The Amercian Air Museum

[Geedee]

Based at the old Battle of Britain Airfield at Duxford, this is a classy museum with some very interesting airframes amongst its collection. Free entry (Once you've paid to get into DX itself) it has 20 A/C on display, some suspended from the roof, but no rope barriers so you can get in amongst the 'planes and touch if you want to.

The planes on display are as follows:
Spad S-13
Lockheed T-33
A-10 Thunderbolt
PT 17 Stearman
AT 6D Texan
F 111E
F 100D Super Sabre
B-24 Liberator
F 4 Phantom
P 47 Thunderbolt
P 51D Mustang
C 47 Skytrain
B 52 Stratofortress
B 17G Flying Fortress
Bell Huey
U 2
Grumman Avenger
B 25 Mitchell
SR71
B 29 Superfortress




The SR 71 is the current world record holder for horizontal flight at 85,069 ft !!! And its also the only SR 71 on display outside of the States. The Liberator finished up at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas until its move to Duxford in 1999. The Stratofortress has a very impressive mission tally on her flanks.

The Museum itself has sloping walkways around boths sides that enable you to get up close and personal with the planes hanging from the roof and also allowing good vantage points to look down on the A/C on the floor.

On the outside of the museum is a Wall of Honour. Made out of 52 toughened glass panels, each etched with the outlines of aircraft missing in action in operations flown by American air forces from Britain during the Second World War. 7,031 aircraft are depicted and represent losses incurred by the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF), 9th USAAF, and US Navy. This is a very thought provoking and solemn memorial to all the aircrews who didnt complete their final mission, and to see a wall covered in silhouettes, from top to bottom and most of them are bombers, thats a substantial amount of brave youngsters. Worth a moments silence when you are there.

On with piccies and I apologise for al the people in my shots....it was a wee bit busy with the Flying Legends display going on in the background. If you turn up during the week, its no where near as busy.l

[vikingBerserker]

WOW, that's a pretty impressive collection, thanks for sharing!

[Wildcat]

Excellent pics Gary!!

[Gnomey]

Good stuff Gary! I really enjoyed it when I went a couple of years back.

[evangilder]

Neat stuff. Looks like they have them packed in there like sardines.

[ToughOmbre]

Nice lookin' museum, nice lookin' pics Gary!

TO

[A4K]

Great shots Gary - nice collection too!

[imalko]

...Looks like they have them packed in there like sardines.

That was my thought also. Maybe it would be better if they were displayed in some larger area. This way you can't get a good lock on entire plane. However, it is an impressive collection and photos are great too. Thanks for sharing Gary.

[comiso90]

Nice shots!..

It's great to great see American aircraft represented over so many decades all in one place. I like the paint scheme on the B-25. IMO too many restored ones go overboard with the nose art. It's a pleasure to see a nice, clean, mean looking B-25 in blue (PBJ-1?)

thanks!

[Thorlifter]

Nice shots. You almost need a wide angle lens to take pics in there.

[Glider]

The main hanger at Duxford is just as crowded with a number of aircraft hanging from the ceiling. For those who have not been there it does take a couple of days to do see everything and there is a good sized land hall with tanks, guns and various pieces of hardware.

[DBII]

I love the shot of the B-17 turrent, nice lighting.

DBII

[Coors9]

Great pics, I just luv the F-100.

[diddyriddick]

Nice pics! Thanks for sharning them!

[Glider]

First of all a thanks to Gary for letting me add a couple of shots. One of these is the outside of the American Hall which I believe to be a very stylish construction that has won a number of awards.