Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Grumman aircraft

Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Grumman

(NMUSAF Photo)

Grumman OA-12 Duck, Reg. No. N67790,  (Serial No. 33587), painted as 48-0563.  The OA-12 Duck was the USAF version of the Navy J2F-6 amphibian.  After the Second World War, the USAF' Air Rescue Service needed special aircraft for overwater missions, and in 1948 the USAF acquired eight surplus Navy J2F-6s.  Designated the OA-12, five of these aircraft went to Alaska for duty with the 10th Air Rescue Squadron.  The Columbia Aircraft Corp. of Valley Stream, New York, built the Grumman-designed J2F-6 Duck on display in the NMUSAF.  it was delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on 9 June1945, and became surplus in 1946. It served with a series of civilian owners and "starred" in several films, including "Murphy's War" of the early 1970s.  This aircraft is painted to represent one of the rescue OA-12s the USAF acquired in 1948.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Grumman HU-16B Albatross (Serial No. 51-5282), C/N G-163.  The HU-16 on display in the NMUSAF was one of the last operational USAF Albatrosses.  The aircraft established a world altitude record for twin-engine amphibians when it reached 32,883 feet on 4 July 1973.  Two weeks later, the aircraft was retired and flown to the museum.

(USAF Photos)

(NMUSAF Photos)

Grumman X-29A (Serial No. 82-0003).  In 1985 the X-29A on display became the world's first forward-swept aircraft to fly supersonically.  The X-29A program explored cutting-edge aircraft design features, including forward-swept wings, advanced materials, a forward-mounted elevator (or canard) and a computerized flight control system.  It was managed by the USAF and funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the USAF and NASA.  During the Second World War, Germany and the United States experimented with forward-swept wings, but both encountered problems with the metal wings bending dangerously at higher speeds.  As stronger composite materials became available in the 1970s, however, wing structures could be both lightweight and very rigid.  The NMUSAF’s aircraft is the first of two X-29As built by Grumman, and it made its first flight in December 1984.  The second X-29A first flew in 1989 and continued to perform test flights into the early 1990s.  After successfully completing the test program, the X-29A on display was retired to the museum in late 1994.

(USAF Photo)

Grumman X-29 (Serial No. 82-0049).

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