Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
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Sorry, you enjoyed a cuppa? Did you take your own tea and kettle?
New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
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231,000 miles and counting
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18th Nov 2024 9:34 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
At $3 a cup it was a bargain cf most museums. Re kettle, reminds us of Canada trip 2 years ago, just post COVID and rooms were stripped of virtually everything, incl kettles. Quick trip to Walmart, C$18 (£12) and hot drinks were back on the menu.
Will sort out pics from today tonight, Pima Air & Space Museum and the Boneyard/AMARG at David Monthan AFB, both big ticks on bucket list.
Pima museum is prob the biggest aviation museum I’ve seen, with oooooodles of “oh, never seen that before” moments. I’m fact, just walking into the external area was a whole row of types that I’d never laid eyes on before today.
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In no particular order, but IMHO some of the highlights.
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With the appropriate bit of Apocalypse Now playing on video in the background.
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Mav and Goose time.
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Supersonic drone deployed from an A-12 Oxcart, think SR-71 but with one seat. Bit of an epic fail when one of the drones took out the launch a/c. One was actually flown over Russia but didn’t return.
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May the 4th be with you.
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Interesting concept.
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Not the prettiest version of the Super Sabre.
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Honking great big flying boat.
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And to outside, time to top up the Vit B level with all that sunshine!
This heli deffo isn’t going to win any beauty awards. But made a good backdrop to a couple of A-10s doing their thing.
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At last I got a pic of an A-10. Phone didn’t want to play. Framing could be better!
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Big boys’ toys now.
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No, not a B-29 a la Enola Gay but the later tanker version, the KB-50. It even did its thing in the Vietnam War.
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Ski equipped NY ANG (I think) Herc. Handy for when it snows in Tucson, or Antarctica.
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Often the most interesting bits of these museums are the bits off to the side, beyond the “STAFF ONLY - NO ADMITTANCE” signs. Here, along with an RAF Jaguar, a Luffwaffe Starfighter and an electronic warfare King Air, is an F-117A Nighthawk. Think Gulf War 1 and Stormin’ Norman days.
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And what is prob the best exhib in the show, the X-15 rocket ship and the B-52 launcher. Absolutely one of the best exhib of any air museum, anywhere!
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We were flagging by this time but some more interesting stuff in the big boys line up. Now we’re travelling close to the Mexican border and seen LOTS of CBP stuff, and been through the “let’s check you’re legal” checkpoints, but hopefully we didn’t pop up on their Orion AWACS radar. As used over the Mex Gulf to track narco traffic, then vector on Cobra or Viper (see pic few below ugly heli) to have a quiet word/shoot the gubbins out of (delete as appropriate) said smugglers.
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Aries II elec recce a/c
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This is SOFIA, flying IR telescope. This was flying from Palmdale where I thought we might see it (v small chance) but as it’s here, no chance!
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And under the wing of a “leisure aircraft”, a jet ski. His and hers, one also on to the side!
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And again interesting stuff outside. Worth a wonder over.
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And while I take pics of aircraft, Mrs DSL takes pics of cacti.
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And that’s pretty much it for today’s museum pics, we’d been there a good few hours and only seen half of it. Good job we bought tickets for 2 days.
Oh, and by way of a PS, I give you the Piper PA-48. A version of the WW2 P-51 Mustang, but cheap with lots of weapon hard points and available in big numbers. Needless to say the USofA didn’t go for it, budgets don’t look good if you buy cheap stuff!! I’d have one though.
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AMRAG to follow, off for VC and nibbles.
PPS Just checked on Wiki and the X-15 above is a mock-up! Bubble well and truly burst!
Pukka one was on display in the DC Smithsonian. Well under polythene!
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18th Nov 2024 10:51 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And to 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, AMARG, the Boneyard. It looks massive on Google Maps, plus only a small part of it is visible by us mere mortals, but that which is visible is mind blowing.
Without getting arrested, which would complicate the trip a little, you can see more Orions, Hercs and Stratotankers (with “special” variants) than you can shake a stick at.
Hercs a plenty. Prob more tactical airlift here than on the rest of the planet combined, excluding US hercs.
