Warbird Information Exchange

Great to see the 1st B777 put into retirement. It would also be great to paint one side in the Boeing house colours at the time of it's first flight.

Pima continues to set a higher bar. Great work James and thanks for sharing!

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Thank you all for the kind words about the museum. The staff here has worked very hard to make the museum a success and it is always nice when people recognize the effort.

James

James, what is the latest tour offered by Pima for next door for DMAB?
Regards,

Lynn

I'd like to add my thanks as well, for the update.
I also agree with the overall sentiment of what a significant collection is coming together at Pima.
Kudos to all who are working so hard.
Great results!

Andy

The last one of the day is at 2:00PM.

If you want to take the tour remember that due to Air Force security rules you must submit a reservation request at least 10 days in advance. You can get the details of how to make the request and what information you have to submit on our website at this link, http://www.pimaair.org/tour-boneyard

How recent was that requirement for a reservation put into place? I was there 2-3 years ago and just walked up and got on the boneyard tour.

On a side note, I don't have any issue with such a rule, but just wish all of the other military installations would do the same. As it is, most "bases" I can't get in to look at museums or airparks without military ID, which I don't have. Peterson is the only afb that I was able to request in advance and get in to see the museum.

I suppose access to the base now requires escort and the Public Affairs Offices don't have the staffing (I tried to get in touch with two base PA offices in support of a friend's aviation event and never received call backs despite leaving multiple calls and emails).

When I was a base PAO, I'd try to accommodate requests for air park or flight line tours, usually doing the onerous ones..."tail spotters" (due to the amount of walking involved since they had to visit all areas of the 10 million square feet ramp just to check out a tail number)...myself. It got old very fast on 100 degree days. I can see it for getting a photo of a unusual aircraft, but walking miles just to write a C-130 number in a book...

Today, everybody without a DoD ID has to get a pass for access. It was a chore to get my sister on base so she could attend hers son's (an ANG lieutenant at the time) re-enlistment ceremony.

As an example of how times have changed...in 1976 I was in college and my brother was a NCO at Luke. We wanted to visit the boneyard so he called DM public affairs. They loaned us an escort who sat in the back seat of my brother's new Firebird as we drove up and down the rows for photos.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

The rules changed about this time last year.

My wife and I took the AMARG tour a few weeks ago. In addition to having to get clearance ahead of time, we couldn't take any bags on the bus..I had to leave my camera bag at the museum. When entering the base, the took us all off the bus and shut us in a garage while Security swept the bus. Annoying and time consuming, but I'm not gonna complain. Their base, their rules.

In retrospect, I really don't think the tour was worth it. Lots of "pickled" F-16s, C-130s, KC-135s, and P-3s, but to be honest most of the really "cool" stuff is gone (at least if you're looking for vintage stuff..I thought the tour we took in '04 was more interesting.) I wish I had skipped the AMARG tour..the time would have been much better spent at the museum. I had to rush through several hangars to make the 2:00 pm tour.

SN

a question will the P40 be in its original RAAF identity or a USAAF scheme?

The P-40 has been on display since August. http://www.pimaair.org/aircraft-by-name ... 0e-warhawk
I'm not aware off hand of any significant parts that came from a RAAF plane but given that parts came from multiple different aircraft it is possible there are some. We chose to go with a plane from the 49th FG that was flown by a pilot from Arizona.

Yep! I did the AMARG bus tour a few years ago and was underwhelmed... but mainly because I’d done the tour twice before back in ‘88 and ‘89. It was waaay better back then; no security check, plus, they’d let you off the bus at various stops to poke around and take pics. Free reign to roam around, just had to return to the bus when they honked the horn. And oh, the hardware that was still in storage then... A-3s, A-4s, A-7s, A-6s, F-4s, F-8s, F-100s, F-101s, F-105s, F-106s, P-2s, S-2s, T-33s, a few B-57s, B-52s, C-131s, C-118s... and so on. It was freakin cool back then! But now, just stick to the museum.

Well maybe next time, but I'm still going to stop by tomorrow. Do you work there?

Lynn


:::Update:::
The P-40 is a must see...

Sorry, I didn't see your post until now. Yes I've worked for the museum for the last 22 years. Hope you enjoyed your visit.