Air and Space Museum

[AVGWarhawk]

I went this weekend to the new Air and Space museum Chantilly VA this weekend. They had the F-14 Tomcat from the USS Abraham Lincoln on the floor already. 4 weeks after retirement of the F-14 and there she sat with her new display for her. Really a cool aircraft when you can see it 2 feet away from you. :up::up:

[Konovalov]

Any nice pics that you can share with us?

[waste gate]

I went this weekend to the new Air and Space museum Chantilly VA this weekend. They had the F-14 Tomcat from the USS Abraham Lincoln on the floor already. 4 weeks after retirement of the F-14 and there she sat with her new display for her. Really a cool aircraft when you can see it 2 feet away from you. :up::up:

Big airplane isn't it? Only four feet shorter than the WWII era B-17.

[AVGWarhawk]

Any nice pics that you can share with us?

I do not have a digital camera. My kids spend my money for me.:o I had my 35mm but the battery was dead. I purchased a disposible camera. I was definitly cool seeing this plane after watching the Discovery Channel program on the retirment and see them leave the USS Abraham Lincoln for the last time.

[AVGWarhawk]

I went this weekend to the new Air and Space museum Chantilly VA this weekend. They had the F-14 Tomcat from the USS Abraham Lincoln on the floor already. 4 weeks after retirement of the F-14 and there she sat with her new display for her. Really a cool aircraft when you can see it 2 feet away from you. :up::up:
Big airplane isn't it? Only four feet shorter than the WWII era B-17.

It is a large airplane but not as big as you think when standing next to it. I was so close I could touch the nose. What an awesome aircraft with such a great flying record. It felt like I was in company of greatness. Truly an engineering marvel.

[Konovalov]

It would be great to get one over here in the UK as I have not had the pleasure of viewing one either flying or static up close and personal. Perhaps I should write to Duxford Aviation Museum? :hmm:

[waste gate]

It is a large airplane but not as big as you think when standing next to it. I was so close I could touch the nose. What an awesome aircraft with such a great flying record. It felt like I was in company of greatness. Truly an engineering marvel.

For an aircraft carrier its a huge A/C. The F-15 LOA is 64 feet, F-16 LOA is 49.5 feet, F-18 is 55 LOA and the F-4 was 63 feet LOA.

Space on the floating airfield is very precious.

[AVGWarhawk]

I tell you something for as big as it is....that plane could move!!!! The air intakes are huge. Just a real state of the art piece of equipment. Sorry to see it go....Space is of a premium on a carrier. No doubt. What to they hold? Something by the way of 70 aircraft in all?

[waste gate]

The Tomcat was big b/c the AIM-54A was not a solid fuel missle like the AIM-7 and AIM-9. The AIM-54A was liquid fueled. Because of the corrosive and volitale fuel mixture the F-14 carriered the fuel (oxidizer and combustor) w/in the fuselage and pumped it into the missle B4 launch. The later AIM-54C was a solid rocket.

This is the reason for the size of the F-14 on the limited space of an aircraft carrier.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Well...the thing that tickled me pink when I went to the Udvar Hazey Annex (sp?) was seeing the AR234. The LAST ONE!!! I took photos of it, and have them on a hard drive, somewhere.

They also got the Enola Gay, Space Shuttle Enterprise, a Concord, and a boatload of other really, really cool aircraft. Oh!! SR-71!!

Tis a nifty place, though the parking is a little expensive.

[Rockstar]

Speaking of B17s I saw one flying around Charleston, SC last week. Pretty awesome sight to see, those four props turning were loud! It was what got me out side to see what the heck was going on and lo and behold a B17!

I've been to Bomber-town USA in Orlando, FL a got to see a B17, FW190, Vought F4U, a B25, and other assorted parts and pieces of aircraft being restored to flying condition.

[AVGWarhawk]

Well...the thing that tickled me pink when I went to the Udvar Hazey Annex (sp?) was seeing the AR234. The LAST ONE!!! I took photos of it, and have them on a hard drive, somewhere.

They also got the Enola Gay, Space Shuttle Enterprise, a Concord, and a boatload of other really, really cool aircraft. Oh!! SR-71!!

Tis a nifty place, though the parking is a little expensive.

The 13 bucks to park is well worth it my view. Two years ago it was 9 bucks. Inflation. I do not have a problem paying the 13 bucks because they are preserving history and this type of history is priceless to me. Anyway, you are right, awesome museum with a lot to see. They are adding more everyday as you see the F-14 off the carrier there. I have heard they flying wing that was taken after WWII from Germany is in Hyattsville MD (were there is plenty more planes from WWII) will be restored and displayed.

[Sailor Steve]

If you want to see a B-36 Peacemaker, the only surviving XB-70, the only surviving X-85 Goblin, a B-45 (my favorite) and the best of the American warbirds, you have to go to THE Air Force Museum, at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio.

Oh, we have an SR-71 here in Utah at Hill AFB, and the parking and admittance are free. They also have a lovely model of the Boeing 299, the prototype B-17, the pilot of which (Major Ployer P. Hill) our local AFB is named for. It was built by yours truly...

[AVGWarhawk]

Yes sir, when I retire I making plans to hit all the museums I can! It will be mapped out with itinerary too boot!!!! There is a lot to see and I intend of see it all:yep:

[Grayback]

I saw other posters bring up their museums so I thought I drop my own. With Intrepid temporarily out of action, I'm stuck with the Cradle of Aviation museum, mostly dedicated to NY-built airplanes. You've got an F-14, a Warthog, a swept wing F-84 and a Thud among other glorious and gorgeous piece of tin. Ticket prices are high, but they've got the nose-section of that El-Al 707 that had been in the Intrepid, but this time you can actually sit in cockpit and play pilot. I'm hoping they might "borrow" some of Intrepid's collection - including its Phantom and its Blackbird (apparently an A-12, and not an SR-71 as I'd always thought). Space is limited, though there's a big open area next to the museum where they seem to park some of their planes during restoration.

[Sailor Steve]

Given the name and the New York reference, I hope they have some of Glenn Curtiss' early planes. Those are the kind I like best.