USS Lexington

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:58 am

This weekend I am in for a treat. I will get a chance to visit the Essex-class carrier museum. Will post pic once I get back.
http://www.usslexington.com/

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:14 am

LUCKY!!!!

Rogue · Post by **Rogue** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:22 am

So what did you think?

Pics?

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:27 pm

So how was lady Lex?

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:36 am

The Lex was amazing! They have really put together a great museum out of her. We got a great look at life on-board a carrier during WWII up until she was decommissioned. Just to be surround by all of that history from flight deck to hanger deck all the way to the lower decks below was truly a wonderful way to spend a day! Plus the added bonus of seeing the IMAX movie "Fighter Pilot" on-board really blew us away. I would highly recommend seeing this historical treasure if you ever have a chance!!
I will upload pics later in the week.

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:31 pm

Black Lion VF-213 · Post by **Black Lion VF-213** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:18 pm

Warhawker,

Glad you got to see the Lex. It's a great ship. I'm from Texas originally and lived several years in Corpus. Too bad you weren't able to visit the Lex about four to five years ago when we had many more planes. Donation funding has dropped significantly over the years. If you're a B-25 fan you would have loved to have seen the B-25 they used to have "hanging" inside the flight hangar. It was located all the way towards the end of the stern right above the concession stand. It was hung the B-25 from the ceiling with seriously strong cables (the plane was definitely gutted to reduce weight) directly over the roof of the concession stand. It was awesome to see when you approached it.

I remember when we received that VF-84 Jolly Rogers F-14 in 1995. It looked like it had seen better days. Unfortunately, when their restoration crews got a hold of that Cat and painted it, they decided to express their artistic license upon her. They didn't repaint it to be historically accurate. The leading edges of the vertical stabilizers were the traditional silvery white like most VF-84 Cats were. They painted then yellow. And the call letters "AJ" were on the inside of the tails painted yellow. And the font style of numbers for 201 on the nose are not accurate either. Funny how the Lex crews painted USS Lexington on the engine intakes when that Cat was last wearing USS Theodore Roosevelt id. Although they painted the Cat with slightly incorrect markings, it did have great paint quality.

The Lex used to have a beautiful Hellcat and a Bearcat on board years ago. Don't know what happened to them.

Glad you got to see the Lex and hopefully enjoy Corpus. If anyone is planning on going to Corpus and is a baseball fan, you've got to see the new Whataburger Field. The home of the Hooks, AA farm team of the Houston Astros. Beautiful stadium and great views.

Rogue · Post by **Rogue** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:42 pm

The Lady Lex had a fire today.

http://www.caller.com/news/2007/aug/01/ ... lexington/

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:12 am

Rogue I heard about this on the news this morning. After reading the article you posted about the fire coming from below the hanger deck, I remember a section of the tour/museum where there is a small open two room library where research is done and manned by a Navy veteran. Unlike other parts of the museum where visitors are restricted behind glass or a barrier, this area is open to all and could be a likely location where it started.