The Air Force Museum Dayton, Ohio

[JPGLSG1234]

First off to some of our forum members that have been facing health issues and family passing's my heart felt sympathy. May you find a peaceful heart.

Let me share with you a fantastic Saturday. Sometime back I posted a thread about Thurgood and I being in Dayton starting and testing a pumping station that we had sold. We had scheduled a day to do a look see the displays in this Museum. We were there first in line when they opened the doors, had our map and plan. First stop was the Memphis Belle, the last time we say this B-17 was in Memphis and it was in sad shape. Today it looks like the crew could jump in and fly a mission. From there we went to the Southeast Asia War Gallery to get a close up look at a B-52 that dropped bombs so close to us in Vietnam it shook our asses out of our fox-holes. No kidding we thought that they had made a mistake and our asses were goners! From there we made a bee line to the Cold War World Gallery see the B-36, B-1B and B-2, they had the pilots that flew the planes there answering questions, awesome Men. The B-1B is almost the size of a football field. From there we went to the Research and Development Gallery to put our eyes on the XB-70A. It looks to be the size of a city block, what were they thinking. No wonder they canceled that program that's the biggest damn air plane I've ever seen. Some of the other experimental aircraft on display would have taken pilots with balls the size of watermelons to fly.

We made out way back to the Early Years Gallery to start from the beginning until the ended the day being escorted by security out of the Presidential Gallery section and the vary far end of the building way after closing time. We had packed the day until the very end.

I'm telling you all if you are remotely into aviation as Thurgood and I have been through out the years visiting small aviation museums this one is a must see.....

 

[transplant]

When my son left the Air Force a few years ago he drove from Malmstron AFB to visit his friends stationed at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton. We met him there to drive back to CT with him. We spent a day and a half at the museum and could have spent another day easy exploring not only the museum but also the grounds outside with descriptions of the various theaters of battle. Then we got a pass to go on the base to see the presidential planes and some of the X-planes on display. By far along with the Smithsonian, the best museum I've been to. And it's free!

 

[Snake45]

I went there to visit my son when he was stationed at W-P for training in 2008. It was a literally AWESOME experience. I was nearly moved to tears just being in the presence of Bernie Fisher's A-1E and Robin Olds' F-4. I hope to go back again someday.

Here's my kid (I think he was an A1C at the time) in front of the Museum's P-51D. This very airplane came from the same Guard unit that both my Dad and I served in. Today my son is a Major in that very same unit, and a C-17 pilot. If I were any prouder of him, I'd have to wear one of those astronaut diapers all the time.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

So glad you enjoyed the museum. The first time I was there was in 1958 when I lived in Sidney O. Net time was 1971. Would love to go back again. Luckily I have been to the Naval Air Museum in P'Cola many times while Son and Daughter were going thru flight training.

Snake,
I remember when that 51 arrived at the museum around 1957. It was the last 51 in Service. Back then it went by the name of Sharp Shooter. At the time they did not want to put personnel markings on it. The Smithsonian had the same rule until they painted Lopez's P-40 to honor when he retired since he was the Deputy Director of the museum and flew P-40s and P-51s in China Burma "Lopes Hope"

I saw this at Oshkosh a fantastic restoration. Lope's Hope
Notice it is not polished but the way it came from the factory

 

[kentucky yeti]

Our blue 1973 455 4-speed Firebird Formula at the museum with the C-141 Starlifter "Hanoi Taxi". And our Kona Blue 1969 Firebird 400 with a Warthog. We go to the museum almost every year while we are attending the Trans Am Nationals. Something is always different there, and the place is HUGE!

 

[ole442]

The museum is a lot different today from the 1958 and 1971 versions. When I first went to the museum in 1961, it was actually just inside the base and in Fairborn, Ohio and was a pretty bare bones, musty museum. They moved it later, down the road near Riverside, OH and it was then, I believe, 2 gigantic hangers and a major upgrade.

Now, it has 4 hangers full. Years ago you had to get a special pass to go see the Presidential planes at what was known as the "annex" but they are now in one of the main hangers.

