GRANT REQUEST FOR PORTLAND JETPORT DISPLAY, THE WWII CIVIL AIR PATROL IN MAINE

The above Taylorcraft plane served on U-boat chasing missions from Civil Air Patrol Base #20 in Bar Harbor (Trenton) in WWII. Dense fog and intense winter cold were the biggest challenges to the Maine flyers.

The Request

This is a request for a grant of $40,000 to the Maine Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. This is to purchase a vintage aircraft that flew for the Maine Civil Air Patrol [CAP] in WWII. It is to be installed with an accompanying interpretive exhibit, in the Portland, ME, Jetport. [See brief CAP history outline attached.]

On September 9, 2010, the Building Committee of the Jetport approved this project and committed up to $10,000 for the installation of the plane. [See attached letter from Jetport.] They also decided to place the plane in the most prominent place in the Jetport where it would be immediately visible to anyone driving into the Jetport and visible from any point in the Jetport [see renderings following]. The display is scheduled to open in the Fall, 2011. We have a very short time to completion.

The Jetport handles 2M passengers a year. Only very large, established museum would have an annual visitorship that big. Compare with the National USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson

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(2M); the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere (1.6M), the Getty Museums in LA (1.5M), the Art Institute of Chicago (1.5M).

Given that the total cost of the Jetport project, including donations in kind, is abt $110,000, which we estimate, that means that the cost of reaching each person would be .055 cents in the first year and disappear in the third year while the exhibit will remain in place 20-50 years. It would be hard to match or better that for cost-effectiveness.

This grant would fall under the category ―preservation of history‖ and, by extension, support of a community service. This project would also fulfill a common desire to encourage ―collaborative and cooperative ventures.‖ This project has the support and involvement of the Portland, ME, Jetport, the Maine State Museum‘s Executive Director, J.R. Phillips, the Maine Wing of the Civil Patrol, the Gannett family.

Mr. Phillips, executive director of the Maine State Museum believes this project will set a model and a precedent for building displays in other public spaces. He believes this, in turn, opens new possibilities for fundraising for the Museum.

In addition, the second oldest continuously operating CAP base in the Country is located right on the Jetport campus. The Jetport keeps wanting to seize the property. The Maine Wing is working to have it declared an historical site. Success on this project would help that effort considerably.

About the Maine Jetport Project

The focus of the projected display will be on the WWII origins of CAP, with special emphasis on Maine and the early days of WWII. [See brief history included.] Among many other services, the CAP chased U-boats from our shores (including around Bath Iron Works and the Liberty Ship works in So. Portland) when they were taking down 15-20 of our ships a week along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

The display will lightly touch upon more recent information, including the CAP‘s nationwide support for the Wreaths Across America Program, which originated in Harrington, ME, and honors veterans. A news photo and CAP have helped this organization go national. http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/

Most of all, this is an inspiring model of what volunteers can accomplish with dedication and resourcefulness we rarely see these days.

Maine’s Important Roots in CAP History

One of the founding fathers of the CAP was Guy P. Gannett, owner of chain of newspapers and radio stations in Maine, the last of which went out of Gannett family ownership only in the late

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1990s. These include the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, the Waterville Morning Sentinel, WGAN Radio and WGME-TV.

Gannett was the Maine Wg commander into the 50s. He was also the person who led the effort to involve CAP in forest patrol and support for the Red Cross--missions the CAP still flies as needed. Two of 21 Coastal Patrol bases were in Maine, one in Portland (still standing on the Jetport campus) and one in Bar Harbor (Trenton). Both will be featured.

Although it is not directly related to the CAP, the interpretive display would also feature the landing of two Nazi spies at Hancock Pt., ME, on November 29, 1944. This is one of three occasions when the Nazis landed on our shores. This demonstrates how close the Nazi U-boats were to Maine shores. CAP help to survey the 3600 linear mis. along Maine‘s coast, and the 900+ mis. along the border with Canada, may be important future missions for Homeland Security. http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/nazispiescomeashore.html

These are but two dispatches from the official War Diaries of the Eastern Sea Frontier at the time:

December 2300 Despatch from Com 1 - quoting report from CG re periscope sighted between 31, 1941: Cushing and Ram Islands, in Portland Channel. Phoned to Com 1 for further information. Periscope sighted at 2 p.m. same time as contact reported, 30 miles off Portland Waiting call from Com 1.

Cdr. Ellis, Duty Officer at Com 1 ‗phoned to report receipt of advice from Little January Creek, Va., (R/T station) interception of transmission from C.G.C. 155 to NCU (All 13, 1942 or any C.G.) reporting on 2670 Kc "Picked up submarine on submarine listening device South of Hussey Sound Entrance.‖ Closed Boston, Portland, Portsmouth. Then began to receive series of reports along coast on same subject.

