The Best Museum EVER
My roommate Brad and I decided to take a short road trip today to the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. This museum is a must see. And best of all, admission is free!
The museum's collection contains hundreds of aircraft that date from the dawn of aviation to the F-22. One of the most special areas is The Presidential Gallery. It contains several aircraft that served US Presidents from FDR to Bill Clinton. Of course, the jewel of the collection is SAM26000...
one of several Boeing VC-137 (707-320B) aircraft that served US Presidents. SAM26000 is most famous for being the aircraft that carried the body of John F. Kennedy from Dallas in November 1963 as Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the next President. You can still see the marks where the bulkhead was cut to make room for Kennedy's casket in the aft main cabin. The crew refused to let his casket travel in the cargo bay. You can just feel the history in the air walking through through this famous aircraft.
This is a B-58 Hustler. Like all of the aircraft at the museum, it is pristine. I think the B-58 is one of the most wicked looking aircraft ever designed. The thing with orange paint on it is an escape pod. There were 3 on the Hustler, each capable of safely ejecting a crew member at 50,000+ feet at Mach 2. I love this plane.
This is Bockscar, the Boeing B-29 that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9th, 1945. There are also replicas of both Fat Man & Little Boy next to Bockscar.
This is the North American XB-70 Valkyrie. It is massive. It was conceived in the 1950's as a supersonic high altitude bomber capable of Mach 3. It first flew in 1964 and achieved Mach 3 in 1965. Only two were ever built and the other one crashed after a mid-air collision.
The XB-70 is powered by 6 specifically built GE engines with afterburners and 30,000 lbs of thrust each.
The cost of the project was enormous and the Valkyrie project was retired in 1969 and has been at the museum ever since. Photos do not do this aircraft justice. The cockpit sits as high as one of a 747. 
Look at the size of those jet pipes! Ever seen a plane with six in a row? Me either.
I took about 100 photos at the museum, but Blogger only allows 5 photos at a time, so check them out and enjoy.
