US Air Force Museum

If you like airplanes -- even in the slightest -- there's only one place to go: the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton,Ohio. Here, you can see over 200 planes, dating all the way back to the Wright Brothers' Flyer up to the YF-22 "Raptor." Here are some oddities not normally seen by the public, plus...

For more pictures, go HERE

This is RC/EC-121D #555. As part of the 1998 reunion of the TLC Brotherhood, we were able to get a look inside.

	The radome has been removed, displaying the APS-42 weather radar that guides this sleigh through the night. (Compare this proboscis to the non-radar snub nose of the early TWA Constellation.)
	TLC member John Loftus, who was a a radar tech on the '121, gives us the grand tour.
	This is the APS-95 Search Radar Control Area (1st Radar Tech's position). On top is the Test and Monitor Group; even with the table on left is the IP-462 radar scope (PPI). To the right is the Radar Set Control. The APS-95 radar receiver is below the table.
	These are some of the five IP-719 search radar scopes used by the radar operators (affectionately referred to by us maintenance troops as 'Scope Dopes').
	This is the navigator's position with LORAN C/D controls, control box for the gyro system to stabilize the radar systems, another IP-462 scope for the navigator, and the Ground Position Indicator (which moved the radar center in reference to a fixed position; i.e. TACAN fix etc.).

This giant takes up much of one of the museum's hangars. Another Convair entry, the B-36 "Peacemaker" was the Strategic Air Command's long-range big stick in the heyday of the Cold War until replaced by the more modern B-52. Here are some pictures of the interior


The flight deck of the B-36 is something to behold. And the view, rather than looking out through an automobile-style flat windshield, is like looking at the world from inside a globe.	On Peacemakers fitted with the additional jet engines, the flight engineer kept busy monitoring the 'six turning and four burning'.	The front and rear compartments were connected by a long tunnel that ran alongside the bomb bay. You would lie on a trolly platform -- on your back -- and use this rope to pull yourself along until reaching your destination.

Here are a couple of other goodies...

	The Convair B-58 "Hustler" was a supersonic bomber from the 1950s. Carrying a crew of three, it was capable of speeds upwards of Mach 2 for up to an hour. This was taken in 1984, as it was being cleaned up in the museum's restoration facility.
	Anybody recognize this? A Douglas C-54, yes, but not just any C-54. This is the Sacred Cow, President Harry Truman's Presidential transport; the first aircraft to be set aside solely for that purpose. It is part of the museum's Presidential Aircraft collection. This photo was also taken in 1984. It's a damned shame that any presidential aircraft should fall into such a state of disrepair. Remember this photo -- compared to the plane as it looks not -- as you pass the donation well on your next visit.
	What's this doing among the mothballed planes in a museum?!?! It's the Air Force's newest (so new, it's not yet in service!) fighter, the (Y)F-22. This was taken in 1998, as the staff was setting up for some big wing-ding; this plane was the centerpiece! (And who says the military no longer has any money to spend on ruffles & flourishes?!?!) You'll note on the linked color picture the red and blue accent lights. This is a large plane, and it was very impressive to see displayed in this manner.

The American psyche took a turn for the worse on November 22, 1963, with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Like others of my generation, I spent that Friday and the next 3 days glued to the TV. The images and events of that weekend are forever etched in my mind. In the middle of it all -- speaking as an airplane hound -- is JFK's trademark mount, a Boeing VC-137 that served as his Air Force One...the scenes of its arrival, knowing what was inside that plane; and the swearing in of his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, still sends chills up my spine. And I don't think I'm alone, here.

Sure, it's only a plane, right? Try telling yourself that as you enter the hangar doors of the Annex and see it sitting there, resplendent in its blue, white, and silver glory, faithfully retrofitted to the era that made it famous. The museum's tag line, "Where eagles rest," is especially fitting as it sits among other former Air Force Ones in the Presidential Aircraft Collection.

(For the record, I was in Mrs. Nash-Paller's 6th-grade class at Oakville Elementary School when I heard the news. It was mid-morning when the principal cut in with a P.A. announcement telling us what had happened and then he piped in a radio broadcast to all the classrooms. At that time, the president had not yet been declared dead; that came some time later. There was shock among the students; Connie P. burst into tears and had to be escorted out of the classroom by her best friend, Linda L. Lunchtime came a few minutes later. I was a crossing guard, and I noticed there was an uncommon numbness among the kids. As the social critics have said all along, it was, truly, the end of 'Camelot'.)

		Standing tall and proud is the tail that bears what is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable serial numbers in the history of aviation.
	Two of the lounge areas among the many alcoves scattered throughout the plane. I didn't really know what to expect, as I had no expectations of what was considered 'presidential' in the early 60s.
The front office, 'steam' instruments et al. Still looks overwhelming, even by today's standards!
	Like they say: "One picture..."

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