Erickson Aircraft Collection — Attraction in Madras

We visited in July, 2017, there was an eclipse, remember that? Madras was in the center of the 'path of totality' so it seemed like a good idea at the time. Apparently 5 million other peeps thought the same. But we arrived at night after visiting Crater Lake (Costa Mesa to Klamath Falls in one shot) to find that the "parking spot" we had rented online for 25 dollars was located about 25 yards away from the Erickson, and thank goodness for that. They had mowed down the hay on the field next to the museum and parked cars there. We slept in the back of the wagon and got up the next day to find that about 1000 more cars had arrived after us, we were pretty close to the front. As I recall the eclipse took place about 10:45 (don't quote me, it was the morning). I had figured it would take a while for the people to get out of the lots and to clear the roads, so I planned to visit the Erickson while they did that- for 7 hours!!!!! The first cars to start their engines moved about 20 yards then stopped for 3 hours. Then it was I-10 at 0800, gridlock. We got to be on a first name basis with every aircraft in the museum. My daughter played the push pedal player piano for hours. I went around the museum and read every display on the walls, about 2,000 pages worth. At one point we walked outside to the taxiway, the private aircraft that had flown in were on the taxiway with their engines OFF to conserve fuel, and the pilots and passengers were pushing them manually up the taxiways. (aircraft weigh less than cars in case you didn't know, even with fuel, it is normal to push them around, they aren't 747s) I read one recent review where the young chicky wasn't impressed, it sounded to me like she was ticked off at the $9.00 entry fee. You cannot get breakfast at De**ys for $9.00. These are SPECTACULAR aircraft, meticulously maintained in flight condition. I would love to go back and maybe the next time we drive up the 97 to Canada we will stop. But it is a little out of the way, unless we are flying. The planes were great, the staff was great and the displays were great. Lots of super aircraft T-shirt prints, for which my only complaint is that they are all printed on the back so as soon as you put on your flight jacket, no one sees the really super art...

A great vintage aircraft collection with many rare World War 2 planes.

The first exhibit starts with the history of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and then leads you to the aircraft collection.

The hangar is not very big and you can walk around and underneath the planes for an unique experience.

It is hard to miss the big bomber from World War 2, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and it is very impressive to walk underneath the plane.

The fighter planes that most people read about in history books include the P-38 Lightening, the P-51 Mustang, the FM-2 Wildcat, the TBM Avenger and the P-47 Thunderbolt.

A replica of the German fighter plane, the Focke Wulf 190 is also on display.

The perimeter exhibits include information onthe Madras Army Air Base, the Doolittle Raiders who trained at the base, local pilots who fought in the war, and the Douglas AD Skyraiders.

A few vintage cars including a jeep are a part of the collection.

You can fly in many of the vintage planes and information is on their website.

Located at the Madras Airport at the end of the road.

A must stop for anybody interested in avaition and history with information on the Madras...

Wanted to take in the "new" home for these aircraft (since they were moved from Tillamook several years ago). Not quite as extensive (yet) as the Flying Heritage Museum, but these pieces of history fly as they were created to. Which is preferable to simply suffering the fate of merely being on static display (just a personal opinion). It is far more realistic to see oil streaks and exhaust soot from them playing among the clouds than a concours-quality paint job (gorgeous as they may be) on a plane whose flying days are likely all behind them. We were even allowed to walk out on the apron in front of the hanger to get "up close and personal" with a P-51, B-17, what appears to be a plexiglass nose B-25J, and a Grumman J2F "Duck." What an experience! We will definitely be adding this to our list of places to take out of town visitors, and best of all, the drive does not involve having to navigate Sesttle...