There’ve been some changes at Pima Air & Space Museum, where I work as a volunteer docent. Our T.35 Vampire, once used as a trainer and staff support aircraft by the Royal Australian Air Force, has been moved indoors, and not a moment too soon: de Havilland used molded plywood in its construction, and those panels were taking a beating in the Arizona sun. The Vampire’s now in the main exhibit hangar, near where our two-seat MiG-15 UTI trainer was once suspended. The MiG, formerly of the Polish Air Force, is now outdoors with its comrades, finally allowing me to get a glimpse of its upper surfaces.
The MiG, you might notice, is up on blocks, but that’s only temporary … the restoration department is replacing the tires, which can’t be easy to find these days.
Our newest addition is a General Dynamics F-16A, formerly assigned to the Arizona Air National Guard at Tucson International.
Cleaned up nicely, didn’t it?
Finally, not yet on display but nearing completion in the restoration hangar: a replica of a late 1920s Curtiss F6C-4 Hawk. This is not my photo; it was taken by John Bezosky Jr., a member of the museum’s collections staff, and I thank him for letting me use it. I’m especially excited about the Hawk, since PASM has very few warbirds from the period between WWI and WWII.
