Florida's Vietnam Vets

Today's Flag friday features pictures of the Florida State Vietnam Vets Memorial, across the street from the Capital building.

This is one of my favorite memorials.

What is there not to love about this beautiful, patriotic memorial?

Tarheels cry too

Ok, just off of highway 85 between Charlotte and Greensboro North Carolina, is a small park with a special purpose. It is the North Carolina State Vietnam War Memorial. It is very well done and certainly invites one to come stay for a while. Nice to see that in a state that has long been familiar with sacrifice, people still realize the cost of freedom.
Flags of the US, POWs, and North Carolina.
Entrance to the memorial
Wall listing the names of all North Carolinians killed in Vietnam
A nearby creek, adding to the tranquility of this place.

Boneyard part 1

Ok, this is the Pima Air and Space museum, my favorite aviation museum in the US (and I have been to a lot!) This massive museum is the world's largest non-government funded, boasting over 250 aircraft on 80 acres with a truly unique blend of Air Force, Navy, Army, even foreign aircraft. It all began in 1976 when local enthusiasts became concerned with all the aircraft going into storage at nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and started the museum with the surplus aircraft. Now the base serves as a unique source that gives the museum its ecclectic and massive collection. This is one of my most difficult posts because of having to pick from so many amazing aircraft and photos. So these are my absolute favorites, and all of the photos are on my Dropshots account. Please visit to see all the great plane photos, and if you happen to be in Arizona, and like airplanes or history, you really need to stop by! And don't forget you can click the photos on here to make them bigger! We kick off with the group photo above, including from left to right an OV10 Bronco, A7 Corsair 2, A4 Skyhawk, A6 Intruder, F14 Tomcat, and F105 Thunderchief.
In the first hanger we find this beautiful example of an S3 Viking.
This is my favorite noseart that I've seen. It's just so well done!
PBM Mariner
Two of my favorites in one shot: The A10 Thunderbolt 2 and SR71 Blackbird.
The rare F107 fighter
This lineup would make any aviation enthusiast (or museum) drool. From left to right AV8 Harrier, YF4 Phantom 2, F11 Tiger, F3 Demon, F8 Crusader, and F6 Skyray.
Another impressive lineup left to right F101 Voodoo, F102 Delta Dagger, F104 Starfighter, F105 Thunderchief, F106 Delta Dart, and A4 Skyhawk.
Super Guppy transport
This unusual craft is an AEW3 Gannet, A British airborne early warning and control plane developed after WW2.

The YC14 prototype, one of two competitors in the 1970s to replace the C130 Hercules. Although the YC14 and 15 were both very succesful, niether went into production.
The main helicopter collection, from left to right OH58 Kiowa, two UH1 Hueys, HH43 Huskie, HH52 Seaguard, HH3 Pelican, H37 Mojave, H21 Shawnee,HUP3 Army Mule, H19 Chickasaw, H5 Dragonfly, HO3 Dragonfly, and HTL7 Sioux.
The Avro Shackleton bomber, built after WW2 as the last British piston engine bomber. It entered service in 1951, and served as a bomber in several small conflicts around the globe. This particular example retired in July 1991 and is the only one in flying condition left in the world.
The massive B36 Peacemaker, the giant intercontinental bomber built following WW2.
Two other now rare aircraft, an extended wing Canberra used for research by NASA, and a Skycrane helicopter.

The RB1 Conestoga built by the Budd (hey that's me!) Company out of Philadelphia. Designed at the begining of WW2, it was made of welded stainless steel due to fears of alluminum shortage. The Army and Navy placed orders for the plane, having its first flight on Oct 31, 1943. But poor flying characteristics as well as construction delays doomed the project. By this time, aluminum had become plentiful and other aircraft had begun to fill the need for cargo transports. This caused the orders to be cancelled and only 17 were delivered to the Navy. Some flew for civilian companies for a short time after the war, but several crashed and they were soon discontinued in favor of more popular designs such as the C47.
Another rarity, the F7F Tigercat.
A British Bristol Blenheim bomber
A B23 Dragon, developed to replace the B18 Bolo bomber, but inferior to other bombers of the day, so only a handful were made and none saw combat.

