Trip to the National Museum of the US Air Force

[T Bolt]

H-21 first flew in April 1952 and was known as the "flying banana." The H-21 served with the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, the French navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the West German Air Force. It could carry the pilot and copilot plus either 20 fully-equipped troops or 12 litter patients and two medical attendants.

 

[T Bolt]

The UH-19B the U.S. Air Force's version of the Sikorsky S-55 and were used throughout the 1950s and 60s. It was used primarily for air rescue and medical evacuation.

 

[T Bolt]

Used extensively in the Vietnam War, the UH-1 was better known by its nick name "Huey" which came from it's original designation of HU-1. It is probably the most recognized helicopter in the world being used by all the branches of the U.S. military as well as many foreign countries.

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots Glenn!

 

[T Bolt]

The Jolly Green Giant was developed from the Sikorsky CH-3 transport helicopter to perform combat search and rescue to recover downed airmen during the Vietnam War. It was the first air-refuelable helicopter to be produced, using a retractable fuel probe and external fuel tanks it had a range limited only by the endurance of the aircrew. In 1967, two HH-3Es set the long-distance record for helicopters by flying non-stop from New York to Paris.

 

[Matt308]

Just wonderful shots in a difficult lighting!

It was the Dragonfly that Mickey Rooney flew in the Bridges Over Toko Ri. And the Chickasaw with the radial engine. Way cool.

Oh... and your MiG-21 pics are phenomenal!

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff Glenn. Seeing that Chicksaw (our version was the Whirlwind) brought back memories of childhood, when the local Rescue squadron used to fly one over the beach. If the pilot saw kids waving, he'd come down to about ten feet and hover, so we could get a good look at this wonderful, overall yellow machine (it was a four mile long beach, and crowded if there were ten people on it!). The modified version, with a Gnome turbine engine, was still in service up until the very late 1970s / early 1980s.

 

[T Bolt]

Just wonderful shots in a difficult lighting!

It was the Dragonfly that Mickey Rooney flew in the Bridges Over Toko Ri. And the Chickasaw with the radial engine. Way cool.

Oh... and your MiG-21 pics are phenomenal!

I thought of that movie too when I saw it hanging there from the rafters Matt. The MiG 21's my favorite soviet jet. Just looking at it you'd think it would be able to keep up with an SR-71----and that's a hint of what's included in the next group I'm posting

Great stuff Glenn. Seeing that Chicksaw (our version was the Whirlwind) brought back memories of childhood, when the local Rescue squadron used to fly one over the beach. If the pilot saw kids waving, he'd come down to about ten feet and hover, so we could get a good look at this wonderful, overall yellow machine (it was a four mile long beach, and crowded if there were ten people on it!). The modified version, with a Gnome turbine engine, was still in service up until the very late 1970s / early 1980s.

I use to see a S-58 (Larger and more powerful version of the S-55 Chickasaw) flying around here placing antennas and air conditioning units on top of tall buildings. It was the only helicopter I ever saw doing this kind of work here and I saw it quite a few times though out the Chicago area, although I have not seen it in a few years.

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

More cool shots.


Wheels

 

[Airframes]

Would that be the Choctaw Glenn? If so, we called it the Wessex (like the Whirlwind, built by Westland), and these replaced the Whirlwind in the Search and Rescue Squadrons, until themselves being replaced by Sea Kings (still in use) in the early 1990s.

 

[T Bolt]

That's it Terry. That's the one Karl had the bumpy ride on isn't it?

 

[Airframes]

That's the one - fell out of a few myself - intentionally I must add !

 

[T Bolt]

The U-2 high altitude surveillance aircraft was designed, built, and flew operationally for 4 years until it's existence was revealed in 1960 when one was shot down by a surface-to-air missile while on a reconnaissance flight over the Soviet union. The U-2 had a very long, glider like wing that enabled it to fly to extremely high altitudes. Early models could fly up to 55,000 feet and the later ones could go all the way up to 70,000. It was the U-2 that brought back photographs of offensive missile sites in Cuba spawning the Cubin Missile Crisis. U-2s were also used for mapping studies, atmospheric sampling and collecting crop and land management photographic data for the Department of Energy.

 

[T Bolt]

The SR-71 was a strategic reconnaissance development of the YF-12 fighter of the early 1960s and first entered service in 1966. Between then and it's withdraw from service in 1990 it remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft holding an absolute speed record of 2,193.167 mph and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet. From 80,000 feet, the SR-71could survey 100,000 square miles of earth's surface per hour.

 

[rochie]

great job of taking pictures of black aircraft against a black background Glenn, can not of been easy ?????

 

[T Bolt]

takes a stedy hand Karl.

 

[Airframes]

Well done Glenn.

 

[Messy1]

Great pics of the SR71. Thanks for posting! One of my all time favorites! SAC museum has a SR71 in it's front entry way on a mount that makes you walk underneath the suspended SR71 to go into one of the museum's sections. Awesome pics!

 

[Matt308]

They didn't have the D-21 drone? That kinda suprises me.

 

[T Bolt]

They didn't have the D-21 drone? That kinda suprises me.

They have a D-21B, but its at the research development hanger with the YF-12. I have 9 more aircraft from the cold war and modern hangers then I'll move onto that building.