Once the backbone of the Air Force, the world will never see another one fly.

That'd be the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, heavy lifter for decades, now all ingots save for a few museum pieces like 70013 here at the Pima Air Museum.

The C-141 was made from 1963 to 1968, and during that time, 285 were built. They could carry up to 92,000 lbs. of cargo, 154 troops or 123 paratroopers, which they could drop via the rear ramp and two side doors.

The original C-141As had so much lifting ability that they were often loaded to the capacity of their cargo holds without reaching gross weight, so between 1977 and 1982, almost all of them were cut and had 23 feet added to their fuselages, "stretching" them so that they could carry more. These stretched aircraft were redesignated as the C-141B.
63 of these were further upgraded in the 1990s with new avionics and nav gear, and these were redesignated as the C-141C.

During the life of the C-141, 19 of them were destroyed in crashes around the world. The rest soldiered on, moving troops and materiel around the world. They may have lacked the glamour of the fighters or the bombers, but they got the job done for over 40 years.

By 2004, they were all relegated to Air Guard units. The last ones flew in 2006, at which point they were all retired.

67-0013 is a C-141B that flew from 1967 until it was transferred to AMARC at Davis Monthan, better known as "The Boneyard". Almost every C-141 ever made wound up there and most left in very small pieces.

15 of the original 285 still exist, all as static display aircraft like 67-0013 here. None will ever fly again.

Sad. But at least I saw and touched this one.

A great resource fr C-141 fans can be found here: C-141 Heaven

F7F

While wandering around Pima Museum's yard last month, I happened upon this graceful creature.

A Grumman F7F Tigercat. I almost missed it due to that seriously thin profile. Despite having two of Pratt and Whitney's huge R2800 Double Wasp engines (seen also in the F6F Hellcat, P-47 and the F8F Bearcat to come), that plane is thinner than an Ethiopian anorexic.

Designed during World War Two as a twin-engined carrier-borne fighter, it was a great flyer but it was too big and too fast for the carriers of the day and came along too late to make it into the war. But it was still around for Korea, and it came in handy as a land-based Marine Corps night fighter. Retired after that war, a few went into civilian service as fire-bombers. (Again with the cool planes to the Forest Service?)

Earlier versions had eight .50 caliber machine guns in the wing root and fuselage, but eventually those were dropped in favor of four 20mm cannon by the time that this F7F-3 came out.

"Nuthin' but tail." With a top speed of over 460 mph, that's all most pilots of other aircraft ever saw of her.

Yeah, I need one of these in my hangar...and I need a hangar, too. Guess I'm buying a lottery ticket tonight.

Man, I wish I could have gone to work for the Forest Service

Back in the day, they flew some planes.

While strolling around Pima Air Museum's back lot, out behind the hangars on the far side from the rest of the outside collection, I found some sad-looking old military derelicts that will hopefully be restored someday. Most of them were marked up as Forest Service fire bombers, indicating how they finished their flying lives.

The first was this Grumman AF-2, which was originally built as a torpedo bomber and then repurposed as an anti-submarine aircraft.

This particular one is an AF-2S. 193 of them were built out of a total production run of 389 AFs of all variants. They were only in service with the US Navy for five years, 1950-1955, and with the Navy Reserve until 1957.

Her engine was only 2400 horsepower, which many pilots felt made her underpowered for her size and weight. She was never a very popular pane to fly, and eventually they were replaced in their ASW role by the much more successful S-2 Tracker.

Most were scrapped, but a few, like N99952 here, were turned over to the Forest Service and either leased or titled to companies like Aero Union and used to fight forest fires.

She needs a bit of TLC, but I'd still love to take her up.

Also back there, this Lockheed P-2 Neptune, another Maritime Patrol and ASW aircraft that flew primarily with the Navy but also the Army and Marines and the CIA well up into the 1980s.

This one is on loan from the Forest Service and still looks to be quite flyable; it's probably the most airworthy aircraft in this back lot.

These aircraft flew in the Korean War, Vietnam, and even as recently as the Falklands War in the hands of the Argentinians.

Note the addition of two jet engines under the wings to operate in conjunction with her reciprocating engines.

At one time, the Navy even developed a program by which the P-2 could be used as a carrier-borne nuclear bomber, using rocket packs attached to her sides to help it get off of a carrier deck with a nuclear bomb aboard. But as the P-2 could not land on a carrier, the crew was expected to find a friendly country to land in or ditch the aircraft at sea following bomb delivery. Fortunately for the Navy crews, other, more capable aircraft came along shortly and this role was taken away from the Neptunes.

Several P-2 Neptunes are still flown by firefighting companies like Neptune Aviation Services in Montana, and Minden Air Corporation in Nevada. If I get time this week, I may just send them each a resume. Flying these would be cool.

Also cool to fly: This DC-7.

