NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM

Saturday, October 29 – We headed out early this morning bound for Kinder, LA, and the Coushatta Casino RV Park. After about three and a half hours of driving, we filled up at the Indian Casino gas station for $3.58, the lowest diesel price we've seen in quite awhile. We then pulled back to the campground only to find out they are FULL. What the heck! That's never happened to us before. The reason, we found out, is this weekend is the Annual Coushatta Pow Wow.

Well, we considered dry camping in the casino parking lot, but we wanted to watch some NCAA football and didn't want to run the generator for hours. So, we headed down the road to our next intended stop, Livingston, TX, and the Escapees Rainbow's End campground. That made for an eight hour driving day, which is way more than we like to drive in one day. We were on back roads and there just wasn't anywhere to stop.

We settled into site #68, and will be here until Monday morning so we can get our annual inspection stickers for the MH and Honda. We walked around the park to see what's happening. We ran into our friends, Marc & Joyce. The place is fairly crowded. I guess people are on the move to the South to avoid those cold temperatures.

As promised two blogs ago…After the air show, we headed across the parking lot from the Flight Line to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Again FREE admission and an amazing museum. There is so much to see, it is impossible to see in one day. The hundreds of aircraft on display have all been restored to original condition.

Fat Albert
 

Looking down at one section of the Museum.

There's just about every naval aircraft ever flown in combat, aircraft you can sit in for a picture, flight simulators, a huge display of aircraft carriers, and so much more.

The Navy/Curtiss Aircraft was designed during WWI as antisubmarine aircraft. It was a long-range patrol flying boat. The wing span 126'; length 68'; height 24'; max speed of 85 mph.

One of the most amazing displays is the Blue Angel Atrium where four jets used by the Blue Angels are suspended from the ceiling flying in their famous close formation. You get to see up close that eighteen inch separation of formation flying they are so famous for.

PB2Y-5R Coronado was outfitted as a flag transport and shuttled high-ranking officers. In August 1945, the aircraft and its crew flew to Guam, the forward headquarters for Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, and soon embarked Nimitz's deputy, Rear Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, for the flight to Tokyo Bay to attend the formal surrender ceremonies ending World War II.

Coronado is the HUGE one.

The World's First Operational Jet-Powered Fighter…Me-262 which flew in 1942. Tope speed 540 mph.

"Long-nose" version of the F11F Tiger that was flown by the Blue Angels during the period 1959-1958. It was the last Grumman-build aircraft flown by the famed U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.

Treasures of Lake Michigan…a stunning underwater recreation of salvaging aircraft found in Lake Michigan. Using special lighting, they made the planes look like they were still underwater. Just an excellent display!

With its distinctive green and white paint scheme, the latter color on top of the aircraft applied originally to early model helicopters to make the occupants cooler in the days before air-conditioned compartments, the helicopters that fly as “Marine One” are among the most famous aircraft in the entire world.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first President to employ an airplane for travel while in office, the use of a helicopter for short-distance travel first occurring when President Dwight D. Eisenhower climbed aboard a Bell UH-13J Sioux with its “fishbowl” cockpit for a flight in 1957.

This VH-3A served during the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.

On 1 May 2003, the aircraft made history when President George W. Bush was a passenger during a carrier arrested landing on board the flattop. In so doing he became the first sitting chief executive to trap on board an aircraft carrier. As is customary, during the time President Bush was aboard the aircraft, it was known as "Navy 1."

Of course, we all remember the famous banner that was his back drop onboard the ship.

The Navy's Last Flying Boat…SP-5B Marlin. Its height is over 32' and wingspan of some 118' entered service in 1952. In addition to antisubmarine warfare missions, SP-5B marlins supported Operation Market Time, monitoring shipping traffic in the water off South Vietnam.

Can you find Marsha in this picture?

There is just so much to see in this museum that Marsha couldn't snap the pictures fast enough. If you are EVER in this area, this is a MUST see! Remember it is all FREE!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!