BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center -- Main Hangar

VA -- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center -- Main Hangar:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. AIRM_031206_0005.JPG: Pre-opening day at the Udvar-Hazy Center. The first plane you can see from the door is the "Little Stinker". However, once you reach the main room, this is the first thing you see. Mostly people don't notice the space shuttle Enterprise in the background.
2. AIRM_031206_0039.JPG: Lots and lots of engines
3. AIRM_031206_0093.JPG: Most of the crowds at the museum either hung around the space shuttle Enterprise or else, as shown here, the Enola Gay.
4. AIRM_031206_0111.JPG: Again, note the size of things. The band up takes up a small bit at the end of the hanger. The air vents, on the left, are as tall as an adult.
5. AIRM_031206_0151.JPG: Boeing 367-80 "Dash 80" U.S. civil aviation entered the jet age on July 15, 1954, when the Boeing 367-80, or "Dash 80," first took flight. Designed for the U.S. Air Force as a jet tanker-transport, this airplane was the prototype for America's first commercial jet airliner, the Boeing 707. Boeing began designing the Dash 80 without a contract in 1952. In 1954, the Air Force purchased the first of 820 KC-135s tankers, as the modified version was designated. At the request of Pan American, Boeing widened the fuselage to accommodate six-across seating for airline use. This larger aircraft became the Boeing 707, of which 855 were built between 1957 and 1992. The Dash 80 tested many new technologies, including new engines and engine nacelles, different wing shapes, and a variety of flaps and control surfaces, before it was donated to the Smithsonian in 1972. Boeing restored it in 1995.
6. AIRM_031206_0169.JPG: Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated, propeller-driven, bomber to fly during World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Boeing installed very advanced armament, propulsion, and avionics systems into the Superfortress. During the war in the Pacific Theater, the B-29 delivered the first nuclear weapons used in combat. On August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., in command of the Superfortress "Enola Gay," dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney piloted another B-29 named "Bockscar" and dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese accepted Allied terms for unconditional surrender. As war clouds darkened Europe in the late 1930s, some U. S. Army Air Corps leaders recognized the need for very long-range bombers that exceeded the performance of the B-17 Flying Fortress (see NASM collection). Several years of preliminary studies paralleled a continuous fight against those who saw no good reasons to develop such an aircraft but the Air Corps issued a requirement for the new bomber in February 1940. It described an airplane that could carry a maximum bomb load of 909 kg (2,000 lb) at a speed of 644 kph (400 mph) a distance of at least 8,050 km (5,000 miles). Boeing, Consolidated, Douglas, and Lockheed responded with design proposals. The Army was impressed with the Boeing design and issued a contract for two flyable prototypes in September 1940. In April 1941, the Army issued another contract for 250 aircraft plus spare parts equivalent to another 25 bombers, eight months before Pearl Harbor and nearly a year-and-a-half before the first Superfortress would fly. Among the design's innovations was a long, narrow, high-aspect ratio wing equipped with large Fowler-type flaps. This wing design allowed the B-29 to fly very fast at high altitudes without also having unmanageable flight characteristics during the slower speeds required for landing and takeoff. More revolutionary was the size and sophistication of the pressurized sections of the fuselage: the flight deck forward of the wing, the gunner's compartment aft of the wing, and the tail gunner's station. For the crew, flying at extreme altitudes was almost comfortable. To protect the Superfortress, Boeing designed the most sophisticated remote-controlled, defensive weapons system yet fitted to a military airplane. Engineers placed five gun turrets on the fuselage: a turret above and behind the cockpit that housed two .50 caliber machine guns (four guns in later versions), and another turret aft near the vertical tail equipped with two machine guns; plus two more turrets beneath the fuselage, each equipped with two .50 caliber guns. One of these turrets fired from behind the nose gear and the other hung further back near the tail. Another two .50 caliber machine guns and a 20-mm cannon (in early versions of the B-29) were fitted in the tail beneath the rudder. The really novel innovation was in the sighting system. Gunners operated these turrets by remote control. They aimed the guns using computerized sights, and each gunner could take control of two or more turrets to concentrate firepower on a single target, making the system flexible and effective. Boeing also equipped the B-29 with advanced radar equipment and avionics. Depending on the type of mission, a B-29 carried the AN/APQ-13 or AN/APQ-7 Eagle radar system to aid bombing and navigation. These systems were accurate enough to permit blind bombing through cloud layers that completely obscured the target. The B-29B was equipped with the AN/APG-15B airborne radar gun sighting system mounted in the tail, insuring accurate defense against enemy fighters attacking at night. The B-29s also routinely carried as many as twenty different types of radios and navigation devices. The first XB-29 took off at Boeing Field in Seattle on September 21, 1942. By the end of the year the second aircraft was ready for flight. Fourteen service-test YB-29s followed as production began to accelerate. Building this advanced bomber required massive logistics. Boeing built new B-29 plants at Renton, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas, while Bell built a new plant at Marietta, Georgia, and Martin built one in Omaha, Nebraska. Both Curtiss-Wright and the Dodge automobile company vastly expanded their manufacturing capacity to build the bomber's powerful and complex Curtiss-Wright R-3350 turbo supercharged engines. The program required thousands of sub-contractors but with extraordinary effort, it all came together, despite major teething problems. By April 1944, the first operational B-29s of the newly formed 20th Air Force began to touch down on dusty airfields in India. By May 8, 130 B-29s were operational. On June 5, 1944, less than two years after the initial flight of the XB-29, the U. S. Army Air Forces (AAF) flew its first B-29 combat mission against targets in Bangkok, Thailand. This mission (longest of the war to date) called for 100 B-29s but only 80 reached the target area. The AAF lost no aircraft to enemy action but bombing results were mediocre. The first bombing mission against the Japanese main islands, since Doolittle's Raid in April 1942, occurred on June 15, again with poor results. This was also the first mission launched from airbases in China. With the fall of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in the Mariana Islands chain in August 1944, the AAF acquired airbases that lay several hundred miles closer to Japan's home islands. Late in 1944, the AAF moved the XXI Bomber Command, flying B-29s, to the Marianas and the unit began bombing Japan in December. However, they employed high-altitude, precision, bombing tactics that yielded poor results. In March 1945, Major General Curtis E. LeMay ordered the group to abandon these tactics and strike instead at night, from low altitude, using incendiary bombs. These attacks, carried out by hundreds of B-29s, soon devastated much of Japan's industrial and economic infrastructure and contributed in no small way to the Japanese surrender. Late in 1944, AAF leaders selected the Martin assembly line to produce a batch of Superfortress atomic bombers codenamed "Silverplate" aircraft. Martin modified these special B-29s by deleting all gun turrets except for the tail position, removing armor plate, installing Curtiss electric propellers, and configuring the bomb bay to accommodate either the "Fat Man" or "Little Boy" versions of the atomic bomb. The AAF assigned 15 Silverplate ships to the 509th Composite Group commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets and he named his personal B-29 "Enola Gay" after his mother. "Enola Gay" is a model B-29-45-MO, serial number 44-86292. The AAF accepted this aircraft on June 15, 1945, from the Martin plant at Omaha, Nebraska. After the war, air force crews flew the airplane during the Operation Crossroads atomic test program in the Pacific and then delivered it to Davis-Monthan Army Airfield, Arizona, for storage. Later, the U. S. Air Force flew the famous bomber to Park Ridge, Illinois, then transferred it to the Smithsonian Institution on July 4, 1949. Although in Smithsonian custody, the aircraft remained stored at Pyote Air Force Base, Texas, between January 1952 and December 1953. The airplane's last flight ended on December 2 when the "Enola Gay" touched down at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The bomber remained at Andrews in outdoor storage until July 1961. By then quite concerned about the bomber deteriorating outdoors, the Smithsonian sent collections staff to disassemble the Superfortress and move it indoors, out of the elements, to the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland. The staff at Garber began working to preserve and restore "Enola Gay" in December 1984. This was the largest restoration project ever undertaken at the National Air and Space Museum and the restoration specialists anticipated the work would require from seven to nine years to complete. The project actually lasted more than ten years. The restored forward fuselage and other parts of the airplane were exhibited publicly downtown on the Washington, D. C., Mall in May 1995. The "Enola Gay," fully restored and completely assembled, is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
7. AIRM_031206_0176.JPG: AGM-86A Cruise Missile The AGM-86A was the first version of the U.S. Air Force's air-launched cruise missile (ALCM). Designed to carry either a conventional or nuclear warhead, it had a turbofan jet engine, flew at subsonic speeds, and used an inertial navigation system with terrain contour-matching radar. Because the missile flew close to the ground, it was difficult for enemy radars to detect. Most AGM-86A's were used in flight tests in 1976. The missile never became operational. Subsequent versions of the ALCM with conventional or nuclear warheads and longer range have been produced and deployed on B-1 and B-52 bombers.
