#pimaairandspacemuseum

[sentinelchicken]

This 747 Classic is a 747-121, N747GE, the former General Electric engine testbed that had been flying since 1992 for GE. At the time of its retirement in November 2018, it was the oldest active 747 in the world. ⠀ ⠀ Originally delivered to Pan American World Airways in March 1970 as N744PA, this particular 747 was the 25th 747 built (LN 25) and was originally christened “Clipper Star of the Union”. In 1982, Pan Am renamed it “Clipper Ocean Spray” and it flew for Pan Am all the way to the airline’s eventual shutdown in 1992 when it was sold to General Electric to become an engine testbed. ⠀ ⠀ Most of the interior was removed and the left wing and empennage were strengthened to make it suitable for engine test work. Re-registered as N747GE, the aircraft test flew the GE90, GEnx, Engine Alliance GP7200, the CFM56, and the CFM LEAP. ⠀ ⠀ When GE retired it in November 2018, it was just three months shy of its 50th anniversary of its delivery to Pan Am. It has been replaced by an ex-Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 that has had its winglets removed as they’re not necessary for the sort of flying GE has planned. ⠀ ⠀ I took this photo of N747GE at the Pima Air & Space Museum this past March where it was being prepared for eventual display. ⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Boeing” | Day 29⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Boeing #747 #N747GE #GE #GeneralElectric #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5c5DPlB0GY/?igshid=g6p8j0v94vmj

[halopigg]

On this date in 2013 I had the pleasure of visiting #TheBoneyardProject at @pimaair with @joshuabgeyer. This is @hownosm’s plane! I’ll do my best to post as many 🛩’s as I can today, though I must say my #iPhone5 photography skills were not as polished as my current day standards. #HowNosm #HowAndNosm #HowAndOrNosm @tatscru #tatscru #BoneyardProject #pimaairandspacemuseum @ericfirestone #StreetArtOnThisDate #streetartspringbreak #artnerd #artington #artingwithhalopigg (at Pima Air & Space Museum)

[sentinelchicken]

When the postwar successor to the Boeing B-29, the B-50 Superfortress, entered service in 1948, it was always planned that the B-50 be converted to tankers once replaced by the B-47 Stratojet which made its first flight in 1947. The Hayes Aircraft Corporation was assigned responsibility for the conversion of the B-50 into KB-50 tankers. The first KB-50s entered service with the Tactical Air Command in January 1956, replacing the KB-29 which was simply too slow to refuel jet aircraft. The KB-29s were phased out completely by November 1957. However, the increasing performance of TAC’s jet fighters meant that in no time, the KB-50s were also too slow to function as tankers. Hayes was once again contracted to upgrade the KB-50 fleet to KB-50J standard with the addition of a single 5200 lb thrust GE J47 turbojet under each wing. The jet engines gave the “new” KB-50J a shorter takeoff distance by 30%, improved the time to operational altitude by 60% and allowed the KB-50J to operate easily at over 400 knots in level flight. 112 KB-50s were upgraded to KB-50Js and a further TB-50 crew trainers were also converted to jet-augmented tankers, designated KB-50Ks. The first KB-50Js were delivered to TAC in January 1958. The KB-50J/K tankers were to be interim tankers until the arrival of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Unfortunately their long careers as nuclear bombers and then tankers had taken a toll on their durability and reliability. Aircraft were commonly cannibalized to keep other tankers flying and the first KB-50J/Ks were phased out in 1964. The crash of a KB-50J in 1965 revealed extensive cracking and corrosion in the aircraft structure and the Superfortress tankers were retired quickly in 1965. They did last long enough, however, for some to be used in the Vietnam War. November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Cold War” | Day 30⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Boeing #B50 #KB50 #Superfortress #USAF #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowle (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5fZ46ghZux/?igshid=1nrxjl9ks67t7

[sentinelchicken]

The prominent fairings on each side of the jet pipe on the Convair F-102A Delta Dagger came as a result of the YF-102 prototypes being barely supersonic. ⁣ ⁣ At the time, NASA aerodynamicist Richard Whitcomb had developed the idea of area ruling to minimize transonic drag. Since the fuselage couldn’t be “pinched” to the degree needed without a drastic redesign, the fairings in effect created the “pinched waist” needed for area ruling. In addition to a more powerful version of the J57 engine, the production F-102As were much better performers. ⁣ ⁣ For it’s day, the F-102A pushed the state of the art and many of the problems that dogged the early Delta Daggers were finally resolved, but the aircraft’s early reputation as troublesome stuck. ⁣ ⁣ While most F-102s served stateside with the Air Defense Command, some were stationed in Europe and Okinawa. ⁣ ⁣ In 1962, F-102s were moved to South Vietnam to protect against potential (but never occurred) North Vietnamese air attack. From 1062-1972, the F-102s were actually one of the safest aircraft with only 8 lost to operational accidents. One was downed by a MiG-21, two were lost to ground fire, and four were lost to ground attacks by Viet Cong sappers. ⁣ ⁣ Under Project Stovepipe, F-102s used their IR sensors to look for enemy campfires at night over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, sometimes even firing a heat-seeking Falcon AAM at the target. F-102s also flew daytime attacks, firing unguided rockets from the weapons bay. 618 ground attack missions were flown by the F-102As. ⁣ ⁣ Though wholly unsuited for ground attack, the F-102s had the fastest response time when emergent close air support was needed- all of South Vietnam was within 3 minutes’ flying time of Delta Daggers based at Tan Son Nhut AB at Saigon.⁣ ⁣ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Delta Wing” | Day 17⠀⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Convair #F102 #DeltaDagger #USAF #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-W3mdhIBR/?igshid=m9hbu9nwrr7j

