NASM Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center, Dulles - 5/9/23 Part 2

[andyh]

World War II Aviation, German World War II Aviation, Interwar Military Aviation (1920 - 40)

Given the number of images and commentary I thought it best to start a second thread for remainder of the museum displays. I'll add a further selection around helicopters and general aviation later.



1-J-1, Sikorsky JRS-1, United States Navy
Actually located in amongst the Cold War and modern military aviation aircraft, this amphibious seaplane is the only aircraft in the Museum that was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. Ten JRS-1s were at the U.S. naval base when the Japanese attacked during World War II. The Navy immediately sent these unarmed utility craft to search for the enemy fleet. The JRS-1 (used 1937-1944) is the military version of the Sikorsky S-43 "Baby Clipper." The aircraft isn’t in great condition at the moment due, apparently, to years of outside storage. It is slated for refurbishment.




42-32076 / LL-E, ‘Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby’, Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, United States Air Force
Tucked up along the northern wall of the main hangar, next to the Sikorsky JRS-1 this machine has been transferred from the Museum of the United States Air Force for restoration.

In March 1944 this B-17G was assigned to the 91st Bomb Group -- "The Ragged Irregulars" -- and based at Bassingbourn, England. There its crew named it Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby, after a popular song. It flew 24 combat missions in WWII, receiving flak damage seven times. Its first mission (Frankfurt, Germany) was on March 24, 1944, and last mission (Posen, Poland) on May 29, 1944, when engine problems forced a landing in neutral Sweden where the airplane and crew were interned.

In 1968 Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby was found abandoned in France, and the French government presented the airplane to the U.S. Air Force. In July 1978 the 512th Military Airlift Wing moved it to Dover Air Force Base, Del., for restoration by the volunteers of the 512th Antique Restoration Group.





13, Vought-Sikorsky OS23-3 Kingfisher, United States Navy
The Kingfisher was the U.S. Navy's primary ship-based, scout and observation aircraft during World War II. Most OS2Us operated in the Pacific, where they rescued many downed airmen, including World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and the crew of his B-17 Flying Fortress.

In March 1942, this airplane was assigned to the battleship USS Indiana. It later underwent a six-month overhaul in California, returned to Pearl Harbor, and rejoined the Indiana in March 1944. Lt. j.g. Rollin M. Batten Jr. was awarded the Navy Cross for making a daring rescue in this airplane under heavy enemy fire on July 4, 1944.






82, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, United States Air Force, ‘Enola Gay’
Perhaps one of the most iconic and controversial aircraft on display at the Smithsonian - or anywhere is Boeing B-29 Superfortress ‘Enola Gay’. The OMD song of the same name is one of my favourites (!).

During the war in the Pacific Theater, the B-29 delivered the first nuclear weapons used in combat. On August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., in command of the Superfortress Enola Gay, dropped a highly enriched uranium, explosion-type, "gun-fired," atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney piloted the B-29 Bockscar and dropped a highly enriched plutonium, implosion-type atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. On August 14, 1945, the Japanese accepted Allied terms for unconditional surrender.

Enola Gay’s last flight ended on December 2 1953 when she touched down at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The bomber remained at Andrews in outdoor storage until August 1960. By then, concerned about the bomber deteriorating outdoors, the Smithsonian sent collections staff to disassemble the Superfortress and move it indoors to the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland.

The staff at Garber began working to preserve and restore Enola Gay in December 1984. This was the largest restoration project ever undertaken at the National Air and Space Museum and the specialists anticipated the work would require from seven to nine years to complete. The project actually lasted nearly two decades and, when completed, had taken approximately 300,000 work-hours to complete.






194, Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk, United States Air Force
Curtiss-Wright built this airplane as Model 87-A3 and delivered it to Canada as a Kittyhawk I in 1941. It served until 1946 in No. 111 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. U.S. Air Force personnel at Andrews Air Force Base restored it in 1975 to represent an aircraft of the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, 14th Air Force.





