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Strategic Air and Space Museum


gwb123
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And then the Century series fighters...the F-101 Voodoo, originally designed as a long range escort, and later serving in both air defense and recon roles.

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Returning to the primary mission of SAC... the bombers of the 1950... ever bigger and faster, and even setting speed records.

 

The B-47...

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The icon of the Cold War as well as Vietnam... and still flying today.. the B-52 Stratofortress...

 

This aircraft is interesting as it looks to have one time had a dark coat of camouflage paint which has been stripped off to reveal its 1950's color scheme. The stain of the darker paint can still be seen at the top of the upper surfaces.

 

The "cockpit" is actually one of several instrument trainers that can be viewed at ground level.

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Representing the nuclear deterrant of our allies.... a British Vulcan bomber..

 

As their website notes...

 

"The Vulcan was Britains’s largest operational combat aircraft and was designed for strike and strategic reconnaissance roles. It became a familiar site at SAC bases by participating in weapons tests and SAC bombing competitions. The Vulcan also carried out alert exercises and training operations with SAC as part of NATO and Western Hemisphere defense."

 

http://www.sasmuseum.com/2008/11/21/avro-hawker-vulcan/

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An odd relic of the 1950's, this Convair T-29 "Flying Classroom" Navigation Trainer, ... still used as a classroom today by visiting school kids.

 

"Following WWII, the USAF required an effective aircrew training aircraft. Conair converted it’s airliner into a non-pressurized trainer aircraft featuring fourteen fully equipped navigation stations for students/instructors, and one radio operator station. The T-29A made it’s initial flight on September 22, 1949.

 

Each navigation student had access to a map table, loran scope, altimeter and radio compass panel. In the roof of the fuselage are four astrodomes which students used to take sights with sextants for navigation purposes. There were also five drift meters used to determine the “drift” of an aircraft by visual sightings of points on the ground."

 

http://www.sasmuseum.com/2008/11/21/t-29a-flying-classroom/

 

The later T-39 Sabreliner was used for both training and light transport duties.

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The flying bombers were half of SAC's nuclear capability... the other half was the missile force...the exhibit being dominated by an Atlas D missile in front of the building.

 

Nebraska and western Iowa were the locations of the first three Atlas missile bases, controlled from Offutt. The first version were housed above ground and raised by into position from a horizontal position.

 

I believe the other large missile is a Thor, and then a sounding rocket used for research.

 

These things looked cool when you were a kid... and scared the hell out of you when you were old enough to realize what they really were.

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Offutt AFB would have been a control center for World War III if it had ever happened...

 

Here a selection of missile control panels on display...

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While the concept of nuclear war seemed to be steeped in hi-tech... some of the equipment that supported the system now seems archaic...

 

Guarding all of this were the Security Police and the SAC Elite Guard...

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Overseeing it all were commanders such as Curtis LeMay... who sat at this chair.

 

Also in the collection are a number of uniform items belonging to the general.

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Later generations of missiles would guard the country... such as Minuteman... safely hidden in silos around the neighboring Midwest.

 

Other warheads are on display as well.

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Strategic reconnaisance and espionage allowed the East and West to keep tabs on each other, and to judge the true threat.

 

Like a bat flying out of the night, a late model U-2...

 

Drones also came into use for missions too dangerous for a pilot to fly..

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For all the preparation for hi-tech nuclear war between super powers, it would be a "low intensity" conventional war in a small country where SAC was called to battle.... Vietnam....

 

A special corner of the museum is set aside to tell the story of the costly bombing campaigns...

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Relics from the war...

 

A professionally built model shows the arming of a B-52 for a mission in the predawn hours before a mission.

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Laid out with reverence is this three piece mural depicting the B-52 missions of the period... it appears to have been made during the wartime period or shortly afterwards...and captures much of the emotion of the time.

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An aircraft with an actual battle record... an F-105 that now sits alongside Interstate 80... it is an attention grabber the first time you see it, coming in at very low level over a soy bean field...

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The adversary... a Mig-21F. At one time it was marked as a North Vietnamese aircraft...I'm not sure what its actual origin would be.

 

It has been under restoration for some time, but it was previously parked next to the B-52.

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The USAF went on to fight other wars and to finish out the Cold War.

 

This FB-111A is finished in a darker Central European camouflage scheme typical of units stationed in England during the 1980's.

 

Next to it is the two man cockpit "escape capsule" that was unique to the aircraft.

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Also in a late Cold War finish is this RF-4C Phantom, complete with tactical recon cameras.

 

This aircraft is special to this museum as it not only served in Vietnam, but also with the Nebraska Air National Guard.

 

As you can see in the one photo, it was completely stripped to the frame during the restoration process.

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Strategic Reconnaisance soared to new levels with the SR-71... which hands down is the coolest exhibit in the museum... you simply cannot take a bad photo of it! The size of it is enough to impress anyone, and one can only imagine the sound of those engines at full power!

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