creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) (06/27/90)
From: creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps)
I went up to Dayton last Saturday, to the Air Force Museum. It
was a very enjoyable visit. Planes all over the place! The way the
museum is set up, you take a certain route through it, and you are
on a self-guided tour. You start out at the earliest days of aviation,
and proceed chronologically through World War I, World War II, and
so on, including developments between wars. There are informative
displays along the walls, and also miscellaneous items, not to
mention the aircraft! Most of the displays are written (painted onto
the walls) in the style of a reference book.
Some of the more interesting planes they have- oh, never mind,
they have just about any type of USAF plane you can think of, plus
a couple of Nazi German aircraft, WWII-era Japanese planes, and
a couple of Soviet aircraft (from blok countries).
A few of my favorites were a B-25, a B-24 ("Strawberry Bitch"),
and a B-17 ("Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby"). You could walk right up to (and
under, etc!) most of the larger planes, and I did just that. They
also had the one surviving XB-70 Valkyrie, a beautiful plane. I think
the newest acquisition is a real SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 and the
XB-70 are parked next to each other, and are really something to see.
These planes are HUGE. I thought to myself that you could camp out
under the SR-71 in a storm and not get wet. If that's the case, you
could almost hold a carnival under the XB-70. I took the opportunity
to poke my head around in all the nooks and crannies, including the
landing gear wells. I was careful not to touch the planes, and it
ticked me off to see three idiots come up to the SR-71 and start
banging on the wings. I probably should have said something to them.
I'm sure most of these planes are kept in flying condition. On the
B-25 I even noticed a slight fluid leak from the port engine, much the
same as you'd see in a car.
On the SR-71 there were several panels underneath, perhaps replacing
things that were there before putting it on display (camera doors?, etc).
The XB-70's sister was lost in a mid-air collision, according to the
display. I saw that accident on _Wings_ on the Discovery Channel. A chase
plane apparently got too close and just flipped over into the Valkyrie,
causing both planes to crash with the loss of I believe three lives.
There was also a B-52, that I believe was damaged, but all I could
see was some wrinkling in the skin on the fuselage.
What I did miss seeing were Navy aircraft. No F4F's, F6F's, SBD's, F-14's,
or the like. I guess they really mean it when they say USAF Museum. However,
they did have some Air Force versions of Navy planes, such as a Skyraider,
a Catalina (PBY), and a "Duck," but these were painted in USAF schemes.
That brings me to a final note. Many of the planes were not restored to
their original state, but rather to represent some other plane. One example
is the PBY (I can't remember the USAF designation). I think it had been
a USN plane, then an RCAF plane, before acquired by the museum.
There were so many planes I didn't mention as well. All in all, a very
nice trip. Unfortunately the annex was closed (until at least September), so
I missed some other planes. There are also a few large planes parked outside.
Then lots more fighters, both prop and jet, on the walking tour. I bought
93 postcards, of different planes on display ($.05 each!), and I'm sure
that was not nearly all of them.
As far as planning a trip to Dayton, if you just want to go through
and take a quick look at all the planes, you're talking about a day.
If you want to take your time and read all the exibits and get a good
look at all the planes, spend a day and a half or two days.
Anyway that's my report. I hope it wasn't too much of a hodge-podge.
--Steve
p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything
similar to the museum at Dayton?
