Airplanes and more

Casa Grande, Arizona

Roger ran his truck up to Phoenix to have it checked out. We had asked what he wanted to see and an air museum was his choice.  After all, he fixed the toilet seat in the cowboy bathroom.  It's strange but Bill and I were both talking yesterday about visiting this one.  Since Roger left almost before the sun was up, we said we'd pick Sharon up and meet him when he was finished. 

Roger was excited before he ever entered the doors.  He said the ship he was on, had guns like this.  He gave us a first hand explanation of what everyone's job was and how it operated.  

A docent explained a little bit about the museum and what we were going to see.  They were around for any questions we had.

I asked Roger about all the wires on this engine.

All screws had wires on them.  Roger said it was so they didn't vibrate off.  I wonder why the RV industry doesn't do that.

They had airplanes from most branches--I don't think the Coast Guard was represented, John.

There were two hangars plus what's outside.

There were even models of many different kinds.

They were even hanging from the ceiling.

This was one of my favorites.

It was so small only one stretcher could fit in it.

What an appropriate name.

Display cases had many stories of the people who flew these planes.  Here's some more models.

These are some of the guns that were mounted on the planes.

The influence of women in flying was well represented.

The stories of groups like Doolittle's Raiders and the Tuskegee Airmen were very well displayed and told. 

I used to always wore a helmet while motorcycle riding but I never heard of them being called "Brain Buckets".  I really like the name.

Things we've read or saw in the movies were there like this "Gibson Girl" emergency transmitter.

I loved the artwork and messages that went into a lot of these.

I'll bet the view was great, if you weren't in any danger.  It's one thing to be shooting at someone, but if they shoot back, you're a bulls-eye.

This was a toy pedal car.

As I looked around the hangar, I realized the planes were all different kinds of color.

I like the painting on this one.

Notice the sign which reads ".45 Cal Tommy Gun carried in B-29 490th Bomb Squadron--India-Burma 1942-1945. (Gun inactive).  Hopefully, it was an active gun in those years.

Unfortunately, there was way to much to see, before they closed at 4 pm.  

Remember this is the first hanger.  We never made it to the second one.

There were planes outside the hanger that you could climb up into.  I am under the girl and touching the ladder.  That's as close as I got to climbing in.

Not sure what this one was.

The weather was perfect and we even had clouds in the sky for a change.

I climbed into this one, but couldn't get back out.  Thanks for the help, Sharon and Bill.  It was very sloped and impossible to walk inside with my boot on.

This museum was very clean and well done.  

There were so many different types.  







When we left there, we decided we'd go to Lin's Buffet.  I gave the address to Sharon and Roger.  Roger turned at one intersection and I went to phone them.  That's when I realized my battery was almost dead.  I just said, we'd meet you back at the house and then go somewhere.  I must confess, I really screwed that up.  We then decided we'd go to Olive Garden.  It wasn't crowded, but the service was so slow.  We waited over 30 minutes for a to go box and our bill.  While the food was excellent, I won't be back.

Turtle Safely........