481, Ryan PT-22A Recruit, United States Navy
This Recruit was originally the third of twenty-five built under contract as a float plane trainer for use in the Netherlands East Indies but the sale fell through after the N.E.I. surrendered to Japanese forces in May 1942. It then was used as an AAF trainer until declared surplus late in the war. Since 1944, this Recruit has had nearly two dozen owners who have cared for and preserved the aircraft-some have flown this aircraft in air shows, others just for pleasure.
3022/44, Naval N3N-3, United States Navy




9056 Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk, United States Navy
In many respects quite a remarkable aircraft. I hadn’t realised until doing a little research that the Sparrowhawk was designed to be launched from - and recovered to - an airship (!) and the USS Macon referenced in the colour scheme is one of two such dirigibles operated by the US Navy in the 1930s it crashed off the California coast in 1935).




42-67762, Lockheed P.38J Lightning, United States Air Force
The P.38 seems to have had a fairly short service history (1942 - 1945) partly because the aircraft was unpredictable and had something of a reputation for ‘killing its pilots’. The Army Air Forces accepted this Lightning as a P-38J-l0-LO on November 6, 1943.




43-8330, Northrop P-61C Black Widow
The P-61 Black Widow was the first U.S. aircraft designed to locate and destroy enemy aircraft at night and in bad weather, a feat made possible by the use of on-board radar. The prototype first flew in 1942. The Museum’s Black Widow, a P-61C-1-NO, was delivered to the Army Air Forces in July 1945. It participated in cold-weather tests, high-altitude drop tests, and in the National Thunderstorm Project, for which the top turret was removed to make room for thunderstorm monitoring equipment.

The yellow aircraft in the foreground is a Northrop N1M (T2-4903)




8103, Halberstadt CL.IV,
The Halberstadt CL.IV was one of the most effective ground attack aircraft of the First World War. It appeared on the Western Front towards the end of the German offensives in 1918.

The source of the NASM airplane was a collection of Halberstadt CL.IV aircraft and spare parts obtained shortly after the First World War by Paul Strähle, a former fighter pilot who had served with Jagdstaffel 18. In 1919, he acquired three complete surplus Halberstadt CL.IVs, spare parts, engines, and three additional fuselages. In 1982, Strähle sold the one remaining complete Halberstadt and the spare parts and components to Ken Hyde and Stan Parris of Warrenton, Virginia. They in turn traded all the Halberstadt equipment to the United States Air Force Museum for six surplus North American T-28 trainers in 1984.




A-7114, Boeing FB-5 Hawk, United States Navy
The FB series of fighters, built in limited numbers during the mid 1920s by Boeing, were used by the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps. The major production model of the series was the FB-5. It was the first true carrier-borne fighter built by Boeing.

NASM acquired its Boeing FB-5 in August 1972 from Robert Gallaher of Allied Aviation in Tucson, Arizona. Restoration of the airplane was performed in 1977-1978 by the U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Museum in Quantico, Virginia. The particular machine saw service with the Navy and the marine Corps operating off both the U.S.S. Langley and U.S.S. Saratoga in 1927 - 28.




FE-500, Messerschmitt Me.163B-1a Komet, Luftwaffe
The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet holds the distinction of being the first and only tailless rocket-powered interceptor to see operational service, albeit only in the final year of the Second World War. Its volatile fuel mix, dodgy landing gear arrangement and unpowered landings made them operationally challenging for pilots. They could reach their 12,100m service ceiling in just under three-and-a-half minutes, but could then only stay airborne for eight minutes before having to glide back to base!

This particular machine was one of five transported to the US after the war for experimental purposes (including being towed behind a B-29 and released to glide down to earth). It is displayed in its unrestored condition.





140-312/FI+GS, Arado Ar 234 B Blitz, Luftwaffe
The Arado Ar 234 B Blitz (Lightning) was the world's first operational jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The first Ar 234 combat mission, a reconnaissance flight over the Allied beachhead in Normandy, took place August 2, 1944. This Ar 234 B-2 served with bomber unit KG 76 from December 1944 until May 1945, when British forces captured it in Norway. Turned over to the United States, it was brought to Wright Field, Ohio, in 1946 for flight testing. In 1949 it was transferred to the Smithsonian, which restored it in 1984-89. This Arado is the sole survivor of its type.





