[akbaree]

I have been planning to go to National Museum of United States Air Force from the time I discovered that it exists just 50 miles from my home. All license plates in here read – “Birth Place of Aviation”. And I realized couple of months back that Wright Brothers belong to Dayton.

And finally I was there…


First things first…

1. The museum is huge. With 10+ exhibits, it is nearly impossible to cover the museum in one day, especially if it is your first visit.
2. Taking pictures kill a lot of time. And then the information provided in each exhibits is awesome. If you are a kind who read every board, I can promise you won’t go past the first exhibit.
3. I spent most of time in the first two exhibits – Early Years and WW II. I still covered only 20-30% of these two exhibits. May be it is just me.

In last 6 years, this is first time I have shot in manual mode of my camera. I remember buying this camera because it had a great manual mode. But I had never understood aperture, ISO and things like that. But in my run up to buying a DSLR, I have decided to use only the manual mode. And boy, what an eye opener this shoot has been. Most of the pictures were taken with Shutter Priority mode and manual ISO setting. I forgot to turn the NR on.

I will let photographs do most of the talking now.


Early Years Exhibit

This is the world’s first military aircraft built by the Wright Brothers


Notice the wings


And the technical details - a 30 BHP engine


From the humble beginning with a 25BHP engine


To this rotary 225 BHP engine in 15 years


Wind tunnel




Pre heavier then air flying


This balloon was used during American Civil War for observation.

Then there was a smart Indian guy with both his hands raised. His smart Indian partner was taking a picture as if her guy is lifting the balloon with his hands. Of course neither of them realized that the balloon is lighter than air and is rising up and he being heavier than air couldn’t sink further .














This cute little thing is called a “Bug”. It is perhaps the first self guided missile.








If this is an ambulance, all I can do is pray hard so that I should never need one












End of Exhibit 1

[alter.e.go]

Always nice to see those BI planes.

[akbaree]

WW II Exhibit

Steel (Aluminum) seems to be flavor of the season…








Advances in night flying












I was amazed at how rudimentary used to be a cockpit (of course when the aircrafts started to have one).




The placard said - Nazi Germany built the first jet engine based military aircraft…


And look at this aircraft – it is the B29 Bocksar bomber that dropped the “Fat Man” atom bomb on Nagasaki killing close to 100,000 people.






Here is model of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki


And here’s the model of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima


End of Exhibit 2

[akbaree]

Miscellaneous Pictures

Barebones view


A stealth bomber


This was the cutest aircraft – an unmanned aircraft









An F-16 thunderbird




And it’s competitor MIG29


I told camera to flash but forgot to adjust other parameters – perils of using manual mode for the first time


I continued to fumble with the manual mode – forgot to switch off the ISO and here is the overexposed picture of my 28 month old


All the trees that you see in the park outside are dedicated to someone. And now I understad DOF better.






I gifted myself USAF aviator sunglasses. I somehow liked the classic, retro steel frame look of them. Of course what I liked most is their character and the bloodshed. My son didn’t want to be left behind - (ISO remained on till I realized after transferring)



Concluded

[akbaree]

P.S.
This is one place you should not miss. Where in the world you can find aircrafts from their invention to the most advanced. It has a special exhibit on Missiles and Space Shuttles as well. And a lot of humor - you have atomic bomb models and next placard may have a turkey recipe from USAF aviators.

[Indian Ranger]

Excellent stuff my friend to see these wonderful machines and the evolution. Of all I liked the "bug" and the cure Unmanned bomber.

Thank you for sharing..

[Spitfire]

What no Spitfire? :(

Amazing place, I always wanted to go here but have never managed to. I read a lot about World War II and have been advised by quite a few to visit this museum for the World War II based stuff on here. Someday I hope to fulfill my pilgrimage.

[chevelle]

great pics. really cool place to visit. where is it located?

could you give some more information about when and how long is it open? would love to visit someday.

loved the f-16. your son looks cute especially when you fumbled with ISO.

[akbaree]

Thanks everyone...