This is great. Three B52 bombers, an A, D, and G model, all sitting next to each other. Looks like a force to be reckoned with.
The elusive and ahead of its time B58 Hustler supersonic bomber
A trainer version of the F102 Delta Dagger
Where else in the Western World will you see this? A Mig 19 Farmer, two Mig 15 Fagots, two Mig 17 Frescos, and a Mig 21 Fishbed. превосходный!
A Constellation transport, by the name of Columbine 2. Those who are familiar with the more prestigous Air Force Museum might wonder why this is here. Because this plane was General Eisenhower's plane during WW2. President Eisenhower's plane, Columbine 3, also a Connie, is at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Wings over the Piedmont

Ok, so this is the Carolinas Air Museum, an amazing little gem of a museum in about the last place you would expect to find one, just west of Charlotte, NC. My dad and I found this by accident on the way back home from Cowpens. While its collection is small, in relative terms, it is certainly bigger than you would expect for a rural little airport museum, and it has some real treasures you would never expect. For example, this beautiful example of a DC3. I am in love with this plane! I really like the DC3/C47 in general because they look so classic and elegant, but this one is just so nice! By the way, it is also in flying condition and does regularly fly to shows. For this post, I have only put up my favorite pictures and the most interesting stuff, but almost all of my photos from the museum are on my new Dropshots account. <---Click the link if you want to see them. It's easier than putting them on here. Also, luckily for me, they weren't really busy, and one of the museum staff (a former Air Force pilot) walked us around, telling some of the aircraft's unique stories and showing things most people don't see. So to start, a few photos of this amazing DC3, including two of the inside, just one of the things our guide showed us.

This strange looking critter is a 1962 Gyrodyne remote controlled anti-submarine helicopter. Note the torpedoes slung underneath.
This is a real rarity, a Douglas Skystreak, one of only three built (and one of them crashed.) It was built in 1947 as a joint venture between the Navy and NACA (predecessor of NASA) to test high subsonic flight speeds. Sorry the picture is not great, the plane is kind of crammed in the back and difficult to photograph.
Another unique find is this small flight simulator form the 1930s (?). Well before anything electronic came along.
A gorgeous example of a PT17 Kaydet Navy WW2 trainer

Everyone loves a Tomcat, right? This one is my dad's favorite, but he also worked on them for many years. I also included it because of its story as related by our guide. When the pilots flew it up to the Charlotte airport for the museum, they knew it would be their last time to do anything in the Cat, so they got permission from the tower, and buzzed the airport a few times. The people in the terminals loved it! When they landed and the plane was brought to the museum, they also signed the crew ladder and had their photo taken (below.)

A nice C47 painted in DDay colors, but in need of restoration. This one actually is a war veteran, but not of DDay. It flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force out of Burma in WW2. Since then it had a colorful military and civilian career, until it had a landing accident in 2000 at the Charlotte airport. Shortly after, Saber Cargo Airlines, which had been operating it, went bankrupt, and the plane became part of the museum.
Just a nice overall picture including the museum hanger. Aircraft tails visible left to right are the A7 Corsair, AV8 Harrier, F14 Tomcat, F101 Voodoo, and F102 Delta Dagger.
This Sea Knight helicopter is a true piece of history. Because its story is worth being told in full, here it is from the museum website: "The Museum's CH-46 is extreamly historic. On January 31st, 1970, US Marine Corps Pfc. Mike Clausen, Jr. earned The Medal of Honor, this country’s highest honor, for his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in Vietnam at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Clausen was a crew chief of a CH-46 helicopter named “Blood, Sweat and Tears.” While participating in a helicopter rescue mission of a Marine platoon that had inadvertently entered a mine field south west of Da Nang (the "Da Nang Barrier" mine field) while attacking enemy positions. Pfc Clausen skillfully guided the helicopter pilot to a landing area cleared by one of several mine explosions. On the ground, 20 Marines were surrounded – 11 of them already wounded.
Clausen repeatedly left the safety of the chopper to get them home alive. Despite the ever-present threat of further mine explosions, he continued his valiant efforts, leaving the comparatively safe area of the helicopter on 6 separate occasions to carry out his rescue efforts. Clausen was the only enlisted member of Marine Corps Aviation to win the Medal of Honor during Vietnam.Now this historic helicopter resides at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. This helicopter not only saw combat in Vietnam but in Iraq also. It received combat damage in Iraq and was considered uneconomical to repair. Because of the historic significance of this particular aircraft, the U.S. Marine Corps would not abandon it in Iraq. With the assistance of a US Air Force C-5A crew, it was taken apart and flown back to Cherry Point Marine Corps Base, North Carolina."

Helicopter row including left to right a Sikorsky Dragonfly, Kaman Huskie, Bell Cobra, and Sikorsky Jolly Green Giant.
This oddity is a Fogle Skycat. Built in 1982 and first displayed at the Dayton Air and Trade Show in Ohio, it never actually flew, but was built to displat the tiltrotor concept that would later be part of the V22.
A small towed anti aircraft gun
A Sheridan tank used by airborne troops
The museum's A4 Skyhawk and Regulus missle greet visitors to the museum, along with the flags of the US, South Carolina and North Carolina, and the view of Charlotte in the background.