Construction of new Air Force Museum building could start in 2012? (addition to NMUSAF)

Dayton Daily News ^ | 10/04/2010 | John Nolan , Dayton Daily News

[SERKIT]

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Construction of a building to house the spacecraft collection and former presidential aircraft at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force could start in 2012 if fundraising stays on track, museum officials said Monday.

[SERKIT]

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

The National Museum of the US Air Force is looking to expand the museum complex to house a retired shuttle and to move the Presidential Aircraft collection to the museum proper and moving out of the hangars on the AFB proper. Please consider a donation or at least joining as a "Friend" of the museum.

[CodeToad]

I lived at Wright-Pat in the 70’s as a kid. That was a great museum! I spent many weekends just looking at things I didn’t understand. It was a contributing factor as to why I got into aerospace.

[colinhester]

Dayton bump!! My son loveds that place......

[TalonDJ]

I lived at Wright-Pat in the 70’s as a kid. That was a great museum! I spent many weekends just looking at things I didn’t understand. It was a contributing factor as to why I got into aerospace.

Ditto all that except make 70's into 80's.

[chimera]

The displays are very nicely done and there is a wealth of information for aviation buffs. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

[Notary Sojac]

It's an amazing museum. The display buildings are immense (think of a building in which a B-52 looks small) and it's hard to think of any plane which flew operationally with the USAAC/USAF which is not represented.

My personal favorite is the P-26, which I would love to fly home....

I have contributed to the museum fund and encourage others to do so.

The museum has two hangars full of planes on WPAFB which would be coming over to museum property.

One is the Air Force One hangar (you can walk through FDR's C-54, Truman's DC-6, Ike's Connie, and the 707 which served from JFK's term through Reagan's).

The other is the amazing "experimental aircraft hangar" with everything from an X-1 and X-15 to the B-70. But the planes are so jammed together it's difficult to really see them well.

[KarlInOhio]

I recently found my pictures of the museum's SR-71 making its final landing at the otherwise unused runway behind the museum. They had to have perfect weather and a light fuel load to be able to land.

[TSgt]

An absolute treasure! I've been many times!

[Ax]

While in basic training at Lackland in 1960, I got strong-armed into “contributing” to the fund for the building of the stadium at the Air Force Academy.

[JoeProBono]

As an aside, I was stationed at Wheelus AB in 1969

Propeller from the "Lady Be Good" Wheelus AB 1969

"Lady Be Good" Main article: Lady Be Good (aircraft) Nose view of Consolidated B-24D "Lady Be Good" crash site.On 9 November 1958, British geologists flying over the Libyan Desert spotted an aircraft resting on the sand dunes approximately 400 statute miles (640 km) south of Benghazi, Libya. A ground party reached the site in March 1959 and discovered the plane to be the Lady Be Good, a B-24D Liberator of the USAAF's 376th Bomb Group (AAF Serial No. 41-24301). The USAAF bomber had disappeared after a 4 April 1943 high-altitude bombing attack by 25 Liberators from an AAF base at Sulûq (near Benghazi) against the harbor facilities at Naples, Italy. All planes but one returned to Allied territory that night—the one missing was the Lady Be Good. Evidence at the site indicated that the Lady Be Good crew had become lost in the dark on the return from Naples and mistook the nighttime desert for the Mediterranean Sea. The aircrew had overflown Sulûq southward into the desert. With the B-24's fuel supply depleted, the nine men aboard had bailed out and disappeared while attempting to walk northward to civilization.

[JoeProBono]

Did basic training at Lackland in 1963. It was during August. It was HOT.

[Fair Paul]

That’s one of my favorite museums, you can spend days in there. Great patriotic feel to it.

[JoeProBono]

"Lady Be Good" Window: The "Lady Be Good" Stained Glass Window from the Wheelus Air Force Base Chapel is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)

[billhilly]

It was in July, 1956 when I first saw that Stained Glass and February 1958 when I saw it last. The Chapel was right across the street from my barracks. Thanks for posting it.

[billhilly]

BTW, if you have Google Earth you can still find the site of the old Wheelus AFB and most of it is recognizable. Today it is the site of Libya’s International Airport. That was one world class swimming hole.

[billhilly]

BTW, if you have Google Earth you can still find the site of the old Wheelus AFB and most of it is recognizable. Today it is the site of Libya’s International Airport. That was one world class swimming hole.