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History flies high

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — If you thought the Marines had cornered the market on history and tradition, it’s time to reboot.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, has 400 examples of what makes the boys in blue so special. And that’s just the number of aerospace vehicles on display. Toss in 17 acres of personal artifacts, photographs, videos and documents that tell the story of the airmen and events that shaped the world’s most storied air force, and you get a clear picture: We bad. We know it. Come see why.

Unlike the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., this equally impressive complex has a single-minded military focus.

“We’re here to tell the story of the Air Force,” says Jeff Duford, a museum historian.

It’s a powerful story that’s exceptionally well told. From the evolution of military flight — the Wright brothers through today’s stealth aircraft — the sheer number of assembled fighters, bombers and missiles is staggering.

But unlike other aviation museums, this one shows visitors how American military planners forged a new institution — the Air Force — and proudly chronicles the stories of the airmen who make the machines work.

History hunters and Air Force aficionados will find plenty to obsess over while touring the six massive galleries tucked inside dramatically lit and designed cavernous hangars. Simple sightseers, young and old alike, also will marvel at the combination of small and spectacular exhibits.

It’s inconceivable that one could stand right beside a fully assembled intercontinental ballistic missile and not be awed. The Air Force role in Soviet containment and strategic deterrence — and its long-standing role in the development of space systems — gets equal billing here, along with the fixed and rotary winged warbirds.

On a smaller scale are stories and artifacts showcasing the evolution of the Air Force song, the enlisted uniform and the force’s ever-changing roles and missions.

Duford seemed as pleased with a new, interactive “Warrior Airmen” exhibit as with anything else in the museum. One of three exhibit sections profiles the actions of combat airmen who fought and died in the 2002 battle of Takur Ghar — an intense, 17-hour firefight against enemy forces on the Afghanistan mountaintop, also known as Roberts Ridge.

“That’s the mountaintop, right there,” Duford said, pointing to a detailed diorama. Nearby, a collection of museum visitors listened to combat radio transmissions and personal recorded testimony from airmen who fought the battle. Packs and other combat gear harvested from the scene are behind glass.

“We like to say we’re the keepers of their stories,” Duford said. “We take that mission very seriously.”

Air power on display

Still, the hundreds of one-of-a-kind planes and historical platforms clearly take center stage.

There are the many variations of the Wright Flyer; the first strategic bomber (Caproni Ca. 36); the first fighter flown in combat by pilots of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I (the Nieuport 28); various observation balloons, which allowed World War I observers to see as far as 40 miles behind enemy lines to spot troop movements (Caquot Type R); the first modern all-metal monoplane bomber (Martin B-10) and the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

“That’s Bockscar, the B-29 that ended World War II,” Duford gleefully pointed out. “That’s her!”

Galleries stuffed with aircraft from ceiling to floor include Early Years, Air Power, Modern Flight, Cold War, Missile and Space, Presidential and Research & Development/Flight Testing.

The R&D and presidential galleries are a one-mile bus ride from the main complex and feature nine presidential aircraft, including the Air Force One that flew President John F. Kennedy’s body back to Washington, D.C., from Dallas after his assassination in 1963.

The exotic, supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie highlights the experimental collection.

And if you have time, be sure to request a visit to the museum’s restoration division, a hangar where historic aircraft and aerospace vehicles are brought back to life.

Roger Deere, the restoration division chief, talked about the latest prized platform: the Memphis Belle, the storied B-17F Flying Fortress that’s being painstakingly restored to near-mint condition.

“She’ll be a record copy when we’re finished,” he said, explaining that restorers don’t just clean up old airplanes, but also locate or fabricate parts to make the planes historically accurate, from the gas cap doors to rivets in the wing frame.

Restoration tours are offered weekly to museum visitors, Duford said.

While the main museum is not as hands-on or interactive as, say, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, where visitors view a Korean War exhibit inside a temperature-controlled (read: freezing) room, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s volume, variety and aircraft make up for the difference.

Duford, the giddy historian, finds new gems every time he strolls a gallery. You will, too.

“Look at that Caproni,” he says. “The pilot’s back-rest was the fuel tank. Can you imagine?”

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Lawson is a former Military Times managing editor.

If you go

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• On the Web: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

• Admission: Free