- - - - - - - - - -
Steve Creps
creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (129.79.1.6)
{inuxc,rutgers,uunet!uiucdcs,pur-ee}!iuvax!silver!crepstrb@cbbca.att.com (Thomas R Balent) (06/28/90)
From: trb@cbbca.att.com (Thomas R Balent) In article <1990Jun27.020916.1083@cbnews.att.com> creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) writes: > >p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything >similar to the museum at Dayton? > Yes. I have never been there, so I do not know how big it is, but it is at the Naval Station at Pensacola, Florida. tom balent
jm21%prism@gatech.edu (Jim Marks) (06/28/90)
From: jm21%prism@gatech.edu (Jim Marks) In article <1990Jun27.020916.1083@cbnews.att.com> creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) writes: > > What I did miss seeing were Navy aircraft. No F4F's, F6F's, SBD's, F-14's, >or the like. I guess they really mean it when they say USAF Museum. However, >they did have some Air Force versions of Navy planes, such as a Skyraider, >a Catalina (PBY), and a "Duck," but these were painted in USAF schemes. Well, after all, it IS a USAF museum. I would be SURPRISED to see Navy aircraft there (at least with Navy paint). :-) By the way, I've seen some of these sorts at the museum at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, GA, too. They don't have nearly as many planes as the W-P museum; however, they do (recently) have an SR-71 and a U-2. I've been to Wright-Pat only once (on business), and I didn't have time to go see the museum. If I go there again, I'm going to make sure to plan some free time into my trip. Seeing it just driving by, it looks great. >p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything >similar to the museum at Dayton? I've never been there, but the Navy has an aviation museum at Pensacola NAS, in Pensacola, FL. -- Jim Marks | Georgia Tech Research Institute Compuserve: 72310,2410 | Concepts Analysis Laboratory (as of 7/1/90) Internet: jm21@prism.gatech.edu -or- jmarks@gtri01.gatech.edu
steve@uspm650.Dayton.NCR.COM (Steve Bridges) (06/28/90)
From: steve@uspm650.Dayton.NCR.COM (Steve Bridges) In article <1990Jun27.020916.1083@cbnews.att.com> creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) writes: > > >From: creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) [ much about the great USAF Museum deleted] > > There was also a B-52, that I believe was damaged, but all I could >see was some wrinkling in the skin on the fuselage. If I remember right, the B-52 was hit by a SAM over North Vietnam and repaired. I've seen the wrinkling in other B-52s that I saw at at Carswell AFB. > > What I did miss seeing were Navy aircraft. No F4F's, F6F's, SBD's, F-14's, >or the like. I guess they really mean it when they say USAF Museum. However, >they did have some Air Force versions of Navy planes, such as a Skyraider, >a Catalina (PBY), and a "Duck," but these were painted in USAF schemes. > They Navy has a museum at Pensacola NAS -- Steve Bridges | NCR - USG Product Marketing and Support OLS Steve.Bridges@Dayton.NCR.COM | Phone:(513)-445-4182 622-4182 (Voice Plus) ..!ncrlnk!usglnk!uspm650!steve | AOPA #916233 ..!uunet!ncrlnk!usglnk!uspm650!steve| PP-ASEL, AMEL
nam2254%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer) (06/28/90)
From: nam2254%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer)
Speaking of Dayton, the U.S. Air & Trade Show is coming up 19-22 July at
Dayton International Airport, Vandalia, OH. I will be going for a day,
but heard that a 117 Stealth Fighter was going to do a fly-by. Anyone
know which day this will occur (as THAT is the day I want to be there :-)?
