Dayton, Ohio USA Part II — National Museum of the United States Air Force, second half

Dayton Ohio in the USA was the home of the Wright brothers and their bicycle business. As we all know, the Wrights designed and produced the first powered airplane (a note: for a short discussion a New Zealander who possibly may have accomplished this first, as well as other innovations of the Wrights, please see “This blog”). The US Air Force has its main aviation museum there, next to Wright-Patterson Air Base — the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It can hardly be easier to get there as one can fly to Dayton International Airport) and rent a car for a 20 minute drive to the facility. Parts I and II will be about the National Museum of the US Air Force and Part III will deal with the neighboring Wright brother sites.

National Museum of the United States Air Force

39° 46′ 55″ N / 84° 06′ 42″ W

Touring the restoration hangar was real fun and I was fortunate to accompany two aviation history buffs from Japan. They were from Tokyo and we compared notes on aircraft museums in the USA as well as Japan. The real fun was to walk through an active restoration workshop. Aircraft were in various stages of completeness and repair. The insides of fuselages were apparent. Bare metal and the innards of wings were revealed for all to see. Tools and parts were in play. A gem was potentially around every corner.

Here are some of the aircraft I saw undergoing restoration:

The Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress Memphis Belle. Historic, as this was the heavy bomber of the US Army Air Force (USAAF) to complete a full tour (25 missions) over WW II Europe. The USAAF was reorganized into a separate armed service of the US after WW II — the USAF, or US Air Force.

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress Memphis Belle — photo by Joe May

The Boeing B-17D The Swoose. This B-17 is the only “D” model B-17 in existence and was used first in combat then as an executive transport for General Brett. The pilot who was chiefly in charge of flying General Brett in WW II — first in the Pacific Theatre of Operations, later in the USA — was Capt. Kurtz. She was named after a popular song of the day, subsequently  Capt. Kurtz named his daughter Swoozie— and she later became the famous actress known as Swoozie Kurtz. This is the last B-17 with the shark fin vertical stabilizer as the following models had a dorsal strake blending into the vertical stabilizer.

Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress The Swoose — photo by Joe May

A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Foxbat captured during Persian Gulf War I.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Foxbat — photo by Joe May

A Fisher P-75 Eagle.

Fisher P-75A Eagle — photo by Joe May

The Consolidated XC-99, the only one built and the passenger version of the Consolidated B-36 Peacekeeper. This aircraft is in large subsections on the adjacent ramp and was a double deck transport that saw much service until retirement.

Convair NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS). This double nosed aircraft is unique, I believe. Primary flight control was retained in the aft cockpit but various cockpits were simulated and tested in the forward nose extension. In this way a new aircraft design or modification could be tested with computers simulating the desired airplane type — especially for landing and taking off flight phases. The vertical fins could be employed to generate crosswind effects. Several aircraft were simulated and include: the North American/Boeing B-1 Lancer, the Boeing X-40 Space Maneuver Vehicle, the Rockwell/Boeing Space Transport System (STS or “Space Shuttle”), Northrop B-2 Spirit and Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.

Convair NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) — photo by Joe May