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KC-135 tankers. That area had a berm around it but they missed a bit. A few special versions (Rivet Joint types) visible from tail codes but that’s all.
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Looks like engine mounts in the foreground.
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And when peeps in the AMARG Air Force are finished doing tac airlift and refuelling, time to hunt submarines.
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EP-3 Aries 2. They’re recently flown their last so all should head here.
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And a strange variant I’ve never seen before and Google doesn’t help. Not an anti-sub a/c, no MAD. Maybe secret, but not any more.
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“Offensive” stuff is generally away from the roads but did see a couple of B-1B Lancers and B-52Hs.
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Plus some F-16s but rubbish pics as only tops visible through fence.
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And there are some Galaxies under those tails. I could have gotten some better pics but that would have needed me parking at the side of a busy road and clambering up a bank. Without getting arrested!
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And that’s it for today. More fun and frolics tomorrow.
Oh, and Mrs DSL’s fave pic of mine today.
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PS Found out about that funny P-3. According to InstaWhatsit:
rene33000
NP-3C/NP-3D: One P-3C converted into an NP-3C test bed for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, with extant RP-3C and RP-3D later converted to NP-3D standard. Two additional P-3A also modified to NP-3D for Pacific Missile Test Center, but differing from other example with addition of Extended Area Test System Radar (EATS) incorporated into vertical stabilizer.[10]
Every day’s a school day on Orion variants.
19th Nov 2024 1:32 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And back to the cafe with the best view.
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Another boooootiful day, if not a little cooler. Still, looking on the bright side - no snow!
19th Nov 2024 7:15 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And a post without any aircraft, we’ll sort of. Pima Air & Space Museum has a satellite museum, a decommissioned Titan 2 launch site. https://titanmissilemuseum.org/
Tube with ICBM in it with range to drop a 9meg nuke on Moscow, or maybe Leningrad. Decommissioned of course but pretty much as it was back in the day.
Control room. Full simulation of a launch, needless to say we weren’t that successful and prob wouldn’t have gotten our missile away before there was a very local second sunrise.
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Target cards/cookies in here. As long as the peeps in there don’t forget the lock combinations!
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Oops, did I just launch the missile? Once keys are turned it’s a minute before the bird flies and nothing will stop it. That’s going to be a long 60 seconds if a second message is received saying “April Fools y’all”.
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The missile is an actual Titan 2, but not the one that sat ready for leaving the silo 3 minutes after the order code came in. That was a training missile for maintenance purposes. The museum, for authentic history, wanted to keep the original one but they were told no, mainly coz it was full of 2 very dangerous chemicals and a 9 megaton city killing warhead. The original one was prob used to put a satellite into space.
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If it looks familiar, it was the silo that featured in the Star Trek: First Contact movie. This is the view from above. The 80 ton door is locked half open and concreted in place as part of the START treaty so the Rooskie spy satellite that passes overhead 3 times a day can see it’s not active. We could wave at the satellite, or use any other appropriate gesture.
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Great little museum and a great tour, deffo worth it to see a bit of history that luckily never got used.
And re no a/c, can’t resist one of the Huey that is still in service today for silo security. There is stuff in AMRAG that’s more upto date! Note the blue sky, no snow. Booooooootiful.
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And a gratuitous warning sign. Needless to say didn’t see or hear any.
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Also learned today they the powers that be don’t approve of peeps taking pics of the AMRAG Boneyard, and they usually have a quiet word with them. Pheewwwwww, bullet dodged - metaphorically of course.
20th Nov 2024 3:09 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And, going back a few days, bit of catch-up.
San Antonio, and the Alamo. It’s nice to be in a part of the USofA where the war was against someone else, not us.
The famous frontage. The top bit, the characteristic shape, was added way after the battle.
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The roof, and ceiling as below, was added after the battle.
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And I don’t think the hand-grenade shaped salt and pepper holders, as available in the official gift shop, were there for the battle.
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Very strange.
20th Nov 2024 3:26 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
From San Antonio we headed up through the Texan oilfields to New Mexico. We chose a route away from the interstates and went up through the oilfields, and clocked out first nodding donkeys. Then up and over a range of hills to Alamogordo NM, just S of the first A bomb test, Trinity. At 8,700ft we even saw some snow!! View down onto the salt lake. Great views, as enjoyed by peeps driving a German registered camper!
