USAF Museum, Dayton, Part 1

We went to the Air Force museum in Dayton last Friday. We'd never been there before. I've been to the Air & Space museum in DC many, many times, but this was a totally different experience.

First, the place is huge. I mean mega huge. And the planes are so well preserved. Even Anita enjoyed it!

Here's a collection of my nose art pics. Nose art was a really big thing mainly in WWII. I guess now it's not so common.

You know it'd put some fear in you to see this coming at you.

Some designs were more artsy then others.

Dennis the Menace

Bockscar. Dropped the Fat Man nuclear bomb on Nagasaki. Kind of eerie standing there with her, I have to admit.

Fiery Ginger 4.

One of my favorites. And one of my favorite planes of all time.

The AC-130. I flew on a C-130 many, many years ago. It was a cargo plane. The AC-130 is heavily armed, to say the least.

I'm not sure of the origins of nose art. But, I believe this is a WWI plane, so it's a tradition that has been around for a while.


Another favorite plane of mine.

It amazes me how many missions some of these planes ran. I heard the other day if they made it through their first 10 missions their survivability went up significantly. Good thing.

F-4 Phantom. We were able to sit in the cockpit of an F-4 later in the museum. I think it was Anita's favorite display. Well, next to the B-52 and the B-2.

Even the Brit's have nose art it seems.

Snafu Snatchers. Interesting name. I wonder if it comes from them rescuing a lot of pilots from the ocean. I should have asked one of the volunteers at the museum. They are very helpful!

I think I made the most models of this plane when I was a kid. This and the C-47 were always my favorites.