McChord Air Museum is OPEN!!!!

Yes, you heard right.  I was doing a little research yesterday and discovered that sometime in December McChord Air Museum became open to the public.  All you need is your driver's license, and proof of insurance and your vehicle registration to get a visitor's pass.  It's free!  This is the first time since shortly after 9/11 that McChord Air Museum has been open to the public (that I know of).

You can check out their site, here.

Among their collection, which is impressive for not being a museum associated with an aircraft company, are such rarities as a C-124!  They also have a rare C-82 Packet and a B-23 Dragon.

There are fighters to be sure, among them are the F-106, F-102, and the F-101.  There is also an A-10.  Considering the history of McChord as a long time Air Defense Command base, it is too bad there is no P-61 or F-82, both of which are such rare items that most museum curators would probably resort to dire measures indeed to obtain one.

I visited McChord Air Museum long ago, before even the first Gulf War.  I was young, but have vivid memories.  They did not have the C-124 on display at the time.  If they did we did not see it.  I highly recommend a trip to see this museum, which houses a few aircraft that other local museums DO NOT!

Go out and visit and Air Museum today!

**UPDATE***  July 2013****  The Museum is only open on Wednesday and Thursday for a few limited hours due to the sequestration.  Thanks Congress.

HMS Caroline, Jutland Veteran, May Be Scrapped!

The HMS Caroline is the last remaining ship from the Battle of Jutland still afloat.  The Royal Navy intends to decommission and scrap her.

I, too, am troubled by this turn of events.  Writing a congressman will not work, but perhaps, if you are so inclined, you could find a way to drop the Royal Navy or the Ministry of Defense a note telling them that the Yanks would love for them to keep this OLD SHIP!  She's a veteran of WWI for crying out loud!

Here's where I found it.

MiG Over Washington??

Washington State has several interesting and worth-while visiting museums.  They all seem to be on the West side of the Cascades.  Museum of Flight, Olympic Flight Museum, Flying Heritage Museum, and the new Historic Flight Foundation.  It's this last one that has a new addition to its collection.

Drum roll please....

A MiG-29!  Mr. Cawby runs the KPAE Paint Field blog and monitors the goings on there.  He posted a couple photos of the Historic Flight Foundation's new MiG doing some test flights.  You can also become a fan on Facebook if you'd like to see more photos and up to date news of the museum.

USS Los Angeles Decommissioned

Navy Bids Farewell To Trailblazing USS Los Angeles

The nuclear attack submarine, USS Los Angeles (SSN-688), lead ship of the largest nuclear submarine class ever, was decommissioned on February 4th in Bremerton, Washington.  Follow the link for the full story.