Swoose to Dayton

[Mark Sublette]

The Washington Post reported on Saturday, 3 November 2007, that the Air and Space Museum's collections committee, an advisory group on the acquisition and transfer of aircraft, vote 5-4 on 28 September 2007 for deaccessioning The Swoose, and transfer it to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The panel forwarded its decision to Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, the museum director, and Donald S. Lopez Sr., the deputy director, who subsequently decided to stand by the committee's recommendation. "There were good arguments on both sides," said Dailey, who had requested a collections review to alleviate a storage crunch at the Silver Hill, Maryland facility where The Swoose has been stored since 1961. The Swoose has never been in a plan to be displayed, Dailey said. The decision now must be approved by the Smithsonian's National Collections Program office. The Air Force Museum is not commenting on the exchange until the internal process at the Smithsonian has been completed.