Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Packard Lepere LUSAC 11 to Wright 1909 Military Flyer.

Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Packard Lepere LUSAC 11 to Wright 1909 Military Flyer.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Packard Lepere LUSAC 11 biplane (Serial No. SC42133).  The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF is the only LUSAC 11 in existence.  It originally went to France just before the end of the First World War.  In 1989 the museum acquired it from the Musee de l'Air in Paris, France.  After extensive restoration by museum personnel, it went on display in 1992.  It is marked as it appeared while at the Allied test facility in Orly, France, in late 1918.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Panavia Tornado GR1 (Serial No. ZA374), CN, C/N 178/BS056/3088.  During the 1991 Gulf War, military planners made the elimination of Iraq's air defenses a top priority.  At the start of Operation Desert Storm (called Operation Granby by the British), Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR1 aircraft attacked Iraqi air bases at low-level with Hunting JP233 anti-runway weapons and suppressed enemy air defenses.  Afterward, GR1 aircrews flew medium-level missions using 1,000-pound bombs.  At the end of the conflict, they used Paveway II laser-guided bombs against other strategic targets.  Flying more than 1,500 operational sorties, mostly at night, RAF GR1 aircrews played an important role in forcing the Iraqis out of Kuwait, and the RAF lost six GR1s in combat.  Tornados could carry a wide range of weapons, including the Air-Launched Anti-Radar Missile (ALARM) for the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and the Paveway II and III laser-guided bombs (LGB).  The RAF also modified a number of Tornados to carry the Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile.  This variant became the GR1B.  The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF flew with the RAF's 17 Squadron from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where it sported desert camouflage and the name Miss Behavin'.  The aircraft is currently painted as an aircraft assigned to 617 Squadron.  It came to the museum in October 2002 as a donation from the RAF.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Piasecki H-21B Workhorse (Serial No. 51-15857), C/N B.4.  Designed by helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki, the Vertol H-21 first flew in April 1952.  With two main rotors, its long fuselage could hold large numbers of people or heavy cargo loads.  Later adaptations allowed the aircraft to perform rescue and assault operations under combat conditions.  In addition to the pilot and copilot, the H-21 could carry either 20 fully-equipped troops or 12 litter patients and two medical attendants.  Originally called the "flying banana," the H-21 served with the USAF, the U.S. Army, the French Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the West German Air Force.  The NMUSAF obtained the CH-21B on display from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in January 1965.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Radioplane OQ-19D.  In response to the USAAF's requirement for fast aerial targets with which to train anti-aircraft gunners, Radioplane (a division of Northrop Aircraft Co.) developed a 200 mph class airplane in 1945 . Evolved from earlier designs, such as the OQ-2A, the OQ-19 was first flight tested in 1946.  It was capable of catapult launches, rotary launches from a circular runway, and air launches from a B-26C.  When hit or out of fuel, the target was recovered under a 32-foot diameter parachute. Some OQ-19Ds were fitted integral flotation material to permit water recoveries.  Four men were needed to launch this target, whether by catapult or by the rotary method.  A fifth man flew the target from the ground or from another aircraft.  At a range of 200 yards, the OQ-19 appeared to gunners like a single-engine fighter at 500 yards.  Over 10,000 OQ-19s were built for the USAF between 1955-1958. Of the four models, the OQ-19D was the largest and fastest.  The OQ-19D on display in the NMUSAF was donated in 1960 by C.E. Manning of Sidney, Ohio, and it was prepared for display by the Naval Air Reserve Detachment in Columbus, Ohio.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Radioplane OQ-2A.  Although Radioplane developed the OQ-2A, other companies shared in production contracts. The target on display in the NMUSAF was the last in the 1943 production run by the Frankfort Sailplane Co. of Joliet, Illinois.  It was donated in 1970 by John C. Smith of Massillon, Ohio.

