USAFM, today. the same planes i photograph every single time

[Courier Sportster]

I drove on up to the air force museum today. such an embarrassment of riches. where the riches end is at my camera lens. a family asked me to take their picture--wow was their smart phone ever better. almost all of these were with my old Nikon though. I will upgrade soon, I must.

airfoil shaped roof. never noticed before. above the old entrance.












looks like what django modeled ol' 927 after, sort of. obviously I do not know what i'm talking about...


slightly better than the shot with my Kodak 110 pocket instamatic in 1974...


in case you find yourself out on the tarmac, beware. the C-119 is packed with yellow jackets.


I counted the upright goblets and I think there's 3 or 4 guys alive still.


go to the photobucket for the rest of the blurry mess. flash/no flash, I didn't matter. it was hopeless. i muttered 'hopeless' to myself many times. I swear that place is even darker than on previous visits! economic indicator? some planes were not illuminated at all. very few people there today, but a high percentage of Chinese tourists, if that indicates anything about these times we are living in. I sure cannot afford a trip to see their P-61!

[JohnB]

The roof was much more noticeable before the addition of the IMAX theater.
Some of us who visited the in the "old days" liked the earlier, less polished feel of it.
Not that it's bad now, but it certainly had its charm in the past..like the chapel gallery above the aircraft and other long-gone features.

[Courier Sportster]

yes, when I see the old entrance doors, still there, but now blacked out (kinda like they do to canopies out at pima), I think of the past. me and dad walking thru in happier times. I also miss the cafeteria looking down on the collection. I seem to recall that being a feature. dad forcing me to pause and refresh while the B-36 was calling to me. agony. I recall how my heart would race as i'd catch a glimpse of the first outdoor planes from almost a mile away. hurry up, dad, c'mon!

[Courier Sportster]

hello again. I did notice that the gate guard F-104 was not there anymore. Anybody know where that went? it was out there for what, 30 years? something else I noticed yesterday, something I always fail to remember--the F-105 is HUGE. what a beast.

[Steve Nelson]

That's wierd, the F-104 "onnastick" was there when we visited the museum just three weeks ago. I did notice the canopy was missing and the cockpit covered..maybe the plane as being prepped for removal.

SN

[Courier Sportster]

hmnn. maybe i just missed it. i do become a bit dazed when on the premises. drunk, as it were, on the grand scale of it all. i did scan the grounds quickly one last time before i got in the car, and thought i saw just the stick, way way off. but then i glanced around again a few seconds later and could not even find the stick. perhaps age is catching up with eyes. wait, no perhaps about it. i'm a mess!

[Misterg97]

The F-104 is down for a restoration look and perhaps some work .. it will be placed back ..