8. AIRM_031206_0184.JPG: Zuni Missile [in front] Introduced about 1958 and named after the American Indian tribe, the Zuni was an improved version of the HVAR missile, also called the Holy Moses, developed during World War II. The Zuni had a greater velocity than the HVAR, more penetrating power, and a longer range. The Zuni's fins automatically unfolded when the missile left its launcher. Very inexpensive (about $400 each), Zunis served as [sic] both as air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles. The Zuni was phased out beginning in the late 1980's.
9. AIRM_031206_0302.JPG: De Havilland Canada DHC-1A Chipmunk Pennzoil Special De Havilland originally designed the Chipmunk after World War II as a primary trainer to replace the venerable Tiger Moth. Among the tens of thousands of pilots who trained in or flew the Chipmunk for pleasure was veteran aerobatic and movie pilot Art Scholl. He flew his Pennzoil Special at air shows throughout the 1970's and early '80's, thrilling audiences with his skill and showmanship and proving that the design was a top-notch aerobatic aircraft. Art Scholl purchased the DHC-1A in 1968. He modified it to a single-seat airplane with a shorter wingspan and larger vertical fin and rudder, and made other changes to improve its performance. Scholl was a three-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, an air racer, and a movie and television stunt pilot. At air shows, he often flew with his dog Aileron on his shoulder or taxied with him standing on the wing.
10. AIRM_031206_0307.JPG: Before the museum opened to the public, a plexiglass barrier would be put between the walkway and the cockpit of the Enola Gay. That didn't prevent protestors from throwing a bottle at it on opening day though.
11. AIRM_031206_0362.JPG: Stinson L-5 Sentinel Versatile, durable, and an important aircraft of World War II, the L-5 flew a wide variety of missions: photoreconnaissance, resupply, evacuation of wounded, message courier, VIP transport, and artillery spotting. Its design was roughly derived from the pre-war Stinson Model 105 Voyager. Refitted with the Lycoming O-435-I engine, the aircraft was designated the Model 75. While it had features and components of the Voyager series, it was fundamentally a new design. The Army ordered this model in quantity, designating it first as the O-62 ("O" for observation), then as the L-5 ("L" for liaison) in 1942. This aircraft, the first O-62/L-5 produced, is displayed in the Brodie configuration, which was used by some L-5's on ships and in confined landing zones to covertly penetrate difficult terrain.
12. AIRM_031206_0425.JPG: August 6, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay. The decision to drop the bomb has been long debated including how much it edged the Japanese to accept surrender.
13. AIRM_031206_0466.JPG: Concorde The first supersonic airliner, the graceful Concorde flew thousands of passengers at twice the speed of sound for over 25 years. Air France and British Airways jointly inaugurated Concorde service in 1976. The aircraft could carry up to 100 passengers and catered to a first-class clientele. It could cross the Atlantic in less than four hours -- twice as fast as a conventional airliners. However, its high operating costs resulted in very high fares. Few could afford to fly it. These problems and a shrinking market forced service to be reduced until all Concordes were retired in 2003. In 1989, Air France agreed to donate a Concorde to the Smithsonian after the aircraft's retirement. On June 12, 2003, it honored that agreement, donating Concorde F-BVFA upon completion of its last flight. This aircraft was the first Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, and New York City.
14. AIRM_031206_0490.JPG: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F Nicknamed the Wurger (Butcher Bird), the Fw 190 entered service in 1941 and flew throughout World War II on all fronts. It was the only German single-seat fighter powered by a radial engine and the only fighter of the war with electrically operated landing gear and flaps. Some served as fighter-bombers with ground attack units, but the Fw 190 is best known for defending against Allied daylight bombing attacks. This Fw 190 F-8 was originally manufactured as an Fw 190 A-7 fighter. During 1944, it was remanufactured as a fighter-bomber and issued to ground attack unit SG 2. After Germany's surrender, it was shipped to Freeman Field, Indiana, then transferred to the Smithsonian in 1949. In 1980-83, restoration revealed a succession of color schemes. It now appears as it did while serving with SG 2 in 1944.
15. AIRM_031206_0494.JPG: Arado Ar 234 B Blitz The Arado Ar 234 B Blitz (Lightning) was the world's first operational jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The first Ar 234 combat mission, a reconnaissance flight over the Allied beachhead in Normandy, took place August 2, 1944. With a maximum speed of 735 kilometers (459 miles) per hour, the Blitz easily eluded Allied piston-engine fighters. While less famous than the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, the Ar 234's that reached Luftwaffe units provided excellent service, especially as reconnaissance aircraft. This Ar 234 B-2 served with bomber unit KG 76 from December 1944 until May 1945, when British forces captured it in Norway. Turned over to the United States, it was brought to Wright Field, Ohio, in 1946 for flight testing. In 1949, it was transferred to the Smithsonian, which restored it in 1984-89. This Arado is the sole survivor of its type.
16. AIRM_031206_0528.JPG: Size comparisons. The Grumman G-21 Goose in the background can almost fit under the underwing air intake vents for the Concorde.
17. AIRM_031206_0549.JPG: Langley Aerodrome A [above] Samuel Langley's successful flights of model-size Aerodromes in 1896 led him to build a full-size, human-carrying airplane. Langley's simple approach was merely to scale up the unpiloted Aerodromes to human-carrying proportions, which proved to be a grave error. He focused primarily on the power plant. The completed engine, a water-cooled five-cylinder radial with remarkable power, was indeed a great achievement. Despite the excellent engine, Langley's Aerodrome A met with disastrous results, crashing on takeoff on October 7, 1903, and again on December 8 -- only nine days before the Wright brothers' historic flights. While Langley blamed the launch mechanism, it is clear that the aircraft was overly complex, structurally weak, and aerodynamically unsound. The second crash ended Langley's aeronautical work.
18. AIRM_031206_0581.JPG: Aichi M6A1 Seiran Aichi chief engineer Toshio Ozaki designed the Sieran (Clear Sky Storm) during World War II to fulfill a requirement for a bomber that could operate exclusively from a submarine. Japanese war planners devised the idea as a means for striking directly at the United States mainland and other distant strategic targets, such as the Panama Canal. To support the Sieran operations, the Japanese developed a special fleet of submarine aircraft carriers to bring the Sierans within striking distance. No Seiran ever saw combat, but the Seiran-submarine weapon system represents an ingenious blend of aviation and marine technology. This M6A1 was the last airframe built and is the only surviving Sieran in the world. Allied forces discovered it in the remains of the Aichi factory after the war.
19. AIRM_031206_0685.JPG: Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft The XV-15 Tilt Rotor technology demonstrator was the culmination of efforts begun in the early 1950's to produce an aircraft that could take off, land, and hover like a helicopter, but with the speed of an airplane. The rotor pylons tilt from vertical to horizontal, to eliminate the speed barriers imposed on conventional helicopters by retreating-blade stall. This is the second of two XV-15's built by Bell under a join NASA/Army program. From 1979 to 2003, it logged 700 hours in testing and demonstrated operations under a wide range of conditions. Its success encouraged Bell and the Marine Corps to develop the scaled-up MV-22 Tilt Rotor as a replacement for Marine transport helicopters. In association with Agusta Aerospace, Bell also developed the Model 609 civil Tilt Rotor, using experience gained from the XV-15.
20. AIRM_031206_0708.JPG: Mignet HM.14 Pou Du Ciel La Cucaracha Frenchman Henri Mignet's vision of a simple aircraft that amateurs could build and even teach themselves to fly led him in 1933 to design the Pou Du Ciel (Flying Flea). In an attempt to render the aircraft stall-proof and safe for amateur pilots, he staggers the two main wings. The HM.14 enjoyed a period of intense popularity in France and England, but a series of accidents in 1935-36 permanently blackened the airplane's reputation. This is the first HM.14 made and flown in the United States. Edward Nirmaier and two other men built it in 1935 for Powell Crosley Jr, president of Crosley Radio. A crash at the Miami Air Races that year grounded the airplane for good. In 1960, Patrick H Packard donated it to the Smithsonian. Packard and Patti Koppa finished restoring it in 1987, fabricating a wooden replica engine to replace the missing original ABC Scorpion engine.
21. AIRM_031206_0738.JPG: Nieuport 28C.1 The Nieuport 28C.1 was introduced in mid-1917 but rejected by France in favor of the sturdier, more advanced SPAD XIII. With no suitable fighter of its own, the United States adopted the Nieuport until France could provide the much-in-demand SPAD's. Nieuport 28's were the first aircraft to serve with an American fighter unit under U.S. command and in support of U.S. troops, and the first to score a victory with a U.S. unit. The Nieuport 28 also made its mark after the war. The U.S. Navy used 12 for shipboard launching trials in 1919-21. The U.S. Army operated others in the 1920's. Several in private hands were modified for air racing, and some found their way into Hollywood movies. Still others became privately owned and flew in sporting and commercial capacities. This airplane contains components from as many as give Nieuport 28's.
