Warplanes of the USA: Colorado, Historic Photos
Colorado Warplanes
(USAF Photo)
North American F-51D Mustangs of the newly-federally recognized Colorado Air National Guard which were received on 24 Nov 1946, for use by the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Grumman F9F-6 Cougars of the Naval Air Reserve Training Unit (NARTU) Denver flying over Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1955.
(USN Photo)
North American FJ-1 Furies, VF-5A, NAS Denver, Colorado, ca 1949.
(USAF/ANG Photo)
North American F-100D Super Sabres, from the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 140th Fighter Wing, Colorado Air National Guard, after having just landed at Buckley Air National Guard Base in Aurora, Colorado, in April 1976. Both aircraft are taxiing, one with the drag chute deployed.
(USAF Photo)
Ling-Temco-Vought A-7D-10-CV Corsair II (Serial No. 72-0248), 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, CO Air National Guard, ca 1980s. The Colorado Air National Guard 120th TFS flew A-7Ds from Buckley AFB, from 1974 and the A-7K from 1983. The unit converted to F-16Cs and Ds on 15 March 1992.
(Senior Airman Marvin D. Krause, USAF Photo)
Ling-Temco-Vought A-7D-10-CV Corsair II (Serial No. 71-0311) from the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 140th Tactical Fighter Group, Colorado Air National Guard, awaits refueling on the flight line, 1986.
(Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer, USAF Photo)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (Serial No. 86-0345), 120th Fighter Squadron (FS), 140th Fighter Wing (FW), Colorado Air National Guard (COANG) disengages from a refueling boom (fuel port is still open). The Falcon is carrying an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile (left) and an Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) pod under the wing and an Acceleration Monitor Assembly (AMA) pod on the wing tip.
(Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer, USAF Photo)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (Serial No. 87-0279), 120th Fighter Squadron (FS), 140th Fighter Wing (FW), Colorado Air National Guard (COANG)
(Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer, USAF Photo)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (Serial No. 87-368), painted in the colour scheme of the original Air National Guard "Minute Men" flight demonstration team, from the 140th Wing, Buckley Air Force Base, on 26 July 2006. This F-16 is flying in the skies above the southern Rocky Mountains. The 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard had reached the 50th anniversary as the only flying acrobatic Air National Guard team, and to commemorate this event they had painted an F-16 aircraft in the same paint scheme as the original F-86s were in 1956.
(Senior Airman Sean Sides, USAF Photo)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon (Serial No. 86-0338), 120th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 140th Fighter Wing, Colorado Air National Guard, part of the 186th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (Rocky Mountain Coalition), assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing, 2006.
(Staff Sgt. Greg L. Davis, USAF Photo))
A look-down view of a Tiger-striped F-16C belonging to the 140th Fighter Wing, 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard. The aircraft has tiger-stripes applied to the upper surfaces and represented the Colorado ANG as their official Tiger jet as the unit hosted the Inaugural Tiger Meet of the Americas in mid-August, 2010. The inaugural meet closely mirrors the NATO Tiger Meet and brings together military units that have large cats as their mascots.
(Tech. Sgt. Wolfram M. Stumpf, US ANG Photo)
General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard, fly through the Colorado Rocky Mountains, 2015.
(USGOV-PD Photo)
C-21A Learjet (Serial No. 86-0374), 200th Airlift Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard, 1999.
Royal Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF-188 Hornet aircraft fly a mission in support of exercise Vigilant Eagle 2013 over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 28 Aug 2013. Vigilant Eagle is an annual exercise designed to increase anti-terrorism interoperability between the Russian air force and U.S. and Canadian air forces operating under the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson, U.S. Air Force/Released)
(U.S. Air Force Photos by Airman 1st Class Dennis Hoffman, 21st Space Wing Public Affairs)
Avionic technicians and crew chiefs perform a post-operation servicing to an F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., while on the flightline at Peterson AFB, 30 Sep 2016. Four F-35s landed at Peterson AFB to execute a flyover during the U.S. Air Force Academy versus the U.S. Naval Academy football game at USAFA.
This book was updated in 2003.
Many examples of aircraft that saw service in the various armed forces of the United States are currently being restored to flying status or preserved in museums in the state of Colorado. Some of them have significant war records, and a few are currently standing as gate guardians outside their former airbases. These Warbirds are a permanent part of our modern history, and they deserve to be remarked upon and remembered. These handbooks provide a simple checklist of where the surviving military aircraft in Colorado are located now, along with a few photographs and a brief history of their service in the US military. The books should spark your interest in some of the military aviation history that can be found in the air museums and airports of this front range state. Colorado Warbird Survivors is specifically intended to provide a where are they guide for residents and visitors to Colorado who are interested in its rich resources of historical military aircraft. Contact numbers are provided for the museums, should you be interested in learning more about each aircraft. Perhaps you will then choose to visit these museums in order to appreciate the rich resources of aviation heritage preserved on your behalf.
The author served with NORAD on Cheyenne Mountain from 1999-2003, and was a volunteer with the Peterson AFB museum. Many aircraft were rotated to new locations, the P-47 was removed from its pylon and moved indoors where it has been carefully restored. The number of historic aircraft on display in the state is constantly being expanded, and the first two handbooks were out of date almost at the time of publication. An update of the aircraft preserved in Colorado is provided here to keep you posted.
Order book: http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000017485/Colorado-Warbird-Survivors-2003.aspx
Order book in Canada: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Colorado-Warbird-Survivors-Handbook-Where-Harold-A-A-Skaarup/9780595262236-item.html?ikwid=harold+skaarup&ikwsec=Books
