Tucson, Arizona
Rainy, Snowy Day at the Pima Air & Space Museum: December, 2008:


Pima Air & Space Museum:

Friday, we went to the Pima Air & Space Museum. I took so many photos, I set up a separate page just for this day's photos. It's a huge facility covering ten acres, multiple structures filled mostly with aircraft. The Space portion is limited to one building, but the aircraft they have on display is endless.

We were limited to what we were able to see that day because it rained all day. In fact, it snowed lightly that day. It was very cold and wet when walking outside, so we mainly stuck to the indoor exhibits. One of the volunteers in the main building had a propane patio heater. he was very popular. A very nice gentlemen, Chris, gave us a WWII tour. Lasted almost three hours. It was wonderful. He was born in New York, Moved to Bulgaria as a child, watched our B-24s bomb the Ploestski Oil Refinery, moved back to the US at 17, served in the Air Force for 20 years, then became a math teacher. Wow - what he's seen. Very knowledgeable.


Map of Arizona

X-15A-2 Rocket:
(199 Flights, Pilots Earned Astronaut Status
Ceiling: 354,000', Speed: 4,520 MPH, Thrust: 57,850 lbs.)


Apollo Training Capsule


Mercury Capsule Mockup


Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper


Douglas B-23 Dragoon


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pitts S-1C Special


Pitts S-1C Special Data Sheet


Curtis 052 Owl


Curtis 052 Owl Data Sheet


Waco ZKS-6


Waco ZKS-6 (On Left) & Waco RNF (Background)


Waco ZKS-6 Data Sheet


Another View of the Waco RNF


McCulloch HUM-1 Helicopter


McCulloch HUM-1 Helicopter Data Sheet


Starr Bumble Bee (Smallest Bi-Plane to Ever Fly)


Starr Bumble Bee Data Sheet


Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, 9-Cylinder
Rotary, 1344 inch, 550 Hp @ 2,200 RPM


Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior & A
Shvetsov ASH-62 (Russian Licensed Wright R-1820)


Wright R-975 Whirlwind 9


Clerget 9B, Rotary 9-Cylinder, 1913


Kinner K-5 Series II, Rotary 5-Cylinder &
Menasco C6S-4 Super Buccaneer, In-Line 6-Cylinder


Szekely SR-3 (Actually a U.S. Company, Circa 1930)


Douglas B-18B Bolo


Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird


Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird


Consolidated B-24 Liberator


Consolidated B-24 Liberator - Waist Gunners


Consolidated B-24 Liberator - Retractable Ball Turret


Boeing VC-137B (Military Airlift Version of the 707-153)
The white flecs in the photo are not from a
dirty lens - that's a light snow - in the desert.


Beachcraft AT-11 Kansan


Hawker Hurricane (British - Shot Down
More Germans Than the Spitfires Did)


Douglas C-47 Skytrain (WWII Workhorse)


Pima Air & Space Museum


Waco CG-4A Nose Hadrian From WWII Glider


North American B-25J Mitchell


Boeing B-29 Superfortress


Boeing B-29 Superfortress


Vought F4U-4 Corsair


Nakajima KI-43-IIB Hayabusa (Oscar)


Lockheed C-121A Constellation


Sikorsky VH-34C Cocktaw


Lockheed VC-140B Jetstar


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Pima Air & Space Museum


Grumman OV-1C Mohawk


Pima Air & Space Museum


Lockheed S-3B Viking


Bell AH-1S Cobra


Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II


North American F-107A


Martin PBM-5A Seaplane


Fire Truck - Tucson Airport Fire Department


Kaiser-Jeep M35A2 Radar Truck


Coleman CF-55-AF Aircraft Tug
The cab looks like 2 front halfs of 2 cars welded together.


390th Bomber Group Museum:

One of the buildings at the Pima Air & Space Museum is dedicated to, and managed by, the 390th Bomber Group. Bombing enemy targets in WWII was the most dangerous thing to volunteer for. Chances of surviving the war as part of a Bomber crew were, well, highly in favor of the Reaper.

These young men truly epitomized our Greatest Generation.


Diorama of the 390th Bomb Group Mission to Bomb
the Erkner VKF Ball Bearing Plant in Berlin 03-08-1944


Crew Names - 390th Bomb Group
Erkner VKF Ball Bearing Plant, 03-08-1944


Example of a Bomb Run - The 390th Shot Down 62
Fighters, but Lost 8 of 18 Bombers (That's 80 Men)


Map of One Day's Bombing Targets


Quanset Hut Headquarters Mockup


I'll Be Around
(Painting of this B-17 is the Background for This Page)


Another View of I'll Be Around


And the Other Side


Given to the 390th by a Soldier Who Landed
in Normandy on Utah Beach 06-06-1944

 

Links to Other Arizona Trips:
Jerome, Mining Town
Sedona, July 2007
Sedona, December 2007
Tombstone by Motorcycle, March 2009 (Coming in March)
Tucson Part I, December 2008

Link to Some of Our Other Trips:
Main Page:

Send an email message to Rich King, by clicking here.