The National Museum of the Air Force Part 3
Moving on…
North American F-100 Super Sabre
Endeavour, the Command Module of the Apollo 15 mission
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit
I was somewhat surprised and pleased to see a B-2 (aka) the stealth bomber on display; but there she was…all nearly $800 million of her. 
As it turns out, it was one of the test aircraft of the program. It was definitely an impressive sight.
Mikoyan Mig-29 Fulcrum
Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
A-10 Cockpit
The A-10 is considered by many to be the red-haired stepchild of the USAF, as it’s not sleek, sexy, or have electronic bells and whistles. But it’s beloved by its pilots as it’s one tough SOB, and packs quite a wallop. The A-10 is essentially a “flying gun”, since it’s built around the GAU-8 30mm cannon which is one of the most powerful guns ever installed in an aircraft. One of my high school friends was just assigned to an A-10 squadron last month.
Speaking of flying guns…
Lockheed AC-130 Spectre Gunship
Rolling out the big guns
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
AIM-9 Sidewinder air to air missile in the port fuselage weapons bay of the F-22
The recently retired Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk aka the Stealth Fighter
Interestingly although the F-117 is designated as a fighter (F)and is known as the “stealth fighter”, it has absolutely no air to air combat capabilities. It was actually a pure attack aircraft. The last active F-117s were retired in 2008 in order to reduce costs… An oxymoron, I know
As I mentioned a little earlier, I used many aviation related books for book reports in elementary school. When I was in 5th grade, I used Captain Scott O’Grady’s book, Return With Honor. He described the cockpit of the F-16 as snug. I was about to find out firsthand how snug it was, thanks to the F-16A cockpit trainer on display at the museum. Oh boy, was he right. I have no idea how even smaller pilots survive on long intercontinental flights.
TIGHT SEAT PITCH…makes Spirit look pretty inviting
But, you do have the ultimate IFE Controller :
Side stick
Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to leave in order to make flight. But I will definitely be back. If you ever get a chance to go to the National Museum of the Air Force, do it! It is without a shadow of a doubt, the best aviation musuem I've ever been too, and I've been to quite a few. It definitely blows the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola out of the water. Admission is free and it’s heaven for any aviation geek.
The weekend in Ohio was not cheap but it was more than worth it, even including explaining to the girlfriend what why I was doing this. I had a hard enough time ‘splaining’ why I was doing my December mileage runs. “Don’t you spend enough time in planes already.”
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading my TR, as much I enjoyed writing it. It was certainly a nice change of pace from being holed up in my hotel room at night actually working on work
. Till next time, happy contrails!
Last edited by dat4life; Jul 30, 2013 at 8:14 pm