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Barnstormers Logo ISSUE 12 - March 2008
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THE BIRD AVIATION MUSEUM
By Mike Kincaid, Contributing Editor

Tucked away on the shores of the magnificent Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho, the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center welcomes visitors by small plane, seaplane, or by car. Last July, visitors were treated by an inverted blast over the airport’s approach end by Patty Wagstaff in her Extra 300S, at fifteen feet above ground level, cutting the ribbon for the museum’s grand opening.

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Patty Wagstaff and her Extra 300S
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Blast over museum's runway
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The museum houses an historic collection of twenty-one aircraft, including land planes, seaplanes, helicopters and gliders, all restored to perfection. The collection includes a 1927 Waco GXE-10 — like Dr. Bird made his first solo flight in at age 14 — and his father’s 1938 Piper J-3.

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Piper J-3
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Stearman
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Seebee
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Also featured is a collection of vintage automobiles and Dr. Bird’s and others’ inventions. Not only can one see medical, computer and technical creations, but also the work of Philip Bart, inventor of the Cabbage Patch Doll.

60 Minutes said it best in their story last year on Dr. Bird: “Chances are Bird’s invention has saved the life of someone you know, or maybe even your own.” That invention is the Bird Respirator, which Bird conceived while ferrying aircraft for the Army Air Corps during World War II, considering how the air flowing over the wings of a plane was like air moving through human lungs.

In the style of MacGyver, Bird cobbled together strawberry shortcake tins to build one of his first machines. His success in developing the first compact breathing device convinced the military to send Bird to medical school, and the rest is history. The “Babybird” respirator is credited with bringing the mortality rates for infants with respiratory problems from 70 percent to less than 10 percent worldwide.

A close second to Dr. Bird’s passion for invention of life-saving equipment is aviation. He began flying at 14, once gave Howard Hughes a ride in one of his planes, and was well known for touring in the “Bird-Innovator,” an intercontinental-capable PBY, with an onboard medical lab. A spry 86 years old, Dr. Bird still works 12 hour days at his impressive retreat/manufacturing facility near Sandpoint, Idaho. And of course, he still pilots his aircraft, even occasionally showing off with aerobatics over the lake.

For reservations to visit the museum and for permission to land at the airport, call 208-255-4321 or visit the website, www.birdaviationmuseum.com.

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