Museum of the United States Air Force

2010 Jan 08

JLoewe©2010jlofoto.net

It was a cold, snowy day when we arrived .... Which was good because no one else was there

The entrance to the WW2 Section

A6M Zero

Doolittle Exhibit

Spitfire

Mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquito

Spitfires & Mosquito

Spitfire, C-47

The view through the gunsite

B-17, C-47

B-26

B-26

D-Day, C47 & G-4 Glider

JU88

Me262

Catalina up close

Little Boy & Fat Man with Bocks Car

P-61 Black Widow

Baka

This is the start of the Restoration shop tour. The guides are calling us into small groups.

SAM26000 is in the paint booth

SAM26000 is in the paint booth

SAM26000 is in the paint booth

They’re doing a great job making sure the paint is historically correct.

The Swoose – B17D

Memphis Belle landing gear restoration

Schoolmarm Martha was our guide for the tour

The Swoose gets some new sheet metal

The Swoose tour list

Swoose interior

Douglas O-46 tail. This is the restoration work done by Purdue University engineering students

Douglas O-46 tail PU work. This will all be put back to original configuration.

Douglas O-46 cockpit.

Memphis Belle tail gun position

Memphis Belle - Some of the name carvings from the war bond tour

Memphis Belle tail gun position

Memphis Belle - ball turret interior

Memphis Belle & Strawberry Bitch ball turrets

Memphis Belle & Strawberry Bitch ball turrets – SB’s is upside down

Memphis Belle & Strawberry Bitch ball turrets – SB’s is upside down

Memphis Belle top turret

Memphis Belle top turret – Gun sight has not been installed yet

Memphis Belle Waist section

Memphis Belle Waist section – Tail gun position looking forward

Memphis Belle waist section – Starboard interior

Memphis Belle waist section – Forward looking aft

Memphis Belle forward section

Memphis Belle front section – Radio compartment – aft looking forward

Memphis Belle dash – not much left – cockpit hatches are below

Memphis Belle wing

Memphis Belle wing

Memphis Belle engine restoration

F-84

F-84

Pratt 3350

Bristol Centaurus

The XC-99 is now at the AF Museum – This is the horizontal stabilizer

The hot end of a MIG-25

Lockheed XF-90 – Or what’s left after sitting in the Nevada atomic test range for a bunch of years

Lockheed XF-90 – I always thought this was a cool looking airplane when I was a kid

The cold war section has a very ... well ... cold feel to it

F-105 100 mission display

Lockheed EC-121 - Early AWAC

The B-52 bomb bay doesn’t look very big when your standing in it

C-124

B-36

KC-97

B-50

B-2