A Visit to the Air Force Museum - Part 2

After spending a nice amount of time in the new wing, I only had about an hour left to visit the rest of the museum.  So it was a bit of a whirlwind.

 Another picture of the XB-70.

 This C-141 used to be outside in the Air Park for a long time.  They decided that it was time to move it inside in order to protect it from the elements.  It is famous because it was the first C-141 to land in Hanoi to pick up US POWs captured by the North Vietnamese.

 A wing dedicated to the missiles of the US nuclear force.  I think the best thing that could be said about these missiles is that they were never fired in anger.  Although I hate to think of how many times that almost happened.

 The B-47 Stratojet was the predecessor to the

 An overhead view of the F-102 Delta Dagger.  This is the aircraft that Bush II flew.

 The nose view of the B-47.

 The U-2 spy plane was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works.  It was designed to fly at high altitudes in order to spy on the Soviet Union.  The plane gained notoriety when one flown by Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.  Because it was an unmarked aircraft and he was wearing a non-descript uniform, he was tried as a spy.  He was later exchanged for Soviet spies.

 The B-36 was developed in case the United States found itself fighting World War II alone.  It was capable of flying from the United States to anywhere in the world.  It came into service near the end of World War II, so it never saw any fighting.  It was however used as one of the early deterrence bombers during the Cold War.

 An overhead view of the SR-71.

 The B-58 Hustler was a supersonic designed used by the Air Force in the 60's.    It couldn't carry any armaments in the fuselage, so there were specially designed pods used to carry weapons.  When better missiles forced it into low altitude mode, it was very limited.  It was retired in 1970.

 The F-106 Delta Dart.

 The design for the F-15 Eagle came out of the Vietnam War when it was determined that we needed an air superiority fighter.  Many elements of its designed came out as a result of that war.

 The F-4 Phantom.

 The Tornado was a British, German and Italian design used by NATO.  This aircraft saw heavy use during Desert Storm.

 The F-117 Stealth Fighter.  I remember when I went to the Dayton Air Show in 1992 and they had one there as a static display.  There was an armed guard nearby and you couldn't get near the aircraft.  Now it is retired and sits in a museum.  At its time, it was the stuff though.

 Another angle of the F-117.

 Not the first Warthog you've seen here.

 And it probably wont bet the last.

 The MiG-29 Fulcrum was the aircraft where the Soviets closed the quality gap with many of our fighters.  It was a very capable aircraft and could have been deadly in the right hands.

 Nose art from a B-52 that used to be stationed in Michigan.

 Another example of Nose Art.

 This one wasn't stationed in Michigan, but I think it would make a pretty good album cover.

 The B-2 Stealth Bomber.

 The A-1 Skyraider was an attack aircraft similar to the A-10.

 An F-105 in Wild Weasel configuration.  The Wild Weasels would go chase after anti-air installations.

 An A-7 Corsair.

 Another F-4 Phantom.

 An F-111 Aardvark.

 Another F-105.

 The MiG-21 Fishbed was our man aerial adversary in the Vietnam War.  In the hands of a capable pilot, it could be deadly.

 A Huey.

 the Jolly Green Giant.

 The OV-10 Bronco was an aircraft that was used for reconaissance and forward air control in Vietnam.  It was also equipped with some weapons of its own to be used in the ground Support role.

 The P-40 Warhawk.

 The B-25 Mitchell Bomber was the plane used in the Doolittle Raid.

 This was a new display.

 The B-24 Liberator.  To the best I could tell, this particular one was built at Willow Run.

 A B-26 Marauder.  Because of the number of problems during development, this aircraft got the nickname of "Widow Maker".  Eventually those issues were sorted through and this became a pretty capable bomber.

 The B-17 Flying Fortress.  I've mentioned this plane enough that I don't think I need to say much more.

 the P-51 Mustang.

 The Me-262 Swallow.  This was the first production jet to enter combat.  If Germany had produced these in greater numbers, it could have changed the tied of the war.

 The P-61 Black Widow.

 This is the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.  Hopefully in 500 years, the caption will be, "This was the last time a nuclear weapon was dropped in anger".

 A C-17 Cargo Aircraft.

And we end with the C-130 Hercules.