Dayton, 2007 - U.S. Air Force Museum
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Even if the WWI Rendezvous was a bust, we still had the Air Force
Museum to go to. I had been here about ten years ago, but they have
expanded and improved it so much that I didn't see much that I
remembered. It was great; truly one of the best aviation museums in
the world.
We started off in the World War I section. The spotlighting of
the aircraft against the black ceiling was good for viewing but not
for picture taking. All of my shots were blurry. Too
bad, this Fokker D-VII had a cool paint job. The D-VII was arguably
the best fighter of the war.
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One of the rotary engines used in
WWI.
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| Caproni
CA.36. This big Italian bomber was most impressive. |
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The WWII section was better for picture taking.
I liked the paint job on this A6M2 Zero. Usually they are
just green. But early in the war, the ones flying off the carriers
were painted light grey. I'm thinking this is a carrier-based Zero
because of the folding wingtips.
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Me-109G. Many of the aircraft
displays were in diorama settings like the below which was a very nice
touch, I thought.
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P-47 Thunderbolts but this polished aluminum one really looked nice. |
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| The famous Packard
V-1650 Merlin engine which contributed so much to winning the
war. Merlin-powered Spitfires stopped the Germans in the Battle of
Britain. The Merlin engine turned the P-51 Mustang into a ferocious
fighter that allowed the allies to gain air superiority over Germany and
enabled the invasion of France at Normandy. |
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I was surprised to
learn that the Army Air Corps flew PBY Catalina flying boats. They
also flew Dauntless dive bombers (and had one at the museum). |
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British Mosquito -- Merlin-powered, of
course.
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| Waco
CG-4A troop glider of the type used at
Normandy. |
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The infamous German
88mm
gun. |
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German
JU-88.
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| Curtis P-36A
Hawk. I had always thought that the few fighters that were able to
scramble at Pearl Harbor were P-40 Warhawks. But it turns out they
were these Hawks. |
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| Bockscar, the B-29
that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki and ended World War
II. |
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| F-82B
Twin Mustang. I've never seen one of these before. |
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B-58 Hustler. Very
sleek.
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Diorama of the Berlin
Wall. The car they are standing on is a Trabant, the primary
vehicle available to citizens of the former East Germany. What a piece of
junk -- and East Germans would have to wait eight years to get one.
The wonders of socialism. Can't wait for universal health
care.
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| SA-2 surface to air
missile. Bad news during Vietnam. |
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| B-52
BUFF. What can you say. 44 years after initial deployment,
they are still flying. |
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| B-36
Peacemaker. Unbelievable. |
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F-117A
Nighthawk
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I was surprised to
see this MiG-29 Fulcrum in the museum. I don't know how effective it
was but it sure does look
good. |
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I was surprised at the
impression the B-2
made on me. Just something about it was awesome. There are no
rivets visible. It's almost like black glass. At night, this
plane must be invisible. |
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| Predator.
Check out the Hellfire missile underneath each wing. |
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