22. AIRM_031206_0752.JPG: Benoist-Korn Type XII In the spring of 1912, Thomas Wesley Benoist announced the completion of his firm's newest aircraft, the Type XII. The two-place biplane, powered by a Roberts six-cylinder, 75-horsepower engine, was one of the first closed-fuselage tractor airplanes to appear in the United States. The Benoist factory produced about five during the next year. Most American aircraft produced at this time were close copies of Wright, Curtiss, or European machines. Benoist was one of the few U.S. firms that built and sold original designs. This airplane was constructed in the Benoist shop in St Louis by its purchasers, Edward and Milton Korn. The Korn brothers began work on their airplane in March 1912, completed it in May, and flew it soon thereafter at Anna, Illinois. The following year, they performed many exhibitions with the airplane.
23. AIRM_031206_0805.JPG: Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt Col Ed Yielding and Lt Col Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington DC in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.
24. AIRM_031206_0813.JPG: Vought F4U-1D Corsair On February 1, 1938, the United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics requested proposals from American aircraft manufacturers for a new carrier-based fighter airplane. During April, the Vought Aircraft Corporation responded with two designs and one of them, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, won the competition in June. Less than a year later, Vought test pilot Lyman A. Bullard, Jr., first flew the Vought XF4U-1 prototype on May 29, 1940. At that time, the largest engine driving the biggest propeller ever flown on a fighter aircraft propelled Bullard on this test flight. The R-2800 radial air-cooled engine developed 1,850 horsepower and it turned a three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller with solid aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch. The airplane Bullard flew also had another striking feature, a wing bent on both sides of the fuselage, or gull-shaped. This arrangement gave additional ground clearance for the propeller and reduced drag at the wing-to-fuselage joint. Ironically for a 644-kph (400 mph) airplane, Vought covered the wing with fabric behind the main spar, a practice the company also followed on the OS2U Kingfisher (see NASM collection). When naval air strategists had crafted the requirements for the new fighter, the need for speed had overridden all other performance goals. With this in mind, the Bureau of Aeronautics selected the most powerful air-cooled engine available, the R-2800. Vought assembled a team, lead by chief designer Rex Biesel, to design the best airframe around this powerful engine. The group included project engineer Frank Albright, aerodynamics engineer Paul Baker, and propulsion engineer James Shoemaker. Biesel and his team succeeded in building a very fast fighter but when they redesigned the prototype for production, they were forced to make an unfortunate compromise. The Navy requested heavier armament for production Corsairs and Biesel redesigned each outboard folding wing panel to carry three .50 caliber machine guns. These guns displaced fuel tanks installed in each wing leading edge. To replace this lost capacity, an 897-liter (237 gal) fuselage tank was installed between the cockpit and the engine. To maintain the speedy and narrow fuselage profile, Biesel could not stack the cockpit on top of the tank, so he moved it nearly three feet aft. Now the wing completely blocked the pilot's line of sight during the most critical stages of landing. The early Corsair also had a vicious stall, powerful torque and propeller effects at slow speed, a short tail wheel strut, main gear struts that often bounced the airplane at touchdown, and cowl flap actuators that leaked oil onto the windshield. These difficulties, combined with the lack of cockpit visibility, made the airplane nearly impossible to land on the tiny deck of an aircraft carrier. Navy pilots soon nicknamed the F4U the 'ensign eliminator' for its tendency to kill these inexperienced aviators. The Navy refused to clear the F4U for carrier operations until late in 1944, more than seven years after the project started. This flaw did not deter the Navy from accepting Corsairs because Navy and Marine pilots sorely needed an improved fighter to replace the Grumman F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). By New Year's Eve, 1942, the service owned 178 F4U-1 airplanes. Early in 1943, the Navy decided to divert all Corsairs to land-based United States Marine Corps squadrons and fill Navy carrier-based units with the Grumman F6F Hellcat (see NASM collection). At its best speed of 612 kph (380 mph) at 6,992 m (23,000 ft), the Hellcat was about 24 kph (15 mph) slower than the Corsair but it was a joy to fly aboard the carrier. The F6F filled in splendidly until improvements to the F4U qualified it for carrier operations. Meanwhile, the Marines on Guadalcanal took their Corsairs into combat and engaged the enemy for the first time on February 14, 1943, six months before Hellcat pilots on that battle-scared island first encountered enemy aircraft. The F4U had an immediate impact on the Pacific air war. Pilots could use the Corsair's speed and firepower to engage the more maneuverable Japanese airplanes only when the advantage favored the Americans. Unprotected by armor or self-sealing fuel tanks, no Japanese fighter or bomber could withstand for more than a few seconds the concentrated volley from the six .50 caliber machine guns carried by a Corsair. Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington assumed command of marine Corsair squadron VMF-214, nicknamed the 'Black Sheep' squadron, on September 7, 1943. During less than 5 months of action, Boyington received credit for downing 28 enemy aircraft. Enemy aircraft shot him down on January 3, 1944, but he survived the war in a Japanese prison camp. In May and June 1944, Charles A. Lindbergh flew Corsair missions with Marine pilots at Green Island and Emirau. On September 3, 1944, Lindbergh demonstrated the F4U's bomb hauling capacity by flying a Corsair from Marine Air Group 31 carrying three bombs each weighing 450 kg (1,000 lb). He dropped this load on enemy positions at Wotje Atoll. On the September 8, Lindbergh dropped the first 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb during an attack on the atoll. For the finale five days later, the Atlantic flyer delivered a 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb and two 450-kg (1,000 lb) bombs. Lindbergh went ahead and flew these missions after the commander of MAG-31 informed him that if he was forced down and captured, the Japanese would almost certainly execute him. As of V-J Day, September 2, 1945, the Navy credited Corsair pilots with destroying 2,140 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. The Navy and Marines lost 189 F4Us in combat and 1,435 Corsairs in non-combat accidents. Beginning on February 13, 1942, marine and Navy pilots flew 64,051 operational sorties, 54,470 from runways and 9,581 from carrier decks. During the war, the British Royal Navy accepted 2,012 Corsairs and the Royal New Zealand Air Force accepted 364. The demand was so great that the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation also produced the F4U. Corsairs returned to Navy carrier decks and Marine airfields during the Korean War. On September 10, 1952, Captain Jesse Folmar of Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-312 destroyed a MiG-15 in aerial combat over the west coast of Korea. However, F4U pilots did not have many air-to-air encounters over Korea. Their primary mission was to support Allied ground units along the battlefront. After the World War II, civilian pilots adapted the speedy bent-wing bird from Vought to fly in competitive air races. They preferred modified versions of the F2G-1 and -2 originally built by Goodyear. Corsairs won the prestigious Thompson Trophy twice. In 1952, Vought manufactured 94 F4U-7s for the French Navy, and these aircraft saw action over Indochina but this order marked the end of Corsair production. In production longer than any other U.S. fighter to see service in World War II, Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster built a total of 12,582 F4Us. The United States Navy donated an F4U-1D to the National Air and Space Museum in September 1960. Vought delivered this Corsair, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number 50375, to the Navy on April 26, 1944. By October, pilots of VF-10 were flying it but in November, the airplane was transferred to VF-89 at Naval Air Station Atlantic City. It remained there as the squadron moved to NAS Oceana and NAS Norfolk. During February 1945, the Navy withdrew the airplane from active service and transferred it to a pool of surplus aircraft stored at Quantico, Virginia. In 1980, NASM craftsmen restored the F4U-1D in the colors and markings of a Corsair named "Sun Setter," a fighter assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-114 when that unit served aboard the "USS Essex" in July 1944.
25. AIRM_031206_0859.JPG: Atoll Missile Atoll is the NATO code name for the Soviet K-13, a copy of the U.S. Sidewinder air-to-air heat-seeking missile. The Atoll originated in 1958, when a Sidewinder fired from a Taiwanese F-86 fighter in the Taiwan Strait lodged in an aircraft of the People's Republic of China but did not detonate. China recovered the missile intact and turned it over to the Soviet Union, which copied the design, mass-produced the missile, and exported Atolls to its client states. The Atoll has the same basic dimensions as the Sidewinder but has been modified over the years. It is still in use.
26. AIRM_031206_0876.JPG: Sidewinder Missile The Sidewinder has been one of the most successful short-range air-to-air missiles for the United States, and its first heat-seeking guided missile to become operational. Many models have been produced since the mid-1950's, including the standard version displayed here. A variety of aircraft have carried Sidewinders, and variants have been adopted by about 40 countries. They have been used extensively in combat, including the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.
