CORRECTION: The story below incorrectly reported that the Everygreen Aviation and Space Museum filed for bankruptcy. It has not. Evergreen Vintage, a company wholly owed by Delford M. Smith, declared bankruptcy. We regret this error and encourage readers to visit and support the Everygreen Aviation and Space Museum.
McMinnville, OR — Evergreen Vintage Aircraft Inc., whose museum features historic planes including Howard Hughes’s gigantic wooden “Spruce Goose,” has filed for bankruptcy.
The McMinnville, Oregon-based company listed more than $50 million in assets and more than $100 million in liabilities in Chapter 11 papers yesterday in Portland, without giving a reason for the filing.
It was affiliated with companies that filed for bankruptcy in Delaware a year ago, including Evergreen International Airlines and Supertanker Services Inc., according to court papers.
The museum displays a P-38 Lightning and a P-51 Mustang, as well as a replica World War I-era Sopwith Camel and a Messerchmitt ME-262 reproduction, according to its website. Hughes’s Goose, the biggest plane ever constructed, was finished in 1947 and flown only once, according to the museum’s fact sheet.
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NOTE: This article contains a number of incorrect statements which would lead the reader to believe the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum filed for bankruptcy. It has not. Evergreen Vintage, a company wholly owed by Delford M. Smith, declared bankruptcy. While Smith was the co-founder of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and Evergreen Vintage owns approximately 20% of the aircraft in the museum, Vintage does not “own” the museum. The museum is a separate, 501(c)3 non-profit public educational entity and is NOT in bankruptcy.
The museum continues to operate normally, and is open seven days a week, 362 days a year (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter) from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. It continues to perform its mission to “Inspire and educate; to preserve aviation and space history and to honor the patriotic service of our veterans.” It showcases over 170 major aircraft and space artifacts including the Hughes H-4 Flying Boat, commonly referred to as “The Spruce Goose.”
Stewart W. Bailey
Curator, Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum