Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Lockheed aircraft
Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Lockheed
(USAAF Photo)
Lockheed P-38J Lightnings (Serial Nos. 42-67183 and 42-67332), ca 1944.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53232), painted as (Serial No. 42-67855), a P-38J of the 55th Fighter Squadron, based in England in 1944. The P-38L was donated to the museum in 1961 by the Kaufmann Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The top hats on the left side of the aircraft represent the nine bomber escort missions flown by its pilot, 2nd Lt. Royal D. Frey, with the yellow hat signifying five and the white hats one each.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed C-60A Lodestar (Serial No. 43-16445), C/N 18-2605.
(Author Photos)
Lockheed RB-34A Vega (Serial No. AJ311), C/N 137-4449, ex-RAF Ventura III. Previously on display with the Pueblo-Wiesbrod Aviation Museum, Colorado.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed EC-121D Constellation (Serial No. 53-0555). The EC-121, originally designated RC-121, was a radar-picket version of the USAF's C-121 passenger aircraft. The EC-121 provided early warning by detecting and tracking enemy aircraft with the electronic gear in the large radomes above and below its fuselage. The Air Force ordered 82 EC-121s between 1951 and 1955, 72 of which were EC-121Ds. The EC-121 entered service with the Air Defense Command in 1953, flying patrols off the U.S. coasts as an aerial extension of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. EC-121s remained in service until they were replaced by more capable E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System). The last EC-121 was retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1978. In Southeast Asia, these unarmed radar aircraft aided in downing enemy aircraft, directed U.S. aircraft to aerial refueling tankers, and guided rescue planes to downed pilots. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF was nicknamed "Triple Nickel" because of its serial number (53-0555). On 24 Oct 1967, it guided a U.S. fighter into position to destroy a MiG-21 over the Gulf of Tonkin. This action marked the first time a weapons controller aboard an airborne radar aircraft had ever directed a successful attack on an enemy aircraft. Triple Nickel came to the museum in 1971.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed VC-121E Constellation (Serial No. 53-7885), C/N 4151, (BuNo. 131650), Columbine III.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed P-80R Shooting Star (Serial No. 44-85200).
Col. Albert Boyd flew this P-80R to a new world's speed record of 623.753 mph, returning the record to the United States after nearly 24 years, on 19 June 1947, at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base), California. The Army Air Force's quest to capture the world's speed record, then held by a British Gloster Meteor, after the Second World War, led to the creation of the specialized P-80R. A high-speed variant of the standard P-80A Shooting Star, it had a smaller canopy, redesigned air intakes and a shorter wing with an extended leading edge. In addition, the engine was modified, armament removed and replaced by a fuel tank, and all drag-producing openings sealed. The P-80R on display in the NMUSAF is the only one built. It was shipped to the museum from Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, in October 1954.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star (Serial No. 49-0696), FT-696, C/N 080-2444.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (Serial No. 53-5974), TR-974, C/N 580-9456. Suspended from the ceiling. The T-33 is one of the world's best-known aircraft, having served with the air forces of more than 20 different nations over several decades. The T-33A on display in the NMUSAF was flown to the museum in 1962.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed NT-33A Shooting Star (Serial No. 51-4120). The NT-33A was an in-flight simulator operated for decades in support of numerous Department of Defense projects. The NT-33A was used to study flying qualities, cockpit displays, control sticks, and flight control design of many, widely-varied aircraft, including the X-15, A-10, F-15, F-16, F-18, F-117, and F-22. It also trained hundreds of U.S. Air Force and Navy test pilots. Modified from a standard T-33 trainer in the late 1950s, the NT-33A could be programmed to simulate the flight of a completely different aircraft. It also had an “artificial feel” system that replicated the characteristics of the stick and rudder controls of the aircraft being simulated. A civilian contractor, the Calspan Corp. (formerly the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory), modified, operated and maintained the aircraft. During the NT-33A's 40 years of distinguished service, Calspan performed numerous research programs around the country. The NT-33A conducted its last research project in April 1997, and it was placed on display at the NMUSAF in August 1997.
(NMUSAF Photos)
(Federal Government of the United States - Nevada Test Site Guide, DOE/NV-715 Photo)
Lockheed XF-90 (Serial No. 46-688), c/n 090-1002. The Lockheed XF-90 was built in response to a USAF requirement for a long-range penetration fighter and bomber escort. The same requirement produced the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo. Lockheed received a contract for two prototype XP-90s (redesignated XF-90 in 1948). The design was developed by Willis Hawkins and the Skunk Works team under Kelly Johnson. Two prototypes were built (Serial Nos 46-0687 and 46-0688). Developmental and political difficulties delayed the first flight until 3 June 1949, with Chief Test Pilot Tony LeVier at the controls. The XF-90 was the first USAF jet with an afterburner and the first Lockheed jet to fly supersonic, albeit in a dive . It also incorporated an unusual vertical stabilizer that could be moved fore and aft for horizontal stabilizer adjustment. Partly because Lockheed's design proved underpowered, it placed second to McDonnell's XF-88 Voodoo which won the production contract in September 1950, before the penetration fighter project was abandoned altogether. Upon Lockheed losing the production contract, the two prototypes were retired to other testing roles. The first aircraft (Serial No. 46-0687) was shipped to the NACA Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953 for structural tests. It was no longer flyable, and its extremely strong airframe was tested to destruction. The second aircraft (Serial No. 46-688) survived three atomic blasts at Frenchmen Flat within the Nevada Test Site in 1952. In 2003, the heavily damaged hulk was recovered from the Nevada test site and moved to the NMUSAF, where it is currently undergoing minor restoration in one of the Museum's restoration facility hangars. Its wings have been removed, and its nose is mangled from the nuclear blasts. During the decontamination process, all the rivets had to be removed to remove radioactive sand. At present, the museum plans to display the XF-90 in its damaged, mostly unrestored condition, to demonstrate the effects of nuclear weaponry.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed F-94A Starfire (Serial No. 49-2498). The F-94A on exhibit in the NMUSAF was transferred from the active inventory to the museum in May 1957.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed F-94C Starfire (Serial No. 50-0980), FA-054, painted as (Serial No. 50-1054), FA-054, C/N 880-8025. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF has been painted to represent an F-94C assigned to the 60th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusettts, during the late 1950s.
(USAF Photo)
Lockheed F-104A-25-LO Starfighter (Serial No. 56-857), 56th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, May 1958.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed F-104C Starfighter (Serial No. 56-0914).
Lockheed F-104C Starfighter (Serial No. 56-0754), painted as (Serial No. 56-0879), /FG-879, c/n 183-1042. This aircraft is mounted on a pylon in front of the museum. It was suffering from storm damage and corrosion, but has been restored and remounted.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed YF-12A Blackbird (Serial No. 60-6935). The YF-12 was developed in the 1960s as a high-altitude, Mach 3 interceptor to defend against supersonic bombers . Based on the A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, the YF-12A became the forerunner of the highly-sophisticated SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The first of three YF-12s flew in August 1963. In May 1965, the first and third YF-12s set several records, including a speed record of 2,070.101 mph and an altitude record of 80,257.65 feet. For their speed record flight, Col. Robert L. "Fox" Stephens (pilot) and LCol. Daniel Andre (fire control officer) received the 1965 Thompson Trophy. Though the aircraft performed well, the F-12 interceptor program ended in early 1968. High costs, the ongoing war in Southeast Asia, and a lower priority on air defense of the US all contributed to the cancellation. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF was the second one built. It was recalled from storage in 1969 for a joint USAF/NASA investigation of supersonic cruise technology. It was flown to the museum in 1979, and it is the only remaining YF-12A in existence (the first YF-12A was damaged beyond repair after a landing mishap, and the third YF-12A was destroyed after the crew ejected to escape an inflight fire).
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird (Serial No. 61-7976), C/N 2027. Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. From 80,000 feet, it could survey 100,000 square miles of Earth's surface per hour. On 28 July 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for its class, an absolute speed record of 2,193.167 mph and an absolute altitude record of 85,068.997 feet. On 21 March 1968, the aircraft on display in the NMUSAF made the first operational SR-71 sortie. During its career, this aircraft accumulated 2,981 flying hours and flew 942 total sorties (more than any other SR-71), including 257 operational missions, from Beale Air Force Base, California, Palmdale, California, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, and RAF (Base), Mildenhall, England. The aircraft was flown to the museum in March 1990.
Lockheed D-21B UAV, C/N 535.
(USN Photo)
Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady, on the deck of a USS Kittyhawk (CV-63)
After stopping U-2 flights over the Soviet Union in May 1960, the Intelligence Community looked for new ways to use this unique reconnaissance asset. One idea was to modify the U-2 to fly from US Navy aircraft carriers. Soon after the downing of Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 in May 1960, the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Arleigh Burke, recommended to DCI Allen Dulles that the CIA’s Office of Special Activities modify a U-2 so it could fly from an aircraft carrier. This way, the US could avoid political problems associated with negotiating base agreements with reluctant allies hesitant to invite Soviet displeasure, while also allowing the U-2 near global access.
