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ISSUE
127 - July 2010
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PIMA
- (Phenomenally Interesting Museum of Aircraft) - Part II |
By Kevin Moore, Contributing
Editor & Photographer
Roslin, Ontario, Canada |
Last
week we took a look inside one
of the main 'hangars' housing an assortment of aircraft and
aviation history. This week we step outside onto the desert
floor and into the Arizona sun to wonder around the outdoor
exhibits and other hangars. |
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The sleek and deadly
Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat twin engine fighter, left. The Douglas
B-23, though originally designed as a bomber, none of the 38
ever saw combat and, post-war, they served as airliners and
VIP aircraft, right. |
Outside are dozens of airplanes from
jets to vintage civilian airliners, to presidential aircraft
and Russian fighter jets from the Cold War era. When you
walk outside it's like taking a walk back in time to an age
when airplanes were designed on a drawing board by an engineer
using pen and paper, ruler and protractor. Airplanes such
as the Douglas B-23, Grumman Tigercat, Bristol Beaufighter
and the Northrop Raider, to name but a few. They are from
a time when pilots flew airplanes, not computers. |
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Cold War combatants,
the MiG 17, left, and the MiG 21, right. |
Walking through the desert sand amongst
what were once enemy aircraft such as the MiG 15 (and MiG
15 UTI), the MiG 17, and the MiG 21, you get a sense of what
it may have been like facing these aircraft as a fighter
pilot, not knowing much about them, seeing and fighting them
for the first time in the skies over enemy territory in your
F-86 Sabre or F-100 Super-Sabre. |
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The massive looking B-36J Peacemaker with
its six pusher-prop and 4 jet engines, and slightly swept back
wing, that give the airplane its formidable look. |
Among all the aircraft situated throughout
the museum grounds, one that stands out for an assortment
of reasons including its size and its design, is the B-36J
Peacemaker bomber. With its height, uniquely ribbed and shaped
glass cockpit & nose, and slightly swept back wings with
six pusher props and four jet engines, it's an ominous sight.
It even seems to dwarf the mighty B-52, of which there are
3 at the museum. However, the B-36J certainly captures and
deserves the viewers attention and imagination. |
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The NB-52A Stratofortress,
converted with an underwing attachment for carrying and launching
the X-15, left. Painted X-15s along one side of the NB-52As
fuselage, right. |
Of the three B-52 aircraft at the
museum one of the most interesting is the NB-52A Stratofortress.
One of the oldest B-52s ever built, this is one of two B-52
aircraft modified to carry the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft.
Under the right wing is the pylon that carried the X-15 and
along the right side of the fuselage you can see numerous
small painted X-15 aircraft assumingly representing the number
of times the NB-52 carried and/or launched the X-15. |
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The British designed
and built AEW Mk III Fairey Gannet with it's unusual two-4-bladed
counter-rotating propellers and the huge under-belly radar
dome, left. The big Douglas EA-1F Skyraider, first built in
1945, flew as late as 1979, right. |
Though a vast number of the over 300
aircraft at the museum are U.S. designed and built, there
are a number of foreign built aircraft as well. One of the
most unusual of these aircraft is the British designed and
built Fairey Gannet. A large single engine aircraft with
two-4 bladed, counter rotating propellers. The airplane was
designed as an early warning aircraft and used for fleet
defence. Slung under the belly of the airplane is the large
radar dome giving it roughly 200 miles of coverage from the
aircraft. |
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The V-1 rocket,
launched against England in 1944 killing more than 8,000 people. |
In 1942 the Germans developed the
first of its "wonder weapons," the Fieseler Fi103-A1
(V-1) Hoellunhund rocket, the world's first 'cruise missile.'
Problems with the rocket delayed its use until 1944 when
it was first fired on London. Close to 6000 of these V-1's
landed on England with the loss of over 8,000 people. The
museums example was capture by the First Canadian Army during
the summer of 1944 in France. It was shipped to Canada for
study and then stored for years until it was sold to a private
museum, eventually finding its way to the Pima Air & Space
Museum in 2005. |
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The last of the
military tri-motor aircraft, the Northrop Raide
was not the
most attractive of aircraft ever built. |
Probably the ugliest airplane in the
museums collection is the Northrop YC-25A Raider transport
aircraft. This large, bulky 3 engine aircraft was designed
to fly from short, rough fields. However, before the airplane
went into production, the role it was intended for was being
done by helicopters and other aircraft. The last of the military
tri-motor aircraft was relegated to a non-flying training
role with the military and were eventually sold off, many
finding homes in Latin America as airliners. The museums
example is one of only two still known to exist out of the
23 that were built. |
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The first of the
Super Guppy aircraft, this hulking great
airplane was big...
