Remarks: Only one left of two built. Taken at USAF Museum on flightline in front of only hangar at the time. Haven for birds and the elements. Everything has since been moved inside into new buildings.
Remarks: (18149) A nice shot showing both Boeings on display outside the USAF Museum and the Snoopy style nose on the EC-135N. The nose art on it is pretty neat also.
Remarks: (18149) During the early 1960's, NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) needed a very mobile tracking and telemetry platform to support the Apollo space program and other unmanned space flight operations. In a joint project, NASA and the DoD contracted with the McDonnell Douglas and the Bendix Corporations to modify eight Boeing C-135 Stratolifter cargo aircraft into Apollo / Range Instrumentation Aircraft (A/RIA). Equipped with a steerable seven-foot antenna dish in its distinctive "Droop Snoot" or "Snoopy Nose," the EC-135N A/RIA became operational in January 1968. The Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) at Patrick AFB, Florida, maintained and operated the A/RIA until the end of the Apollo program in 1972, when the USAF renamed it the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) [pronounced "Ah-RYE-ah"]. Transferred to the 4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in December 1975 as part of an overall consolidation of large test and evaluation (T&E) aircraft, the ARIA fleet underwent numerous conversions - including a re-engining that changed the EC-135N to the EC-135E. In 1994, the ARIA fleet relocated to Edwards AFB, California, as part of the 412th Test Wing. However, taskings for the ARIA dwindled because of high costs and improved satellite technology, and the USAF transferred the aircraft to other programs such as J-STARS (Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System). On 3 November 2000, a flight crew from the Air Force Flight Test Center delivered the last EC-135E (serial number 60-374 - nicknamed "The Bird of Prey") to the USAF Museum. Over its thirty-two year career, the ARIA supported the United States space program, gathered telemetry, verified international treaties, and supported cruise missile and ballistic missile defense tests.
Remarks: (10915) The C-119 was designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The first C-119 made its initial flight in November 1947 and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,100 C-119s had been built. The USAF used the airplane extensively during the Korean War and many were supplied to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and to the Air Forces of Canada, Belgium, Italy, and India. In South Vietnam, the airplane once again entered combat, this time in a ground support role as AC-119 "gunships" mounting side-firing weapons capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute per gun. This C-119J was specially modified for the mid-air retrieval of space capsules re-entering the atmosphere from orbit. On August 19, 1960, this aircraft made the world's first midair recovery of a capsule returning from orbit when it "snagged" the parachute lowering the Discoverer XIV satellite at 8,000 feet altitude 360 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Remarks: (T.2B-244) The Ju 52 trimotor was first built in the 1930s yet remained in service for more than a quarter century. This transport made its maiden flight in April 1931 and three years later a heavy bomber version appeared. The latter aircraft formed the nucleus of the Luftwaffe's infant bomber force in the mid-1930s and it was used during the Spanish Civil War. The Ju 52 was obselete as a bomber by 1939, but because of its durability, simplicity of design, and handling characteristics it continued to serve throughout WW II as a versatile workhorse of the German transport fleet. For a period, Adolph Hitler used a Ju 52 as his private transport. Ju 52s delivered the attacking forces and their supplies during the German invasion of Norway, Denmark, France and the Low Countries in 1940. Almost 500 Ju 52s participated in the historic airborne assualt on the island of Crete in May 1941 and Junkers later supplied Rommel's armored forces in North Africa. Approximately 30 different countries have flown Ju 52s.
Remarks: (17239) This plane is one of 14 KC-135As permanently converted for special testing. It was extensively modified by the Air Force weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and used in an 11-year experiment to prove a high-energy laser could be operated in an aircraft and employed against airborne targets. During the experiment, the Airborne Laser Lab destroyed five AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a Navy BQM-34A target drone. The aircraft was flown to the USAF Museum in May 1988 and is seen on a beautiful Sunday morning.
