One of my favorite places to visit is the US Air Force Museum. I first started
to go there about 10 years ago. Since I got the new camera, I had to break
it in properly, so I went down.
As you approach the Air Force Museum you see this F-104 at the front gate. I
love how it looks like it is about to take off.
Not everything about the Air Force Museum is fun. On the main grounds in front
of the museum is the memorial park. It's a pretty solemn place, although the
memorials are pretty cool looking. Very fitting for an air service.
On the opposite side of the museum is an Air Park where they keep some of the
planes that they don't have room in the museum for. This plane is a C-141
Starlifter. This particular plane was the first plane in Hanoi to pickup
POW's from the Vietname War. Another neat thing about the museum is that each
plane has a story to tell.
I'm not sure if this is just a regular C-130 or an AC-130 gunship.
If the museum doesn't have an example of every plane flown by the Signal Corps,
Air Corps, Army Air Corps, Army Air Force or Air Force, it is pretty close to
having an example of every plane. This is one of the first planes that was
bought by the Signal Corps. It is one of the later model Wright Flyers.
These are couple of biplanes. My knowledge of pre-WWII planes is pretty sparse
so I'm not entirely sure what one of these is. I think one of them is an
example of a SPAD that would have been flown by Eddie Rickenbacker, our first
ace.
This is an example of an aircraft from between WWI and WWII. They are starting
to look like the planes that we know and love. This particular model is a
P-26 Peashooter.
Another cool aspect of the museum is that it also has a few examples of
foreign aircraft. This is the Hurricane, the workhorse of the Battle of
Britain.
This is one of my favorite planes, the P-38 Lightning. It is pretty cool to
see these planes up close after having read about them in books and see them
in movies.
This is a P-39 Airacobra. It was not a very popular plane with American pilots
but it had a huge cannon in the middle of the propellor. The Soviets loved
it as a ground attack aircraft.
This is a P-40 Warhawk, one of the early fighters used during World War II.
This is the aircraft that was made famous by the Flying Tigers. It wasn't
particularly maneuverable but it was better armored and armed than the Zero.
This is the P-47 Thunderbolt, affectionately known by it's pilots as the Jug.
With the ability to have drop tanks, this was one of the first planes to be
able to escort bombers all the way to Germany.
Speaking of bombers, this is a B-17 Flying Fortress.
This is the B-24 Liberator.
This is the B-26 Marauder, it had a few problems during development and got
the dubious moniker of Widow Maker.
Another one of my favorites, the P-51 Mustang.
This is the Mosquito, another British fighter. This plane had the distinction
of being made entirely of wood.
And a Spitfire.
And this the Bf-109 one of the mainstays of the Luftwaffer.
And the Focke Wulf 190.
This is the Me-163 Komet, one of the first rocket propelled aircraft.
And the Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow), the first operational jet. Another cool
aspect of the Air Force Museum is the adversory aircraft.
This is the P-61 Black Widow one of the earliest night fighters.
This is a B-29 Superfortress. This particular plane is named Bock's Car and is
the plane that dropped the Bomb on Nagasaki.
This is the B-36 Peacemaker. This plane was started to be developed in the
early 40's on the off chance that Britain would be knocked out of the war and
the US had to carry on alone. This plane had the range to fly from the
continental US to Germany. It saw some fairly extensiver service in the early
Cold War but was eventually replaced by the B-47 and B-52.
And it's payload.
This is the F-82 Twin Mustang one of the planes that came out towards the end
of the war and in the early Cold War. This one saw some service in Korea.
This are some of our early jets.
These two planes were developed to be carried in the bomb bay of a bomber so
that there would be an escort for Bombers flying over the Soviet Union. They
never made it past the experimental stage though.
This is the F-86 Sabre, made famous by the Korean War.
This is the B-47 one of our first jet bombers.
This is the B-52 Stratofortress....
F-101 Voodoo.
