Last updated: 23:58 MDT, Wednesday, September 10, 2003
There were several hundred memorial plaques and monuments outside the
museum in a park. Here are some of them:
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Monument
American Volunteer Group (in China) Momument:
This museum is HUGE. It encompasses more than four GIANT hangars. Each hangar is big enough to house four full-size
football fields. Then, there are the aircraft displays outside the hangars.
Here are some of the displays inside the museum:
These displays were in the hangar "The Early Years":
Here's a depiction of a training accident. You can see four figures at the nose of the aircraft (not the museum patrons,
the dummies). The sign (which can't be seen in this photo) says this scene depicts the result of a student that applied
the brakes too hard in the presence of a tailwind. The nearest two are apparently mechanics surveying the damage to
the nose of the airplane. The next nearest figure is seated is the student pilot. The furthest figure is either his
commanding officer of the flight instructor - he's chewing out the student. The sign also said that more than half of
all student pilots didn't make the grade and washed out of the program:
A P38 Lightning based in the South Pacific:
The First Operational Jet Fighter for WWII, the German Luftwaffe ME-262:
This is the B-17, "Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby". You can see it in flight on the home page of
this website:
This is the Beech Staggerwing. Because it's in this museum I guess it means that the Army Air Force used it in WWII:
This is the B-26G "Maurauder"
The A-36 Apache, precdecessor of the famous P-51 Mustang.
B24 Liberator and the P-40 Warhawk of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in China:
The first atomic bomb. "Fat Man" was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 and the B-29 "Bockscar". It dropped the
second atomic bomb, "Little Boy", on Nagasaki.
The O-1G "Bird Dog" and the F-105 Thunderchief:
The venerable F-4C Phantom II
This aircraft is apparently an early AWACS and is based on the Connie
The F-111F Aardvark and the Teledyne Ryan AQM-34L "Firebee":
The YF-22 Raptor Prototype:
Wright 1922 Modified "B" Flyer
The F-82B Twin Mustang!
A MIG-15 "Fagot". This particular aircraft has an interesting history. The airplane on display was flown to
South Korea on September 21, 1953 by a defecting North Korean pilot who was given a reward of $100,000. The
airplane was subsequently flight-tested on Okinawa and then brought to Wright-Patterson AFB (where the Air Force
Museum is located) for additional flight tests. An offer by the U.S. to return the airplane to its "rightful
owners" was ignored, and in November 1957 it was transferred to the U.S. Air Force Museum for public
exhibition.:
Sikorsky YH-5A "Dragon Fly" and the U-6A DeHavilland "Beaver":
I don't remember what this aircraft is called, but it's obviously based on the B-29 Superfortress.
This F-86 had most of it's skin removed so you can see the insides:
This is the venerable Cessna 172!
This aircraft needs no introduction:
This RF-4C Wild Weasel served in the first Gulf War (Desert Storm). It flew the most sorties (172) in Desert Storm. Not pictured
is a number of camels (about 65) of them. It probably relates to the number of radar sites it destroyed in Iraq.
These are pics of a B-1. This particular aircraft had arrived not too long before we got there. The lady who
works there said that all they did was to drain the fuel and "depuddle" the fuel tanks. Otherwise, this airplane
can be ready to go back into combat in no time.
The F-117 "Wobblin Goblin".
This is some kind of unmanned aircraft. I'll try to figure out what it is later....
The GIANT B-36J. Six propeller and four jet engines. Did I say this airplane was GIANT? Well, I really meant to say
that it was GIANT!
The T-33 "Shooting Star"
This is the lobby of the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. You go through this
to get to the inside displays.
You know that poem, "High Flight"? This is the guy who wrote it. The pic is good enough that you can
read the museum display about it.
These are some aircraft that were parked outside. Some of them were awaiting restoration.
Not very many people know that actor Jimmy Stewart was a Brigadier General in the Army Reserves. He served
in WWII. Here is his actual flight jacket.
More pics to come in the coming hours and days! There are a lot more pictures where these came from! Check back soon!
To go back to the trip narrative for the rest of the trip, click the back button on your browser.