27. AIRM_031206_0904.JPG: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis "Fagot B" Arch rival to the U.S. F-86 in Korea, the MiG-15 shocked the West with its capabilities. The Soviets designed the aircraft in 1946 to answer an urgent need for a high-altitude day interceptor. It first flew in late 1947. The MiG-15 was the first Soviet jet to benefit from the British sale to Russia of the new Rolls Royce Nene and Derwent jet engines, which the Soviets immediately copied and refined. The resulting RD-500, Klimov RD-45, and modified VK-1 engines gave a powerful boost to Soviet jet technology. The MiG-15 featured the first production swept wing, pressurized cockpit, and ejection seat on a Soviet aircraft. Although Mikoyan and Gurevich were aware of German turbojet and swept-wing work, this design was wholly Russian, except for the engines. This MiG-15bis is a Chinese Ji-2 modification. The Smithsonian acquired it in 1985.
28. AIRM_031206_1056.JPG: Hawker Hurricane IIC Hawker Chief Designer Sydney Camm's Hurricane ranks with the most important aircraft designs in military aviation history. Designed in the late 1930's, when monoplanes were considered unstable and too radical to be successful, the Hurricane was the first British monoplane fighter and the first British fighter to exceed 483 kilometers (300 miles) per hour in level flight. Hurricane pilots fought the Luftwaffe and helped win the Battle of Britain in the summer in 1940. This Mark IIC was built at the Langley factory, near what is now Heathrow Airport, early in 1944. It served as a training aircraft during World War II in the Royal Air Force's 41 OTU.
29. AIRM_031206_1138.JPG: Boeing FB-5 The FB series of U.S. Navy fighters began with the Boeing Model 15 prototype in 1923. The Army procured several examples of the promising design, which it designated the PW-9. The Navy closely followed the Army's testing of the aircraft and added an order for 14 to an Army contract in 1924. The Navy designated their airplane the FB-1. The FB-2, FB-3, and FB-4 were simple FB-1's modified to test different components. The major production model of the series was the FB-5, which differed considerably from earlier models. Visibility and control problems were corrected by altering the wing stagger and installing a balancing rudder, along with other changes. The FB-5 displayed here served aboard the USS Langley and Saratoga. It was assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VF-6M for several months in 1930.
30. AIRM_031206_1162.JPG: Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk [the plane above the Blackhawk] Whether it was the Tomahawk, Warhawk, or Kittyhawk, the Curtiss P-40, in all its many variations, was a successful and versatile fighter aircraft during the first half of World War II. The shark-mouthed Tomahawks that General Claire Chennault led against the Japanese remain among the most popular fighter aircraft of the war. In the Philippines, Lt. Boyd D. Wagner became the first American ace of World War II while flying a P-40E when he shot down six Japanese aircraft during mid-December 1941. P-40s were first-line Army Air Corps fighters at the start of the war but they soon gave way to more advanced designs such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the Lockheed P-38 Lightening (see NASM collection for both aircraft). The P-40 is not ranked among the best overall fighters of the war but it was a rugged, effective design available in large numbers early in the war when America and her allies urgently required them. The P-40 remained in production from 1939 to the end of 1944 and a total of 13, 737 were built. Design engineer Dr. Donovan R. Berlin laid the foundation for the P-40 in 1935 when he designed the agile, but lightly-armed, P-36 fighter equipped with a radial, air-cooled engine. The Curtiss-Wright Corporation won a production contract for 210 P-36 airplanes in 1937-the largest Army airplane contract awarded since World War I. Worldwide, fighter aircraft designs matured rapidly during the late 1930s and it was soon obvious that the P-36 was no match for newer European designs. High altitude performance in particular became a priceless commodity. Berlin attempted to improve the P-36 by redesigning it in to accommodate a turbo-supercharged Allison V-1710-11 inline, liquid-cooled engine. The new aircraft was designated the XP-37 but proved unpopular with pilots. The turbo-supercharger was not reliable and Berlin had placed the cockpit too far back on the fuselage, restricting the view to the front of the fighter. Nonetheless, when the engine was not giving trouble, the more-streamlined XP-37 was much faster than the P-36. Curtiss tried again in 1938. Berlin had modified another P-36 with a new Allison V-1710-19 engine. It was designated the XP-40 and first flew on October 14, 1938. The XP-40 looked promising and Curtiss offered it to Army Air Corps leaders who evaluated the airplane at Wright Field, Ohio, in 1939, along with several other fighter proposals. The P-40 won the competition, after some modifications, and Curtiss received an order for 540. At this time, the armament package consisted of two .50 caliber machine guns in the fuselage and four .30 caliber machine guns in the wings. After production began in March 1940, France ordered 140 P-40s but the British took delivery of these airplanes when Paris surrendered. The British named the aircraft Tomahawks but found they performed poorly in high-altitude combat over northern Europe and relegated them to low-altitude operations in North Africa. The Russians bought more than 2,000 P-40s but details of their operational history remain obscure. When the United States declared war, P-40s equipped many of the Army Air Corps's front line fighter units. The plucky fighter eventually saw combat in almost every theater of operations but it was most effective in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. Of all the CBI groups the Curtiss fighter, the unit that gained the most notoriety of the entire war, and remains to this day synonymous with the P-40, is the American Volunteer Group (AVG) or the Flying Tigers. The unit was organized after the Chinese gave former U. S. Army Air Corps Captain Claire Lee Chennault almost 9 million dollars in 1940 to buy aircraft and recruit pilots to fly against the Japanese. Chennault's most important support within the Chinese government came from Madam Chiang Kai-shek, a Lt. Colonel in the Chinese Air Force and for a time, that service's overall commander. The money from China diverted an order placed by the British Royal Air Force for 100 Curtiss-Wright P-40B Tomahawks but buying airplanes was only one important step in creating a fighting air unit. Trained pilots were needed, and quickly, as tensions across the Pacific escalated. On April 15, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt quietly signed an Executive Order permitting Chennault to recruit directly from the ranks of American military reserve pilots. Within a few months, 350 flyers joined from pursuit (fighter), bomber, and patrol squadrons. In all, about half the pilots in the Flying Tigers came from the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps while the Army Air Corps supplied one-third. Factory test pilots at Bell, Consolidated, and other companies, and commercial airline pilots, filled the remaining slots. The Flying Tigers flew their first mission on December 20. The unit's name was derived from the ferocious fangs and teeth painted on the nose of AVG P-40s at either side of the distinctive, large radiator air intake. The idea is said to originate from pictures in a magazine that showed Royal Air Force Tomahawks of No. 112 Squadron, operating in the western desert of North Africa, adorned with fangs and teeth painted around their air intakes. The Flying Tigers were the first real opposition the Japanese military encountered. In less than 7 months of action, AVG pilots destroyed about 115 Japanese aircraft and lost only 11 planes in air-to-air combat. The AVG disbanded on July 4, 1942, and its assets, including a few pilots, became a part of the U. S. Army Air Forces (AAF) 23rd Fighter Group in the newly activated 14th Air Force. Chennault, now a Brigadier General, assumed command of the 14th AF and by war's end, the 23rd was one of the highest-scoring Army fighter groups. As wartime experience in the P-40 mounted, Curtiss made many modifications. Engineers added armor plate, better self-sealing fuel tanks, and more powerful engines. They modified the cockpit to improve visibility and changed the armament package to six, wing-mounted, .50 caliber machine guns. The P-40E Kittyhawk was the first model with this gun package and it entered service in time to serve in the AVG. The last model produced in quantity was the P-40N, the lightest P-40 built in quantity, and much faster than previous models. Curtiss built a single P-40Q. It was the fastest P-40 to fly (679 kph/422 mph) but it could not match the performance of the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang so Curtiss ended development of the P-40 series with this model. In addition to the AAF, many Allied nations bought and flew P-40s including England, France, China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Turkey. The Smithsonian P-40E did not serve in the U. S. military. Curtiss-Wright built it in Buffalo, New York, as Model 87-A3 and delivered it to Canada as a Kittyhawk IA on March 11, 1941. It served in No. 111 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). When the Japanese navy moved to attack Midway, they sent a diversionary battle group to menace the Aleutian Islands. Canada moved No. 111 Squadron to Alaska to help defend the region. After the Japanese threat diminished, the unit returned to Canada and eventually transferred to England without its P-40s. The RCAF declared the NASM Kittyhawk IA surplus on July 27, 1946, and the aircraft eventually returned to the United States. It had several owners before ending up with the Explorer Scouts youth group in Meridian, Mississippi. During the early 1960s, the Smithsonian began searching for a P-40 with a documented history of service in the AVG but found none. In 1964, the Exchange Club in Meridian donated the Kittyhawk IA to the National Aeronautical Collection, in memory of Mr. Kellis Forbes, a local man devoted to Boys Club activities. A U. S. Air Force Reserve crew airlifted the fighter to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on March 13, 1964. Andrews personnel restored the airplane in 1975 and painted it to represent an aircraft of the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, 14th Air Force.