Rockwell B-1A Lancer (Serial No. 76-0174).  This aircraft has been moved to the Strategic Air & Space Museum, Nebraska.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Rockwell B-1B Lancer (Serial No. 84-0051).  First used in combat against Iraq during Operation Desert Fox in 1998, the B-1B has also been employed in Kosovo and Afghanistan.  Starting in 2002, the U.S. Air Force began reducing the number of B-1Bs as a cost-saving measure.  The aircraft on display arrived at the NMUSAF from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on 10 Sep 2002.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Scaled Composites Long-EZ Borelis.  In January 2008, this modified Scaled Composites Long-EZ completed the first manned flight of an aircraft powered by a pulsed detonation engine (PDE).  The flight was the result of a five-year cooperative effort between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated (ISSI).  The project used the popular homebuilt Long-EZ designed by Burt Rutan as a platform.  Engines normally burn fuel and air at subsonic speeds to provide propulsion. Pulsed detonation engines detonate the fuel-air mixture to produce repeated, controlled explosions.  The resulting supersonic shockwaves create thrust. In this PDE, the thrust is expelled through four tubes out the back of the aircraft. Remarkably, the PDE engine in this aircraft was made in part from off-the-shelf automotive parts.  Pulsed detonation engines are much less complicated and promise to be less expensive to operate than jet engines. Moreover, they offer a fuel savings of between 5-20 percent over traditional turbojet engines. Although still in development, PDEs may become more common as the technology matures.  This aircraft was delivered to the NMUSAF in 2008.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Schweizer TG-3A Glider (Serial No. 42-52988).  The TG-3A on display in the NMUSAF was donated by Henry A. Shevchuk.  It was restored by the Spartan School of Aeronautics, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and delivered to the museum in December 1980.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Schneider Schulgleiter SG 38.  This SG 38 came to the museum in 2010, and is marked as a glider used to train Luftwaffe pilots.

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Valder137 Photo)

(Martin McGuire Photo)

Seversky P-35A (Serial No. 36-0404), PA70.  The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF is the only known surviving P-35.  It served with the 94th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group.  The aircraft was restored by the 133rd Tactical Airlift Wing, Minnesota Air National Guard, with assistance from students of the Minneapolis Vocational Institute.  It is marked as the P-35A flown by the 17th Pursuit Squadron commander, 1st Lt. Buzz Wagner, in the Philippines in the spring of 1941.

(Derek Smith Photo)

(Dsdugan Photo)

(NMUSAF Photos)

Sopwith F.1 Camel.  Although 5,490 Camels were produced, few remain in existence today.  USAF personnel built the Camel on exhibit from original First World War factory drawings, completing it in 1974.  The aircraft is painted and marked as the Camel flown by Lt. George A. Vaughn Jr. of the 17th Aero Squadron, America's second-ranking Air Service ace to survive the war.

(NMUSAF Photo)

SPAD S.VII C.1 (Serial No. A.S. 94099).  The airplane on display was obtained from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, and restored by the 1st Fighter Wing, Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, 1962-1966.

(NMUSAF Photos)

SPADS XIIIC.1 (Serial No. 16594).  Built in October 1918 by the Kellner et ses Fils piano works outside of Paris, the museum's SPAD XIII did not see combat.   Shipped to the United States with 434 other SPAD XIIIs after the Armistice, this aircraft went to San Diego, California, and a smaller, 150-hp Wright-Hispano engine replaced its Hispano-Suiza engine.  The museum staff restored this SPAD XIII to its original configuration, including a 220-hp Hispano-Suiza engine.  It is painted in the markings of America's highest scoring ace of the First World War with 26 victories, Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker of the 94th Pursuit Squadron.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Standard J-1 (Serial No. 1141).  The Standard Aircraft Co. J-1 was a two-seat primary trainer used by the U.S. Army Air Service to supplement the JN-4 Jenny.  Similar in appearance to the JN-4, the J-1 was more difficult to fly and never gained the popularity of the legendary Jenny.  Standard developed the J-1 from the earlier Sloan and Standard H-series aircraft designed by Charles Healey Day. Four companies, Standard, Dayton-Wright, Fisher Body and Wright-Martin, built 1,601 J-1s.  Museum personnel completed a two-year restoration of the aircraft on display in the NMUSAF in 1981.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Standard J-1.  The second Standard J-1 on display in the NMUSAF has the fabric covering on the fuselage removed to illustrate the wire-braced wooden construction typical for aircraft of that time.  It also reveals the dual controls and relatively simple cockpit instrumentation. The black tank in front of the forward cockpit is the fuel tank.  This airplane was donated to the Air Force Museum Foundation in December 1962 by Robert Greiger, Oak Harbor, Ohio.

