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The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

An evening pause: A short seven minute tour of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

You will never see a museum in this manner. And as they go by, how many of these flying vehicles can you name?

Hat tip David Eastman.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

13 comments

  • John

    That was absolutely freakin awesome!

  • Kevin R.

    I wonder how they shot that? With a drone?

  • geoffc

    Having been there twice I totally suggest you go if you ever get the chance. Pretty awesome place. Huge! 4 gigantic halls big enough to hold a B-52, B-2, and B-1B with room for many more in the same hall.

    The XB-70 is my favorite.

  • Alex Andrite

    Beautifully Stunning !

    Drone and audio Team should be acknowledged.

  • Tom

    You can see the shadow of the drone pretty well at the 5:50 mark as it goes up and over the nose of the B2 bomber.
    Last time I was there was in the 90’s when most of the bigger examples were parked outside exposed to the elements and in a sad state. They have come a long way since then.

  • Jay

    Beautiful indeed! Great film. I flew in to Dayton for a couple days in 2015 and regret not going to the museum. Not enough time.

    Looking at that video there a number of items I find pretty cool: XB-70, the X-37 – that was a big deal seeing that at Ames Research when I was a kid, the B-36 Peacemaker, B-58 Hustler, and of course the B-29 “Bockscar” (which was not on the video). That is a great collection none the less.

    I wish they got one of the shuttles when the fleet was retired. They certainly have the room there for it! I always thought NYC was unworthy to have Enterprise. Of course I thought LA was unworthy of Endeavour and it should have gone to the Boeing Museum of Flight.

  • Phil Berardelli

    Impressive performance by the drone operator — they must have placed a great deal of confidence in him/her to allow the thing to fly so close to the aircraft. Curious, though. I didn’t see a B-17, B-24 or B-25 among the exhibits. Likewise other WWII aircraft. Do they have them there, or is the collection incomplete?

  • Jay

    Phil,
    I looked up their website and saw the list of the galleries. They did not show the WWII gallery and the video only showed four of the ten galleries. I saw a B-29 in the footage and thought it was “Bockscar”, but it was another B-29 from their Korean War gallery.

  • Matt in AZ

    Jay, since the shuttles were built in Palmdale and frequently landed at Edwards AFB, California “earned” getting one more than Seattle. I agree NYC’s win was unworthy, and they’ve proven to be ill-equipped for the honor. The California Science Center is providing a great home for Endeavour, as they will be the only museum to exhibit a fully stacked shuttle with ET and boosters once their new building is complete (2022ish). I will definitely take trip out there one that display is open!

    https://californiasciencecenter.org/about/our-future

  • Jay

    Matt,
    I know. I am biased since I live in Washington State… the dry non-rioting east side of the state.

    The Boeing Museum of Flight has a great collection, it did get the shuttle simulator from Houston and it is worth the $20 to go inside it.

  • TL

    Amazing done video. Looks like I need to add the National Museum of the US Air Force to my places to visit list.

    I’ll second The Boeing Museum of Flight being worth a visit if you ever end up in the Seattle area.

  • Jeff Wright

    What was that next to the thunderscreech?
    Navajo?

  • Matt in AZ

    Jeff Wright, that is the North American X-10, which was built to prove out technologies for the Navaho missile. Of 13 built, this is the sole surviving example.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-10

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