31. AIRM_031215_0056.JPG: North American P-51C Mustang Excalibur III On May 29, 1951, Capt Charles F Blair flew Excalibur III from Norway across the North Pole to Alaska in a record-setting 10-1/2 hours. Using a system of carefully plotted "sun lines" he developed, Blair was able to navigate with precision where conventional magnetic compasses often failed. Four months earlier, he had flown Excalibur III from New York to London in less than 8 hours, breaking the existing mark by over an hour. Excalibur III first belonged to a famed aviator, A. Paul Mantz, who added extra fuel tanks for long-distance racing to this standard P-51C fighter. With it, Mantz won the 1946 and 1947 Bendix air race and set a transcontinental speed record in 1947 when the airplane was named Blaze of Noon. Blair purchased it from Mantz in 1949 and renamed it Excalibur III, after the Sikorsky VS-44 flying boat he flew for American Export Airlines.
32. AIRM_031215_0064.JPG: Piper J-3 Cub First built in 1938, the Piper J-3 earned fame as a trainer and sport plane. Its success made the name "Cub" a generic term for light airplanes. The little yellow tail dragger remains one of the most recognized designs in aviation. J-3 Cubs and subsequent models are still found at fields around the world. Thousands of pilots, including three-fourths of those in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, trained in Cubs. William T. Piper and Piper Aircraft are one of general aviation's greatest success stories. Piper took Gilbert Taylor's Tiger Kitten and E-2 designs and, with Walter Jamoneau, built the Taylor and Piper J-2, then the legendary Piper J-3. When production ended in 1947, 19,888 Piper Cubs had been built. This Cub was built in 1941 and accumulated more than 6,000 hours of flying time before being restored in 1975.
33. AIRM_031215_0068.JPG: Lockheed P-38J Lightning [Bottom plane] In the P-38, Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and his team of designers created one of the most successful twin-engine fighters ever flown by any nation. From 1942 to 1945, U.S. Army Air Force pilots flew P-38's over Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific, and from the frozen Aleutian Islands to the sun-baked deserts of North Africa. Lightning pilots in the Pacific theater downed more Japanese aircraft than pilots flying any other Allied warplane. Maj Richard I. Bong, America's leading fighter ace, flew this P-38J-10-LO on April 16, 1945, at Wright Field, Ohio, to evaluate an experimental method of interconnecting the movement of the throttle and propeller control levers. His right engine exploded in flight before he could conduct the experiment.
34. AIRM_031215_0147.JPG: Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai "George" "George" is the unlikely Allied nickname for the best Japanese naval fighter produced in quantity during World War II. This land-based fighter sprang directly from a floatplane fighter design, the N1K1 "Rex". This Shiden Kai is one of only three remaining today. American intelligence units collected four of them from various Japanese airfields and shipped them to the United States. Along with a large group of German and Japanese airplanes, this George remained outdoors on display and steadily deteriorated, until the Smithsonian acquired it in 1983. It was loaned to the Champlin Fighter Museum in Mesa, Arizona in 1991 for restoration, which took three years. The restored Shiden Kai wears the colors and markings of the 343rd Kokutai, a unit stationed at Omura Naval Air Station in 1945.
35. AIRM_031215_0225.JPG: Hs 293 A-1 Missile Germany developed the Hs 293 air-launched missile in World War II for use against ships or ground targets. It was basically a glide bomb assisted by a liquid-fuel rocket that fired for 10 seconds. The Hs 293 was carried under the wings or in the bomb bay of an He 111, He 177, Fw 200, or Do 217 aircraft. Its warhead was a modified SC 500 bomb containing Trialene 105 high explosive. A bombardier guided the missile by means of a joy stick and radio control. Beginning in mid-1943, Hs 293's sank several Allied ships, mostly in the Mediterranean theater. Although Germany developed many experimental versions, only the Hs 293 A-1 was produced in quantity.
36. AIRM_031215_0250.JPG: Piper PA-18 Super Cub The PA-18 Super Cub was a strengthened PA-11, itself a modification of the original J-3 Cub. With only a few minor changes and 150-horsepower engine, the PA-18 still looked like a Cub, although it came in several paint schemes and lacked the familiar bear logo on its tail. About 8,500 Super Cubs were built at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and they proved popular as private and utility aircraft and as military trainers. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) used this Super Cub in its uranium exploration program in the West during the 1950's. The rough and sometimes inaccessible terrain made an airborne survey a logical choice, and the AEC's fleet of 10 low, slow, and inexpensive Super Cubs maintained an enviable record of safety and reliability. A scintillation counter used to detect gamma radiation is in the rear of the airplane.
37. AIRM_031215_0257.JPG: Curtiss 1A Gulfhawk The one-of-a-kind Gulfhawk was flown from 1930 to 1936 by Al Williams, former chief test pilot for the U.S. Navy and famous acrobatic pilot. Originally built by Curtiss as a Hawk I export demonstrator with a Curtiss D-12 liquid-cooled engine, it was converted to a Hawk 1A with a Wright Cyclone air-cooled radial engine, then further modified by Williams several times. He flew the Gulfhawk in military and public air shows to promote military aviation during the interwar years, when aviation budgets were low. By 1933, Williams managed and flew for the aviation department of Gulf Oil Company, which painted the Gulfhawk in its familiar color scheme of orange with white and blue trim. After Williams' death, movie stunt pilot Frank Tallman restored and flew the airplane and displayed it between shows at the Tallmantz Movieland of the Air Museum.
38. AIRM_031215_0282.JPG: Sukhoi Su-26M The Sukhoi Design Bureau, makers of Soviet and Russian military aircraft, designed the Su-26 in 1983 for unlimited aerobatic competition. The Su-26M is made of more than 50 percent composite materials and has a special symmetrical wing section and arched cantilever titanium landing gear. It was designed to handle loads from +12 Gs to -10 Gs and is a superior aircraft for the most highly skilled pilot. It can perform spectacular gyroscopic maneuvers and quick, multiple snap rolls, and can nearly hover from its propeller. Soviet pilots flew Su-26M's to multiple aerobatic titles. This Su-26M was built in 1990 and was originally painted in the unique "Russian purple" color. The Soviet National Aerobatic team flew 222 flights in the aircraft in 1990 and 1991. U.S. aerobatic pilot Gerry Molidor bought it in 1998 and flew it in advanced and unlimited competition until 2001.
39. AIRM_031215_0298.JPG: Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae Flying this specially modified Lockheed 5C Vega, famed aviator Wiley Post set many records and pioneered several aviation technologies. In 1931, Post and navigator Harold Gatty flew it around the world in eight days, and in 1933 Post became the first to fly around the world solo, taking only seven days. In 1935, while wearing the world's first pressure suit, which he helped design, Post flew the Vega into the stratosphere, reaching 547 kilometers (340 miles) per hour while cruising the jet stream. The Winnie Mae was named for the daughter of F.C. Hall, the original owner and a close friend of Post. Designed by John K "Jack" Northrop, the Lockheed Vega first flew in 1927. It was the first aircraft with the NACA cowl, which streamlined the airflow around and through the engine. This decreased drag and increased power plant cooling.
40. AIRM_031215_0301.JPG: Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat Conquest 1 In 1969, Darryl Greenamyer broke the 30-year-old speed record for piston-engine aircraft held by the German Messerschmitt Me 209 when he reached 777 kilometers (483 miles) per hour in this heavily modified Grumman Bearcat. Greenamyer also won the National Air Races six times with this airplane before he donated it to the Smithsonian in 1977. Grumman designed the Bearcat late in World War II as a replacement for the F6F Hellcat Navy fighter. It was noted for its exceptional climbing ability and maneuverability. Conquest 1 featured a shorter wingspan than the production Bearcat, a special small bubble canopy, a larger propeller taken from a Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and a propeller spinner from a North American P-51D Mustang. Special high-octane gasoline, fuel additives, and putty-sealed gaps to reduce drag greatly increased its speed.
41. AIRM_031215_0342.JPG: SPAD XVI The SPAD XVI is a two-seat version of the highly successful, single-seat SPAD fighters of World War I. It was introduced in January 1918. The first SPAD two-seater design to see front-line service was the SPAD XI. The SPAD XVI was an attempt to improve upon the XI by upgrading the engine to a slightly more powerful Lorraine-Dietrich 8Bb. It was also a bit faster but had a lower ceiling and equally poor handling qualities, and thus offered no overall improvement. Nonetheless, about 1,000 SPAD XVI's were built, and they ultimately equipped 32 French escadrilles. This SPAD XVI is significant because of its association with Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell, who piloted it on many observation flights over the front lines during pivotal battles in the last months of the war.
