C-130 landing at Chu Lai, South Viet Nam I put this picture here because I've posted one of a C-130 that rests at the Museum. It's a shame that a great old warbird was allowed to deteriorate like the one on display has. See below.
My old Marine Corps buddy came for a visit and we went to the museum again to revisit some of the displays that we had missed last year when he visited. Here are some of my favorites.
F-102I worked on the F-102 while I worked for the Wisconsin Air National Guard. It was nearly obsolete back then (early 70's) but was still used for training. It wasn't all that good in a dog fight, because if the pilot tried to make a sudden steep climb, he would cut the airflow off to the intake and the engine would stall. A jet without the jet engine becomes a rock and this one flew like a rock.
C-119This is the aircraft that I was first appointed a Crew Chief on. I was a young 19 year old, but apparently I had the mechanical know-how that they were looking for. It was primarily used to train Reserve pilots in flying slow transports. I have a lot of stories about the adventures I had while flying in these things. The troops transported on them, called them "Shuddering Shithouse".
Rear view of C-119 also known as the R4Q 
DC-3 The DC-3 is probably recognized as the most reliable aircraft ever built. At least until the C-130 came along. I was a Crew Chief on this one also. It too, was used primarily to keep pilots current in their transport flying skills.
Another view of the DC-3 
C-130 Hercules This picture makes me sad to see such a wonderful old bird, in this state of disrepair. I flew many missions into and out of Viet Nam and the aircraft was shot full of holes, but never let us down. I posted another picture I have of one of my squadron's C-130 making a landing in Chu Lai. Unfortunately, the system always puts the new pictures at the top, so all I can do is say look up there for it.
C-45 This was a trusty old soul! It couldn't carry a whole lot, but it was a workhorse. I worked on these while employed by Midwest Aviation in Wisconsin. They were pretty spartan and the method of primeing the fuel pressure was done with a hand pump. Same method was used for a Model T.
SR-71 Blackbird supersonic It flew coast to coast in the U.S. in one hour. It was a supersonic observation plane that could
take a picture of your license plate from 81,000 feet, while flying at 2,000 mph. There is a
short slide show by a pilot at www.greatdanepromilitary.com/SR-71/index.htm
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