EVERETT — The World War II air contingent occasionally seen flying over Paine Field now has ground forces to back it up.
Two tanks, one from the former Soviet Union and one from Nazi Germany, are scheduled to roll out on Memorial Day. On several other Saturdays over the summer, the museum plans to fly some of its fighter planes.
Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen recently acquired the tanks, along with three German Flak 88 anti-aircraft guns, for his Flying Heritage Collection museum at Paine Field.
Until now, the museum has focused on fighter planes for its collection.
“Paul is interested in all aspects of technological innovation, particularly in the middle of the 20th century,” museum director Adrian Hunt said. The Soviet T-34 tank, he said, “was a great advance in tank design that greatly surprised the Germans when they invaded Russia in 1941 because their standard anti-tank weapons could not penetrate its armor.”
The Soviet T-34 weighs 32 tons and is considered one of the best tanks ever made, according to the museum. It wasn’t the fastest or heaviest tank in the Soviet arsenal but struck a balance between the two.
Allen bought the tank from a collector in Europe and had it restored in Europe and Florida, museum curator Cory Graff said.
It’s painted in the manner of tanks used on the Belarus front in January 1945 — white for camouflage in the snow with red lettering bearing the name of a general and battalion. It’s not known if it saw combat.
“There are no big gouges from shells or anything,” Graff said.
The tank has an 85 mm gun and four seats in its tight quarters inside.
The Soviet Union kept making the tanks after World War II and wound up selling older ones to other nations, according to Graff.
“It was getting handed down to the Third World countries,” he said.
This tank and the German tank, the Jagdpanzer 38(t), or Hetzer, are both so heavy their tracks tear up concrete, Graff said. They have to have 10-foot long, 100-pound rubber mats laid down in front of them wherever they go.
The German tank weighs only half the total of the Soviet tank, 16 tons. Small and maneuverable for a tank, it was mass produced by the Nazi regime during the war. It’s also not known if this tank saw combat.
The inside of the Hetzer is even more cramped than the Soviet tank, but still hold four soldiers: a driver, a commander, a gunner and a loader.
Replica, blank 75 mm shells, about 3 ½ feet long, are kept inside.
The tank was found in Spain by a German collector who took it home to be restored, Graff said. It’s painted in the scheme of a “tank hunter” battalion that participated in the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. Allen bought it from the collector.
The anti-aircraft and anti-tank Flak 88 guns came from Germany. Allen was moved to acquire them partly because his father fought in Europe in the war and experienced shelling from that same type of gun, Graff said.
The museum did not disclose the sale price of any of the artifacts.
After Monday, the tanks and one of the guns will be permanently on display at the museum. Curators need to figure out how to arrange the museum’s 15 fighter planes and other artifacts on the floor of the hangar to work in the tanks, Graff said.
The tanks and one of the guns will fire blanks — a mix of gunpowder and flour — when they are brought out on Monday, Graff said. It won’t be as loud as it would be if live rounds will be fired, but “it makes a pretty good boom: smoke, fire, noise.”
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
See the tanks
The Soviet T-34, the German Jagdpanzer 38(t) or Hetzer and a Flak 88 anti-aircraft gun are scheduled to be displayed on Memorial Day outside the Flying Heritage Collection, 3407 109th St. SW at Paine Field.
Along with the new tanks, the Memorial Day event will showcase military vehicles and weapons from the Puget Sound Military Vehicle Collectors Club.
The Soviet T-34 tank will drive and fire at noon.; the Flak 88 will fire at 1 p.m.; the Hetzer will drive and fire at 2 p.m.
Entry to the event is included in the admission prices to the museum. Admission price varies. More information: www.flyingheritage.com or 877-FHC-3404.
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