|
Thanks Mike and David,
I have been to the Smithsonian Air&Space Musuem, the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL, and Fantasy of Flight, Polk City FL. I really want to go to Wright Patterson and back to the Smithsonian. There is also a small museum at Eglin AFB close to Rusty that I enjoyed. As you can see I'm not very well travelled (except when my work sends me out of the country- not much aviation stuff in Bangkok though) so I need to fill in some of these blanks in my education.
Ken Powell
-------------- Original message --------------
I know I'm not Lyyn, but being in the business...
I haven't been to but one of these, but tops on my list would be Museum of Flight in Seattle, Smithsonian Air&Space, including the new Udvar-Hazy facility at Dulles, and USAF Museum at Dayton. Also worthy of mention, Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL; Warner-Robbins in Macon, GA; (been to both of those, highly recommended) SAC museum in Omaha NB; Pima Air Museum, Pima AZ; Planes of Fame, Chino, CA; Fantasy of Flight, Polk City FL; Battleship Alabama Collection, Mobile AL.
If you find yourself down this way, drop by our humble little contribution to aviation history, the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, AL. There's a BUNCH of aviation museums beyond this list, but those are the ones I would like to hit, if I wasn't always working at this one! Mike C.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 5:15 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] museum
OK Lynn, share with me - what are the top 3 airplane museums in the Continental US? No kidding, that might be a really fun vacation!
Ken Powell
-------------- Original message --------------
> In a message dated 12/20/2004 1:01:19 PM Central Standard Time,
> micallahan@worldnet.att.net writes:
>
> << Yeah, I was very suspect of the droop nose and the big windshield
> myself. Not only that, why in the world would this "pilot" have her name on
> the side of a prototype and why doesn't it have the usual twelve foot tall
> letters of the model number (YF/A-37)? Forward swept elevons? I don't think
> so. The clincher was the bottom pic with the guys in the foreground manning
> a big movie camera. Mike C.
>
>
> >>
>
> Not so fast there boys. That is an Air Force camera team. It won't be an "F"
> anything until after acceptance testing is completed. It will be a YF
> something until then.
>
>
>
> The canopy is the new Buckey strand reinforced Pyrex glass structure. The
> nose raises up to streamline at cruise (mach 3.8 without AB) it droops for
> landing like the Concord. The forward swept horizontals and the lack of
> verticals is
> part of the shock wave management system. The rudder works split strakes at
> the wing tips to replicate rudder feel. There are rudder pedals so you can
> overpower the computers for air shows and such. Normally the feet are in
> stirrups
> in the front of the seat pack.
> The whole nose is the escape pod. Developed and tested to 40,000 feet by
> Rutan's Scaled Composites people. The escape pod is flyable and has a range of
> 50
> statute miles. Powered by powdered nitril rubber and nitrous. It has auto
> pilot and will auto track to the nearest friendly area before deploying the
> chute.
>
> A picture of this thing got out, so they made up the movie story to cover it.
> Now DOD has to front the movie to throw off the bad guys. It's been flying
> between Tonopa and Groom Lake every night for a year.
>
> There is a guy on that mountain every night with a 16" reflector telescope
> who says a C-5 leaves there at dusk and this thing lands blacked out around
> midnight. His guess is that they either take it close by to launch it, or they
> can
> launch it right out the back door of the C-5. Pretty cool stuff.
>
> The one on the carrier was the third airframe. The first was the structures
> test frame so it got bent and vibrated through two lifetimes. It will be
> repaired and shipped to the AF Museum In Dayton next year. Although it can
> launch
> from a carrier it is not what the Navy wanted. So the Naval version will have
> more wing area and a slightly lower cruise speed, and carry more ordnance. Air
> frame three is all Air Force
>
> The first flight test airframe is back at Lockheed Burbank for repairs after
> a fueling fire in October. This will be the follow on to the F-36, the one
> that can hover. The F-36 replaces the F-22 that just formed its first squadron.
> Some folks say this one can not only hover, but can leave unimproved locations
> with full fuel and ordnance load,
> by using dropable assist rocket motors in tubes along side the lift fans.
> Same fans as the F-36.
>
> During this carrier event they were just firing those rockets one at a time
> and filming the effect on the airframe from the epoxy based nonskid surface
> that is used on all carriers. Also they placed various support equipment nearby
> to see what effect that would suffer.
>
> How do I know this?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I don't. I just made it up.
>
>
>
>
>
> If you felt real proud there for a minute,
>
> Keep right on feeling proud.
>
> This kind of stuff is in the works right now. The looser in the flyoff that
> the F-22 won is now at the Air Force Museum and it has the rudders laid down
> almost flat just like the movie plane. The YF-23 I believe. It is just
> beautiful. Long and snake like. And it flew real well. Just a bit too pricey.
>
> The F-36 really does hover, and is the replacement for the F-22.
>
> There is an F-22 at the Museum also. The one that crashed I suspect. Worth
> the trip to Dayton. One of the top three airplane museums on earth.
>
>
> This and much more, is coming soon to an air show near you. God bless America.
>
>
> Lynn E. Hanover
>> Homepage: http://www.flyrotary.com/
>> Archive: http://lancaironline.net/lists/flyrotary/List.html
|