F-102 Delta Dart. This is the type of aircraft that was flown by George
W. Bush Jr.
F-104 Starfighter.
F-105 Thunderchief, affectionately known as the Thud by it's crews. This is
one of the workhorse aircraft of the Vietnam War. It was originally designed
to carry a small nuke in the bomb bay.
F-106 Delta Dagger.
A-7 Corsair II.
B-58 Hustler. This bomber could go Mach 2. It didn't have a bomb bay to speak
of, instead the weapons were carried in a pod. This bomber was made famous
by the book and movie, Failsafe.
The F-4 Phantom, proof that if you give something enough thrust, it will fly.
F-5
This is one of the first Early Warning aircraft and predecessor to the AWACS
aircraft. This is the first plane that directed an intercept from the air.
T-37 Dragonfly
This is the F-15 Eagle. This plane was developed based on the lessons of
the Vietnam War. One of the things that Vietnam demonstrated was that you
could not eliminate the gun from the aircraft, so this plane has an integral
gun. It also has enough thrust to weight ratio to outmaneuver anything in the
sky.
The A-10 Warthog. The best Tank Buster.
B-1 Bomber.
The B-2 Stealth Bomber.
F-22 Raptor, the future of our fighters, maybe.
The Global Hawk....another portend of the future..Unmanned aircraft.
The MiG-17
The MiG-19.
The MiG-21
The MiG-29 Fulcrum. One of the aircraft where the Soviets/Russians
demonstrated that they could catch up qualitatively to the US fighters.
This is the Apollo 15 Capsule. I think it was the only Apollo mission that
was entirely crewed by Air Force pilots. It also was crewed by astronauts
that either went to the University of Michigan or later got a degree there.
The MX Missile/Peacekeeper. This was our answer to some of the later Soviet
nuclear missiles. I'm glad that it can be said that we never fired one of
these in anger.
And it's payload.
This is a demonstrator for training missile silo crews. Again, it was
fortunate this never happened for real.
And that is a good chunk of the Air Force Museum.
Back to my aviation photos page
As you approach the Air Force Museum you see this F-104 at the front gate. I
love how it looks like it is about to take off.
Not everything about the Air Force Museum is fun. On the main grounds in front
of the museum is the memorial park. It's a pretty solemn place, although the
memorials are pretty cool looking. Very fitting for an air service.
On the opposite side of the museum is an Air Park where they keep some of the
planes that they don't have room in the museum for. This plane is a C-141
Starlifter. This particular plane was the first plane in Hanoi to pickup
POW's from the Vietname War. Another neat thing about the museum is that each
plane has a story to tell.
I'm not sure if this is just a regular C-130 or an AC-130 gunship.
If the museum doesn't have an example of every plane flown by the Signal Corps,
Air Corps, Army Air Corps, Army Air Force or Air Force, it is pretty close to
having an example of every plane. This is one of the first planes that was
bought by the Signal Corps. It is one of the later model Wright Flyers.
These are couple of biplanes. My knowledge of pre-WWII planes is pretty sparse
so I'm not entirely sure what one of these is. I think one of them is an
example of a SPAD that would have been flown by Eddie Rickenbacker, our first
ace.
This is an example of an aircraft from between WWI and WWII. They are starting
to look like the planes that we know and love. This particular model is a
P-26 Peashooter.
Another cool aspect of the museum is that it also has a few examples of
foreign aircraft. This is the Hurricane, the workhorse of the Battle of
Britain.
This is one of my favorite planes, the P-38 Lightning. It is pretty cool to
see these planes up close after having read about them in books and see them
in movies.
This is a P-39 Airacobra. It was not a very popular plane with American pilots
but it had a huge cannon in the middle of the propellor. The Soviets loved
it as a ground attack aircraft.
This is a P-40 Warhawk, one of the early fighters used during World War II.
This is the aircraft that was made famous by the Flying Tigers. It wasn't
particularly maneuverable but it was better armored and armed than the Zero.