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And a very strange sign, but all will be revealed below, and part of the reason we headed this way.
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Note the White Sands.
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20th Nov 2024 3:38 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And to White Sands Missile Range. An active US Army base where we had to pass security checks in the visitor centre to peruse the Rocket Park. Needless to say we got there Sat afternoon and, while it should have been open, it was firmly closed. We asked at the MP checkpoint and found out they were open but these chaps did the checks. Phewwwwwwww! Passports taken from us, nervous wait and out came our green clearance/pass. Then off we went on an active US Army base, with green pass clutched in one of our sweaty hands. Really grateful to the security chap as we’d driven quite a way out of our way to get there. We couldn’t take our car to the Rocket Park so did the 5 minute walk, under the gaze of blacked out SUV with MILITARY POLICE in very big letters on the side.
We checked with the MP that did our pass that we could take pics, basic rules were none of the security set-up at the gate (fair enough) and the powers that be preferred pics taken towards the mountain, not the active base. Mrs DSL was keeping me straight re pointing towards the mountains but sometimes the pic dictated pointing toward the other way. Not sure my humble iPhone would have captured anything sensitive as they’d be only 2, maybe 3, pixels across.
Most peeps have heard of Roswell?? We turned W a chunk before Roswell but proof is here in the shape of their saucer.
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Lots of old missiles, most from 50s and 60s and a few more modern examples.
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A German V-1 but in USAF colours.
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For comparison a V-1 in a launcher simulation as per WW2 in Pima. Identical.
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Components for a load of V-2s were spirited out of Germany before the Soviets got their hands on them, put together and fired off as USofA’s intro to rocketry. This is the most complete V-2 in existence and spent most of its life touring the local area as an exhibit for the locals. This one wasn’t fired, obviously, but one was, it headed S instead of N and promptly lands in Mexico. Oops.
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The yellow and black colouring was supposed to make it easier to track with cameras but that didn’t work once the rocket got out of the atmosphere, it couldn’t be seen against the blackness of space. They reverted to black and white blocks.
Fat Man nuke casing.
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And a bit more up to date, a Hound Dog (ISTR) as slung under the wing if a B-52
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And a Patriot launcher, as used today in a certain conflict.
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Needless to say there were a few aircraft around. Interesting unmanned helicopter.
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F-4 that survived being turned into a QF-4 (Q = target drone) and shot down.
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And a very brightly painted Huey.
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They had a museum, as with lots of museums too much to take in but had a good look at the WW2 stuff (local troops on Batan Death March and the first nuke test). As with the Titan silo, a great museum with added fun and frolics of getting on an active US missile range. Well worth the detour.
And that’s it for tonight. Enjoy breakie (UK time) and the snow. And will post pics from 2nd visit to Pima. You lot don’t get off that easily!
Oh, and in the White Sands base were we scared? No but this tree was petrified!
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And a Darth Vader mask, as worn by DV/David Prowse himself, in the filming. The production company recorded rocket launch sounds for use in the early films.
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20th Nov 2024 4:18 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73079
And greetings from Californi-eye-a, just N of LA.
Been in this state for a few days, mostly wincing at the gas prices cf Texas, NM & Arizona. Being all green/woke/trendy is expensive!
Got a load of pic catch up to do, incl for a/c fans the rest of Pima near Tuscon and the SUPERB March Field Air Museum. Plus the Blackbird Air Park just south of Palmdale aircraft factories, aka The Skunkworks.
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And interesting conversation with one of the peeps at March Field Museum. We were talking a/c when he came over all serious and said he had a question he asked all visiting Brits. Not sure what he was asking, bracing for questioning impact (thinking Trump or Starmer or Ukraine) he asks if we could take Harry and Megan back. Our instant answer was “no, you can keep them”. Strange, he said, all the Brit’s say that!
Hire car goes back tomorrow, will update pics once we get settled in LA hotel. And with this car’s rental deal we had free tank of gas, ie return it as low as you dare. There’s prob one US Gal in there so mission accomplished.
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Framing could be better! 
Note the blue sky, no snow. Booooooootiful. 
