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Post by steve on Jan 13, 2008 11:23:16 GMT 12
I am currently in the US for a month and making a point of diverting to air parks etc when i can. Besides the US Air Force Daytons museum in Ohio and Seattles National air and space can anyone suggest others to visit that are worthy to see?  |
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Post by corsair67 on Jan 13, 2008 11:52:07 GMT 12
Stevo, long time no hear.  USN Aviation museum in Pensacola(?) is supposed to be excellent, as is the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Depends how much of the States you can afford to see really! ;D |
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Post by alanw on Jan 13, 2008 13:59:45 GMT 12
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Post by vs on Jan 13, 2008 14:45:55 GMT 12
If you are in New York I recomend the Intrepid Air Museum which is on an aircraft carrier. It is tied up on one of the rivers (cannot remember if it is the Hudson) Interesting museum and they had a barge with an ex BA concorde on it. Would pay to check out wether they are open though as I am sure I read somewhere that it may have been towed away while some work was being done on its wharf...although I am not to sure how long this was going to be for
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Post by steve on Jan 13, 2008 19:06:36 GMT 12
Thanks for that info guys i am presently in santa monica and head to Norfok Virgina to stay at a US navy motel. Apparently Norfolk naval base is the largest anywhere with a the busiest US naval air station close by. Should be an interesting. I was in Canberra &South Australia very recently and spent some time in a car rental surveying the orions at adelaide's Edinb..base and the RAAF attachment at Canberra airport. I noticed two new gunship choppers and wondered if they were based there for ACT security? I deserve a 'caning" for not catching up with "Corsair"!! Some of the airfares are really cheap over here (US)so i will divert when possible to varies air points of interest.
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Post by FlyNavy on Jan 13, 2008 19:59:14 GMT 12
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Post by corsair67 on Jan 13, 2008 22:21:38 GMT 12
Steve, the two Tigers were here for Summernats, and all up spent about 5 days in Canberra, I think.
No one in Canberra is that important that they deserve an ADF security detachment. ;D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 15, 2008 10:51:07 GMT 12
Steve, the two Tigers were here for Summernats, and all up spent about 5 days in Canberra, I think. Wow, I didn't realise the insect problem in Aussie was that bad that you need helicopter gunships to control the summer gnats.  |
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Post by FlyNavy on Jan 15, 2008 10:57:36 GMT 12
And you Kiwis think you have an OzPossum problem? You oughta see the DropBears. |
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Post by dav3469 on Jan 15, 2008 11:03:05 GMT 12
Thanks for that info guys i am presently in santa monica and head to Norfok Virgina to stay at a US navy motel. Some of the airfares are really cheap over here (US)so i will divert when possible to varies air points of interest. Head up to D.C. for the Air and Space Museum on the mall, or their newer facility at Dulles Airport. (Very nicely done, Enola Gay, Shuttle Enterprise, and many other notables there). If you will be spending some time back in Southern California, hop a Southwest flight to Tucson and visit the Pima Air Museum. Well worth the airfare, add a tour of the boneyard, or just drive around the perimeter and see hundreds of A/C. |
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Post by steve on Jan 15, 2008 15:49:42 GMT 12
Dav3469.. thanks for that ...presently i am in Norfolk and travelled to naval air station oceana today to watch super hornets doing touch and goes every three minutes. They advertise this NAS as the world's largset "master" jet base...what does master refer to? Although not flying through Dulles i have a car hired from Baltimore and will travel there.
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Post by dav3469 on Jan 15, 2008 18:22:58 GMT 12
Under the Master jet base concept, all Type/Model/Series aircraft are home based at one field with associated maintenance and training facilities.
So basically Oceana has all of the Navy's East Coast VFA (Fighter/attack) Squadrons. With the retirement of the tomcat there are no more pure VF (fighter)Squadrons.
NAS Lemore in CA is the West Coast Master Jet Base I believe.
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Post by corsair67 on Jan 15, 2008 18:40:25 GMT 12
Steve, I'm sure I read somewhere that you can book a tour of NAS Oceania, but I don't recall where I saw that information.
Ask around at the local tourist info centre.
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Post by corsair67 on Jan 15, 2008 18:45:56 GMT 12
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Post by steve on Jan 17, 2008 16:16:33 GMT 12
Thanks for that. I didn't get a tour of Oceana NAS however I did go on the Norfolk Naval station tour which included the other Naval airstation with fleet choppers and ASW aircraft. This part of Virgina is heavy on military with 85000 naval personnel on Norfolks two navy facilties. Four large carriers were in port plus 6 of the marine type carriers with the harriers etc plus subs . When i drove around Oceana base i didn't realise that the two s/hornets in constant flying opertions were in fact taking turns with the airforce in maintaining two armed fighters in the air 24/7...so i was told on the naval base tour. After checking out the navy airfields i decided to drive up to Langley airforce base and watched the f22s been put through their paces on a one week 9/11 intercepting exercise. Outside the base there is also a display of all ex aircaft that were housed at the base including a b52 as the gate display.I noted also a blue angel a4 on display beside the citys Battleship Wisconsin maritime museum.
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