T2-614, Henkel He219 Ohu (Eagle Owl)
The He 219 has been described as the best night fighter operated in World War II by the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe. It may have been the best night fighter of the war. Only the American Northrop P-61 "Black Widow" shares the He 219's unique status of being designed for night operation. The He 219 was fast, maneuverable, and carried devastating firepower. It was the only piston-engined Luftwaffe night fighter which could meet the fast British De Havilland "Mosquito" on equal terms. Advanced features included cannons mounted to fire at an oblique angle, the first steerable nosewheel on an operational German aircraft, and the world's first ejection seats on an operational aircraft.






102/VG+PH, Dornier Do.335 A-1 Pfeil (Arrow), Luftwaffe
The Dornier Do 335 was one of the fastest propeller-driven aircraft ever flown. The Germans claimed that a pilot flew a Do 335 at a speed of 846 km/h (474 mph) in level flight at a time when the official world speed record was 755 km/h (469 mph).

The NASM machine is the second Do.335 built (c/n 240102), completed in 1944 and ‘found’ by the allies in April 1945 at Oberpfaffenhofen. It was shipped to the USA aboard British carrier HMS Reaper later in 1945 but returned to Germany for restoration by Dornier in 1974-75. It was displayed for a time at the Deutsche’s Museum in Munich until returning to the States in 1986.





343-35/A, Kawanishi N1K2-Ja, Japanese Army
Apparently the Allies nicknamed the N1K2 ‘George’, despite its Japanese designation being Shiden or ‘Violet Lightning’. It was regarded as the best Japanese naval fighter produced in quantity during World War II.





7334, Nakajima J1N1 Gekko (Moonlight), Imperial Japanese Navy, ‘Irving’
Nicknamed Irving by the Allies, the J1N1 was originally designed as a three seat, daylight escort fighter plane and first flown in 1941. It was modified as a night fighter (with just two crew) in 1943 and were also used as Kamikaze aircraft in the Pacific. This machine is the last remaining in the world and was transported from Japan to the US in 1946.





LF686, Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIC, Royal Air Force
LF686 was part of the last RAF Hurricane order for about 1,300 aircraft and built at Hawker’s Langley factory near Slough. On March 14, 1944, the RAF moved LF686 to No. 5 Maintenance Unit at RAF Kemble airfield for installation of operational equipment. The fighter was delivered to No. 41 Operational Training Unit at RAF Hawarden on April 15, 1944. It served in this OTU until the RAF reclassified the aircraft a maintenance training airframe, number 5270M, on June 27, 1945, and transferred it to RAF Maintenance Command at Chilbolton, Hampshire, where it was used to train mechanics. At some point the original engine was probably removed. In July 1948, the RAF issued the Hurricane to No. 7 School for Recruit Training, RAF Bridgenorth. Another Merlin XX was installed and the fighter was placed outdoors, opposite the guardroom. Sometime later, the entire airplane was painted silver. In 1963, Bridgenorth closed its doors and LF686 moved to RAF Colherne for overhaul and storage.

During the late 1960s, the Smithsonian arranged to trade a stock Hawker Typhoon to the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in exchange for Hawker Hurricane LF686. An RAF transport hauled the fighter to the U. S. in 1969. Specialists at the Garber Facility began restoring the airplane in 1989 and finished the project eleven years later.

[andyh]

Part 4, Vertical Flight, Sport Aviation, Aerobatics and assorted bits

The Smithsonian collection is theoretically grouped into different themes. I have to say that whilst vertical flight was fairly straightforward (i.e. helicopters with a few bits of airship and ballooning equipment) the lines between ‘sport aviation’ and ‘aerobatics’ seemed fairly blurred, especially for someone who always struggled identifying many light aircraft - especially at the PFA Rally at Cranfield!

Quite a few familiar types on display though many suspended from the roof of the main hall in various aerobatic poses. As mentioned previously the displays are across three levels, with those a level two and three best viewed from the high level walkways that run along one side of the museum. As with aircraft on the ground (Level one) some exhibits are very close together so not easy to get decent shots.

