Back in 1975, the Independent Man was taken off the top of the State House for some much needed repairs. As I recall, a crane and riggers were donated to do the job. Once down, the statue's lightning damage was repaired and a coat of gold leaf was applied. It then went on display at the Warwick Mall so R.I. citizens could see it up close. In July, 1976,during Bi-Centennial festivities, the statue was to be flown back up to its perch. The plan was to use a "Huey" helicopter from the R.I. Air National Guard to fly it back up. The helicopter crew were not experienced in this kind of work so, what seemed like a simple task turned out to be a complete debacle. After three attempts at putting the statue back up, the RIANG gave up. Later on, a civilian helicopter was hired to do the job and, with only one try, had the statue on top of the State House. Here are some photos:











There are those in Rhode Island who think that the Hasbro version of the Independent Man should be on top of the State House !!!!!!

---

__________________________________________________________________
Tom
It's pretty sad when the only modeling tool you own is a box cutter.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you start to see every problem as a nail. Abraham Maslow