(Bill Larkins Photo)

(NMUSAF Photo)

Stinson L-1A Vigilant (Serial No. 41-19039).  The L-1 Vigilant (company designation Model 74) was a 1940s American light observation aircraft built by Stinson, a division of  the Vultee Aircraft Corporation.  The aircraft was operated by the USAAC as the O-49 until 1942.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Stinson L-5 Sentinel (Serial No. 42-98667), painted as an L-5 of the 25th Liaison Sq. serving in New Guinea in 1944.  The L-5 on display in the NMUSAF was donated by Dr. Robert R. Kundel of Rice Lake, Wisconsin.  It was restored by the "Oriole Club" 133rd Tactical Airlift Wing, Minnesota Air National Guard.  Delivered to the museum in 1977, it is marked as an L-5 of the 25th Liaison Squadron serving in New Guinea in 1944.

(USAF Photo)

S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defense system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Taylorcraft L-2M Grasshopper (Serial No. 43-26592).  The L-2M on display in the NMUSAF, was built in 1944 by the Taylorcraft Airplane Co. in Alliance, Ohio.  The U.S. Army Air Forces used it for liaison pilot training at the McFarland Flying Service Contract Pilot School at the Atkinson Municipal Airport in Pittsburg, Kansas.  It is painted to represent another L 2M flown at the Atkinson Municipal Airport (Serial No. 43-26588) during the Second World War.  In September 2011, Richard Valladao donated the restored aircraft to the museum in memory of U.S. Army Private 1st Class Richard Jerome Conway, who was killed in combat while serving with the 45th Infantry Division in France in 1944.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Teledyne-Ryan AQM-34L Firebee (Serial No. L-174).  Suspended from the ceiling.  The AQM-34L remotely piloted aircraft flew low-level photo-reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam.  The AQM-34 series was developed from the unmanned BQM-34A target aircraft.  The AQM-34L on display flew more than 30 missions over North Vietnam.  On 6 Aug 1972, it was damaged by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) and landed by parachute in the South China Sea off the North Vietnamese coas t. Although recovered by a U.S. Navy ship, it was further damaged by salt water beyond economical repair.  This AQM-34L's nickname, M.R. Ling, was a pun on the last name of LCol. Edwin Emerling, who was involved with its early combat missions.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Teledyne-Ryan AQM-34Q Firebee (Serial No.).  Firebee drones flew many types of missions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence gathering, and radio communications monitoring.  From February 1970 to June 1973, AQM-34Q unmanned aircraft flew 268 missions near North Korea monitoring voice communications (known as communication intelligence or COMINT).  Code-named "Combat Dawn," the AQM-34Q was developed after North Korean MiGs shot down a U.S. Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace with the loss of all 31 crewmembers.  Teledyne-Ryan built a total of four prototypes and 15 production AQM-34Qs.  Launched in mid-air from a modified Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the AQM-34Q flew a pre-programmed course or was manually flown by a remote operator.  It intercepted radio signals from as far as 300 miles away and relayed them in real time to a ground control van.  After returning to a safe area over water, the AQM-34Q deployed a parachute.  A modified helicopter then hooked the parachute to catch the drone in mid-air.  If the operation failed, the drone was retrieved from the ocean's surface.   The museum's AQM-34Q was nicknamed the "Flying Submarine" because of the many times it dropped into the ocean. Water recoveries are represented by dolphins and airborne retrievals are represented by parachutes.  Placed on display in 2006, it is marked as it appeared in May 1973.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Teledyne Ryan AQM-91A Compass Arrow.  Compass Arrow was a high-flying, unmanned photo reconnaissance aircraft designed to cruise at nearly 15 miles altitude while taking photos showing ground details as small as one foot in size.  After air-launching from a Lockheed DC-130E Hercules aircraft, Compass Arrow navigated automatically, but it also could be flown manually by an operator in the launch aircraft.  To present a small radar image and avoid surface-to-air missiles, Compass Arrow's vertical surfaces are canted inward, and its body uses radar-absorbing materials.  The engine is mounted on top to reduce its heat signature from below, and the aircraft also carries anti-radar electronics.   The AQM-91A never became operational.  However, lessons learned from its development contributed to later stealth fighters, bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout (Serial No. 1SC38944).  The S-4C on display in the NMUSAF was donated to the museum in March 1965 by Capt. R.W. Duff, Miami, Florida, and restored by Aero Mechanics High School, Detroit, Michigan.