[sentinelchicken]

One of the more unique twin engined prop designs to have entered service, the Fairey Gannet AEW.3 was based on the earlier Gannet carrier-borne ASW/strike aircraft. Though looking superficially like a single engine aircraft, the Gannet had two engines. ⠀ ⠀ Armstrong Siddeley developed the Double Mamba turboprop engine by having two Mamba engines drive through a common gearbox. One engine drove one of the paired contra rotating props on the Gannet. During patrols, the Gannet could alternate every half hour flying on only one of the Mamba engines to extend its airborne endurance. ⠀ ⠀ When one engine was stopped, one of the contra props stopped and was feathered. ⠀ ⠀ The Gannet AEW.3 served with a single Fleet Air Arm squadron, 849 NAS (Naval Air Squadron) from 1960 to the Gannet’s retirement in 1978. The squadron then had four flights- A Flight, B Flight, C, Flight, and D Flight, which were four aircraft detachments to Royal Navy aircraft carriers. There was also a headquarters flight and single a transport version of the Gannet, the Gannet COD.4, was usually deployed with each flight for carrier on-board delivery.⠀ ⠀ November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “Twin Engine Propeller” | Day 25⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Fairey #Gannet #AEW3 #RoyalNavy #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5SpCR2h4Do/?igshid=7umetbyne6yr

[sentinelchicken]

The Boeing B-47 Stratojet, the United States’ first swept wing multiengine jet bomber, laid out design features that would set the pattern for large jet aircraft for years to come- a swept wing with engines in nacelles cantilevered ahead and below the wings. Boeing’s engineers were looking at jet powered developments as early as 1943 that would lead to the evolution of the B-29 Superfortress into jet power- however, wind tunnel testing showed that straight wings which were a much better known design in aviation of the day simply could not handle the potential of jet engines. At the end of the Second World War, Boeing aerodynamicist George Schairer was on a fact-finding mission in areas of Germany in Allied hands and in a captured aeronautics laboratory, he reviewed some of the German wind tunnel data on swept wings and sent the information back to Seattle to incorporate a 35-degree swept wing on the jet bomber design. Initial designs had the J47 engines mounted in the fuselage, leaving an aerodynamically clean wing, but the USAF wanted the engines away from the fuselage for safety reasons. Further study showed that putting the engines in pods cantilevered on pylons below and ahead of the wings still allowed the wings to be efficient but were safer locations for the early engines. As a bonus, the weight of the engines on the wing also reduced bending moments which allowed for lighter and more efficient wing designs. The Stratojet made its first flight on 14 December 1947, the 44th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk. The Stratojet was so radical at the time, some Boeing engineers were skeptical it would even fly! November Aviation Photo Challenge | @kjdphoto1971 | #1119planes | “1st Generation Jet” | Day 1 #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Boeing #B47 #Stratojet #USAF #mil_aviation_originals #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4UWmzBBF5j/?igshid=ovckcjb41eoy

[sentinelchicken]

The first Lockheed Constellations went to the US Army Air Forces towards the end of the Second World War as high speed transports designated C-69s. The civilian designation for them postwar was the Lockheed 049 Constellation and they were the first generation of Lockheed's curvaceously elegant propliners (followed by the L-749, then L-1049 Super Constellation and L-1649 Starliner). "The Star of Switzerland”, after flying with the military, joined TWA's fleet in 1948 and flew with the airline until 1964. She's been on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson since 1980 and of the surviving Lockheed Constellations, is the only surviving one originally built as a C-69 for the military. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #PimaAirandSpaceMuseum #Pima #Tucson #DavisMonthan #Arizona #airport #planespotting #instaplane #instagramaviation #Lockheed #L049 #Constellation #TWA #TransWorldAirlines #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation (at Pima Air & Space Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ulZ8JB2x0/?igshid=n11yk4c1cpkk

[halopigg]

On this date in 2013 I had the pleasure of visiting #TheBoneyardProject at @pimaair with @joshuabgeyer. This is from @retna’s plane, I’ll do my best to post as many as I can today, though I must say my #iPhone5 photography skills were not as polished as my current day standards. #Retna #RetnaMSK #IronEyeRetna #BoneyardProject #pimaairandspacemuseum @ericfirestone #SomeoneElsie #StreetArtOnThisDate #streetartspringbreak #artnerd #artington #calligraphy #calligraffiti #typography #lettering #MSK #MadSocietyKings #artingwithhalopigg (at Pima Air & Space Museum)