Westward, Ho! Day 9: The National Museum of the US Air Force

Today I drove the Sammy the few miles outside of Wright Patterson AFB to visit the National Museum of the US Air Force.  This museum had been recommended to me by Lee S. and it made it as part of the route I'm taking westward back to Colorado.  I'd not heard of this museum you see, not till Lee mentioned it.

It's very well put together and curated, the four large hangar type buildings cover the different eras of aviation with an emphasis on the military side of things of course.  The museum is free to visit, plan on several hours to really do it justice, there's just so much to see!

Here's some of the stuff that caught my eye:

I didn't know there had been a black aviator flying for the US in WWI:

I've always loved the Shark nose paint theme on the P40 fighters:

One of the premier fighter aircraft in WWII, the P51 Mustang

The Memphis Belle, which achieved the incredibly difficult 25 bombing missions over enemy territory:

The aircraft of the Airborne Soldier during WWII

Another P51 Mustang

This German ME-262 is the best looking aircraft from WWII, IMHO.

The B-29 that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan, effectively ending the war:

Korean war foes, the US Sabre and the Russian Mig 15

MIG 17

During the Berlin Airlift operation, one of the pilots involved had a parachute harness fashioned for his dog; who apparently went on missions with him.

The planes, in all the hangars, are really crammed in there....

This P51 variant really catches one's eye:

Here you go Larry (he requested the Dragon Lady aka the U2) spy plane:

The U2's successor, the SR71 Blackbird:

Another view of the U2

The A-10's powerful gun and raison d'etre, the favorite aircraft of the grunts in a battlefield:

Oh hey look, moto content!  KLR used by the Air Forces Pararescue Jumpers or PJs:

The Air Force One jet that brought assasinated president John F. Kennedy back to Washington, D.C.

FDR's ride to the Yalta Conference:

The YF-23, which didn't win against the F-22 when the competition for the Air Forces's next air supremacy fighter was held.  I kind of like the looks of it:

Not to be left out, here's the Sammy posing by some outside displays of aircraft:

After the museum, I also visited the nearby memorial for the Wright Brothers:

Returning back to Wright Patterson AFB, I spotted this beaver trying to cross the road in front of me.  He saw me and turned around headed for the canal that borders the road.  He stopped and I managed to get the camera out for this shot:

I heartily recommend you visit the museum if you're ever in the Dayton, OH area!  Very nicely done.

Westward, Ho! Day 8: Long Driving Day, now in Ohio

 A very long driving day today, it felt longer than the six hours it took to get to the main gate for Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Of course, it was the wrong gate to get one's VA issued ID registered, so they pointed me to the Registrations office.

Once I found it, bordering a different portion of the base, it was closed!  Yep, they close on Thursdays for training.  Go figure.  Gate 12 was nearby so I drove the VRRV with Sammy in tow to the Airman at the gate and explained the problem.

Because I had a reservation, she let me pass, making me promise to come back to the registration office tomorrow and get my paperwork done.  Good to go!  I found the blue FamCamp signs and followed them to the campground on the other side of the main runways.

Note: Google maps also knows of the FamCamp location, for future reference.  FamCamp is what the Air Force calls their on base campgrounds; I think it's an outfit they've outsourced these things out to manage.

I checked in and they pointed me at a grassy area with picnic tables interspersed around some trees.  I picked one furthest from the other dry camper and set up camp.  It's $10/night for dry camping aka Boondocking.  No power, water, sewer since it's dry camping but the spot is mine for all four nights for $40!  

As I'm trying to ween myself from the luxury of having campground electric power provided in places such as Army COE campgrounds, this will be a good test.  I can always go find COE sights as I travel further west!  

It's either that or not camp in the warmer states during the summer months!

I was able to go and shop at the base commissary as part of the privileges accorded to Veterans such as myself who have service-connected disabilities.  Stocked up  on groceries and returned to camp to cool off with a nice shower using the outside shower box.

Once I'm "legal" tomorrow, I hope to check out the USAF Museum, supposed to be one of the best aviation museums around.  I might also go look for the Wright Brothers Memorial/Monument located nearby.