--
Tom Ohmer @ Defense Logistics Agency Systems Automation Center,
DSAC-AMB, Bldg. 27-6, P.O. Box 1605, Columbus, OH 43216-5002
UUCP: ...osu-cis!dsac!tohmer INTERNET: tohmer@dsac.dla.mil
Phone: (614) 238-9210 AutoVoN: 850-9210 Disclaimer claimedbaldwin@cad.usna.mil (J.D. Baldwin) (06/29/90)
From: "J.D. Baldwin" <baldwin@cad.usna.mil> Tom Balent, quoting Steve Creps: >>p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything >>similar to the museum at Dayton? > >Yes. I have never been there, so I do not know how big it is, but it >is at the Naval Station at Pensacola, Florida. It is fairly large, probably about the size of the SAC museum at Offutt AFB in Omaha, NE. My rough guess would be about a hundred aircraft, including a YF-17 and the first transatlantic-crossing aircraft (a "Flying Boat"). There are both indoor and outdoor areas. The space exhibit is weak, though they have the Apollo capsule that carried the first all-Navy crew into space. Most fascinating to me is the engine exhibit. Many, many cutaway models and actual jet and rotary aircraft engines. The engines and their associated explanatory displays take up a large room. Student naval aviators (all of whom are trained for a short time at Pensacola NAS) are taken to this museum as part of their training curriculum. -- >From the catapult of: |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I _, J. D. Baldwin, Comp Sci Dept |+| say, I am quite prepared not only to __||____:::)=}- U.S. Naval Academy|+| retract it, but also to deny under \ / baldwin@cad.usna.navy.mil |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
kml@mosquito.cis.ufl.edu (Kevin Lahey) (06/29/90)
From: kml@mosquito.cis.ufl.edu (Kevin Lahey) In article <1990Jun28.025733.18967@cbnews.att.com> trb@cbbca.att.com (Thomas R Balent) writes: >In article <1990Jun27.020916.1083@cbnews.att.com> creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) writes: >>p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything >>similar to the museum at Dayton? > >Yes. I have never been there, so I do not know how big it is, but it >is at the Naval Station at Pensacola, Florida. It has been awhile since I visited either Wright-Patternson or Pensacola, but as I recall, the museum in Pensacola is much smaller. I would think that the entire area, inside and out, could be fit into the main hanger at Wright-Patterson. I don't mean to discourage you; there are still quite a few aircraft there, but I don't think it can really compare to the USAF museum. If I am misremembering either museum, I'd be happy to be corrected. Kevin kml@mosquito.cis.ufl.edu P.S. I saw the Smithsonian Silver Hill facility just last summer, and I gotta say, *check it out*! Our tour guide was a former P-47 pilot; it was worth the trip just to talk to the guy, let alone the chance to see the insides of a B-29 (the Enola Gay, no less!) and all the rest of the great stuff out there!
steve@uspm650.Dayton.NCR.COM (Steve Bridges) (06/29/90)
From: steve@uspm650.Dayton.NCR.COM (Steve Bridges) In article <1990Jun28.025812.19158@cbnews.att.com> nam2254%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer) writes: > > >From: nam2254%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Tom Ohmer) > >Speaking of Dayton, the U.S. Air & Trade Show is coming up 19-22 July at >Dayton International Airport, Vandalia, OH. I will be going for a day, >but heard that a 117 Stealth Fighter was going to do a fly-by. Anyone >know which day this will occur (as THAT is the day I want to be there :-)? The trade show is July 19-20, and the air show is July 21-22. I haven't heard yet if the F-117A is going to do a flyby or be on static display (there is some disagreement on which between the air show folks and the Air Force). Keep tuned to rec.aviation for further details. (Note I changed the follow-up line). -- Steve Bridges | NCR - USG Product Marketing and Support OLS Steve.Bridges@Dayton.NCR.COM | Phone:(513)-445-4182 622-4182 (Voice Plus) ..!ncrlnk!usglnk!uspm650!steve | AOPA #916233 ..!uunet!ncrlnk!usglnk!uspm650!steve| PP-ASEL, AMEL
pspod@earth.lerc.nasa.gov (Stefan) (07/05/90)
From: pspod@earth.lerc.nasa.gov (Stefan) In article <1990Jun28.025733.18967@cbnews.att.com>, trb@cbbca.att.com (Thomas R Balent) writes... :In article <1990Jun27.020916.1083@cbnews.att.com> creps@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Steve Creps) writes: :> :>p.s. I planning a trip east this summer. Does the Navy have anything :>similar to the museum at Dayton? :> :Yes. I have never been there, so I do not know how big it is, but it :is at the Naval Station at Pensacola, Florida. It's about 50% to 30% the size of the Dayton museum but the quality of the displays is a little better. While you're out there, visit the Lex training carrier.