A SHRINE TO FLIGHT The United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio was one of the first really important historical sites I visited, with my father, in the late 1960's. In those days, it was still housed in a small, drafty former research building, with a great deal of its aircraft collection left outside, vulnerable to the ravages of weather. Two later visits over the next decade saw it develop into something far more impressive. The priceless aircraft collection grew steadily, and at last found worthy quarters. The old, wholly inadequate building was torn down, replaced by a long, massive, distinctive structure. The chief impressions of the building, from an architectural perspective, were of mass and an appreciation of heritage. The structure was enormous, big enough to hold a B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber, though the plane had to be backed inside before the last wall went up. Secondly, its shape called to mind the history it was built to commemorate. It was shaped like a World War II Quonset hut, or a later revetment, albeit one far more massive than ever appeared on any airfield. Painted on one end was a huge 1930's-era roundel, the familiar star with the red disk inside. Finally, its location was just as fitting. It occupied a section of abandoned runway and taxi ways, which doubled as exhibit area and parking lot. Despite the size of the new facility, many of the most important and valuable airplanes remained outside. Chief among them was the sole surviving XB-70 Valkyrie, the ground-breaking but aborted supersonic strategic bomber of the 1960's, and probably the museum's most prized specimen. The museum also had an annex in the nearby Wright Labs complex of the base. This was a section of old hangar housing overflow from the main museum. I did not return to the Air Force Museum for nineteen years. When I did, I did so alone; my father had died two years earlier. As I exited the interstate in September 1997, I saw the museum from a distance. It was even larger, much larger, than I remembered it. For about half a minute I chalked it up to hazy memory. Then I realized that my eyes and my mind did not deceive me. It had doubled in size. There were now two oversized, nearly identical exhibit buildings, joined side by side. Also in evidence was a new Imax movie theater, shaped like an oversized soup can. There were still airplanes outside, but they were different ones for the most part. Some were very modern, including an early B-1A, a test model of the supersonic bomber that, unlike the XB-70, finally overcame technical, budgetary, and political obstacles to see active service. The interior of the museum is still more impressive than before, as are the aircraft housed there. It represents the entire history of airpower, of course concentrating on the US Air Force and its Army antecedents. It begins with displays on observation balloons, and the unrealized dreams of flight that preceded them. From there it moves to the earliest models of heavier than air craft in the collection, dating from the days of the Wright Brothers and World War I. These tend to be reproductions, either in part or whole, as few planes from this era survived. These include some of the most famous aircraft of the Great War, such as the Sopwith Camel, Nieuport 28, and Fokker triplane. But there are other, fully authentic rarities unlikely or impossible to find anywhere else, such as an American-built version of the British SE-5, and an Italian Caproni Ca.36 biplane bomber. The interwar years are represented by some of the most picturesque, and indeed charming, airplanes to be seen anywhere. The Curtiss P-6 Hawk fighter, the only one known to exist today, may well be the most beautiful biplane ever built. Nearby one can find the Boeing P-26 Peashooter, the seminal monoplane that embodies American military aviation in the 1930's. Naturally, World War II is the conflict that most preoccupies the Air Force Museum. Most of the great planes can be found within its halls; the P-51 Mustang, Focke Wulf Fw 190 "Dora," Hawker Hurricane (painted as a part of an American-manned Royal Air Force Eagle squadron), and the very B-29 that dropped the "Fat Man" atomic bomb on Nagasaki. In one corner, one can see a recently restored B-17G, a different Flying Fortress than was exhibited in previous years. Under its left wing there is an Me 262, which should have been its nemesis. All are lovingly restored. There is just one really conspicuous reconstruction from this era, and that is the museum's Me 109G "Gustav." It is really a Spanish knockoff, the HA-1112, powered ironically by the same Rolls Royce Merlin that drove the Hurricane, Spitfire, and Mustang. In 1982 and 1983, museum staff replaced the original power plant with a Daimler-Benz DB 605, and restored and painted it as an Me 109G-5. There is another important restoration made since the 1970's. The museum has an extremely rare Junkers Ju 88. Previously, it was painted in Luftwaffe colors, even though it had been in Romanian service; in 1943, a disgruntled pilot defected with it, delivering the plane to the Allies on Cyprus. Today, it has been restored to a more historical appearance, wearing the colors of the Romanian air force. Amidst all the Fortresses, Lightnings, and