttp://fly-twva.com-------------------

OK, I guess this is just too "inside". Here is the answer:The first part, that 'Briefing Time' is away from home, was the easy part, but no one saw the best evidence. She is also, probably, only gone on a short flight, such as the U.S.S. Brown flyover, rather than a weekend air show. Here's why:Everytime 'BT' is moved from its center position in the hangar it is necessary to first pull out the two planes which sit between her and the doors. If it's to be a short period of time, these two planes are left on the ramp beside the hangar, rather than put back away, as they might be for a longer stay.These two planes are our Boeing "Kaydett" and the Consolidated Vultee "Valiant" ("Vibrator"). You will see them in the photo just to the left of the hangar, pulled up partially onto the grass. The small, yellow one is the Kaydett, and the Vibrator has a red band around the fuselage and a dark cowling.In the photo of Russ on the tug putting her back away, you can see the blue tail of the Boeing on the extreme left. If you look closely, you can also see the chocks for the Vultee in front of the Beech S18 on the hangar floor. That's Tim O-Hara, BT's copilot, atop the SNJ holding its antenna wire clear of 'BT's wingtip. When Russ is done, the rear crew entry ladder, when extended, will clear the wing of the Ryan Navion by an inch. If you ever visit MAAM (not talking to you, Ken) take a look how everthing seems to overlap and consider that everytime I have watched Russ do this, he's done it in one shot! It's quite an impressive show - almost as good as watching 'BT' fly by! ;-) Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

I'd guessed that the two smaller aircraft proved the answer, but I'm not allowed to enter... ;-)They're too closely parked to be put there for any other reason than to get them out of the way!Slightly amusingly, that doesn't sound like the densest concentration of aircraft I have heard of. Many gliding clubs actually stack gliders into the hangar on top of each other! How they don't break them in so doing is a question probably best left unanswered...Ian P.:-halo

I did not mention those hanging on the hangar walls or from the rafters. :-)Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Well, you did say you needed a bigger hangar down there, somewhere!Yeesh. I'm going to end up emptying my savings to visit at this rate, aren't I... ;-)Ian P.:-halo