Several days are needed to fully appreciate the museums vast internal exhibits spread among 5 hangars, the 300+ aircraft on display outside on the campus, and the boneyard tour at Davis-Monthan AFB. We spent two days exploring the museum.
On our first day we took a tram tour of the aircraft displayed outside on the museum campus followed by a tour of the AMARG on active Davis-Monthan AFB. I went back and retoured the outside display at Pima on day two; temperatures topped 100 degrees so it was important to take breaks from the sun and stay hydrated. Photos of many of the aircraft at Pima those aircraft are further down; because the AMARG tour is on an active military base we were not permitted to exit the motorcoach during the tour.
The AMARG tour consists of the 4,000+ aircraft and 13 aerospace vehicles from the U.S. Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, and several federal agencies including NASA in varying degrees of storage or being regenerated/recycled.
View of old piston cargo aircraft just outside the fence at DMAFB.
Entrance gate at DMAFB.
The motorcoach travels down celebrity row and our docent provided insight on each aircraft. From there we toured a few other aircraft storage sites on the base and returned to the museum.
Row of retired Rockwell B-1B Lancers, among the rarest and most famous aircraft at AMARG, baking in the desert sun.
Rows of Republic A-10 Thunderbolts with the large tails of retired Lockheed C-5 Galaxies in the background.
Beech T-34 Mentors, a single Harrier, and some F-16 Falcons below.
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, many retired from Air National Guard service.
A very rare Boeing YC-14 prototype, one of only two ever produced...the other is across the street at Pima. The YC-14 evolved into the C-17, a workhorse of today's military transport fleet.
A Gulfstream II that occasionally served at "Air Force 2," carrying the Vice President and other dignitaries.
DC-10, you don't see these every day anymore.
Shrink-wrapped Huey and Cobra helicopters.
Experimental testbed 747 with engines stripped.
Nose of one of the B-1 Lancers.
Rows upon rows of F-16 Falcons.
Jet engines encapsulated in these metal storage containers.
High-bypass jet engines from the larger cargo/tanker aircraft shrink-wrapped.
A portion of "Celebrity Row," which strives to display at least one of every type of aircraft found in the boneyard.
Military version of DC-9 airliner, used for transport.
Back at the Pima museum I visited each of the 5 hangars over two days. The tail section below was recovered from the floor of Lake Washington near Seattle, where it laid for 55 years following a wreck in 1949. The info board below tells a bit more of the story.
Workhorse of avaition for 70+ years, a C-47, more commonly known in the civilian aircraft world as a Douglas DC-3.
Hangar shot with Corsair in the foreground and a B-29 in the background.
Boeing B-29 similar to Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Another warbird which spent 50+ years at the bottom of Lake Michigan prior to being recovered. Minus a few missing parts which have been replaced and repainted, the aircraft is untouched after being pulled out of the drink.
B-17
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Tail of the other YC-14 prototype, as previously mentioned.
YC-17 stripped of it's massive turbofan engines.
One I've read lots and lots about but have never seen in person until now...the way-ahead-of-its-time and commercial failure Beech Starship. One of I believe two remaining in existence.
B-36 Peacemaker, 6 pusher-type piston engines and 4 additional jet engines to assist takeoff, it is among the largest aircraft ever built in the world and was among the mainstay of Cold War Strategic Air Command bombers in the 1950's, prior to the initiation of the B-52. One of my flight instructors, 84 years old when he signed me off for my private checkride at Lancaster, had over 5,000 hours flying B-36's.
NASA Super Guppy, purpose built for transporting Saturn rocket sections across the country to Cape Canaveral.
Eisenhower and Kennedy's piston-powered Air Force One, prior to the advent of the jet age and the Boeing 707 which became Air Force One in the early 1960's.
NASA's zero-gravity flying testbed, the "Vomit Comet." Some of you may have heard of this aircraft or seen it on TV...it does a series of very steep climbs and descents, and during the descents the passengers are free-falling and "weightless" simulating zero gravity conditions in space.
The two-story Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, can you believe our military was still utilizing these aircraft into the 1970's to transport materiel and personnel around the world?