Liberators of the Air Force Museum, the less glamorous planes are not forgotten. It has a full complement of trainers, liaison aircraft, and reconnaissance platforms. The second building is devoted for the most part to more recent planes, though there are exceptions, and one improvement. The first building suffers from a flat black interior paint job that greatly inhibits taking photos of these extraordinary aircraft; the second is much brighter, and far more camera-friendly. And yes, the XB-70 is finally out of the rain. In both, one can trace the history of jet flight from the Me 262 to the present day. Again, rarities stand out; where else can one find a Bell P-59 Airacomet, or B-45C Tornado, the first USAF jet bomber? Some of these airplanes have just as much historical significance in their own right as the Romanian Ju 88. The museum's F-4C Phantom II was flown in Vietnam by Colonel Robin Olds, the World War II hero, who piloted this plane when he shot down two MiG's on the same day, 20 May 1967. The B-52, impressively displayed indoors and on huge under wheel blocks, suffered terrific damage over Vietnam. Its F-111 is another with enormous, yet more recent historical value. It was the lead aircraft in the raid on Libya in 1989, and again flew point for all F-111's into Iraq in Desert Storm. During the eighties and nineties, the museum managed to expand its holdings of adversary aircraft of the jet age. Its first acquisition, in 1957, was a MiG-15 flown by a North Korean defector in 1953, who received $100,000 for his trouble. Later, it was joined by a MiG-19 and an apparently Czechoslovakian-built MiG-21. There is also a SA-2 surface to air missile, a more important weapon to North Vietnamese air defense than any fighter. The museum's attention comes right up to the present day. Besides the B-1 on the outside, the indoor exhibit area contains a test model of the F-117 stealth fighter, and even "Tacit Blue," another experimental stealth aircraft that looks more like a child's drawing of a cartoon submarine than something that might actually fly. As in the past, the museum spills over into the annex area. Getting there requires driving a short distance, and a pass to get through Air Force security, a document so easily secured that one wonders why they even bother. Some important warplanes, such as the Ju 88 and MiG-19, wait there for a place in the main complex. Others are a statement of the museum's wealth in important airplanes; there is an SR-71 Blackbird in the modern flight building, so a second one in the annex is a major surprise. But today, the annex's main purpose is to house the collection of Presidential aircraft. These include the large transports used by Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower, respectively named Sacred Cow, Independence and Columbine III. But there are others, less well-known, such as smaller VIP transports and helicopters for shorter hops. The Air Force Museum is more than an outstanding collection of historic aircraft. The presentation and interpretation of the history is likewise excellent. There are some very informative exhibits not just on the Air Force, but on the facility itself, and its growth from a loose assortment of curiosities in an obscure corner of Wright-Pat into one of the world's premier museums. In addition, whereas the natural emphasis of the plane collection is on aviation technology, the museum does justice to those who fly them. Among its many superb displays are those on prisoners of war, and one on an historically neglected group of pilots. Unlike most other major air powers, the United States made an early commitment to making sure that all combat pilots would be officers, and that only officers would be pilots. There would be no "Pilot Sergeants" as in the Royal Air Force or Luftwaffe. But like all rules, this one was made to be broken, and during the years of the Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces, there were noncoms who qualified to fly, and some who had long careers as pilots, without the benefit of commissions. The Air Force Museum gives them their due. Nor are they the only ones. Over the years, a number of outdoor exhibits grew outside the buildings. There is now a reproduction of an 8th Air Force control tower, commemorating strategic bombing in Europe. A pair of statues atop scan the skies eternally for returning planes but, in a rare miscue, their dark but glossy painted uniforms make them look too much like Luftwaffe personnel. There is a more emotionally evocative addition near the parking lot, the Memorial Park. Here, private donors and sponsors can erect memorials to units and individuals, similar to the stone monuments common to Civil War sites. It is an artistically eclectic collection of marble and bronze with, thankfully, no attempt at uniformity or organization. They stress, as one would expect, World War II. The most memorable, for me at least, are a stone pagoda, topped with a bronze P-40, dedicated to the Flying Towers, and a more conventional slab for the Tuskegee Airmen, the extraordinary (and extraordinarily successful) black fighter pilots of the 8th Air Force. Museum Introduction The Patton Museum Back to Cry Havoc #24 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com