If you want to see any historical plane it is very likely here. My son-in-law and I went to see the "Memphis Belle" in the restoration hanger during it's lengthy restoration and it now is fully restored in the hanger. The early WW1 and WW2 warplanes, the B-52, X-15, SR-71, Bockscar B-29, XB-70, B-58 Hustler as well as many other historical planes and space race rockets. There is only a mock up of the Space Shuttle (thanks Barry O).

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Like they say, parking and admission is free. Don't try to CCW or bring any knife or other weapon in because they scan everyone and you'll have to make the loooong walk back to your car to rid yourself of those items. I made that walk once for a pocket knife!

Well worth the drive to see this great treasure of a museum IMO!

OLE442

 

[sceva]

We love the AF Museum. We lived in Springfield, Oh and made many a family trip to the museum for the day. They had the forward fuselage of an F4 Phantom that kids could sit in and somewhere I have photos of my Daughter in it. My all time favorite id the XB-70 Valkyrie. I saw it fly past my school when it took it's last flight before going on permanent display.

 

[Topfueler1]

I haven't been there yet but, I will be going. Man awesome! I will be going to the WWII Weekend Air & Ground show at Reading, PA on 6-3-23. If you haven't been to it you should. I think it may be the biggest WWII show in the country. Thirty second year for it. I have been to it many times.

 

[sceva]

The museum is a lot different today from the 1958 and 1971 versions. When I first went to the museum in 1961, it was actually just inside the base and in Fairborn, Ohio and was a pretty bare bones, musty museum. They moved it later, down the road near Riverside, OH and it was then, I believe, 2 gigantic hangers and a major upgrade.
OLE442

I remember that ; dark and dreary back then but still great to see those Airplanes.

 

[Bob Wright]

An odd set of circumstances, as read this I have just walked through a B-24 Liberator and a B-29 Super Fortress! They were here in Memphis courtesy the Comemorative Air Force.

Bob Wright

 

[Topfueler1]

Diamond Lil B-24 and Fifi B-29 will both be at WWII Weekend in reading, PA 6/2-3-4/23

 

[Snake45]

Snake,
I remember when that 51 arrived at the museum around 1957. It was the last 51 in Service. Back then it went by the name of Sharp Shooter. At the time they did not want to put personnel markings on it. The Smithsonian had the same rule until they painted Lopez's P-40 to honor when he retired since he was the Deputy Director of the museum and flew P-40s and P-51s in China Burma "Lopes Hope"

Jim,

I can't find my 167th refs at the moment but I'm not certain that airplane carried the Sharp Shooter name while with the 167th. It certainly never carried any of the other NMUSAF markings while with the 167th--those markings were entirely bogus for years until its 1982 rework.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - North American F-51D Mustang, s/n 44-74936 USAF, c/n 122-41476

This Aerial Visuals page provides airframe history details of a specific airframe from the airframe database.

www.aerialvisuals.ca

The Collings Foundation's genuine TF-51D Toulouse Nuts, on the other hand, is another 167th veteran/survivor and has been restored in its actual 167th markings. I've seen the real airplane and it's spectacular.

 

[WanderLust]

Don't pass up the chance to see Glacier Girl (buried P-38) formerly near Middlesboro Ky. It was pulled from a glacier after 50 years, buried 268 feet down from the years of accumulating snow. It has since been sold to a Texas owner and shows up at several air shows each year. The rescue operation in '42 was larger than ordinary, since several planes were involved. As I recall, GI JOE toys built a special set to commemorate the rescue at the time. Pensacola is a terrrific exhibit, Smithsonian is always awesome, but I haven't been to Dayton yet.
One very vivid memory of the Smithsonian museum: 1995, 50th anniversary of the bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Portions of the Enola Gay
were placed on exhibit there, with a LOT of controversy over the wording for the displays. Pro-bombing veterans and anti-bombing war protesters both wanted to have their opinions known as people toured the building, so large placards were made for each group and placed inside. Finally, the museum took down EVERY printed word in the building, simply leaving each person to visit the plane and form their own opinion. Security was very tight for that timeframe, and only 25 people were allowed in the main room at one time. I visited there 50 years to the day of its drop, and stood inline for an hour.
Only the front 1/4 of the place was visible, and some smaller scattered pieces. The weirdest feeling was the complete silence of the room, other than the sounds of the cameras clicking. Once I had been there a while, I started to look around. I realized that I was the only person in the room who was not Japanese. They weren't upset or crying, not mad either, but you could see the impact that exhibit made on all of them. That's why we need to keep museums like those around: to remind us of how hard life really was, and how some choices are never going to be easy to make.