Douglas C-133 Cargomaster
NASA shuttle training aircraft, a Gulfstream, used to simulate Shuttle landings as apparently it has similar glide characteristics to the Space Shuttle.
Convair B-58 Hustler, another very rare surviving example of a Cold War supersonic bomber relic.
Underside of B-58
Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrum captured by US forces.
Sikorsky Skycrane, used to lift huge loads and fight forest fires.
Examples of Soviet and US helicopter technology.
The AMARG tour consists of the 4,000+ aircraft and 13 aerospace vehicles from the U.S. Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard, and several federal agencies including NASA in varying degrees of storage or being regenerated/recycled.
View of old piston cargo aircraft just outside the fence at DMAFB.
Entrance gate at DMAFB.
Row of retired Rockwell B-1B Lancers, among the rarest and most famous aircraft at AMARG, baking in the desert sun.
Rows of Republic A-10 Thunderbolts with the large tails of retired Lockheed C-5 Galaxies in the background.
A Gulfstream II that occasionally served at "Air Force 2," carrying the Vice President and other dignitaries.
DC-10, you don't see these every day anymore.
Shrink-wrapped Huey and Cobra helicopters.
Experimental testbed 747 with engines stripped.
Nose of one of the B-1 Lancers.
Rows upon rows of F-16 Falcons.
Jet engines encapsulated in these metal storage containers.
High-bypass jet engines from the larger cargo/tanker aircraft shrink-wrapped.
A portion of "Celebrity Row," which strives to display at least one of every type of aircraft found in the boneyard.
Military version of DC-9 airliner, used for transport.
Back at the Pima museum I visited each of the 5 hangars over two days. The tail section below was recovered from the floor of Lake Washington near Seattle, where it laid for 55 years following a wreck in 1949. The info board below tells a bit more of the story.
Workhorse of avaition for 70+ years, a C-47, more commonly known in the civilian aircraft world as a Douglas DC-3.
Hangar shot with Corsair in the foreground and a B-29 in the background.
Boeing B-29 similar to Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Another warbird which spent 50+ years at the bottom of Lake Michigan prior to being recovered. Minus a few missing parts which have been replaced and repainted, the aircraft is untouched after being pulled out of the drink.
B-17
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
My last stop on day two was to return to the outside exhibit and take a closer look at some of the more interesting aircraft.
The aircraft below blew a piston out the side of its cowling on its ferry flight to the museum, it's affixed here for viewing.
Tail of the other YC-14 prototype, as previously mentioned.
YC-17 stripped of it's massive turbofan engines.
One I've read lots and lots about but have never seen in person until now...the way-ahead-of-its-time and commercial failure Beech Starship. One of I believe two remaining in existence.
B-36 Peacemaker, 6 pusher-type piston engines and 4 additional jet engines to assist takeoff, it is among the largest aircraft ever built in the world and was among the mainstay of Cold War Strategic Air Command bombers in the 1950's, prior to the initiation of the B-52. One of my flight instructors, 84 years old when he signed me off for my private checkride at Lancaster, had over 5,000 hours flying B-36's.
NASA Super Guppy, purpose built for transporting Saturn rocket sections across the country to Cape Canaveral.
Eisenhower and Kennedy's piston-powered Air Force One, prior to the advent of the jet age and the Boeing 707 which became Air Force One in the early 1960's.
NASA's zero-gravity flying testbed, the "Vomit Comet." Some of you may have heard of this aircraft or seen it on TV...it does a series of very steep climbs and descents, and during the descents the passengers are free-falling and "weightless" simulating zero gravity conditions in space.
The two-story Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, can you believe our military was still utilizing these aircraft into the 1970's to transport materiel and personnel around the world?
Douglas C-133 Cargomaster
NASA shuttle training aircraft, a Gulfstream, used to simulate Shuttle landings as apparently it has similar glide characteristics to the Space Shuttle.
Convair B-58 Hustler, another very rare surviving example of a Cold War supersonic bomber relic.
Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrum captured by US forces.
Sikorsky Skycrane, used to lift huge loads and fight forest fires.
Examples of Soviet and US helicopter technology.
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