Giant cranes lifted the retired cargo plane, weighing about 320,000 pounds, more than 50 feet so it can be placed atop the water park building. -- Marcus Larson / News-Register

Special Boeing recovery straps were used in the lift, which took less than an hour Sunday morning. -- Marcus Larson / News-Register

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Two huge cranes lifted Evergreen's retired 747-100 cargo plane at dawn on May 2 and placed it atop the new water park, which is under construction beside the aviation and space museums.

"Pretty awesome," said Eric Garske, 12, whose dad, Dave Garske, is head of the construction crew that's building the water park.

Eric wasn't alone in that assessment. Dozens of people -- including museum members and volunteers and other children and relatives of Hoffman Construction crew members -- gathered on the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum campus at 5:30 a.m. to witness the engineering feat. They weren't disappointed.

The jumbo jet lifted off -- straight up -- just before 6 a.m. Adam Garske, Eric's 15-year-old brother, noted that the cranes made the lift look easy, as if the 747 was "the world's biggest model plane."

It's not a model plane, of course. But his dad said it is the biggest plane to sit atop a building and the biggest plane that's been lifted onto a display.

By 7 a.m., workers were bolting it into place atop a specially-constructed framework that will hold its 320,000 pound weight. Construction crews spent several hours welding the plane into its cradle before the huge Campbell Cranes released it completely and backed away.

The elder Garske had said crews were waiting for just the right calm weather conditions for the lift to take place. As the cranes cranked the jet off the ground, breezes stirred an American flag atop the larger crane's arm. But the gentle winds weren't strong enough to interfere with the project.

Still, to provide an extra measure of control during the lift, teams of workers on the ground held ropes attached to the plane's nose and tail -- almost as if the 747 were a character balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. The rope teams helped make sure the jet wouldn't drift in the wind, hitting the building or the crane itself.

The retired cargo plane has been attracting attention along Highway 18 since it landed at the McMinnville Airport -- the biggest plane ever to set down there -- last July. Hundreds of people turned out for the landing, and hundreds more rose early one Sunday morning for the plane's 5 a.m. crossing from the airport side of the highway to the museum side.

For the past week, drivers have been pulling off on the shoulder of the highway to get a better look at the 747 and the belly straps connecting it to the cranes. Sightseers were thrilled by several test lifts, during which crane operators checked the balance of the heavy load.

The 747 will be more than a focal point of the new water park, dubbed "Wings and Waves." It also will serve as the launching point for swimmers entering four water slides that will send them splashing into pools 62 feet below.

Evergreen officials said the new water park will open in mid-2011. It also will feature a wave pool, a children's museum and numerous interactive, educational exhibits about various aspects of water, aviation and space.

Larry Wood, director of the museums, said it was a thrill watching the 747 being lifted atop the new water park. "But every day is an exciting day for me, being around all these aircraft," said Wood, who piloted A-4 Skyhawks during his 30-year career with the Marines.

Check back for more updates, and see the News-Register's print edition for more details.