Flap Over Loudenslager Stephens Akro Laser 200 Display

The Loudenslager Stephens Akro Laser 200 can remain on static display at the National Air and Space Museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport (VA). But a group of 20 Congressional members has written the head of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum demanding that the Bud Light logos disappear.

"The display of the plane with the Bud Light logos would needlessly commercialize the plane's exhibition while marginalizing its true historical significance. The logos are nothing more than an advertisement that would constitute an implicit endorsement of Bud Light by the Smithsonian Institution," said the letter. "Having a historic plane covered in gratuitous beer advertising sends misleading and dangerous messages to the millions of annual museum visitors who will be under the legal drinking age. As you may know, alcohol is the leading drug problem among American youth. . . . Alcohol-related advertising has no place in one of our nation's premier public museums. We respectfully request that you remove the Bud Light logos and restore the Laser 200 to its original color scheme prior to displaying it."

Leo Loudenslager was a legend in sport aviation. Beginning in 1975, he won seven US aerobatic championships. In 1980, he won the World Aerobatic Championships -- all in a plane of his own design and construction. Loudenslager retired in 1983. He died after a motorcycle accident in 1997.

The aircraft was repainted that year to reflect the Bud Light sponsorship. Prior to that, it sported a blue paint scheme without sponsor ID. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said in a letter co-written with a group of governors' spouses that the Budweiser paint job was "gratuitous."

"The Bud Light insignia has nothing to do with the championship years of a well-designed, well-flown plane," said George A. Hacker, director of the CPSI Alcohol Policies Project. "It is almost historically inaccurate. It is emblazoned much as a NASCAR race car."

But the director of the Air and Space Museum, General John R. Dailey, stood firm in his exchange with the CPSI and the governors' spouses. He said the Anheuser-Busch paint scheme came with the airplane when it was donated.

The Loudenslager family donated the aircraft to the Smithsonian in 1999. For two years, it was on display at the Air and Space Museum on the Mall. The Washington Post reports it was the first aircraft moved into the Udvar-Hazy facility, which is scheduled to open December 15th. It hangs nose high, suspended from cables attached to the top of the 10-story display hall. Loudenslager flew the aircraft as it's painted now on the airshow circuit. Dailey told the spouses and the CPSI, "It was during these air shows that the plane gained its popular fame and became familiar to a mass audience. The current paint scheme thus has legitimate historical value."

Enter the beer company. "With all due respect, the main proponent behind this attempt to rewrite history is an anti-everything advocacy group that would like to tell all Americans -- young and old -- what to eat and drink," said Anheuser-Busch Vice President John Kaestner. "If they are truly interested in doing something meaningful to fight underage drinking, they should put down the decal scraper and get serious."

General Dailey has yet to answer the Congressional letter. He may well take his time, given the touchy nature of this particular display. On one hand, The Anheuser-Bush Foundation donated $1 million to the new museum facility. On the other hand, Congressional members who signed the letter include Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) and Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY).  Both sit on the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Smithsonian's budget.

FMI: www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/ext