Pima Air Museum, #2. Tucson, Arizona, 2014
If you are an aircraft aficionado of any kind, this is your Mecca and Medina combined. In fact, it may take you several visits to actually see everything. (For example, we spent all afternoon in just the single hangar of the 390th Memorial Museum–the WWII B-17 exhibit.) For the aircraft photographer, the place will easily fill all of your memory cards, camera and otherwise.
Some highlights:
–Over 80 acres of space on which you’ll find over 300 civilian and military aircraft, some pristinely painted, others…well, not so much.
–Popular aircraft you’ll encounter… B-17, B-25, B-29, B-36, P-51, SR-71, B-52, most of the more modern military jets from all services, the century series fighters, unusual civilian aircraft, an early TWA airliner (pictured above), heellywhoppers (too many external moving part for my taste!), a hang glider (dear to my heart), a few other early airliners, and a scattering of MiG fighters.
HERE you’ll find a complete listing of aerospace machines to see if they have your favorite in stock–like the mighty O-2A “Duck”, a Forward Air Control platform that, as a young lieutenant, I flew for 60 flight hours before–thankfully–getting checked out in the OT-37, then, eventually, the F-16 and the A-10.
A portrait of the mighty “Duck”:
O-2A Skymaster–or “Duck”, or “Suck ‘n’ Blow”
–From the Museum, you can take open-air tram tours of the aircraft outside on the Museum grounds as well as big bus tours of the enormous and enormously famous “Boneyard” storage area. Note that those who work at the Boneyard prefer that you call it by its official name–AMARG, or Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Group. Why? Because these aircraft and aircraft parts can be, and sometimes are, resurrected for various purposes. [Another personal note: I, along with a squadron mate, once delivered a T-37 jet trainer to AMARC–a “Tweet’s” last flight–back in 2005 or so.]
For more complete information, to plan your visit, and to see some virtual tours, head to the Pima Air and Space Museum official website. And when you go out there for real, don’t forget to take your camera!
Pima Air Museum, #1. Tucson, Arizona, 2014
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