In my driveaway work I visited the former SAC Museum now the Strategic Air and Space Museum west about 25 miles west of Omaha, NE and just off I-80. The museum was formerly located near Offutt AFB and the move in 1998 was a 33 million dollar project and provides hanger space for all the museum's aircraft.

The one outside exhibit is an F-105D, S/N 61 0069, in a place of honor on a pylon alongside I-80 and serving as signpost and marker for the museum. In some ways the Thud is still on duty, outside, in an attitude of flight, and greeting thousands of I-80 travelers daily. Visit the Restoration Page for the story and a few pictures of the work done on the aircraft.

Here are some photos from the Museum - the Museum's own website oddly doesn't provide a list of aircraft on display or a photo album of the displays. Good stop for a few hours - any USAF vet will find aircraft we've flown, flown in, worked on and admired over the years.

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Entrance to the Museum - Atlas-D and Thor on display.

SR-71 in main lobby

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B-17 with B-52 and B-36 in background with wing and fuselage of a U-2 suspended at upper right

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Mezzanine view of Hanger A - F-101B foreground and B-36 in background.
There's still some fluid seepage from these old birds - they haven't quite given up the fight yet.

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B-52 cockpit - I had to apply full military power and used all 12,000 feet of runway to get the BUF off the ground. In my dreams.

The service life of the B-52 is impressive - the plane was based on design work that began in the late 1940s, the first models were produced in the early 1950s. A proposal to re-engine the planes could extend their place on the bomber roster through 2025 and the projected service life extends to 2044 based on the forecast life of the airframe. See B-52 Service Life for more info on the topic. By now, probably everyone flying the BUF is younger than the aircraft itself. Quite a plane, quite a record.

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KC-97 in Hanger B - there's also a B-29 in this hanger, a British Vulcan and an F-111 Aardvark.

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F-86H Sabre suspended with an A-26 Attack Bomber foreground on floor and a wing-on view of the BUF and B-36. Lots of other aircraft along with Apollo and Mercury capsules. Also some traveling exhibits in the Museum - currently a DEA Exhibit on terrorism and drug trafficking along with a NASA exhibit on the International Space Station. Well worth a visit and a few hours of your time.

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Strategic Air and Space Museum Website
Takhli RTAFB Combined Website
355th TFW Takhli Yahoo Group

25 Feb 04

Dick Williams

Kansas City MO
http://www.kcsky.net