 

[NukeRef]

We're headed to Dayton in July for the air show featuring the Air Force Thunderbirds. Weekend plans include a day at the museum and a Dragons' night game at Day Air Ballpark.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Jim,

I can't find my 167th refs at the moment but I'm not certain that airplane carried the Sharp Shooter name while with the 167th. It certainly never carried any of the other NMUSAF markings while with the 167th--those markings were entirely bogus for years until its 1982 rework.

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - North American F-51D Mustang, s/n 44-74936 USAF, c/n 122-41476

This Aerial Visuals page provides airframe history details of a specific airframe from the airframe database.

www.aerialvisuals.ca

The Collings Foundation's genuine TF-51D Toulouse Nuts, on the other hand, is another 167th veteran/survivor and has been restored in its actual 167th markings. I've seen the real airplane and it's spectacular.

View attachment 21901
View attachment 21902

Snake,
Glad you found a picture of Sharp Shooter. It was painted by the museum in that design to represent all of the units that flew the P/F-51
In 1964 I built this "U" Control model of it. What was interesting was it had a 3rd wire for engine control. You could land with the engine still running Sad to say it got jumped by 50 FW-190As and did not survive the battle.

 

[ole442]

While I understand the feelings about bombing civilian targets, it has to be remembered just who started the war! After as many years as the war had lasted on two fronts, nothing would be off the table as I see it! Just imagine how many civilian(Japanese) and military lives that would have been lost with an actual large scale invasion of Japan!

 

[Snake45]

One very vivid memory of the Smithsonian museum: 1995, 50th anniversary of the bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Portions of the Enola Gay
were placed on exhibit there, with a LOT of controversy over the wording for the displays. Pro-bombing veterans and anti-bombing war protesters both wanted to have their opinions known as people toured the building, so large placards were made for each group and placed inside. Finally, the museum took down EVERY printed word in the building, simply leaving each person to visit the plane and form their own opinion. Security was very tight for that timeframe, and only 25 people were allowed in the main room at one time. I visited there 50 years to the day of its drop, and stood inline for an hour.
Only the front 1/4 of the place was visible, and some smaller scattered pieces. The weirdest feeling was the complete silence of the room, other than the sounds of the cameras clicking. Once I had been there a while, I started to look around. I realized that I was the only person in the room who was not Japanese. They weren't upset or crying, not mad either, but you could see the impact that exhibit made on all of them. That's why we need to keep museums like those around: to remind us of how hard life really was, and how some choices are never going to be easy to make.

Very cool story, thanks for sharing it! In 1995 I was working for a government contractor who arranged a private tour of the NASM's Garber restoration shops for those who wanted to do so. At that time they had just finished the nose of Enola Gay and were preparing it to move downtown for the exhibition you speak of. I'm pretty sure I have one or more pics of it but they're "hard" copies and I don't have them scanned. I do remember distinctly that all the glass panels in the nose (except the actual "nose cone") are actually flat, which I thought was pretty amazing.

 

[Snake45]

Diamond Lil B-24 and Fifi B-29 will both be at WWII Weekend in reading, PA 6/2-3-4/23

Very cool! Fifi was at the local airport a couple years ago. I live near the airport and the beast flew right over my house a few times. VERY impressive!

 

[Yaworski]

One very vivid memory of the Smithsonian museum: 1995, 50th anniversary of the bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

That's when I dropped my memberships in both Smithsonian and Air & Space. I was aggravated by the apologetic nature of the articles in Air & Space.

 

[Snake45]

That's when I dropped my memberships in both Smithsonian and Air & Space. I was aggravated by the apologetic nature of the articles in Air & Space.

I never subscribed, but I would buy A&S at Walmart if I saw it had something interesting in it. Last couple years I noticed it was carrying more and more Space stuff, and more and more PC/woke crap, neither of which interest me at all, and less and less stuff about airplanes that DID interest me, so I've given up on it completely.

Now I subscribe to Air Classics, and read it cover to cover every issue, and buy Aviation History when I see it. The latter has actually improved so much in the last couple years that I'm giving serious consideration to subscribing to it, too.