United States Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio - May 10, 2011 visit

United States Air Force Museum

The United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio is simply amazing. I'll be the first to admit that I've never seen a museum I didn't like, but this museum stands out as one of the top museums for military aviation in the United States, and on top of that it's free!

The three hangars are divided into 4 main areas; The early years from the Wright Brothers to World War II, Aircraft of World War II, Modern Flight, and Cold War. In the hallway between the hangars are special exhibits such as one about the Berlin Airlift, and there is a small wing that is the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

There is also an iMax theater, which is a great place to sit for an hour when your feet are tired from all that walking, an outdoor exhibit area that has a replica airfield control tower from World War II and additional airplanes, plus there is a second location on the active military base that houses four presidential airplanes.

With over 400 aircraft any one day visit can only hit the highlights. This is my third visit but there is so much more to see. I've posted a selection of pictures on Flickr (here's the link). It's not the best place to take pictures, but it will give you an idea of what they have on display.

Here are two of my favorite aircraft that can be seen at this museum.

B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar"

While the Enola Gay is more well known for it's role in dropping the first atomic bomb on HIroshima Japan, Bockscar was the follow up atomic bomb drop oh Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The B-29 is an impressive aircraft that was the culmination of bomber development in World War II and played an important part in ending the war. These B-29s outfitted for dropping atomic bombs are incredibly important at reminding us of the horrors of war. One cannot stand beside this plane and not think of the incredible bravery of out fighting troops, the difficulties of political decisions made in war time and the terrible price paid by the Japanese victims of there own governments intransigence and inability to see that the war was over long before these bombs were dropped.

Consolidated B-36 Peacemaker

Of course, the nuclear threat developed in WW II was only the beginning and once new technology is developed it can never again be shut away. So the cold war became the center of life for the generation after World War II and the race to built bigger and longer range bombers was on. Though the B-52 eventually became the best of the next generation bombers, there were several steps in between. The big aircraft of the 50's that I find the most awe inspiring is the B-36. I guess I am biased as my dad spent a year flying right seat on these behemoths and has plenty of stories to tell. Actually, though he spent a year at Loring Air Force Base in Maine, one can't say he spent a year flying. The crews would fly 24 missions (30,000 gallons of avgas on board to start the flight) and then have a week of boredom in between flights while the big 4 row, 28 cylinder R4360 engines were repaired and made ready for the next flight.

In any case this is a BIG plane and I would have loved to have seen a formation of these lumbering overhead with 6 turning and 4 burning (6 R4360's and 4 jets engines).