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National Museum of the United States Air Force

 
Wikipedia: National Museum of the United States Air Force
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National Museum of the
United States Air Force National Museum of the United States Air Force.png
Established 1923
Location Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
Dayton, Ohio
Type Aviation museum
Visitor figures 1,000,000+[1]
Director Maj. Gen. Charles D. Metcalf, USAF (retired)
Curator Terry Aitken
Public transit access Greater Dayton RTA Route 11
Website www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

Coordinates: 39°46′55″N 84°06′32″W / 39.781976°N 84.108892°W / 39.781976; -84.108892

The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official National Museum of the United States Air Force and is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum.[2] More than 400 aircraft and missiles are on display, most of them indoors.[1] The museum draws over 1.3 million visitors per year and is one of the single most visited tourist attractions in Ohio.[3] Admission is free.

Contents

History

Museum entrance

The museum dates back to 1923 when the Engineering Division at Dayton's McCook Field first collected technical artifacts for preservation. In 1927 it moved to then-Wright Field and was housed in a succession of buildings. In 1954 as the Air Force Museum it was housed in its first permanent facility, Building 89 of the former Patterson Field in Fairborn, which had been an engine overhaul hangar, and many of its aircraft were parked outside and exposed to the weather. It remained there until 1971 when the current facility was first opened. Not including its annex on Wright Field proper, the museum has more than tripled in square footage since its inception in 1971.[4]

Exhibits and collections

The museum's collection contains many rare aircraft of historical or technological importance as well as various memorabilia and artifacts relating to the history and development of aviation. Included in the permanent collections are one of four surviving Convair B-36s, the only surviving XB-70 Valkyrie, and Bockscar—the B-29 Superfortress that dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki during World War II.

Presidential aircraft

The museum has several Presidential aircraft, including those used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The centerpiece of the Presidential aircraft collection is SAM 26000, the first aircraft to be called Air Force One, a modified Boeing 707 used regularly by Presidents John F. Kennedy through Richard Nixon during his first term; after which it served as the backup Presidential aircraft. This was the aircraft that took President and Mrs. Kennedy to Dallas on November 22, 1963—the day of the President's assassination. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president aboard it shortly after the assassination; this aircraft then carried the slain President's body back to Washington.[5]

Pioneers of flight

There is a large section of the museum dedicated to pioneers of flight, especially the Wright Brothers, who conducted some of their experiments at nearby Huffman Prairie. A replica of the Wrights' 1909 Military Flyer is on display, as well as other Wright brothers artifacts. The building also hosts the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which includes several educational exhibits.

Uniforms and clothing

Maj. General Billy Mitchell's uniforms on display

The museum has a large inventory of USAAF and Air Force clothing and uniforms in its collection. At any time over fifty WWII vintage A-2 leather flying jackets are on display, many of which belonged to famous figures in Air Force history. Others are beautifully painted to depict the airplanes and missions flown by their former owners. Included in the museum's displays are the jacket worn by Gen. James Stewart, P-38 ace Maj. Richard I. Bong's sheepskin B-3 jacket and boots, an A-2 jacket worn by one of the few USAAF pilots to leave the ground during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and President Ronald Reagan's peacoat.

Other exhibits and attractions

The museum completed the construction of a third hangar and hall of missiles in 2004. It now houses post-Cold War-era planes such as the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber (test aircraft), the F-117 Nighthawk stealth ground attack aircraft and others. Fund raising has begun for a fourth hangar to house the museum's space collection, presidential planes and an enlarged educational outreach area, making all more accessible to the public.

The museum has an IMAX theater that shows, for a fee, aviation and space oriented IMAX films interspersed primarily with other documentaries.

The museum owns other aircraft that are on loan to other aerospace museums in the United States. Most of these loaned aircraft duplicate aircraft exhibited by the museum. The museum's staff has very high standards for the quality of care/restoration of loaned assets, and has, in the past, revoked these loans when it was deemed that these other museums did not have the resources to properly care for an artifact. This happened in the case of the famous B-17, Memphis Belle.

Future developments

The Museum is currently raising funds for the construction of a fourth hangar gallery to be built behind the current Missile Gallery. The project is expected to cost $40,000,000. When completed it will house all the Museum's research and development aircraft as well as the presidential aircraft, freeing those hangars for use in future restoration projects, as well as the eventual display of the Convair XC-99.

Partial list of collection

The museum is divided into galleries, covering broad historic trends in military aviation. These are further broken down into exhibits detailing specific time periods and showing aircraft in their historical context.

All aircraft in this list were designed/built in the United States of America, unless otherwise indicated.

Early Years Gallery (1901-1941)

Early years (1901-1917)

World War I (1917-1918)

Sopwith Camel

Inter-War years (1919-1941)

Martin YB-10 on display at the museum

World War II

Museum display depicting a B-25B Mitchell in preparation for the Doolittle Raid
Bockscar and a replica of Fat Man on display at the museum
P-47D-40RA 45-49167 Five by Five at US Air Force Museum

Attack Aircraft

Bomber Aircraft

Cargo Aircraft

Photographic Reconnaissance Aircraft

Liaison Aircraft

Multi-Porpose Aircraft

Rotary Aircraft

Pursuit Aircraft

Trainer Aircraft

Foreign Aircraft

Korean War

C-124 Globemaster II at the museum

Vietnam War

Hanoi Taxi (Lockheed C-141 Starlifter) flying over the museum in December 2005

Cold War

B-36 Peacemaker and F-94 Starfire

Post Cold War

Missile and Space Gallery

Presidential aircraft

VC-137C - SAM 26000 arriving at the Museum

Research and development aircraft

References

  1. ^ a b "History of the National Museum of the United States Air Force". National Museum of the United States Air Force official site. June 2007. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=430. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  2. ^ Wright-Patterson Air Force Base - Museum
  3. ^ "Airfoce Museum Attendance". http://www.whiotv.com/news/19099838/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-04-05. 
  4. ^ Air Force Museum Foundation
  5. ^ Keen, Judy (November 20, 2009). "JFK Relics Stir Strong Emotions". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2009-11-20-jfkrelics20_ST_U.htm?csp=N009. Retrieved 20 November 2009. 

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