Udvar-Hazy (Part 3)

The Smithsonian was blessed with a number of captured enemy aircraft after World War Two was over. Those of interest to the US Military were brought back here for study, and a good number eventually were sent to the Smithsonian. (Insert tear here for those that were just scrapped.)
Notable in the Smithsonian collection is this German jet-powered Arado Ar-234 "Blitz" bomber.

Nine of these were captured in Norway at war's end. Four were shipped back here for study at Wright-Patterson Air Base. This is the only one existing today.

Next to the Arado is a Dornier Do 335 fighter, believed to have been the fastest prop-driven fighter built. The Germans claimed to have had it up to 474mph in level flight.

It had two engines, one in the front and one in the rear. The one in the rear apparently had cooling issues. The spindly landing gear was another problem. It sure was tall though.
48 were built by war's end. Two were brought back here for study, and this, like the Arado, is the only survivor.

And here's one that I'd give my left foot to fly...at least one of them. It's a Focke-Wulf FW-190, and these were supposed to be some sweet flyers indeed. It could reportedly whip any Allied fighter until the Spitfire MkIX came along in late 1942. It was also the only German fighter to use a radial engine.

I tried to get OldAFSarge to pull a fire alarm so we could sneak it out the emergency exit but his wife and daughter walked up before we could pull it off.

Hey, it's a shiny new Curtiss Helldiver!

This was not here last time I was looking around.

Oh, wait...it was. It was in the restoration shop in pieces. Looks like it's done now, and done darn nice.

So what't in the restoration shop now?

It's a B-26 Marauder jigsaw puzzle!

It's Flak Bait!
During World War Two, this bomber flew over two hundred missions over occupied Europe, collecting over a thousand bullet and shrapnel holes in the process.

For the ongest time, it's cockpit section alone was displayed at the main Air and Space Museum in DC. Every time I saw it sitting there without it's wings or fuselage, I was always reminded of that "moose scene" from the movie Arthur. ("Where's the rest of this B-26?" "You must have hated this B-26.")

Also on display is this Grumman F8F "Bearcat", made into a racer by aviation legend Darryl Greenameyer.

Yeah, it was fast, but--ugh! Chopped wings! Can't decide if I hate Greenameyer more for wrecking Kee Bird or doing this to an F8F.

Another classic Grumman aircraft here is this amphibious Grumman Goose. Just pure cool. This one also spent a long time disassembled and on partial display in the main museum. Glad to see it all in one piece and here now.

And here's an aft view of the Goose, with a Beech Bonanza in front of it. A split-tailed Bonanza is high on my list of planes to replace the Cessna with. This one, the fourth one ever built, flew from Hawaii to New Jersey in 1949, a record-setting flight at the time.

And back in the corner is a particular favorite of mine--a Lockheed Super Constellation.

Such a sleek plane. Kinda like a flying greyhound. Rumor has it that Old NFO flew on this plane one...of course rumor also has it that he flew on the USS Macon. (At least that's what OldAFSarge said.)
Note the cute little Cessna 152 "Aerobat" in front if it. I really should have looked harder for one of those. +6/-3G's... Really!

The Super-Connie's big, but they made her fit in here. And she's wearing the colors of the West Virginia Air Guard's 167th Airlift Wing, the same outfit that flies flew those C-5 Galaxies from my home field in Martinsburg.

Ah, that triple tail. And they've got three more of these out at Pima!

Gotta go for now, but come back later--we haven't even touched on the jets yet!

Pima Constellations

The Pima Air and Space Museum had three Lockheed Constellations, each one a work of aviation art.

The first was the EC-121T, but it was in the Restoration area and I couldn't get any closer than this fence behind it.

This one in S/N# 53-0554. From behind, you can get a good view of her lower radar array, and of course that distinctive Connie triple tail.

The second one, # 42-94549, is on display outside as a Trans-World Airlines passenger plane. An L049, she was one of the first twenty-one Constellations originally meant for the military but surplussed off at the end of World War Two. Using these, TWA began New York to Paris flights in February of 1946.

As you can see, I was able to get up close and personal with this one for a bit, and her underside provided some nice shade and a respite from the 110-degree heat. The heat is also why these pics are "camera phone quality". By this time out in the heat, my regular camera had already overheated and shut down and it wouldn't power back up until I got it back in the air conditioning later.

Love that triple tail, even if I can't get in a good position to photograph the whole thing.

Have you ever seen a more graceful looking aircraft?

These aircraft had some history as aviation record-setters. On April 17, 1944, the second production Constelation, piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA president Jack Frye, flew from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C., in 6 hours and 57 minutes at an average speed of 330.9 mph. On the return trip, the aircraft stopped at Wright Field to give Orville Wright his last flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight. Wright commented that the Constellation's wingspan was longer than the distance of his first flight.

Third one has some individual history to her. C-121A #48-0614 was one of three such aircraft used as an executive transport for Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Better knows as "Columbine" and graced with decorative nose art depicting the flower, this was the first of Ike's three aircraft.

The third such transport, Columbine III, is on display at the Wright Patterson museum in Dayton, Ohio. As for number two...well it's fate is still in limbo today as it sits in a field out in Arizona.



And there's that tail again.

It's well known that the Lockheed Constellation was the first aircraft of it's type in which two pilots were mandatory at all times. The reason for that is, of course, that not even the hottest military aviator could handle three pieces of tail at the same time.

Thank you...I'll be here all week.