everywhere.. from nose to tail. |
The oddest aircraft in the outdoor
exhibit is probably the rotund 377 Super Guppy, an aircraft
used to carry huge cargo such as the Saturn rocket used in
the Apollo program. This behemoth of an airplane, created
using the fuselage sections from a Pan Am Airways airliner
aircraft and the forward fuselage, engines and wings from
a U.S. Air Force experimental turbo-prop YC-97J aircraft,
flew until 1991 when it was replaced by a newer version of
the aircraft. |
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The big four engine
KC-97G Stratofreighter, left
and the long-range heavy lift
C-124 Globemaster II, right. |
The U.S. Air Force has utilized many
different transport aircraft throughout its history and several
are represented at the museum. As you walk around and underneath
these aircraft your taken by their size and their seemingly,
almost non-aerodynamic designs. Airplanes such as the KC-97G
Stratotfreighter, C-124 Globemaster, C-133 Cargomaster, and
the............... have massive fuselages allowing them to
perform the task of transport and cargo carrier, but they
are far from being efficient at flight despite performing
their designated jobs effectively. |
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The Lockheed Constellation
used by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, left.
The Electronic
Warfare version of the "Connie" used by the USAF,
right. |
There are also three Lockheed Constellation
aircraft dotting the outdoor exhibit. One 'Connie,' as they
were affectionately known, was used by the Air Force as a
VIP aircraft for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower from December
1950 - 1952. This C-121A (Constellation) was named "Columbine
1" and was one of three Columbines to be delivered to
the U. S. Air Force in February of 1949. |
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The nose of the
TWA Constellation, the airline that the "Connie" was
originally designed for, left. You can see the two huge electronic
warfare pods, top and bottom of the fuselage, used by this
EC-121T version of the Constellation, right. |
The Constellation was originally designed
for TWA (Trans World Airlines) but impressed the military
so much that they were snapped up by the Army Air Forces
during World War II. After the war they were returned to
airline service around the world. The museums 3 different
'Connies' include one from TWA, another designated the EC-121T
(Electronic Warfare version) and the previously mentioned
VIP C-121A "Columbine 1." |
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The B-29 Superfortress, "Sentimental
Journey," proudly displayed in Hangar 4. |
Inside another newly built 'hangar'
is a B-29 Superfortress named "Sentimental Journey." This
beautifully restored aircraft sits on pillars so patrons
can walk underneath, allowing for a superb view of the underside
of the airplane and up inside the bomb-bay doors. When you
look up, through the doors, you can see a cylindrical tube
running through the aircraft. This was a pressurized passageway
that allowed crew members to traverse the length of the airplane
without the need of oxygen bottles and masks. With the aircraft
being pressurized, and heated, it also meant flight crews
no longer needed to wear the bulky flying gear in order to
keep warm. |
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The mid-engine
Bell P-63 King Cobra with a laminar flow wing similar to that
of the P-51s, left. The Nakajima Ki-43-IIb Hayabusa (Peregrine
Falco) fighter aircraft of the Japanese Navy, right. |
Other historic aircraft in Hangar
4 include an F4U Corsair, a TBM Avenger, C-46 Cargo aircraft,
the recovered fuselage of a Grumman Wildca (retrieved from
the bottom of Lake Michigan) and the Bell P-63E King Cobra,
one of the most unusual fighter aircraft produced. The engine
of the P-63 is housed in the fuselage behind the pilot with
the propeller shaft running through the lower part of the
cockpit, under the pilot's seat, and up to the nose and propeller
of the airplane. Just behind the B-29 is a Japanese Nakajima
Ki-43-IIb Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon), known by the Allied
code name "Oscar." Rounding out the collection
are a Corsair, a Curtis C-46D and the fuselage of a Grumman
Wildcat rescued from the depths of Lake Michigan. |
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The only stainless
steel, all welded & no rivets aircraft built, the Budd
RB-1 Conestoga, left. A nose view of the big B-36J Peacemaker,
right. |
These are but a few of the hundreds
of historic airplanes, covering more than 100 years of aviation,
found at Pima. You can spend a day at the museum and not
really have the opportunity to see everything but don't go
expecting to walk around for a few hours because it's just
not enough time to truly appreciate what's there. If you
have the opportunity to visit Tucson, Arizona, then the Pima
Air & Space Museum is well worth the trip however much
time you dedicate to its aircraft and the history thereof.
Learn about the designers and engineers behind some of the
airplanes and how they came to be. From barnstormer to jet
fighter, take a walk with the ghosts of the pilots who once
flew these famous, strange, beautiful and extraordinary aircraft.
Pima - a place where winged history takes flight.
For more
information about the Pima Air & Space Museum: www.pimaair.org |
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The huge Convair
B-58A Hustler was the world's first supersonic bomber and the
first to reach speeds of Mach 2, left. The first all-jet bomber
ever produced, the Boeing B-47 (EB-47E) Stratojet, right. |
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Sitting quietly between hangars, this beautifully
created bench is home to one of the most famous aviation poems
ever written, High Flight, by RCAF Spitfire pilot, John Gillespie
Magee Jr. See the next photo which should allow you to read
High Flight. |
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Bench top - High Flight poem by John Gillespie
Magee Jr. |
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