Lone Star Flight Museum - December 28, 2007


The Lone Star Flight Museum is in Galveston, Texas, next to Moody Gardens

First aircraft is not a B-24 but a Navy Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer

And the PB4Y-2 has a single vertical tail?

It was a post-WW2 Electronics-countermeasures platform

Stephen checks to see if the bomb is live

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless Dive Bomber

The hero of the Battle of Midway sinking 3 of 4 Japanese carriers

It was then replaced by the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in July, 1944

Supermarine Spitfire LFXVIe w/markings of Texan Lance Wade's aircraft

He scored 23 aerial victories w/Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater

This Hawker Hurricane MkIIB crashed in 1944 while flying in Canada

Recovered in the 1960's, restored over 15 years, & flew again on May 12, 2006

Rolls Royce Merlin engine used in Spitfires, Lancasters, Hurricanes, & P-51s

AT-6/SNJ Texan was built 1940-1950 & used as a trainer until 1995 in S. Africa

This Lone Wolf has a larger engine & 4ft shorter ingspan than standard AT-6s

My first encounter with a Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, it is big!

At 10K pounds, the largest and heaviest single engine fighter of WW2

1943 Boeing PT-17 Stearman WW2 trainer

Available for flight experiences, $225 for 25 mins.

The LSFM's B-25 Mitchell is painted as one of Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders

In 1942, sixteen B-25's raided Tokyo from the USS Hornet

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, Thunderbird, flew . . .

. . . 112 bombing missions for the 303rd Bomb Group

I crawled through the Thunderbird in October, 2004

Grumman Bearcat F8F-2, last of the WW2 'Cats'

Entered service in May, 1945 & just missed WW2

N3N, navy trainer used from 1934-1950's

TBM-3U Avenger torpedo bomber same as what President Bush flew

Nakajima B5N1 carrier Torpedo Bomber (Kate)

It is actually an AT-6/SNJ Texan painted to look like a Kate

Was modified for the 1970 Tora Tora Tora movie

Grumman F6F Hellcat had a 19-1 kill ratio in WW2

Vought F4U-5N Corsair carrier based fighter

Another AT-6/SNJ Texan

With nice checkerboard paintjob

1941 Chevrolet Pickup

Production was halted during WWII until 1946

1964 Beechcraft H18 Twin Beech with nose landing gear

Beech AT-11 Kansan bombardier and gunner trainer

Cessna AT-17/T-50 Bobcat, the "Bamboo Bomber"

A rare 8 gun 'Hard Nose' on this Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon Navy transporter

The PV-2 was developed from the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar transport

First flown in the 1930's, the Douglas DC-3 created

. . . commercial passenger travel as we know it today

Grumman F3F-2, last biplane fighter, in service 1 year before replaced

Stinson L-5 Sentinel was built as an eye in the sky for every branch of service

Convair TB-58 Hustler, only supersonic strategic bomber in squadron service

The B-57 dwarfs the B-29 (when the B-29 is a 1/50th scale model)

She can really hustle for 1,420 mph at 65,000 feet

Each engine (when installed) give 15,500 lbs/thrust

Pratt-Whitney R-4360 powered the B-50 Superfortress & B-36 Peacemaker

Junkers Jumo 004 engine that powered the Me-262

What is that intercepting the B-58 Hustler?

It is a Wright Flyer replica w/Orville himself

The RAF's DeHavilland DH-82A Tiger Moth trainer

Consolidated PBY-5A 'Catalina'

Gear retracts into the hull above the water line

So many aircraft inside the hanger that they seem triple stacked

Toys take up the last remaining space between the aircraft

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka rocket kamakazi aircraft

PBY's distinctive parasol mounted wing

Gotta check it out with my kite glider

Hall of Fame displays inductee's experiences & contributions to aviation

Lady Be Good B-24 found in the Libyan Desert 16 years after bombing Naples

USS Hornet model loaded with sixteen Army B-25 bombers

Used for a daring Tokyo raid in April, 1942

71 of 80 crew members survived the raid

NASA awards: Outstanding Leadership, Distinguished & Exceptional Service

Make sure to visit the the Museum on your next Galveston visit!

Look for the North American F-100D 'Super Sabre' on display right outside the museum building