Again, as with the previous posts, the descriptors draw heavily from the excellent detailed information on the Smithsonian website, and F. Robert van Der Linden’s book ‘Best of the National Air and Space Museum’.




7, Boeing P-26A Peashooter
The Boeing P-26 fighter represents a “turning point” in US military aircraft design. It introduced the concept of the high-performance all-metal monoplane fighter. While it was a radical departure from the wood-and-fabric bi-plane, the P-26 retained features like the open cockpit, fixed landing gear and external wing bracing.

This particular machine dates back to 1942 when it was flown in the Guatemalan Air Force. It is painted in the colours of the 34th Attack Squadron that was stationed at March Field, California.




N3911Z Bell 206L Longranger, ‘Spirit of Texas’
This aircraft has some history attached to it! it was used to complete the first round-the-world flight by helicopter, departing Dallas on 1st September 1982 and returning 29 days later after flying over 26 countries. The trip apparently also involved refuelling aboard a container ship during the leg across the Pacific!




NX70, Auto Gyro Company of America AC-35
The AC-35 is proper cute. It looks like it could have been drawn by a designer at Disney, and dates from 1936. It’s field performance was remarkable, requiring as little as 173feet to get airborne. In the configuration shown (i.e. rotors folded away) the aircraft could also travel on roads using rear wheel drive, reaching speeds of 25mph.




NX-20645, Stanley Nomad
The unpowered Nomad sailplane was designed and built by an amateur - Robert M Stanley - whilst he was serving in the US Navy completing construction in 1938. Early on in its career Stanley replaced the conventional tail with one of the first V-tails seen on an aircraft. In 1929 the aircraft achieved an American altitude record, reaching almost 5,300 metres - more than double the previous record.





NX-41867, Bell Model 30 Ship 1A, Genevieve
I have to confess that the suggestion that the Bell Model 30 is a direct predecessor and demonstrate prototype to the well known Bell 47 seems a bit of a stretch to me, but that’s what the blurb says. It’s another one of those machines that wouldn’t look out of place appearing from a crate in a James Bond movie, rather than its more recognisable offspring which I remember from MASH (and I’m sure there was a Bell 47 based at Liverpool for many years too?).




57-2729, Bell UH-13J Sioux, United States Air Force
On July 12, 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first President of the United States to fly in this helicopter. The occasion was a simulated nuclear alert staged to test how quickly the Chief Executive and other government officials could depart Washington, D. C. and reach a safe haven outside the city. During 1957, the Bell Helicopter Corporation modified a stock Bell H-13J helicopter to meet the President's special needs. Technicians added all-metal rotor blades, special arm and foot rests to the right seat, and a frame-less, Plexiglas nose bubble heavily tinted to reduce glare and heat. Eisenhower's personal helicopter pilot, United States Air Force Major Joseph E. Barrett, flew the rotorcraft from the centre seat and a Secret Service agent occupied the left seat.




N4EZ, Rutan Vari-Eze



N5K, Stits SA-2A, ’Sky Baby’
At one point this was the world’s smallest man-carrying aircraft. It’s just 3m long with a 2.2m wingspan. It doesn’t look much bigger than some of the scale models that fly at various meets.




N13Y, De Havilland DHC-1A Chipmunk, ‘Penzoil Special’
This heavily modified Chipmunk was purchased by a veteran aerobatic and movie pilot called Art Scholl (who died whilst filming in a Pitts Special on the original Top Gun movie). He shortened the wings, modified the tailplane and installed a more powerful fuel-injected engine. Scholl called this a ’Super Chipmunk’ but technically remained a Chipmunk that flew in the Experimental category of FAA special airworthiness certificates.




N36Y, Monocoupe 110 Special, ‘Little Butch’
I was amazed by the seeming lack of forward visibility in this aircraft, despite it being a specially designed aerobatic and racing aircraft. It competed a number times in the American and International Aerobatic Championships in the late 1940s.




N277FF, Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer
I never appreciated that the Global Flyer was designed by Burt Rutan (of Vari Eze and Long Eze fame). I do remember its record breaking flights in the early 2000s including the round the world speed record and an absolute distance record (25,766 miles).





