Colorado has
two outstanding military aircraft orientated museums. One I’ve visited several
times is at the old Lowry Field in Denver.
The other,
in Pueblo at the airport, I was able to visit last week. The airport was the
site of a major B-24 training base.
Pueblo is
the hometown of four Medal of Honor winners, two who attended the same high
school.
What follows
are about ninety photographs (taken by an amateur with a cheap camera). You
have been warned. For all you aviation professionals, I was a Combat Engineer
and a civilian only pilot. Cut me some slack, please.
Lets start
with something for Murphy.
And
something for old NFO.
Oh, yes. Can’t
forget OldAFSarge. Bet he started his career with these. Sorry, they don’t have
an F-4!
The star, the B-29.
Always
popular, the C 47/DC3
Helicopters!
No Colorado
museum can ignore Colorado built aircraft, the Alexander.
Sadly, for
an old B-24 trailing base, this is their only B-24.
Some are
still outside. B-47, C-119, P-2, F9F.
All kinds of
ground vehicles.
Trainers.
T-41, T-28, T-34, T-33.
Some
infantry weapons.
A F-100.
How about the F-86?
Tucked to one side, a F-8U.
Got to have
some rockets.
F-104, F-5, F-80, A-5, and a favorite, the A-4.
Can’t forget
the Coast Guard Convair HC 131.
The working
end of a C-130.
Making
things go.
Did I forget the F9F?
And this is?
Lots of
displays of people and memorabilia.
This museum is
an all volunteer operation. Think many of them are retired NCOs.
Admission
for old farts is only $5. There are numerous donation boxes scattered among the
exhibits for those who wish to make discrete donations.
A local
Model A club was visiting.
Weather
permitting, there will be a fly in 6/13 to 6/15 2014. They are expecting a
B-29, among other aircraft.
Rocky
Mountain Flower is the airport FBO. Their operation is within walking distance
of the museum, and they will provide free shuttle service for those who need
it. (719) 948-3316.
The airport is at 4700 MSL with a 10,000’+ runway. Pueblo
gets hot, and your density altitude can easily exceed 10,000’. Ignore that at
your peril!
8 comments:
Oh yeah, HH-34 one each! :-) Thanks WSF. I gotta add that one to the bucket list!
Not too far from the super secret Blogarado site.
In your section on trainers, isn't the fourth picture of an A37?
Again, I'm an old Army guy. There is/was an A37, "A" meaning attack, but I believe it was a derivative of an existing training aircraft. Any Air Force people who can help me out?
More information here. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=326
Awesome pics, WSF!! I LOVE wandering around similar places.
Personal falling, not doing enough of that kind of activity. Though "retired", still seem to operate at red line even when there is no need. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Late to the fight as usual, but...I'm pretty sure that it's a T-37, at least it's painted in the livery of a trainer. The main difference between the A-37 and T-37 was the former had larger engines, and obviously, weapons hardpoints and a gun sight. The T-37 was the first jet that a student pilot trained in while in pilot training and typically, the student flew it for about 6 months, then transitioned to the T-38 to complete training. The T-37 was specifically built to be able to teach spin recovery, which was always exciting and to a certain extent was a culling point in the training. You either hacked the spins or found another career field.
The T-37 was replaced by the turboprop powered T-6 Texan II which is still in use.
Thank you for the clarification. Questions were caused by bad editing on my part as I sorted some 70 photographs.
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