42. AIRM_031215_0395.JPG: Northrop N-1M [the flying wing] John K. "Jack" Northrop's dream of a flying wing became a reality on July 3, 1940, when the N-1M (Northrop Model 1 Mockup) first flew. One of the world's preeminent aircraft designers and creator of the Lockheed Vega and Northrop Alpha, Northrop had experimented with flying wings for over a decade, believing they would have less drag and greater efficiency than conventional designs. His 1929 flying wing, while successful, had twin tail booms and a conventional tail. In the N-1M he created a true flying wing. Built of plywood around a tubular steel frame, the N-1M was powered by two 65-horsepower Lycoming engines, later replaced with two 120-horsepower Franklins. While its flying characteristics were marginal, the N-1M led to other designs, including the Northrop XB-35 and YB-49 strategic bombers and ultimately the B-2 stealth bomber. Nagler-Rolz NR 54 V2 [directly behind the flying wing]
43. AIRM_031215_0427.JPG: Bowlus 1-S-2100 Senior Albatross Falcon Hawley Bowlus developed the Senior Albatross series in 1933 from a design he called the Bowlus Super Sailplane. At the time German designers and pilots led the world in building and flying high-performance gliders, and they strongly influenced Bowlus. He and German glider pioneer Martin Schempp taught courses in aircraft design and construction at Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, California, where they led the group of students who built the Super Sailplane in 1932. Warren E. Eaton acquired this sailplane from Bowlus in 1934. Eaton had flown SPAD XIII fighters for the U.S. Army Air Service's 103rd Aero Squadron at Issoudon, France and was credited with downing one enemy aircraft. After the war, Eaton founded the Soaring Society of America and became the organization's first president.
44. AIRM_031215_0447.JPG: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F "Fishbed C" The MiG-21 was the Soviet Union's first truly modern, second-generation jet fighter. Testing began in 1956, and the first version entered service in 1960 as the MiG-21F-13. Soviet designers developed a unique "tailed delta" configuration with a very thin delta wing, which gave the aircraft maneuverability, high speed, good medium-altitude performance, and adequate takeoff and landing characteristics. The MiG-21 became the standard Soviet clear-air interceptor. With the addition of radar, more powerful engines, and other modifications, it became a multi-role fighter. More than 6,000 MiG-21's of 12 types were flown by over three dozen nations. This MiG-21F-13 was displayed in a Soviet military hardware exhibit at Bolling Air Force Base, Maryland, as part of a "Soviet Awareness" training program. Its service history remains unknown.
45. AIRM_031215_0484.JPG: Grumman A-6E Intruder The Navy's experience in the Korean War showed the need for a new long-range strike aircraft with high subsonic performance at very low altitude -- an aircraft that could penetrate enemy defenses and find and destroy small targets in any weather. The Grumman A-6 Intruder was designed with these needs in mind. The Intruder first flew in 1960 and was delivered to the Navy in 1963 and the Marine Corps in 1964. The Navy accepted this airplane as an "A" model in 1968. It served under harsh combat conditions in the skies over Vietnam and is a veteran of the 1991 Desert Storm campaign, when it flew missions during the first 72 hours of the war. It has accumulated more than 7,500 flying hours, over 6,500 landings, 767 carrier landings, and 712 catapult launches.
46. AIRM_031215_0487.JPG: McDonnell F-4S Phantom II The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps and the air forces of 12 other nations have flown the multi-role Phantom II. In this aircraft, then a Navy F-4J, on May 18, 1972, Cmdr S C Flynn and his radar intercept officer, Lt W. H. John, spotted three enemy MIG fighters off the coast of Vietnam and shot down one MiG-21 with a Sidewinder air-to-air missile. This Phantom also flew combat air patrols and bombing missions during the Linebacker II bombing campaign that same year. Later assigned to the Marine Corps, this F-4J was extensively modernized and designated an F-45. Changes included improving the engines (smokeless), hydraulics, electronics, and wiring; modifying the wings to increase maneuverability; and adding a radar homing and warning antenna, as well as formation tape lights on the fuselage and vertical tail.
47. AIRM_031215_0521.JPG: Boeing P-26A Peashooter The Boeing P-26A of the mid-to-late 1930's introduced the concept of the higher performance, all metal monoplane fighter design, which would become standard during World War II. A radical departure from wood-and-fabric biplanes, the Peashooter nonetheless retained an open-cockpit, fixed landing gear, and external wing bracing. Most P-26A's stationed overseas were eventually sold to the Philippines or assigned to the Panama Canal Department Air Force, a branch of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Several were sent to China and one to Spain. This one was based at Selfridge Field in Michigan and Fairfield Air Depot in Ohio between its acceptance by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1934 and its transfer to the Canal Zone in 1938. It was given to Guatemala in 1942 and flew in the Guatemalan air force until 1954. Guatemala donated it to the Smithsonian in 1957.
48. AIRM_031215_0528.JPG: Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 "Yellow Peril" In 1934, the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia was tasked to manufacture a new primary trainer for the U.S. Navy. Following successful tests, this little biplane trainer was built in both land and seaplane versions. The Navy initially ordered 179 N3N-1 models, and the factory began producing more than 800 NCN-3 models in 1938. U.S. Navy primary flight training schools used N3N's extensively throughout World War II. A few of the seaplane version were returned for primary training at the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1961, they became the last biplanes retired from U.S. military service. This N3N-3 was transferred from Cherry Point in Annapolis in 1946, where it served as a seaplane trainer. It was restored and displayed at the Naval Academy Museum before being transferred here.
49. AIRM_031215_0560.JPG: Grob 102 Standard Astir III Shortly before 1p.m. on February 17, 1786, a tow plane hauled Richard Harris and this Grob 102 sailplane aloft over central California. He unhooked the towline and soon found weak lift that he worked to an altitude of 10,640 meters (35,000 feet). Strong lift then pushed the glider up at a rate of 182-243 meters (600-800 feet) per minute. At 12,768 meters (42,000 feet), Harris's eyes began to water, and his teardrops immediately froze and formed ice cobwebs. Even file layers of clothing could not insulate him from temperatures that dropped to -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit) inside the cockpit. A failing oxygen system forced him to stop his climb at 14,899 meters (49,009 feet), and he returned triumphantly to earth using backup oxygen. This world sailplane altitude record bettered the old mark set by Pau Bickle in 1961 by more than 821 meters (2,700 feet).
50. AIRM_031215_0583.JPG: Monnett Moni Schoolteacher John Monnett designed the Moni during the early 1980's, then coined the term "air recreation vehicle" to describe it. Monnett's design almost captured all the merits that so many leisure pilots longed to find in one aircraft. The Moni looked great just sitting on the ramp, it performed well, and someone reasonably handy with average shop tools could construct one in their own garage. Harold C. Weston built this one and flew it more than 40 hours, before donating it to the Smithsonian in 1992.
51. AIRM_031215_0623.JPG: Loudenslager Laser 200 [In front] With the Laser 200, Leo Loudenslager won an unprecedented seven U.S. National Aerobatic Champion titles between 1975 and '82, as well as the 1980 World Champion title. The airplane originated as a Stephens Akro, a sleek aerobatic design, but by 1975 Loudenslager had completely modified the airplane with a new forward fuselage, wings, tail, and cockpit. The Laser 200 emerged as lighter, stronger, and more powerful, enabling Loudenslager to perform sharper and more difficult maneuvers. Loudenslager's legacy is evident in the tumbling and twisting but precise routines flown by current champions and air show pilots. The Laser 200 heavily influenced the look and performance of the next generation of aerobatic aircraft, including the Extra, which dominated competition throughout the 1990's.
52. AIRM_031215_0664.JPG: Lear Jet 23 The first Lear Jets, the Model 23 Continentals, were the first products of the original Lear Jet Corporation for the new field of business and personal jet aviation. So significant was the design that for years "Lear Jet" was synonymous with "bizjet." William P. Lear Sr. initiated the Lear Jet's development in 1959. The aircraft drew upon the structural quality of the Swiss AFA P-16 strike-fighter and featured a fuselage that narrowed at each side where the wing and engine nacelles extended outward -- a design concept known as area rule -- to provide smooth airflow around the engines. Successive Lear Jet models set many speed records. The Lear Jet line is now part of the Bombardier Aerospace family, which includes Challenger and Global Express aircraft. This is the second Lear Jet built and the first production Model 23. Lear Jet used it as a test aircraft.