This is the P-47 Thunderbolt, affectionately known by it's pilots as the Jug.
With the ability to have drop tanks, this was one of the first planes to be
able to escort bombers all the way to Germany.
Speaking of bombers, this is a B-17 Flying Fortress.
This is the B-24 Liberator.
This is the B-26 Marauder, it had a few problems during development and got
the dubious moniker of Widow Maker.
Another one of my favorites, the P-51 Mustang.
This is the Mosquito, another British fighter. This plane had the distinction
of being made entirely of wood.
And a Spitfire.
And this the Bf-109 one of the mainstays of the Luftwaffer.
And the Focke Wulf 190.
This is the Me-163 Komet, one of the first rocket propelled aircraft.
And the Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow), the first operational jet. Another cool
aspect of the Air Force Museum is the adversory aircraft.
This is the P-61 Black Widow one of the earliest night fighters.
This is a B-29 Superfortress. This particular plane is named Bock's Car and is
the plane that dropped the Bomb on Nagasaki.
This is the B-36 Peacemaker. This plane was started to be developed in the
early 40's on the off chance that Britain would be knocked out of the war and
the US had to carry on alone. This plane had the range to fly from the
continental US to Germany. It saw some fairly extensiver service in the early
Cold War but was eventually replaced by the B-47 and B-52.
And it's payload.
This is the F-82 Twin Mustang one of the planes that came out towards the end
of the war and in the early Cold War. This one saw some service in Korea.
This are some of our early jets.
These two planes were developed to be carried in the bomb bay of a bomber so
that there would be an escort for Bombers flying over the Soviet Union. They
never made it past the experimental stage though.
This is the F-86 Sabre, made famous by the Korean War.
This is the B-47 one of our first jet bombers.
This is the B-52 Stratofortress....
F-101 Voodoo.
F-102 Delta Dart. This is the type of aircraft that was flown by George
W. Bush Jr.
F-104 Starfighter.
F-105 Thunderchief, affectionately known as the Thud by it's crews. This is
one of the workhorse aircraft of the Vietnam War. It was originally designed
to carry a small nuke in the bomb bay.
F-106 Delta Dagger.
A-7 Corsair II.
B-58 Hustler. This bomber could go Mach 2. It didn't have a bomb bay to speak
of, instead the weapons were carried in a pod. This bomber was made famous
by the book and movie, Failsafe.
The F-4 Phantom, proof that if you give something enough thrust, it will fly.
F-5
This is one of the first Early Warning aircraft and predecessor to the AWACS
aircraft. This is the first plane that directed an intercept from the air.
T-37 Dragonfly
This is the F-15 Eagle. This plane was developed based on the lessons of
the Vietnam War. One of the things that Vietnam demonstrated was that you
could not eliminate the gun from the aircraft, so this plane has an integral
gun. It also has enough thrust to weight ratio to outmaneuver anything in the
sky.
The A-10 Warthog. The best Tank Buster.
B-1 Bomber.
The B-2 Stealth Bomber.
F-22 Raptor, the future of our fighters, maybe.
The Global Hawk....another portend of the future..Unmanned aircraft.
The MiG-17
The MiG-19.
The MiG-21
The MiG-29 Fulcrum. One of the aircraft where the Soviets/Russians
demonstrated that they could catch up qualitatively to the US fighters.
This is the Apollo 15 Capsule. I think it was the only Apollo mission that
was entirely crewed by Air Force pilots. It also was crewed by astronauts
that either went to the University of Michigan or later got a degree there.
The MX Missile/Peacekeeper. This was our answer to some of the later Soviet
nuclear missiles. I'm glad that it can be said that we never fired one of
these in anger.
And it's payload.
This is a demonstrator for training missile silo crews. Again, it was
fortunate this never happened for real.
And that is a good chunk of the Air Force Museum.
Back to my aviation photos page