McDonnell Douglas F4E Phantom II in USAF Thunderbirds markings
Airplane geek alert!! Tucson is home to the Pima Air Museum. This is one of the largest private aviation museums with over 300 planes on over 80 acres and in several enclosed hangars. Brenda was having a hard time containing her excitement at being dragged to yet another aviation museum. 🙂
They have an extensive collection of military aircraft organized by the branch of the service and the theaters of operation. Docents are stationed throughout, almost always older gentlemen with obviously personal connections to the artifacts on display.
A docent will drive you around the outdoor exhibits in a tram with a narration of the alphabet soup of names and a tidbit of history along the way.
Boeing B17G Flying Fortress
Boeing B29 Superfortress
Boeing B52G Stratofortress
There are lots of rare and unique planes in the collection. Including the oldest B52 still in existence and only the third ever built. This B52A is also interesting in that it was the launch platform for the X-15 spaceplane flights. Each flight is marked on the side of the fuselage. Way cool.
Boeing B52A Stratofortress – with X-15 launch cradle under right wing
Convair B36J Peacemaker. The last of the piston engine bombers.
Lockheed SR71A Blackbird
Convair B58A Hustler
Fighters galore – with examples of both “good guy” and “bad guy” contemporaries.
Grumman F14A Tomcat
Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-21 Fishbed
McDonnell Douglas F/A18A Hornet
North American F86H Sabre
Grumman TAF-9J Cougar
Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-15 Fagot
Northrop T38 Talon – a favorite of NASA astronauts
Choppers as well.
Some oddball stuff …
This museum is adjacent to 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), also known as the “Boneyard.”. Thousands of planes are stored at this facility taking advantage of the dry desert climate. Bus tours are given daily but were sold out the day we were there. Next time …
There are some commercial airliners in both civilian and military versions …
Boeing VC137B in “Jackie Kennedy” paint scheme
Boeing VC118A Liftmaster. This one served as Air Force One for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and was the last propeller plane used for that purpose
Lockheed C121A Constellation. This “Connie” was Air Force 1 for President Dwight Eisenhower
Lockheed L-049 Constellation in TWA colors
North American P51D Mustang
These are only a few examples of the amazing collection. A great place to spend the day for anyone with a love of airplanes. Wear comfy shoes!
~ Hector
If you could see through this screen you would see one very green Bulldog… I would spend more than one day there… more like a week… I love planes old and new, and this place seems to have an abundance of both… I love this post… more please…
🙂 Hector never gets tired of these aviation or space museums. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the post, “The Other Birds of Geiger Key”, when we saw the Blue Angels in Florida, that was really a fun day.
Brenda
Ahhh, this was a very long day for me. We also did the bone yard tour!!
I’m curious. How was the bone yard? We heard mixed reviews, just wondering what you thought.
Hector, the pilot…..love it. We may end up visiting on our return. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I do remember seeing a Lockheed VP-3A Orion and thinking of Al, but Hector didn’t get a good photo of it. You should definitely go.
Brenda
Steve was in heaven when he visited here with his pilot friends before his retirement. Me? did not go there.
LOL, it was definitely a bit much for me.
I am with Hector. I could spend way too much time at looking at these big, beautiful aircraft and how they have supported us and the world when we really needed them. And that is not an exaggeration. Thanks Wilbur and Orville : )