Category: Local

Air Mobility Command Museum

Dover DE

This museum is dedicated to the history of humanitarian, airlift and air refueling.
Recreation of one of the first Guard Gates at Dover Air Base in World War II. Today Dover is the largest aerial port for the Department of Defense.
C-47 Skytrain. This actual plane flew a D-Day mission to drop paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne.
B17G Flying Fortress
B-17 Rear Gunner
B-17 Landing gear
M1A1 75MM Howitzer
C-54M Skymaster, the military variation of the commercial DC-4
C-133B Cargomaster, the largest turboprop plane ever built for the US Air Force
C-124A Globemaster II
C-121C Super Constellation
KB-50J Superfortress, similar to, but a significant upgrade over the B-29
KC-10A Extender, military version of the commercial DC-10
Cockpit of the KC-10A Extender
Cargo Bay
Rear cargo control
C-5A Galaxy was the largest in its class when first flown in 1968. Today, the upgraded C-5M Super Galaxy is still the largest in the Air Force.
C-5A Cargo Bay
LGM-30 Minuteman Missile
UH-1H Iroquois, aka “Huey”, used extensively in Vietnam
KC-135 Stratotanker, designed to be used to refuel B-52s
C-130E Hercules
C-130E Cockpit
C-130E Cargo Bay
C-141B Starlifter
C-141B Cockpit
Cargo Bay
C-141A Starlifter
VC-9C. Served as Vice Presidents’ transport for Walter Mondale, George H. W. Bush, Dan Quayle, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney. It also served as Air Force One when transporting Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. It also flew special missions carrying First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush.
Looking over the fence into Dover Air Base. C-5s lined up.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Richmond VA

This museum is a really good museum. Lots of work from the greats. Here are just a few highlights.

Triple Elvis, Andy Warhol
Engraving of Russian Empress Catherine the Great
Photographs of Tsar Nicholas II and his family
Imperial Tsarevich Easter Egg, 1912
Young Girls Looking at an Album, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1892
Field of Poppies, Giverny, Claude Monet, 1885
Daisies, Arles, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888
Still Life with Bowl, Paul Gauguin, 1891-1893
Jester on Horseback, Pablo Picasso, 1905
Interior (The Closed Window), Henri Matisse, 1918-1919
Pigeon on a Perch, Pablo Picasso, 1960
Paris Street Scene, Richard Estes, 1972
Burger Chef Interior, Ralph Goings, 1972
Idyll of Virginia Mountains, George H. Ben Johnson, 1945

Air & Space Museum

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, Chantilly VA

Different views of the shuttle Discovery.
Astronaut suit
Mercury Capsule
Apollo capsule with landing floats.
Apollo quarantine vehicle.
Various satellites…
Vanguard I Satellite.
Satellite assortment.
The Enola Gay B29 Superfortress Bomber, the first plane to drop an atomic bomb in war. It dropped “Little Boy” over Hiroshima Japan.
Air France Concorde SST plane.
Boeing 707
SR-171 Blackbird, the fastest plane in history.
World War I German plane.
World War I US plane.
F4U Corsair World War II fighter plane.
Boeing 307 Stratoliner “Clipper Flying Cloud”
F/A-18C Hornet
Sikorsky JRS-1
A-6E Intruder
MiG 21
F-14D(R) Tomcat

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg VA

Visiting Blacksburg for a funeral, we had some extra time so we took a ride through the Virginia Tech campus.
Lane Stadium.
Statue of former football coach Frank Beamer.
April 16 Memorial.
32 Virginia Tech students and faculty members were murdered on campus on April 16, 2007. This memorial honors those who were killed.
Miller’s Cabin at Historic Springfield, built around 1850. Private residence not open for tours.
“The Merry Oak”. This tree was already present when the Preston family built Smithfield Plantation in 1774. It is probably more than 500 years old.
The Smithfield Plantation house was built 1772-1773 for Colonel William Preston, and was the home of three governors of Virginia, James Patton Preston, John Floyd Jr. and John Buchanan Ford.
Blacksmith shop.
Slave cabin, circa 1820.
Cross section of the trunk of a walnut tree that was planted here in 1852. The rings track to the history of Virginia Tech.