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Strategic Air and Space Museum


gwb123
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This wooden seal hung outside of the office of the Commander of the Strategic Air Command... the day the command was stood down, this was symbolically removed by two members of the SAC Elite Guard. And with that, the mission of protecting the nation during the Cold War ended.

 

In another exhibit, an identified piece of the Berlin wall.

SAC_symbol.jpg

AA_Sac_70.jpg

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I hope you've enjoyed this tour, and can work it into your travel plans when you come to Nebraska. It is always going to rate as one of my all time favorites...but then so much of it seems so familiar...

Gil_at_SAC.jpg

SAC_outside.jpg

AA_Sac_3.jpg

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Gil, super nice photos! The lighting in those types of museums can be difficult to get good pix, but yours turned out quite well. Thanks for posting up all the pix and the informative narrative :thumbsup:

Terry

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Thanks for the photo tour, looks more comfortable than last time I saw those aircraft at the base . It was low forties and windy that day. I'll have to stop in and check it out sometime.

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Now that's what I call a museum! What an awesome collection of big warbirds under one roof! Thanks for taking the time to post the photos. :thumbsup:

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Gil, super nice photos! The lighting in those types of museums can be difficult to get good pix, but yours turned out quite well. Thanks for posting up all the pix and the informative narrative :thumbsup:

Terry

 

Thanks for the kind words to everyone.

 

Yep Terry, the lighting is horrible from a photographic perspective. This museum is a de facto set of aircraft hangers. That means a harsh bright light from the top, with dark shadows below the aircraft. The floor is gray concrete, which actually may have helped as that was a neutral color, but it also reflected some light as well.

 

Of course, anything in a glass case was prone to reflections. Many of the case items had to be shot at multiple angles just to make sure I got one or two that came out right.

 

Surprisingly, some of the exhibits in the more dimly lit special displays came out very nice, like the B-52 model and the Utapao Tiger from the Vietnam exhibit.

 

These photos represent three different photo shoots. The first two times, I did my best to steady the camera by leaning on railings, etc. The last time I went I took a tripod and two different cameras.

 

Even with that it still took quite a bit of time with Photoshop, and then they had to be sized for the Forum. But in the end the results were not bad.

 

BTW.. the one set of photos I do not advise taking is that of the F-105. The shoulder of the road is not very wide, and like a fool I stood out there with semi-trailers blowing past me at 75mph. It was one of those "What the heck am I doing" moments....

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Now that's what I call a museum! What an awesome collection of big warbirds under one roof! Thanks for taking the time to post the photos. :thumbsup:

 

I thought you'd like this... one of the few aviation museums I've been to with this many large aircraft. The only others I know of are the National Air and Space Museum at DC (specifically the annex at the airport) and the National Museum of the US Air Force. That Vulcan bomber was a real surprise the first time I saw it.. with a huge amount of wing area. I'd seen photos, but I'd always pictured it to be smaller.

 

The one item they are missing is a B-24, but despite the numbers produced during WWII, that is a very rare aircraft. But they do have additional space available, so perhaps one day!

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  • 2 years later...
  • 4 months later...

Gil

Awesome report !

 

I have a massive soft spot for all things SAC !

 

From those silver planes to b-15cs to M-1s

 

Owen

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Gil

Awesome report !

 

I have a massive soft spot for all things SAC !

 

From those silver planes to b-15cs to M-1s

 

Owen

 

You need to come out here then. Unfortunately, they were not much on camo uniforms, but they did the planes up real nice!

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  • 8 months later...

Very nice photo spread! The museum really looks impressive and someday I hope to visit.

A couple of minor corrections to the photo captions. First of all the B-36 did not have turboprop engines. It had six recip radials as main power plants. The second correction is on page 1 I believe, you have an F-102 Delta Dart labeled as an F-104.

Thanks for showing this fabulous museum.

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Back in the 1970's the Omaha World Herald had an article about the SAC Museum was to get a B-24 from the Indian Air Force. If I remember correctly it list the names of the crew that was going to get it. It never got there and I don't know what happened.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very nice photo spread! The museum really looks impressive and someday I hope to visit.

A couple of minor corrections to the photo captions. First of all the B-36 did not have turboprop engines. It had six recip radials as main power plants. The second correction is on page 1 I believe, you have an F-102 Delta Dart labeled as an F-104.

Thanks for showing this fabulous museum.

Thank you for the corrections Lee. I've gone ahead and relabeled the F-102A. I will have to come up with a better description of the B-36.

 

I was also reading my copy of the museum guide this morning... the F-105 that is out by the highway actually is credited with a Mig kill. I believe it is the only aircraft in the collection with an air to air victory, so it makes even less sense that they have it out in the weather.

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  • 9 months later...

Thanks for the pics. I've been to this museum many a time. I got to tour the B-17 and C-47 as well. It's definitely worth a visit.

 

I can even remember the old days when all the aircraft sat outside at the old location on the base. All of the aircraft were deteriorating due to the weather. Glad to see the B-29 is finally being restored.

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  • 1 year later...
ParanormalTrooper

Super awesome... I've been to this museum so many times its not even funny. Interesting to see the B-29 in restoration in these pics, as now it is fully finished!

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