In May of 1945, seven U-boats surrendered at Kittery, ME./Portsmouth, NH http://www.seacoastnh.com/Maritime_History/The_Shipyard/Nazi_UBoats_Surrender_at_Portsmouth/

About the Civil Air Patrol

The present-day CAP has abt. 61,000 members nationwide, 400 members and significant history and involvement in Maine. The CAP‘s current missions grew directly out of the WWII service. They include search and rescue operations, disaster relief, an aerospace education program in the schools, and a cadet program that develops many of our finest military and civic leaders.

Nearing 70 years in service, in recent years CAP members provided the first aerial surveillance after 9/11, served in the wake of the 2005 hurricanes, worked in areas affected by floods and

3 tornadoes this year, recently stood down from aerial surveillance of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The CAP performs increasing missions for Homeland Security. [See www.gocivilairpatrol]. The CAP performs these missions at about 1/8 the cost of using military personnel and equipment.

On a per capita basis, Maine has a high percentage of CAP members. We hope the exhibit will have a side benefit of aiding recruitment. Your donation would thus indirectly support a community service.

The Project Team

We have assembled a terrific team for this effort:

 The CAP‘s Northeast Region Commander, Col. Chris Hayden, and the Maine Wg. Commander, Col. Dan ―Fireball‖ Leclair are eagerly aligned with the project and are the lines to the volunteer members who are stepping forward magnificently with donations in kind. This project will be executed under the 501 (c) (3) of the Maine Wing. Col Leclair is ret. USAF. He worked in the White House for 14 years and owns a business providing high end security systems for corporations and executives.  Spencer Morfit, the chief architect of the program, is a senior level professional in corporate communications for the likes of IBM, Arthur Anderson, Quaker Oats, FMC Corporation. She has summered on Deer Isle, ME, for 50 years.  On September 9, 2010, the Jetport Building Committee unanimously approved this project and committed up to $10K for the installation of the plane. The exhibit would be installed in the Jetport in a little more than a year.  J.R. Phillips is the Exec. Dir. of the Maine State Museum has been providing guidance and contacts for this project. He will work directly with us through completion. He is also bringing the Gannett family to the Project. Unfortunately, the curators of the Maine State Museum had to withdraw from the Project because of severe budget cuts which have brought them down to 1973 staffing levels.

The lead on this project will be Col. Leclair. He may be reached at 207-344-9088.

We ask you to be as generous as possible toward this project. We are under the gun before the display is to be mounted. 100% of donated funds will go to project.

Checks should be made payable to the Maine Wing, Civil Air Patrol.

Sincerely,

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PROJECTED BUDGET FOR PROJECT TO MOUNT HISTORIC CAP PLANE IN PORTLAND, ME, JETPORT

BUDGET ITEM COST VALUE OF DONATION

1941 Rearwin Cloudster plane in flying condition, N34702 Authenticated as having flown from CAP Coastal Patrol Base $38,000.00 # 19, Portland, Maine Cost for materials to mount display $10,000.00 Work to design and install the exhibit $20,000.00 Incidental expenses (insurance, parts, expenses) $ 7,000.00 Flight for two volunteer fliers to pick up the plane and fly it $ 225.00 back to Maine. Paid for by donations of frequent flyer miles and frequent flyer traveler points. (Donated by Maine CAP volunteers.) Overnight accommodations for flyers (Donated by Maine $ 360.00 CAP volunteers) Fuel for flight to Maine (Donated by Maine CAP volunteers) $ 350.00 Repaint the plane in original colors with CAP Coastal Patrol $ 10,000.00 insignia (Donated by Maine CAP volunteers) Cost of paint (Donated by Sherwin-Williams) $ 300.00 Mechanic to put the plane in aesthetic condition (remove $10,000.00 engine, fuel tanks, modern avionics) (Volunteer from Maine) Hangar Rental (Donated by the Maine National Guard) $ 3,300 (assuming 11 months @ $300/mon)) Installation of the Plane in the Jetport (Donated by the $5-10,000.00 Jetport) Ground transport from Augusta to Jetport for installation TBD Cost for annual inspection of plane (if necessary) $ 5,000.00 (Professional volunteer donor) Roundtrip Airfare for TX volunteer to do annual inspection $ 390.00 2 night hotel accommodations for inspector (Donated by $ 340.00 CAP volunteer) Insurance for plane $ 500.00 Photos from U-boatarchives.net donated by owner of the $ 500.00 max website. Photos, documents, from the Gannett Collection in the Fees waived for Maine Historical Society Maine State Museum TOTALS: $ 75,000.00 $36,265.00