The U-2 was designed as a land-based aircraft, so launching it from a moving, narrow carrier flight deck posed several technical problems. In 1963, the idea was raised with U-2 designer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson of Lockheed. Johnson made certain modifications, and the first test, codenamed Project Whale Tale, occurred on 3 August 1963 off the coast of San Diego. A modified U-2 lifted off from the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk without catapult assistance or incident, but its landing was a different matter. The expected “bounce” when the aircraft hit the carrier deck damaged a wing.
The test convinced Johnson that the fragile U-2 needed airframe reinforcement, strengthened landing gear, and an arrestor hook like other carrier-based aircraft. In addition, the carrier version of the plane would need “spoilers” on the wings to cancel the aerodynamic lift once the aircraft flew over the carrier deck. Modifications took just over seven months to complete. The modifications to the aircraft, required the retraining of several pilots to fly the modified bird, now called the U-2G, most notably teaching them how to land this already peculiar and challenging airplane on a pitching flight deck. The first landing without damage took place on 2 March 1964.
When France announced its intention to detonate a hydrogen device, the Intelligence Community sought to gather information about the French nuclear test area in the Mururoa Atoll, French Polynesia. Although the State Department had recommended against U-2 flights in September 1963, concern over the ramifications of a French fusion device convinced President Lyndon Johnson to rethink all options. On 24 April 1964 a single carrier-based U-2 mission to collect baseline photography of the French test site was approved.
The Navy selected the USS Ranger for the mission, codenamed Operation Fish Hawk. The CIA’s National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) assigned a photo interpreter to process and analyze the U-2-collected imagery on board the USS Ranger, and the Navy set up a photography lab for rapid film development and analysis on the ship for this mission. The U-2G took off successfully on 19 May 1964, but cloud cover obscured a number of the targets, so a second mission was authorized for 23 May. This sortie succeeded brilliantly, capturing high-quality photographs of all targets. The after-action report read, “From an operational and security standpoint, this was one of the most successful operations of this nature ever conducted by the United States.” Detailed analysis of the photography resulted in an in-depth report in August 1964 that fully answered questions concerning the major aspects of the French nuclear program.
The beginning of high-resolution space-based reconnaissance imagery from the Corona system prevented full refinement of the carrier-launched U-2G, which soon became a footnote in national reconnaissance history. Finally, in the late 1960’s, the CIA, working again with Lockheed, developed a larger carrier launched U-2R. Although successfully tested from the deck of the USS America off the coast of Virginia in 1969, the U-2R did not fly operational missions, its technological capabilities having been surpassed by space-based reconnaissance platforms. (CIA)
(USN Photo)
U-2 on board USS America (CV 66)
(USAF Photo)
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed U-2A Dragon Lady (Serial No. 56-6722), C/N 389. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF is the last U-2A built. During the 1960s, it made 285 flights to gather data on high-altitude, clear-air turbulence and in the 1970s it flight tested reconnaissance systems. Delivered to the museum in May 1980, it is painted as a typical reconnaissance U-2.
Lockheed AC-130A Spectre (Serial No. 54-1626), C/N 182-3013.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Lockheed AC-130A Spectre (Serial No. 54-1630), C/N 182-3017. Named Azrael for the angel of death in Islam who severs the soul from the body. This aircraft figured prominently in the closing hours of Operation Desert Storm. On 26 February 1991, Coalition ground forces were driving the Iraqi Army out of Kuwait. With an Air Force Reserve crew called to active duty, Azrael was sent to the Al Jahra highway (Highway 80) between Kuwait City and Basra, Iraq, to intercept the convoys of tanks, trucks, buses, and cars fleeing the battle. Facing SA-6 and SA-8 surface-to-air missiles and 37 mm and 57 mm radar-guided anti-aircraft artillery the crew attacked and destroyed or disabled most of the convoys. Azrael was also assigned to the 919th Special Operations Wing and retired to the NMUSAF in October 1995.
Lockheed C-130E Hercules (Serial No. 62-1787), C/N 382-3732.
(Dsdugan Photo)
Lockheed VC-140B Jet Star (Serial No. 61-2492), C/N 5031.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed C-141C Starlifter (Serial No. 66-0177), C/N 300-6203, "Hanoi Taxi".
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed YF-117A Nighthawk (Serial No. 79-10781), ED, C/N A.4006. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF is the second F-117A built and was specially modified for systems testing. The USAF retired it to the museum in 1991 after its test program was completed. It is marked as it appeared during tests conducted for the Air Force Systems Command between 1981 and 1991.
Lockheed YF-22A Raptor (Serial No. 87-0700). This aircraft was transferred to the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards AFB, California.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor (Serial No. 91-4003), FF, C/N 645-4003.
