Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona

[vikingBerserker]

THANKS!

 

[evangilder]

Cheers guys, Yes, they have a B-36 and lots of others.

 

[syscom3]

Eric, looks like they finally got that late model B50 on display. When I was there last year, they were still working on it in the non public area.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Wow, that place is far bigger than I thought

 

[evangilder]

Yeah, 80 acres, VB. We were out there all day to be able to see everything. And even at that, we were moving along at a pretty good clip.

We wandered into the non-public area, not realizing it was non-public. The gate was open and there wasn't a sign. So we got to see the RADAR array under the EC-121 (Connie) up close. There was also a Harrier in USAF markings (Never saw a USAF Harrier) and some serious skin cancer on a Catalina.

 

[Gnomey]

Excellent shots Eric!

 

[evangilder]

Cheers G.

 

[Trebor]

I'd love to go there, one day. if I were to be the sole winner of a major lottery jackpot, the first thing I'd do is call up the head honco of this place and ask him a single question: "what would it take to purchase your C-69 Constellation?"

 

[evangilder]

Another favorite.

 

[evangilder]

I kinda like the TWA marked Connie too, Robert. With three of them there, it's neat to see that many in one place.

 

[vikingBerserker]

The B-58 Hustler, it even looks like it is going mach 2.5 just sitting there!

 

[nuuumannn]

Fantastic shots Eric. Viking, no worries and you're right about the B-58... maaaaan, cool plane.

The 'Harrier' isn't actually a Harrier, strictly speaking its a Kestrel, still based on the P.1127 research aircraft, but the Kestrel came before the Harrier and was a test bed for a NATO VTOL tactical strike aircraft requirement never fulfilled. Six Kestrels were sent to the USA; you can see the remnants of BuAer No 64-18264 on the fin and despite wearing USAF lettering was allocated to the US Navy and was designated XV-6A, although the USAF did examine it and test fly it - hence the lettering. It's quite a rare airframe, although NASA has one preserved somewhere.

 

[Trebor]

I kinda like the TWA marked Connie too, Robert. With three of them there, it's neat to see that many in one place.

not a sexier transport plane than the Connie. and that TWA connie is the only surviving C-69 in the world

 

[evangilder]

Fantastic shots Eric. Viking, no worries and you're right about the B-58... maaaaan, cool plane.

The 'Harrier' isn't actually a Harrier, strictly speaking its a Kestrel, still based on the P.1127 research aircraft, but the Kestrel came before the Harrier and was a test bed for a NATO VTOL tactical strike aircraft requirement never fulfilled. Six Kestrels were sent to the USA; you can see the remnants of BuAer No 64-18264 on the fin and despite wearing USAF lettering was allocated to the US Navy and was designated XV-6A, although the USAF did examine it and test fly it - hence the lettering. It's quite a rare airframe, although NASA has one preserved somewhere.

Great info, Numan. Since it was in the non-public area, there was no signage. You can see it's a work in progress, but a unique bird.

 

[nuuumannn]

No worries Eric, will be neat to see once they've finished putting it together. You always find really interesting stuff in the non-public areas at museums.

 

[evangilder]

True, and there is interesting stuff everywhere at this one! Seeing the T-38 in ATC colors was awesome for me, as this was the airplane that I always associated with the USAF. I remember the Thunderbirds flying these at one time.

 

[evangilder]

And here is an early Thunderbird aircraft, the F-84F Thunderstreak.

 

[nuuumannn]

Nice. Which was the nicer looking F-84, that one or the one with straight wings and the early fin? There's one just visible to the right of the F-84.

 

[N4521U]

Wunderfulllll pictures.
I do miss this about the States.