Airport Has Model Plan For A 147-piece Donation

Many of the world's most exotic and historic airplanes have landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Parked side by side are a SR-71 Blackbird, a MiG-19 and a Japanese Zero. That's not to mention a Douglas DC-3, a PBY Catalina and a Stealth fighter.

All are in mint condition, sporting their original vibrant military or civilian colors. All are destined to become featured exhibits in a local history museum.

The planes, about a thirtieth the size of their real-life counterparts, are part of an extensive 147-piece model airplane collection donated to the U.S. Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association.

Someday, the models will have their own wing in a museum being planned by the association, a group of military, aviation and history buffs.

The model collection and other aviation artifacts eventually will be housed in an old Navy building at the airport, a remnant from when the airfield was a naval air station during World War II. But the structure first must be moved away from airport operations before it is turned into a museum. Aviation officials are trying to find a suitable site.

So for now, the planes are tucked in an office at the Naval Surface Warfare Center on the west side of the airport. They are sitting on desks, the floor and glass-enclosed shelves. Some of them, like a C-47 transport, cost more than $ 300.

''These are a lot more than your $ 9 model planes you put together as a kid,'' said Norm Kent, radio talk show host on WFTL-AM 1400 and the lawyer of the man who collected the models. ''These are sophisticated models that took an exhausting amount of time to put together.''

The collection, worth about $ 16,000, was amassed over several years by Bob Patterson of Fort Lauderdale, a security guard and former Air Force serviceman who died of cancer on Dec. 26. He also was a member of the Confederate Air Force, a Texas group dedicated to restoring historic military aircraft.

Patterson, 50 at the time of his death, purchased the models already put together from a company in the Philippines.

As a friend of Bob Patterson's and executor of his estate, Kent decided to donate the bulk of model collection to the historical association.

In addition to the airplane models, the association's museum will house displays, memorabilia, military uniforms and old photos showing the history of the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station, today Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Much of the museum's focus will be on the legendary Lost Patrol, the five torpedo bombers that took off form Fort Lauderdale in December, 1945, and never returned.

For now, the collection can only be seen by appointment, said Al McElhiney, president of the historical association. Interested people may call the group at 561-3627.

Photo: Staff photo/ROBERT AZMITIA; Norm Kent holds a P-40 Curtiss Warhawk used in World War II. The model is one of 147 donated to the U.S. Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association.