helicopters – JoeTourist

February 22, 2018 Thursday – Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson

2018 Southern Arizona and Astronomy

I drive over to the Pima Air & Space Museum and spend several hours there on my last day in Tucson before I return home tomorrow. I took the tram tour last year when I visited Pima, and I take it again, since it is the most efficient way to see the huge number of aircraft on display outside. I check out Hanger 5, which has new aircraft displayed: a Spitfire, a PBY/Canso amphibian and a Mitchell bomber.

The other hangers have much the same displays, but I experience them again in a new way, since I take far fewer photos than I did last year. This gives me lots of time to delve a bit deeper into the more interesting aircraft and skip others without feeling I’m missing something. I have a nice lunch in the cafeteria before driving back to the hotel in the afternoon.

My online gallery contains photos taken in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Solar panels on the parking lot roofs
Closeup of an electrical box for the solar panels
Wiring and electrical boxes for the solar panels
A white Model S 90D parked beside my Model S75D under the solar canopy
Diane Bell, Matt Watson and Reg Dunkley in front of the Space Shuttle booster and Pima Air Museum sign
Reg Dunkley and Matt Watson in front of the Space Shuttle booster rocket with the infamous Morton Thiokol o-rings
Joe’s selfie at the Pima Air Museum
Bell UH-1C *UH-1M) Iroquois (Huey) helicopter
Engine in the Bell UH-1C (UH-1M) Iroquois (Huey)
McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II
McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II
Canadair Sabre Mk. V
Lockheed Model 10A Electra
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird engine
Consolidated B-24J ‘Liberator’
Consolidated B-24J ‘Liberator’
Looking up inside the bomb bay of the Consolidated B-24J ‘Liberator’
Inside the bomb bay of the Consolidated B-24J ‘Liberator’
Consolidated B-24J ‘Liberator’
McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/A 18A Hornet figher bomber
Boeing B-52D Stratofortress bomber
Vickers 744 Viscount airliner
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-R
Douglas VC-118A
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
Boeing B-52G Stratofortress bomber
Landing gear of Boeing B-52G Stratofortress bomber
Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe (Skycrane) heavy lift helicopter
Fairey AEW.3 Gannet
Sepecat Jaguar GR.1 fighter-bomber
Boeing B-17 bomber
Bomb bay
Front guns and gunner
Cockpit and top gunner
Side gunner & inside fuselage
B-17 bomber
Boeing 787 Dreamliner nose-on
Wing against the Sun
Rolls Royce engine
Rolls Royce engine
Petal engine cowling of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Landing gear
Lockheed L-049 Constellation airliner
Lockheed L-049 Constellation airliner
Airline cabin service memorabilia
Rationing memorabilia
Joe inside a Boeing 720B cockpit simulator
The Crescent Moon between three blades of the Sikorsky CH-54A helicopter
Sikorsky CH-54A heavy lift transport helicopter
Engine, blades and winches of a Sikorsky CH-54A heavy lift transport helicopter
Gunner’s nacel beside the M-25 Mitchell
Sighting scope on a B-25 Mitchell bomber
Engine from a SR-71 Blackbird
McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/a-18A Hornet figher bomber
Andrew Schoultz Spy Tiger, 2012 – acrylic on Lockheed VC-140 Jetstar
Budd RB-1 Conestoga Transport
Douglas DC-10 engines with Orbis markings
Douglas DC-10 with Orbis markings
Douglas A-24B Banshee
Consolidated Model 28-5AMC Canso A (PBY-5A Catalina)
Consolidated Model 28-5AMC Canso A (PBY-5A Catalina)
Consolidated Model 28-5AMC Canso A (PBY-5A Catalina)
Spitfire in the foreground of Hanger 5
Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire FR. XIVe & Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 engine
Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 engine
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane tail markings
Douglas A-24B Banshee
Lockheed VC-121A
Jacobs J-755 Radial Engine, 1943
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-28 Fulcrum A Interceptor
Avro AEW Mk 3 Shackelton airborne early warning
Boeing VC-137B VIP Transport ‘Freedom One’
ITEK KA-80 optical bar camera
Grumman F-14A Tomcat
Hughes OH-5A Cayuse helicopter
Bede BD-5J “Microjet”
Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial
Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial
Phoenix Mars Lander scale model
Mercury capsule
X-Plane

Feb 27, 2017 Monday – 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), Tucson, Arizona, USA

2017 Southern Arizona & Astronomy

I drive to the Pima Air & Space Museum, arriving as they open, and buy a ticket for their AMARG “Bone yard” tour for US$7.00. Although there are several “Bone yard” tours running today, they fill up quickly. A full-sized tour bus pulls up to the front entrance and takes my 10AM group on a one hour tour along with a Docent describing all the aircraft, the history of the place, and the reason it exists. We drive through the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base base gates twice in the process, so we have to be careful to not take photos inside the base.

For security reasons, there is no opportunity to get off the bus, so my photos are mediocre, since I’m forced to take photos through the bus window. That said, the tour is very interesting, and it’s the only way for civilians to see this facility. Please note that all prospective participants on this tour must apply for security clearance in advance of showing up for the tour – booking info.

AMARG is massive – 2,600 acres or 11 square kilometres. Some 4,400 civilian and armed forces aircraft are stored here, making it the largest aircraft storage facility in the world. The ground in this area is so hard, it can support any aircraft without pavement. Since the air is so dry in this area, the aircraft don’t deteriorate rapidly once their windshields and sensitive parts are covered in a white plastic film. I learn that some previously-piloted aircraft are converted to drones to save money.