DAY 4 - Into the Wild Blue Yonder
Thursday, October 25, 2007
I confess: as a child, my first choice for which military service I would have wanted to enlist in was the Air Force (the Navy was a very close second). I loved airplanes and obviously the USAF had the greatest variety of them. Of course, another good reason for going to Eglin Air Force Base today was to visit the place where the Doolittle Raiders trained for take-offs from the carrier Hornet (CV-8) now just a little over 65 years ago.
Click on any image to enlarge.
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First stop today was Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach. It's an old and tiny (you could say "Mom-and-Pop") aquatic attraction, but for me it brought back fond memories of Marineland of the Pacific where I first developed an affection for marine mammals.
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A friendly female Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (T. truncatus). Makes me realize how much I miss working with marine mammals.
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Next stop: Eglin AFB
You've heard of "The Book of Armaments?" Well, here's a whole Museum of Armaments!
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Soviet T-62 tank (it's only a model).
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Among the (full-size) aircraft in the museum building are this P-47 Thunderbolt,
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this P-51D Mustang (my honey),
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a P/F-80 Shooting Star,
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and this F-105 "Thud" surrounded by numerous examples of airborne weapons (hopefully inert... but you know how the Air Force can be sometimes!).
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The air-to-air missile exhibit. Mentions nothing of the Navy's role in the development of the Sidewinder. Hmmm...
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JB-2 ("Doodle Bug") exhibit. Mentions nothing about its origin as the German V-1 "Buzz Bomb." Another hmmm...
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This is just a portion of the Doolittle Raiders memorial exhibit.
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They also have a large "Weapons Vault" which has everything from small sidearms to a Bofors 40mm gun. My Dad would recognize the M-1 Garand (right side, third from bottom) similar to what he used in combat while serving with the United States Army in Korea.
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Those of you who may be harboring resentment towards my favoring the Air Force over the Navy as a child can blame this big, beautiful lady (among others) for seducing me. The outdoor-displayed B-52(G) Stratofortress (with EVS).
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This view of her landing gear reminds me of that scene in "A Gathering of Eagles" where Rock Hudson attempts to land his B-52 without flaps.
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Obligatory nose-on view of an SR-71 Blackbird.
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Another fast woman who got me thinking Air Force instead of Navy was the F-104 Starfighter which was the subject of the first model airplane I ever had. This one apparently belonged to the Office of Emergency Services (the "S" is on the other side).
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And of course this being the base where the Doolittle Raiders got their training, they took a B-25J and painted it up to look like Jimmy Doolittle's B-25B. So I guess we shouldn't feel too bad about what we did with our SBD and AD and...
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And of course what self-respecting warbird museum would be caught dead without a B-17 Flying Fortress?
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And of course since I know one of you out there works on "Herky Birds," I thought I'd throw in a C-130 for you.
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And of course since I know some of you would rather not have to deal with Hueys and (surplus) Phantom (II)s, I ignored them completely...
