Armed Forces Military Museum (DANGER-More PICS)

[Holedigger]

Last weekend I had the honor to take a field trip to the Armed Forces Military Museum with our Cub Scout Pack in Largo Florida. First time I had made it to that museum, it is just a year old. Lots of uniforms and memorabilia, a great small arms collection, mines, grenades, MGs, Army type vehicles (they work) Sherman, Stuart, Duck, Half track w/quad 50, several other newer tanks. Several of the BIG model ships from the Tora, Tora, Tora movie are centerpiece of the Perl Harbor display. Aviation is limited to uniforms, weapons, recon cameras, a Nordon sight, Models, and such. Good collection over all, but an emphasis on ground pounding!
Here is a link to the museum. http://www.armedforcesmuseum.com/index.html
And a few pics i thought folk here might enjoy.

Last edited by Holedigger on Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

[cozmo]

Thanks for the pictures and report.

Now, let me see if I have this right;

They have the big model ships from Tora, Tora, Tora, lots of armor, some aircraft models and warbird related stuff and you show us four pictures of uniforms.

What is the word I'm lokoin' for...

[RickH]

Stingey ?

[Holedigger]

RightOOO
Thought I would at least lead with the aviation links and go from there. No scouts in picks limits what I can show. The internet being what it is!
It is VERY dark in places and NO FLASH rules are in place, though a tripod is allowed(good thing too)


Tora ships

Sherman

M-16 Quadmount

M-3 White Scout Car

M-8 greyhound

Bell-47


Armory

[Holedigger]

And a few more

a few of the blades on display

things that go BOOM!

to keep birds off your warbirds



P-61 Black Widow Radio (sorry, that is as much of the P-61 that they have!)

[Holedigger]

and a few more. The core of this collection was one fellows private collection, vehicles and all, and he decided to share it with the public. A nice new air conditioned museum that hosts historic talks, model clubs and more. Great little local gem.

Pickle Barrel Buster

Nice souvenir

even rarer souvenir

[JBoyle]

Nice Bell 47...a rare model with the wheels...something not seen very often. The wheels were deleted in1950 in the H-13C to save weight and make a neat area to place litters.
Those would make it an 47D...or a YR-13, 13A or H-13B...and it has the correct cabin (without the "hump" in the cabin door area...)
BUT it has the two piece fuel tanks of a later G model.

I was at a aviation garage/hangar sale and someone had a one piece D fuel tank for sale, If I had nown, I would have bought it for these folks...

[Holedigger]

Here is the data panel on the Bell-47. I have no idea if it is a flyer or not, but it was very clean and looked to be in great shape. Appears to be a later model, wheels added back to it to make it "manageable" for moving on ground for display? I don't know.

[Holedigger]

Perhaps not of legal height, this stop sign gets your attention! And deserves respect!

[cozmo]

:lol: RightOOO
No scouts in picks limits what I can show. The internet being what it is!

Understandable, thanks for the pictures. I take back all of those words I was thinking of.

Now, if you don't mind, some scouting questions;

Did you rent a van or car pool?

How were they on the road?

What was the total time gone?

Were all the parents on time for drop off and pick up?


I am a volunteer for my daughter's Girl Scout troop, they got their aviation patch before their sewing patch And this coming year they want to build pine car racers to compete with the boy Scouts.

[Holedigger]

It was a "Summer Pack Activity". Make three of them and get a patch! It was an "everybody drive themselves and meet there" event only 30-40 minutes out. I mean parents drove, not the Cubs! We brownbagged and had lunch there. Less of a hassle that way. If carpooling or renting a van, much more paperwork has to be done! Your local scout council will have the rules and regs on hand as to how that works. Insurance of ALL vehicles is a must. Being a parent and child event makes it much easier.

On your pinewood derby cars, polish the axels, go maximum weight, and graphite the wheel/axels, and have fun!

Our pack is camping this month (Florida camping in July! ), doing a Pinewood Open, no real competition, just testing cars, letting them adjust weights and things between heats, just having fun and looking for the best weight balance combo. (sorry no wind tunnel testing!! I have heard of packs that do that!

Last Year we camped at MacDill AFB and got a fun tour!

[bdk]

Here is the data panel on the Bell-47. I have no idea if it is a flyer or not, but it was very clean and looked to be in great shape. Appears to be a later model, wheels added back to it to make it "manageable" for moving on ground for display? I don't know.

Registered to: Weeks, Kermit A.

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=147DP

[JBoyle]

Yes, the N number comes back to Weeks....ands the serial is from a USN HTL-6/TH-13M (post 1962), military versions of the 47G.

I've never seen wheels on a "G" or seen them referenced in my parts or flight manuals (Bell civil and US Army) or sales brochures.
I don't know if they'd be legal from the FAA's viewpoint if it were airworthy.
They're not the ground handling wheels ..those attach to the normal skids.

So with the "D" cabin and early wheels...it's a bit of a mystery.
Not too surprising since Bells have many, many lives....like DC-3s.
The one I flew had been rebuilt twice after previous mishaps (before I flew it ) after a decade of military service.