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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CIVIL AIR PATROL IN WWII

 The CAP was established December 1, 1941, just 6 days before Pearl Harbor.  The CAP is a volunteer organization. Some 40–50,000 signed up in the first 3 months, 100,000 in the first year, 150,000 by the end of the War. The volunteers were ages 19 to 81, included millionaires, Hollywood movie people, self-described country boys, and people with 4-F classifications.  CAP volunteers are estimated to have donated $1 million of their own money in WWII dollars (= $14.5M in 2009 dollars) and just after the Depression. Many loaned or leased their own planes to the effort.  The first CAP bases were 21 bases along our unprotected East and Gulf coasts from Maine to Mexico, established to fly reconnaissance missions to look for German U-boats and to provide search and rescue efforts for the crews of sunk ships.  Corporations rallied to the cause. J. Howard Pew of Sunoco organized the oil companies to underwrite the cost of the Coastal Patrol start-up. Richard I. DuPont set up base #2 in Rehoboth Beach, DE, where Paul DuPont served. Companies in York, PA, underwrote the cost of base operations there. Vernon Rudolph, founder of Krispy Kreme donuts, served in Manteo, NC. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hartness of Greenville, S.C., founders of Hartness International and major backers for Furman University, led a base, Marshall ―Doc‖ Rinker, founder of a major construction materials company in Fla, served from Base #3, Lantana.  In 1942, German subs sank 15-20 ships a week right off our shores, often in sight of people on land. The shipping industry was challenged to find workers because the work was so dangerous.  On at least three occasions, U-boats set spies and saboteurs ashore.  In one period the Germans sank 600 of our ships while losing only 6 of theirs—the greatest U.S. naval defeat in history.  By mid 1942, Churchill and General George C. Marshall worried that the U-boat operations threatened our entire war effort.  Often CAP volunteers arrived at their bases to find the runways overgrown, in need of repair and/or extension, had to fly patrols and work additional hours to build their own base facilities. They did this in areas that were infested with mosquitoes, armadillos, rattlesnakes, alligators, sharks and lacerating saw grass. Often they scoured dumps for supplies and reusable materials. They took night classes as well.  Within fifteen minutes of the first flight from Atlantic City (Base #1), CAP pilots spotted a sunk ship and rescued the crew. The first flight from Rehoboth Beach, DE, (Base #2) interrupted a sub attack on two American ships  In mid 1942, CAP planes were armed with bombs or depth charges and patrols were flying regularly. This forced the U-boats to sail submerged. Submerged, a U-boat‘s range, speed and fuel economy were halved. The crew started to run out of oxygen. To recharge batteries, a U-boat had to go out to sea to surface for seven hours.  The first two Air Medals of WWII went to CAP pilots.  By August 31 of 1943, the CAP coastal bases were closed because the CAP had largely succeeded in driving the U-boats from our shores. At the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi Adm.

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Karl Doenitz was asked why the U-Boats left our shores in 1943. His guttural reply: ―Because of those damned little red and yellow airplanes.‖  The CAP pilots flew throughout WWII—hundreds of missions a day. CAP pilots (of whom 20% were women) ferried munitions from manufacturing plants to bases, kept our manufacturing lines supplied, delivered blood and medical supplies for the American Red Cross, performed search and rescue missions for downed planes, patrolled our borders, chauffeured senior officers to important meetings and trained pilots. For $15 round trip a CAP plane could deliver parts that had been carried by bomber for $400 previously.  CAP personnel maintained and/or in built over 200 bases during the War, literally paving the way for domestic aviation

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ARCHITECT’S RENDERINGS FOR PORTLAND JETPORT

In this location, the plane will be visible through the glass walls as you drive into the Jetport and visible from any point in the Jetport. It would be hung in a pre-security area. Virtual tour: http://www.portlandjetport.org/portland_jetport_info/terminal_expansion

Latest architectural rendering. The plane would be mounted behind the glass wall to the left of the ―JETPORT‖ signage.

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Above: Internal View Below: External View

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ANTIQUE REARWIN CLOUDSTER

Above is an antique Rearwin Cloudster, same [1941] vintage as the Cloudster for the Jetport. The Jetport Cloudster would be painted in the same original Cloudster colors but would include CAP insignia.

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EXHIBIT NATIONAL MILITARY HISTORY CENTER, AUBURN, IN.

Exhibit on WWII CAP dedicated at the National Military History Museum, Auburn, IN, Memorial Day, 2010. The exhibit encompasses abt. 1000 sq. ft., 500 photographs with identifications and captions, numerous artifacts, and a 12 minute video. http://www.capvolunteernow.com/todays_features.cfm/caps_wwii_role_featured_in_national_mi litary_history_center?show=news&newsID=8617

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