N703NA, Bell XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft
This is the second of the two XV-15s built by Bell under a joint NASA/US Army program. It served from 1979 through 2003, demonstrating operations under a wide range of conditions and logged 700 hours in testing. Its success encouraged Bell and the US Marine Corps to develop a scaled-up Tilt Rotor, the MV-22, as a replacement for Marine transport helicopters.




N1111L Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, ‘Conquest 1’
Another air racer and apparently an early product of the Lockheed Skunk Works where its owner was employed. On August 16, 1969, the aircraft broke the 30-year-old speed record for piston-engine aircraft held by German pilot Fritz Wendel in the Messerschmitt Me 209, reaching 777 kilometers (483 miles) per hour over the California desert.





N1202, North American P.51C Mustang, ‘Excalibur III’
Excalibur III first belonged to famed aviator A. Paul Mantz, who added extra fuel tanks for long-distance racing to this standard P-51C fighter. With it Mantz won the 1946 and 1947 Bendix air race and set a transcontinental speed record in 1947 when the airplane was named Blaze of Noon. In 1949 the aircraft was acquired by Capt. Charles F.Blair who renamed it Excalibur III. In early 1959 Blair flew Excalibur III from New York to London in less than 8 hours, breaking the existing mark by over an hour.




N1872P, Piper PA.18 Super Cub
The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) used this Super Cub in its uranium exploration program in the West during the 1950s. The rough and sometimes inaccessible terrain made an airborne survey a logical choice, and the AEC's fleet of 10 low, slow, and inexpensive Super Cubs maintained an enviable record of safety and reliability. A scintillation counter used to detect gamma radiation is in the rear of the airplane.




NC80518, Globe Swift GC-1A
The A model was the only multi-seat, complex, nonexperimental aircraft of its time in the United States under 100 horsepower. All-metal with sleek lines and retractable landing gear, it handled like a fighter and was a major advance over wood-and-fabric sport designs-and surprisingly economical to fly.




NR1050, Grumman G-22 Gulfhawk II
The Grumman Gulfhawk II was built for retired naval aviator and air show pilot Al Williams. As head of the Gulf Oil Company's aviation department, Williams flew in military and civilian air shows around the country, performing precision aerobatics and dive-bombing manoeuvres to promote military aviation during the interwar years.




X-15749, Mignet HM-14 Pou de Ceil, ‘La Cucaracha’
Unlike the modern reproduction Viscount reported in the Malta Aviation Museum, this Mignet-Crosley Pou du Ciel is the first HM.14 made and flown in the United States, dating back to 1935.

So that concludes my report, although I will post separately on the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.

I could have spent much, much longer there but I didn’t want to push Mrs H’s patience and we had to get the hire car back! A wonderful collection.

One find point to note that should please Viscount, all aircraft on display at ground-level are supported so that their tyres aren’t touching the floor!

[viscount]

It may well surprise many that the central subject of two of your images, N703NA Bell XV-15 'tilt-rotor', has actually been to Liverpool Airport!

The Bell XV-15 made its first visit to Europe to appear at a Paris Air Salon in 1981. It returned for a further Paris Air Salon appearance in 1995 along with an early Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. On Monday 19th June 1995 the XV-15 N703NA arrived at Liverpool from Farnborough at 11.36 in company with King Air 200 F-GMCS both on call-sign RNO 819. The King Air left for Le Harve a little over an hour later. The Bell XV-15 departed for Seaforth Dock en route back to the USA by sea, departing Speke Airport 08:39 on Friday 23rd June 1995. Given the novelty of the type and length of stay, it is remarkable that I have never seen any photo of it at Liverpool! Indeed it is the lack of published photos that has likely doomed the Liverpool visit to obscurity.

Tickles me that you spotted my remark on another thread commenting about soft tyres on aircraft in Museums. However I consider raised wheel axle-jacks to be cheating! Many thanks for sharing your great photos of the remarkable Smithsonian Collection exhibits. Quite remarkable galleries.

[iainball]

Wow what a great thread, thank you !