They were setting up for a prom so we only had about 10 minutes to get a quick look inside the hangar. Yes, a high school PROM in one of the coolest hangars in the country! My HS prom was at some stuffy hotel and had none of this nice scenery! Boy did I choose poorly!
Entering the venue they'd first have to walk past this pair of 3" deck guns out front:
Then the entry to the hangar would stroll past this P-51:
And once inside the hangar, several more warbirds were strategically located such as this A-26:
There was also an F4-Phantom and a MiG-21 in the back of the hangar.If anyone has a few spare hours at the 2ABB (hah!), the museum is in the SW corner of Mesa's Falcon Field (Map here). From the NRA convention, head north and get on the I-10 east bound. Continue straight onto the loop 202 (I-10 will turn south). Take the Greenfield exit and turn south (right). The museum is 2 miles south. The parking lot entrance is on the left hand side, just prior to McKellips road. Total distance is about 22 miles. A car is probably required. The light rail will get you about half way there, not sure about public busses from there.
I've never been there, even though I went to the ol' Champlin Fighter Museum when it was right next door to them.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I gotta go now!
*sigh*
ReplyDeleteNow you're making me feel bad. Champlin had far more to offer, not just the warbirds from WWI, II, Korea and Vietnam. But also the gun collection in the "safe" (larger than my first house). Sorry it wasn't cost effective.
Still, the CAF is better than nothing and getting up close and personal with these birds is getting harder as time goes by.
If you haven't walked through, er squeezed through the bomb bay, Now imagine it's -50F and you're lugging an oxygen bottle. It's well worth the five bucks.
A friend's father was a co-pilot during WW-II. One day a B-17 came through town and he ponied up the cash to take a tour. His money quote "Fifty years ago, these were a lot bigger!"