53. AIRM_031215_0671.JPG: Arrow Sport A2-60 [the yellow craft w/G-AARO] The Arrow Sport A2-60 is a rare example of an alternative design, depression-era biplane. It complements the Smithsonian's Kreider-Reisner Challenger and Waco 9, conventional tandem open-cockpit biplanes. The Arrow Sport offered a side-by-side, dual-control cockpit arrangement. Its cantilever wings were attached only to the upper center section strut and lower fuselage -- they had no other struts or external wires for bracing. However, enough pilots were uncomfortable without some sort of visible wing support that "N" struts later became standard. Equipped with 60- or 90-horsepower LeBond engines, Arrow Sports made excellent trainers. About 100 were built through 1931, then more, at a slower pace, through the 1930's. This airplane had a succession of owners and even spent some time in England.
54. AIRM_031215_0688.JPG: The section in the back is a Subway sub shop that wasn't there when I came the first week. They actually had food this time!
55. AIRM_031215_0755.JPG: Kreider-Reisner C-4C Challenger [North Penn Airways sign] Amron Kreider and Lewis Reisner of Hagerstown, Maryland, built the Kreider-Reisner C-4C Challenger, a light and efficient biplane, as a replacement for aging Curtiss Jennys and Standards. Beginning in 1926, Kreider-Reisner built a series of three-place, open-cockpit aircraft that flew exceptionally well. The addition of a Wright J-6 engine made the design especially reliable. In April 1929, Kreider-Reisner became a subsidiary of the Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Company, which redesignated the C-4C Challenger line as Fairchild KR-34. C-4's and KR-34's flew as sport aircraft, air taxis, and press planes, and in the 1929 National Air Tour. This C-4C was built during the parent company transition period and carries the Challenger designation. It flew with many owners and is restored to reflect its association with North Penn Airways.
56. AIRM_031215_0809.JPG: Kugisho MXY7 Ohka Model 22 Late in 1944, the Japanese Navy began to consider using human-guided missiles to crash themselves into Allied warships. Since the epic Battle of Midway in 1942, the tide of war had swung decisively against Japan and Allied air and sea power continued to wipe out the Japanese war machine. On October 19, Vice-Admiral Onishi Takijino recommended that the navy form special groups of men and aircraft and launch them against American warships gathering to conduct amphibious landings in the Philippines. To the Allies, these units became known as Kamikaze, or suicide squads. The Japanese used the word Tokko, or Special Attack. A number of intellectual concepts motivated the Tokko pilots. The ultimate sacrifice to save homeland, countrymen, and emperor; duty to "Bushido," the warrior code of honor and conduct; and the belief that Tokko missions could reprise the miracle of the original "divine wind," a typhoon that destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281. It is estimated that by the end of the war, 5,000 pilots had died making Tokko attacks and the damage they wrought was severe. During the invasion of Okinawa in April 1945, the U. S. Navy lost 21 vessels sunk and 217 damaged. Casualties were horrific. Navy crews suffered 4,300 fatalities and 5,400 wounded, or seven percent of all crew casualties incurred during the entire Pacific war. Tokko pilots flew almost every type of Japanese military airplane but initial operations showed the need for an aircraft designed and built specifically for the purpose. The First Naval Air Technical Bureau (abbreviated Kugisho) at Yokosuka answered this requirement with the single-seat Ohka 11. This flying bomb packed a large warhead in the nose and employed three small rocket engines mounted in the tail to extend the range. Later, a jet engine replaced the rockets and boosted range to about 130 km (81 miles). The Japanese designated this jet-propelled version the Ohka 22 (see NASM collection). The Ohka was actually a human-guided missile, brought within striking distance snugged to the belly of twin-engine bombers such as the Mitsubishi G4M BETTY bomber (NASM has the remains of a BETTY forward fuselage section and engines). Little or no pilot training was required to fly the Ohka. The navy devised a short, introductory training session probably consisting of ground instruction followed by one or two flights. For flight training, Kugisho built the MXY7 K-1 Ohka. This was an unpowered glider version of the single-seat Okha 11. A bomber carried the trainer aloft but the airplane touched down on retractable landing skids. Water ballast replaced the warhead. The pilot dumped the ballast before landing to reduce touchdown speed. Kugisho built about 45 K-1 trainers but the aircraft was difficult to control, especially after the pilot dumped ballast. The aircraft probably killed several trainees. Kugisho engineers developed an improved trainer, the two-seat MXY7 K-2 Ohka 43B, when they substituted a second cockpit for the warhead/ballast compartment. They gave the aircraft a landing skid, flaps, and a single jet motor of the type used in early versions of the Ohka 11. The motor extended training time in the air and allowed student pilots to practice flying the bomb with power. Using this MXY7 K-2 trainer, the navy also taught pilots to fly a ground-based Ohka called the Model 43. A catapult propelled the Model 43 down short guide rails and into the air. The Japanese could hide the whole apparatus in caves. Development began so late in the war that Kugisho completed only two of these trainers before hostilities ended. The NASM Ohka K-2 is the last remaining example of this frightful, desperate technology. The U. S. Navy transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1974 in deteriorated condition and without wings.
57. AIRM_031215_0823.JPG: Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI Toryu "Nick" The Kawasaki Ki-45 required more time to develop and place in service than almost every other Japanese warplane of World War II. Takeo Doi, chief project engineer, began work on this design in January 1938 but the first production aircraft did not fly combat until the fall of 1942. When it finally entered service, the Ki-45 soon became popular with flight crews who used it primarily for attacking ground targets and ships including U. S. Navy Patrol Torpedo (P. T.) boats. The Toryu was also the only Japanese Army night fighter to see action during the war. Japanese strategists observed the Americans and the Europeans design and build a number of twin-engine, two-seat, heavy fighters during the mid- and late 1930s. The Japanese Army needed a long-range fighter to cover great distances during any large-scale conflict in the Pacific and army planners felt that a twin-engine design could meet this need. In March 1937, the Japanese Army Staff sent a rather vague specification for such an airplane to a number of manufacturers. Kawasaki, Nakajima, and Mitsubishi responded, but the latter two dropped out of the competition to concentrate on other projects. Between October and December 1937, the army amended the specification with additional information and directed Kawasaki to begin the design work. The specification described a two-seat fighter with a speed of 540 kph (336 mph), an operating altitude of 2-5,000 m (6,560-16,405 ft), and endurance of over 5 hours. The army chose the Bristol Mercury engine, built under license, to power the new aircraft. In January 1939, Kawasaki rolled out the first prototype but initial flight tests did not impress. The airplane was too slow to meet the army speed requirement, and it suffered mechanical problems with the landing gear and engines. Top speed remained a problem, despite major changes on the second prototype, and the army put the project on hold. In April 1940, Kawasaki substituted 14-cylinder Nakajima engines, rated at 1000 horsepower each, for the original 9-cylinder motors rated at 820 horsepower each. Engineer Doi also revised the engine nacelles and prop spinners. These modifications increased top speed to 520 kph (323 mph) but the revisions continued. Kawasaki narrowed the fuselage, increased the wing span and area, revised the nacelles again, and modified the armament package. The new aircraft did not fly until May-June 1941 but performance at last met army standards and they ordered the Toryu into production. Kawasaki delivered the first Ki-45 Kai (modified) in August 1942 but Toryus did not reach combat units in China until October. Unlike many Japanese Navy fighter airplanes, the Ki-45 aircraft had crew armor and fire-resistant fuel tanks. These airplanes also carried a heavy gun battery that usually consisted of 20 mm and 37 mm cannons. Toryus operated in the New Guinea area against Allied shipping and attacked Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the 5th Air Force. The Japanese also employed some Ki-45s as night fighters. Field personnel modified these Toryus by substituting the upper fuselage fuel tank for two 12.7 mm machine guns mounted to fire obliquely upwards at a target's vulnerable belly. This worked so well that the army told Kawasaki to manufacture a night fighter version of the Toryu-the Ki-45 Kai (Mod. C)-with two 20 mm cannon, mounted obliquely, and a 37 mm cannon mounted in the lower fuselage. In June 1944, 20th Air Force bomber crews flew Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on the first raids against the Japanese home islands since Doolittle's attack back in May 1942. Bad weather and attacks by Japanese fighter interceptors, including Ki-45 Toryus, hampered these raids. On one mission, Ki-45 pilots downed eight Superfortresses. On March 9, 1945, the 20th Air Force began flying low altitude attacks at night using incendiary bombs. These missions marked a radical departure from the traditional American high-altitude, daylight bombing strikes. The Japanese fought back with anti-aircraft gunfire and night fighter attacks. As many as six Sentais (groups) of NICK night fighters defended the home islands by war's end. The Ki-45 Kai Hai (Mod. C) the Japanese Army's only night fighter, operated alongside Navy night fighters including the Nakajima J1N1-S Gekko (IRVING) and P1Y1-S Byakko (FRANCIS). Examples of the IRVING and FRANCIS are also preserved in NASM's collection. The NASM Ki-45 Kai Hai (Mod. C) is the last known survivor of 1,700 Ki-45s built by Kawasaki. The company built a total of 477 Kai Hai C night fighters. The NASM airplane was produced in the second of three batches and the thrust-augmentation exhausts fitted to the engines to improve speed and reduce glare at night identify aircraft in this batch. This NICK was one of about 145 Japanese airplanes returned to the United States for evaluation after the war. The Navy shipped them to Norfolk, Virginia, aboard the escort carrier USS Barnes. On December 8, 1945, the Navy transferred the NICK to the U. S. Army Air Forces at Langley Field, Virginia. Personnel at Langley shipped the Ki-45 to the Air Depot at Middletown, Pennsylvania, for overhaul and flight test. During the next few months, the aircraft was extensively test-flown at Wright Field, Ohio, and Naval Air Station Anacostia in the District of Columbia. During the army's evaluation, pilots reported that NICK handled very poorly on the ground. They also did not like the cramped cockpit, excessive vibration, and the poor visibility. Takeoff distance, climb speed, flight characteristics, approach and landing, and maneuverability were all rated as good to excellent. In June 1946, the Army Air Forces delivered the aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air Museum (forerunner to the NASM) museum storage site at Park Ridge, Illinois.