Originally Posted by Spitfire

What no Spitfire? :(

Amazing place, I always wanted to go here but have never managed to. I read a lot about World War II and have been advised by quite a few to visit this museum for the World War II based stuff on here. Someday I hope to fulfill my pilgrimage.

You need to plan at least couple of days if you plan to visit this place as a pilgrimage. And they have Spitfire on display. I was only able to scratch the surface. You can check the details of WW II galery on their website

The museum has gallery for each decade. Looks like America has been to war forever. One will see military aircrafts for wars fought all over the world. And almost each aircraft there has a history - it has sort of earned its place to be there.

Originally Posted by chevelle

great pics. really cool place to visit. where is it located?

could you give some more information about when and how long is it open? would love to visit someday.

It is in Dayton, Ohio. As per the website it is open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily except a few national holidays. The entry is free. You can check their website1 and website2.

[sami316]

Hey,

Awesome stuff you have shared here. Really good. Thanks for sharing this and please upload some more.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by akbaree

P.S.
Where in the world you can find aircrafts from their invention to the most advanced. It has a special exhibit on Missiles and Space Shuttles as well.

Buddy, you gotta visit the 2 Smithsonian Air and Space Museums in DC area---they have an equal number of aircraft and missiles. You can get to see those in my travelogue.

I never knew about this Dayton museum---but it looks like it is a must-see in my next visit to the US. From your post, it appears they have a better array of modern planes, including MiGs.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

What no Spitfire? :(

It is there in DC---please see the pics in my recent travelogue http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ontinents.html

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Buddy, you gotta visit the 2 Smithsonian Air and Space Museums in DC area---they have an equal number of aircraft and missiles. You can get to see those in my travelogue.

Looks like they have a nice collection as well. You have photographed Spitfire, Mustang, and Zero. My untrained eye got lost with so many aircrafts around. I haven't read much about aviation - military or otherwise. I was keen on taking pictures in difficult lighting conditions to try my hand at the manual mode .

Did you try the simulator? I need to go back just to try the simulator.

One key difference between the two museums is that the Dayton museum tracks the military history of the aircrafts (it is a US Air Force Museum). And the DC one is tracking the air and space history in general. I feel both are complimenting each other.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I never knew about this Dayton museum---but it looks like it is a must-see in my next visit to the US. From your post, it appears they have a better array of modern planes, including MiGs.

I just went thru your travelogue and you seem to have covered a lot of ground about the DC area. I have DC on my wish list before I travel back. And your travelogue will be a great help if I get to travel DC. Thanks for sharing.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by akbaree

Looks like they have a nice collection as well. You have photographed Spitfire, Mustang, and Zero.

Did you try the simulator? I need to go back just to try the simulator.

I just went thru your travelogue and you seem to have covered a lot of ground about the DC area. I have DC on my wish list before I travel back. And your travelogue will be a great help if I get to travel DC. Thanks for sharing.

Yep, I've also covered the arch enemy of the Spitfire---the Me109.

Yes, I've given a vivid narration of the simulator ride in my travelogue.

As regards ground covered in DC, I could not visit so many museums there, nor could I go to the top of the Washington Memorial---our pre-paid tickets could not be used as there was a massive political rally on March 21st in the National Mall area, leading to traffic jams, and we got stuck on the way back from Baltimore aquarium.

We did try for the free tickets at 830 am on Mar 30th, but we missed the daily quota.

[vak]

A stealth bomber
Attachment 341567

This is the famous SR-71 Black Bird reconnaissance aircraft. It was the fastest aircraft when it was built with a speed of Mach 3. It was used to take photos of enemy territories. It could go well into the enemy territory and come back, as the enemy fighter jet could not intercept it.
It is not in service any more as now it is the era of spy satellites.

India was having MIG 25 which are also reconnaissance aircrafts. But was decommissioned recently as the need for a recce aircraft is not required any more. One of India's MIG 25 once flew over Pakistan and returned safely after completing the mission. Pakistan airforce tried to intercept it but could not reach near to it.