Rhinebeck Museum trouble

AAC Cadet Leader · 4 September 2004, 09:12 PM

Thank you Ron for sharing Cole Palen's graciuos thank you.

Note: This thread has now reached 1000 posts and over 80,000 viewings, not that anyone's counting.

Vivian Vamp · 4 September 2004, 09:12 PM

A clue:

The famous stolen Cub was flown to Connecticut after the theft and disassembled and transported from there.

AAC Cadet Leader · 4 September 2004, 09:18 PM

Vivian Vamp Posted on Sep 4 2004, 08:12 PM

Quote:

flown to Connecticut after the theft and disassembled

Where in Connecticut and where do you get your information?

wingnut · 4 September 2004, 09:19 PM

As far as Stan goes, if Gene tells Stan a lie about someone, Stan goes around the aviation community and repeats the lie. The Board uses the same technique with Stan, and Paul Richards. I have seen this happen. If I am wrong, please forgive me.

wingnut · 4 September 2004, 09:24 PM

About that cub going to Conn. Well lets see, did Mark G. have anything to do with that. There is more, to it.

AAC Cadet Leader · 4 September 2004, 09:35 PM

Are there any public records on the matter?

tazbat · 4 September 2004, 09:54 PM

Quote:

AAC Cadet Leader Posted on Sep 5 2004, 12:18 AM [/b]

Quote:

Vivian Vamp Posted on Sep 4 2004, 08:12 PM

Quote:

[b]flown to Connecticut after the theft and disassembled

Where in Connecticut and where do you get your information?

Please Vivian, we would all like to know!

Quote:

AAC Cadet Leader Posted on Sep 5 2004, 12:12 AM Thank you Ron for posting Cole Palen's gracious thank you.

Great posting Ron. Thanks!!!
A friend of mine in Florida (He was a regular for many years when he lived in Boston. Now he returns once a year.) sent in a donation last year and never received any thanks in any form. He was miffed to say the least and so wrote them a letter of chastising. They still never acknowledged him or his donation. His final reply about the board was, they will never get another penny from him.

Salute!

This is what I want to see!!!

tazbat · 4 September 2004, 11:01 PM

How very interesting this is about stealing planes and flying them nearby to Connecticut to dissassemble it. And, then bring it back to Rhinebeck after it had been disguised and re-registered. This is another one of my guesses. Do you suppose the board knew about the stolen plane all along? One thing they seem to very conscious about is the taking up of hangar space with non ORA planes. You can't tell me no one knew of the planes existence. I believe the board was aware of the situation. They hired GD back after he had been fired. That has some significance in this whole sordid affair. How many Old Guard have been let go on the basis of alleged thefts? None of them have been hired back. (If I remember right, a post on this thread mentioned some private plane owners being told to get their planes out. If they were paying rent, why would the board throw away badly needed income? As far as I know, ORA hasn't collected any additional planes thereby requiring additional hangar space. Well, maybe not yet.)

While I am thinking about it. A bunch of planes have been taken off the line since the purchase of the SPAD wannabe. (I personally don't like the SPAD because of what it represents. With disc brakes, and a steerable tail skid, it is part of the spirit of deviating from Cole's mission statement for the air show.) I am guessing again, but the Aeronca, Curtiss-Wright, Davis, and Pietenpol have all taken a back seat to the SPAD and the New Standard acquisitions. The Curtiss Pusher hasn't flown this year also. The board has to have these other toys to attract more people in. Six Flags has been stealing the customers away, you know!

So, nobody thinks the idea of using ORA as a front to sell stolen planes is plausible? The more I think about it, the members on the board are not stupid like we would want them to be (everyone is supposed to think they are inexperienced and inept). They are shrewd, conniving, cold and calculating. What is left to be determined, is how close to the bone does it go?
Just how many are rancid meat? Everyone that knew what was going on at ORA and showed their colors was let go, some on the basis of suspected theft. So, what did they know? They knew the board was making drastic changes that would forever change ORA for the worst. They knew ORA would only be an empty shell. To the inexperienced eye it would look fine on the outside, maybe even to someone from the State checking to make sure they were in compliance with the laws governing museums. Sort of like the SPAD, authentic on the outside but all modern underneath. The SPAD would not have been Cole's choice.

It is late and I am going to bed.

Salute!

This is what I want to see!!!

EricGoedkoop · 5 September 2004, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tazbat@Sep 5 2004, 02:01 AM
[b]Sort of like the SPAD, authentic on the outside but all modern underneath. The SPAD would not have been Cole's choice.

I don't know if I agree with that. Cole preferred his aircraft to be as authentic as possible, but he was no stick in the mud about it. He bought a (now legendary) Warner-powered Tripe with brakes and turned it into an integral part of the Sunday show - there are plenty of stories about it on the other Rhinebeck thread. And what about that red metal Demoiselle he used to have?

EricGoedkoop · 5 September 2004, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tazbat@Sep 5 2004, 02:01 AM
[b]How very interesting this is about stealing planes and flying them nearby to Connecticut to dissassemble it. And, then bring it back to Rhinebeck after it had been disguised and re-registered. . . . I believe the board was aware of the situation. They hired GD back after he had been fired. . . . So, nobody thinks the idea of using ORA as a front to sell stolen planes is plausible? The more I think about it, the members on the board are not stupid like we would want them to be (everyone is supposed to think they are inexperienced and inept). They are shrewd, conniving, cold and calculating.

Wait just a cotton-picking minute.

It is obvious that there is something not-quite-right with DeMarco and his continued employment, but in my opinion he's more a sympton than a cause. Somehow, he's worked it so he's got full run of the place and he's using it to every advantage for as long as he can. Personally, I don't think Demarco gives a hang what happens to ORA, one way or the other, so long as he can benefit, and he seems like a guy who could find a way to benefit from anything.

With regards to the idea that the Board are some sort of crime syndicate operating a black market of antique aeroplanes, let's just stop and think for a minute. IF that was what they were up to, and IF they're as smart as this theory requires them to be, why on God's green earth would they do so many things to call attention to themselves? As AAC pointed out, no one's counting but this thread has reached a ridiculous length, and popular opinion is that the Board knows about it and follows it. (Hiya, fellas.) There have been newspaper and magazine articles about the situation at ORA, not to mention the circus they created around Chris Rogine. If they were really setting up an aero-chop shop, wouldn't they have done everything they could to AVOID any big visible changes at ORA?
Nobody who isn't already in prison is that stupid.