58. AIRM_031215_0850.JPG: Boeing-Stearman N2S-5 Kaydet Over 10,000 Stearman trainers were built by Boeing's Wichita Division, which had purchased the Stearman Company in the late 1930's. These Kaydets, along with Fairchilds and Ryans, served as the backbone of the U.S. Army and Navy primary training in World War II. The original U.S. Army Kaydet was the PT-13 with a 220-horsepower Lycoming R-680 engine. The only complete standardization of an Army and Navy production design aircraft during World War II was achieved with the Boeing-Stearman E-75, which served the Army as the PT-13D and the Navy as the N2S-5. This Kaydet was accepted by the Navy on December 7, 1943, exactly two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The airplane was flown to the Ottumwa, Iowa, Naval Air Station, where it was used to train naval aviation cadets until 1946.
59. AIRM_031215_0956.JPG: Grumman G-21 Goose First flown in 1937, the G-21 Goose was Grumman's first single-wing aircraft, its first twin-engine aircraft, and its first aircraft used as a commercial airliner. Capable of alighting on water or land, this remarkable aircraft has served for many decades in a variety of roles that have confirmed the strength and durability of its original design. The G-21 was designed as an "air yacht" for wealthy New York businessmen, so they could commute from their homes on Long Island to their Manhattan offices. It soon found a market as an airliner, military transport, and utility aircraft. After World War II, small airlines in Alaska, the Caribbean, and California adopted G-21's. This Goose flew with several airlines before the Naval Aviation Museum acquired it and later transferred it to the Smithsonian. Buehler Aviation Research of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, restored it.
60. AIRM_031215_0969.JPG: Dassault Falcon 20 Flying this Dassault Falcon 20, Federal Express revolutionized the air express industry in 1973 when it pioneered the overnight delivery of high-priority packages. FedEx purchased 33 of the popular French Dassault Falcon 20 business jets as its first aircraft, modifying each with a cargo door and a strengthened floor. The Falcon was fast and reliable, had an excellent payload for its size, and could reach any point in the United States from the company's Memphis, Tennessee hub. This airplane, Federal Express's first, was named "Wendy," after the daughter of FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith. FedEx donated it to the Smithsonian in 1983. Derived from the Mystere IV fighter, the Falcon was originally designed to carry 10 passengers. Almost 500 were produced from 1963 to 1983.
61. AIRM_031215_0993.JPG: North American Rockwell Shrike Commander 500S Sweetie Face Flown by R.A. "Bob" Hoover for 20 years, N500RA is the most recognized Shrike Commander in the world. Hoover began flying in 1937, flew 58 missions in World War II, and was an outstanding military and civilian test pilot. He set altitude and speed records in several North American and Rockwell aircraft and performed at air shows in the Shrike, P-51 Mustang, T-39, Aero Commander, and Sabreliner. The Shrike Commander, a descendent of the 1948 Aero Commander L-3805, is a twin-engine, four-place, pressurized business aircraft. Hoover purchased his Shrike in 1979 and, with his extraordinary test pilot and fighter pilot skills, brought this simple business aircraft design to international acclaim. In it, he performed his signature deadstick (no engine) routine of loop, roll, 180-degree turn, landing, and taxi to air show center.
62. AIRM_031215_1061.JPG: Junkers Ju 52/3m Affectionately known in Germany as Tante Ju, or "Auntie Ju," the Junkers Ju 52/3m was one of the most successful European airliners ever made. Designed for Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1932, the Ju 52/3m was a tri-motor version of the single-engine Ju-52. It could carry 17 passengers or 3 tons of freight and had excellent short-field performance. By the mid-1930's, airlines throughout Europe and Latin America were flying them. In World War II, they were the Luftwaffe's primary transports, and some served as bombers. A total of 4,835 Ju 52/3m's were built, including 170 under license by Construcciones Aeronauticas (CASA) in Spain and more than 400 by Ateliers Aeronautiques de Colombes in France. This airplane is a Spanish-built CASA 352-L. Lufthansa German Airlines acquired it for promotional flights, then donated it to the Smithsonian in 1987.
63. AIRM_031215_1076.JPG: Travel Air D4D Pepsi Skywriter The Pepsi Skywriter is one of more than 1,200 Travel Air open-cockpit biplanes built between 1925 and 1930. Popular and rugged, Travel Airs earned their keep as utility workhorses and record breakers. The design was the first success for three giants of the general aviation industry, Lloyd Stearman, Walter Beech, and Clyde Cessna, who in 1925 established the Travel Air Manufacturing Company in Wichita, Kansas. From 1931 to 1953, Andy Stinis performed skywriting in this airplane for Pepsi-Cola. During those years, skywriting with smoke was a premier form of advertising, and Pepsi-Cola used it more than any other company. Pepsi-Cola acquired the airplane in 1973 and used it for air show and advertising duty until retiring it in 2000. Peggy Davies and Suzanne Oliver, the world's only active female skywriters since 1977, performed in it.
64. AIRM_031215_1101.JPG: Caudron G.4 Although World War I fighter aircraft often command greater attention, the most influential role of aviation in the war was reconnaissance. An early light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, the French Cauldron G.4 was a principal type used when these critical air power roles were being conceived and pioneered. The extensive deployment of the Caudron G.4 for reconnaissance during World War I made it an especially important early military aircraft. Despite its speed and armament limitations, the G.4 was quite reliable, had a good rate of climb, and was pleasant to fly -- characteristics that also made it a good training aircraft. Many Allied pilots received their initial flight training in G.4's. This one is among the oldest surviving bombers in the world, and one of the very few remaining multi-engine aircraft from the war.
65. AIRM_031215_1132.JPG: Frankfort TG-1A Stan Corcoran's TG-1A (Training Glider Model 1A) was the first aircraft selected by the U.S. Army to prepare glider pilot trainees for handling the ponderous Waco CG-4A combat assault glider. The Waco could be difficult to handle with heavy loads, and it demanded a skilled pilot. To fill the urgent need for a training glider to prepare pilots for the Waco, the Army awarded Corcoran's firm a contract in May 1942 to build 40 TG-1As, each costing $2,775. Wacos later carried Army infantry into several battles during World War II, including the famous predawn attack on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
66. AIRM_031215_1260.JPG: Bede BD-5B Flying 322 kilometers (200 miles) per hour, propelled by a 40-horsepower engine in an airplane that private citizens could build from a $3,000 kit, seems fantastic. But just such an aircraft, the Bede BD-5, was offered for sale in 1970. By mid-1973, more than 4,000 people had placed advance orders for this wonder plane. The project failed, however, mainly because the Bede team could not find a suitable engine. Some builders successfully adapted various engines to power their BD-5s. The two men who built this one (a task that took them more than 5,000 hours) installed a Honda Civic automotive power plant, boosted by a turbosupercharger for extra power. In 2002, the moderator of a popular BD-5 Internet discussion group estimated that there were 20 BD-5's flying and another 200 to 300 that were airworthy but in storage.
67. AIRM_031215_1278.JPG: Various spy cameras used in airplanes
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2003 photos: Trips this year: Three-week trip this year out west, mostly in Utah. Equipment this year: I decided my Epson digital camera wasn't quite enough for what I wanted. Since I already had Compact Flash chips for it, I had to find another camera which used CF chips. That brought me to buy the Fujifilm S602 Zoom in March 2003. A great digital camera, I used it exclusively for an entire year. Number of photos taken this year: 68,000.
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