Here's where they rigged a water-drop bomb bay beneath her. I'd have scootched under there for better shots, but man, that sand was hot, even with the shade.

The engines just need a bit massaging, and I suspect that they'll turn right over.

Not sure why I don't have more pictures of this one. Probably because I was still bouncing around the place like an eight year old on a sugar high in a candy store.


There was a Fairchild C-119 in that lot too, also with a single jet engine attached to it's roof.

Most of these were built near me in Fairchild's factory in Hagerstown, MD, but 71 were subcontracted out to Henry Kaiser who built them out of the old Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti, MI.

These old birds carried troops, supplies and anything else that needed carrying in Korea and Vietnam. Some were even fitted with side-firing guns in an AC-119 configuration,and they rained holy hell down on the bad guys in SE Asia.

This one ended her days as a fire-bomber, but who knows what she did while flying for the Air Force. Like the others here, these were warplanes before they were fire-bombers, and they flew countless thousands of hours between them, probably all over the world in both peacetime and war.

Of course this one could use a little TLC, too.

Look behind her--another C-119 awaiting restoration back in the "off limits" area.

In 1981, Hemet Valley Flying Service lost one of these aircraft and it's two crew members when it's left wing suddenly tore off during a fire drop. That aircraft's N number: N13742. This one:

Cause of the crash: age and wear; metal fatigue.

Sadly, that's not an unknown occurrence in a firefighting fleet made up of surplus aircraft, some of which date back to World War Two. In 2002, Tanker 123, a Consolidated P4Y-2, went down for a similar reason in Colorado, also with the loss of her crew.


Yeah, it wasn't without risk, and still isn't, but what I wouldn't give for a flying job like that, especially in those old warbirds.

Fairey Gannet AEW.3

Found this critter in Pima Air Museum's back lot last month.

It's a British Fairey Gannet set up as an Airborne Early Warning aircraft, with a honking big radome slung beneath her.

The Gannet was unique for it's contra-rotating propellers (one turned in each direction to negate the torque effect) that were spun by what was in effect two separate engines each turning a shaft through what had to be the most complex gearbox ever designed. In flight, one engine could be shut down to conserve fuel and the plane could fly on the other, or both could run and give the plane serious power without serious P-factor trying to twist the plane opposite it's prop rotation.

The British Navy flew these from 1959 until 1978, when the HMS Ark Royal, Britain's last aircraft carrier capable of handing them was retired. Of the 44 AEW variants built, most were scrapped. 5 survive on display in Britain and this is the only one in America. Recently, one straight T-5 version without the radome was returned to airworthy flying status by Shannan Hendricks of New Richmond, Wisconsin, so hopefully we'll see that one on the airshow circuit before long.

Hustlin' Hustler!

Naturally, Pima Air Museum had one of the coolest supersonic bombers that ever took to the sky.

Convair's B-58 Hustler was a Mach 2 nuclear attack bomber that Strategic Air Command (SAC) few from 1960 to 1970. Originally designed as a high-altitude bomber that had it's high speed as it's main attribute, advances in Soviet missile technology caused SAC to rethink it's use of the aircraft and it became a low-altitude nuclear bomber instead. But low-altitude operation caused it to burn a lot more fuel and drastically limited it's range, so it was eventually replaced by the General Dynamics F-111.

The B-58 could not carry conventional bombs--just nukes--and it didn't have an internal bomb bay. Instead, the bomb was slung below in a large pod which also carried extra fuel for the aircraft.

It was a fast aircraft, winning the Bendix and McKay trophies for speed back in it's day, but it was also difficult to fly; almost a quarter of the B-58 fleet was lost to accidents, in large part due to the plane's unique handling issues. As a result, it's three-man crews were picked from SAC's best.

116 were built and flown during the 1960's. Today, eight survive in museums across the country. It was an advanced plane for it's time, and there's no denying that it was one of the sexiest bombers that ever flew.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Cessna 172 to go work on while you all enjoy this wonder-jet.

T-28

Here's a T-28C at the Pima Air Museum. The C model was a big-engine B with a tailhook for carrier operations.

The B and C models have a 1,425 hp Wright R-1820-9 radial engine, three-blade propeller and a belly-mounted speed brake. The older A model was the Air Force version. These have a two-blade propeller and a 800 hp Wright R-1300-7 radial engine.

Plenty of these still fly today. The Air Force A Model is more common as more were made (1,194 vs. 755 B&C Models) but the B and C are desired for their improved performance. Many of them are flown by aerobatic groups like The Trojan Horsemen.

Sadly, these demonstrations aren't without risk. One of these T-28s crashed at the Martinsburg, WV airshow in 2011, killing the pilot, John Mangan. I happened to be there that day and saw it happen. And every time I see one of these T-28s, I remember that day. I probably always will.

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.