R&D Gallery/Hangar, NMUSAF, Dayton.

[scoop]

By request from trhe main NMUSAF thread, a few from the rather congested R&D galleries at Dayton. Some real rarities to be found in here, but very space limited which makes photography a tad tricky. Nonetheless:-

First up, a collection of V/STOL aircraft, starting with the Bell XV-3. Forerunner of the XV-15 and, later the OV-22 Osprey, which appears to be prone to crash a lot.....



Vought XV-142; rather than rotating propellor nacelles, the entire wing tilts to vertical:



Is that a Harrier I see? Actually no, it's a Kestrel, the rather rare Harrier prototype:



Very funky VTOL Ryan X-13. Takes off from this attitude, levels off and flies as per normal. Scarily, it then lands by backing down vertically, back on the support. Unsurprisingly, it never caught on......



And not quite related, but very funky, the Avrocar:

[scoop]

The rather splendid and unique XB-70 Valkyrie. Given the spae and numberof aircraft around, it's really difficult to capture the enormous scale of this Mach 3 two seat bomber.... This is the only one in existence.



Giving some limited idea of scale, an XF-23 protoype sheltering underneath. I think a much better looking a/c than the contract-winning F-22.



And also sheltering an X-4.



At 192ft long, the Valkyrie is roughly as long as a Boeing 767!



And is that a Blackbird in the foreground of that shot above? Actually, no, it's a YF-12 prototype and D-21 unmanned reconnaissance drone built around an SR-71 engine...



No apologies here for the poor quality of this shot as I thought this gem had disappeared from the site, but caught a glimpse of it sitting way across the airfield at Wright Patterson AFB (adjacent to the museum). Longer lens might have bene helpful here, but very pleased to see it nonetheless. The NKC-135 LaserLabs were designed to use high powered lasers to shoot down airborne targets..... This a/c has been moved off-site to make room for the museum's C-5 Galaxy. Apparently, if a home for it can't be found, it's off to be scrapped......



That's about your lot, I'm afraid. Comments welcome!

[Niallxg]

Very nice.

[Ben Montgomery]

Is that a B-47 just hiding on the left hand side of the final photo?

[PeterR]

Wetting my appetite for when I visit the museum next month!

What focal length were you using for the photos? Will my 17-40 F4 L be wide enough to get full shots of the exhibits?

[DanO1978]

That's a phenomenal collection. It's almost worth the air fare just to see the Valkyrie in the flesh.

[Inthrustwetrust]

Have seen Valkerie a few times now (its my favourite) and collected some of the oil dripping from her Engines all these years after her last flight, and 'interesting' road journey across a dam from WP to the museum.

The B47 was taken out AFAIA prior to 2003 and the 'new' building as they had an RB47 to go in there instead.

The museum, as most of you know, is just crammed with aircraft, and lots of really interesting airframes including Raptor 001, and Sam26000 (that you can walk through).

dont miss it if your in this part of the States, a full day is easily taken up inside, and its free to go in too

cheers
Dave

[scoop]

The museum, as most of you know, is just crammed with aircraft, and lots of really interesting airframes including Raptor 001, and Sam26000 (that you can walk through).

dont miss it if your in this part of the States, a full day is easily taken up inside, and its free to go in too

I was there from 8am (gates open to wander around the Air Park, but an hour before museum opening) until dashing to the airport at 5pm, and would only say I saw the "big" stuff. A day was enough for the main exhibits, but not to do all the display cases, smaller exhibits and memorabilia etc. Raptor001 and SAM26000 are in my other thread here, in case anyone hasn't spotted them....

Wetting my appetite for when I visit the museum next month!

What focal length were you using for the photos? Will my 17-40 F4 L be wide enough to get full shots of the exhibits?

I was using a 17-70 and 10-20 for most of these, on a 40D crop body. 17-40 on a FF would be fine, but you might want a tad wider if you're on a non full frame body. As much as anything, the 10-20 allowed me to get close enough to i) not have other visitors ni the way and ii) not get barriers in frame.

Also remember to get up early for a drive-by of the Wright Brothers cycle shop on the way, and a quick trip up to the Wright Memorial, overlooking WPAFB. Although the Visitor's Centre opens at 9am, the car park gates are open from 8am-ish for a stop-off on the way to the museum and a look over the base and Huffman Prarie Fields. I had hoped to get to the Fields themselves, but spent too long in the museum and missed the access times. It's on the base itself but I understand the original flying field is accessible by the public. A web search should point you in the (W)right direction!

[Inthrustwetrust]

Interestingly enough, and ifg you have enough time to see if they are still there,

in 2003 there were a 'pile' and yes i mean pile of airframes in the Thunderchief class (i couldnt get too closer that 30ft to look better because of a fenced compoud and dog) and variety.

If you come out of the presidential; / test frame hanger and back to the road. turn right and go under the railway bridge, take your first right and the road rises up and on the left theres a couple of old factories. The frames were behind these.

cheers
Dave

[scoop]

If you come out of the presidential; / test frame hanger and back to the road. turn right and go under the railway bridge, take your first right and the road rises up and on the left theres a couple of old factories. The frames were behind these.

I'm intrigued as to how you got access there? I assume things have changed as the R&D/Presidential Galleries are now accessible to general visitors only by signing up for the bus trip from the museum front entrance. You're then escorted in and out the hangars (and counted several times!), to make sure you don't wander off!!

[Inthrustwetrust]

Hi Scoop,

Sorry i should have clarified.

This location is off site, and i merely stumbled upon it while driving round the back of the site.

In 2003 there was not body count, just a bus that you had to sign up for upon arrival at the museum. You could get any bus back to the main buldings you wanted to.
Sorry for the confusion.

Just checked Google Earth and the site (when the google earth pic was taken) looks to still have some parts of airframes still there. 37 25 19.1 N by 122 05 06W
cheers
Dave

[scoop]

Just checked Google Earth and the site (when the google earth pic was taken) looks to still have some parts of airframes still there. 37 25 19.1 N by 122 05 06W

I'm now perplexed (or Googleplexed??) as those co-ords are Google's headquarters! Be interested if you could repost the correct ones?