(NACA Photo)

Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger, NACA, 1926.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger (Serial No 68533), P306.  The Sperry Messenger was a single-seat biplane designated the M-1 and MAT by the USAAS.  Sperry produced approximately 50 Messengers and the civilian two-seat version, the Sport Plane, between 1920 and 1926.  The aircraft was the first to make contact between an airplane and an airship while in flight.  The Messenger's small size, simple construction, and inexpensive cost made it ideal for testing and experimentation. As well as the original communications duties, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) used one in its pioneering aerodynamic research programs from 1923 to 1929.  Sperry modified twelve into the radio-controlled Messenger Aerial Torpedo, an early flying bomb, and developed the apparatus for a Messenger to make the first successful airship hook on and release in December 1924.  On 15 Dec, at Scott Field, Illinois, Lt. Clyde Finter hooked on to a trapeze attached to a non-rigid airship, the TC-3.  In the Messenger, Finter remained attached briefly while the airship made a turn, then he unhooked and landed the aircraft on the ground.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Vultee BT-13B Valiant (Serial No. 42-90629).  The BT-13B on display in the NMUSAF, one of 1,775 Bs built, was acquired from Raymond Brandly of West Carrollton, Ohio, in 1965.

(NMUSAF Photo)

(Clemens Vasters Photo)

(Goshimini Photo)

V-2 Rocket, Mittelwerk A-4 V-2 with Meillerwagen.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Waco CG-4A Hadrian glider (Serial No. 45-27548).  Fifteen companies manufactured over 12,000 CG-4As, with 1,074 built by the Waco Aircraft Co. of Troy, Ohio.  The glider on display in the NMUSAF was built by the Gibson Refrigerator Co. in Greenville, Michigan, and accepted by the U.S. Army Air Forces in July 1945.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Wright Modified B Flyer.  This airplane is a modified version of the Wright “B” Flyer, the first model produced in quantity by the Wright brothers.  It is representative of the Signal Corps Airplanes No. 3 and No. 4 purchased by the US Army in 1911, and it was used for training pilots and conducting aerial experiments.  At College Park, Md., in October 1911, a Wright “B” was used for the first military trials of a bombsight and bomb-dropping device.  The major modifications of the airplane on exhibit in the NMUSAF include the replacement of the original four-cylinder Wright engine with an eight-cylinder Rausenberger engine, the addition of ailerons on the trailing edges of the wings in place of the wing-warping feature used by the Wright brothers, and the use of a wheel control system instead of the Wright’s lever control system.  The NMUSAF aircraft was used for flight instruction by Howard Rinehart at Mineola, New York, in 1916.  It appears in the museum almost exactly as it did when it was last flown by Lt John A. Macready during the International Air Races at Dayton, Ohio, in October 1924.  It was acquired by the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc. and donated to the museum.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Wright 1909 Military Flyer.  The aircraft on display is an exacting reproduction constructed by museum personnel in 1955.  It is equipped with an engine donated by Orville Wright and chains, sprockets and propellers donated by the heirs of the Wright estate.

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