Barksdale Global Power Museum trip

[muddocktor]

Yesterday my wife and I decided to take a little trip up to Shreveport, LA and visit the Barksdale Global Power Museum on Barksdale AFB, to get away from the house and take a trip in the new Camry XSE we purchased about 3 weeks ago and check out the plane exhibits. I had seen that they had several aircraft that I have been wanting to see there by viewing the base with Google Earth and this provided an great excuse to give the new car a trip tryout too. The museum is free of charge BTW, but is on base. You have to enter from the North Entrance and they don't allow firearms and they do a cursory search of your vehicle and hold your driver's license at the gate until you leave. That might sound like a bit much to some folks but be aware that this base is an active B-52 base and I wouldn't doubt that there might be a bunker or 2 that holds nukes.

With that said, here are some pics I took while we were there. I don't claim to be a great photographer or anything and my digicam is better than 10 years old, but they have some neat aircraft and I figured I' share with my forum friends.

The inside exhibits are a bit sparse, but they have a few neat things. First up is a pressure suit that the SR-71 crew used on missions. They are true pressure suits, as at the altitude the Blackbirds flew you essentially had no breathable oxygen.


This pic is of a cutaway J-47 engine, such as used by the B-47 and F-86 Sabre.


Next is the fabled Norden Bombsight as used during WWII.


This pic is of a Wright Cyclone engine such as used in the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of WWII.


Now we went outside and viewed the aircraft at the museum. First up is a rear view of a B-47E. In my opinion, the B-47 is one of the most beautiful bombers we have built.

Side view of the same plane. BTW, according to the sign with it, this B-47 was the last operational B-47 in service until it was flown to Barksdale in 1970.


This is a weapon displayed under the B-47. I can tell by the design of it that it looks to be a thermonuclear bomb of fairly early vintage such as late 50's or early 60's design and a big one at that. They didn't have a sign around saying what it is, but from examining pics on Wikipedia I believe it to be a B53 bomb casing with a design yield of 9 MT and they were only carried by the B-47 and B-52.


Next is the famous SR-71 Blackbird. According to the sign, this was one of 2 Blackbirds that was reactivated in 1995 and flew for NASA and the AF until 1999. It has just under 3,000 flying hours on it.


This is one the bomber boys in WWII would have loved to see close by, the venerable P-51D Mustang.

 

[muddocktor]

Continuing on with the aircraft now, here is one that would have loved to see that P-51D nearby during the War in Europe, the B-17G. It was one tough bird and could take incredible battle damage and make it home.


Along with the B-17, we had one other heavy bomber deployed to the European theater in WWII; the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. This on is a B-24J and is one of about 12 left in existence according to the sign by the plane.


Next is a real workhorse of an aircraft and they still have quite a few flying today; the Douglas C-47 Skytrain or in civilian life the Douglas DC-3. These were just an all around great design.


Next up are 2 aircraft in different configurations that were based off the Beech Model 18 and served as trainers and cargo movers. First up is the C-45 Expediter.


Now the training variant, the AT-11 Kansan. This bird trained the great majority of bombardiers in WWII according to the sign with it.


In this pic you can see how they chopped off the nose of the Beech model 18 and grafted on a bombardier's nose on it for training.


This picture here isn't part of the museum. This is an actual active B-52H model that looks to be getting some extensive service done on it. The tail fin is removed and you can see the cowling is removed off of one if it's engines. This plane was actually at the active hangars on the base.


This is a nose cone that was used on the Titan II missiles to protect the RV during the lift phase of flight. Thank God they never had to be used in service.


This sleek aircraft is a FB-111A. It was an interim design made from the F-111A fighter bomber to fill in for the B-58 Hustler which was retired from active service in the late 60's to serve as a supersonice medium bomber in the role the Hustler served in. It had a longer wing and strengthened landing gear and could carry up to 6 AGM-69A Short Range Attack Missiles (nuclear tipped). This particular aircraft was the last operational FB-111A flown by the Eighth Air Force and was flown to Barksdale in 1991.


Here is a pic of the rear of the FB-11. You can see this aircraft still has it's Pratt and Whitney TF-30 turbofan engines still installed.

 

[Engineer1911]

I worked on FB-111A's 1971 - 1973 when I was stationed at Plattsburgh AFB, New York. For an aircraft mechanic it was a great airplane, everything except the wing tips.

 

[muddocktor]

Continuing with another pic of the FB-111, here is a front right side view showing how sleek they are along with a display TF-30 engine that powered this aircraft.


After you cross the street, you get to more aircraft on display. First up is a T-33, which served as a jet trainer aircraft for a long while at the beginning of the Jet era.


The next plane you come to is the B-29 Superfortress. This is the aircraft that brought wholesale devastation and a couple of nuclear weapons on Japan's head at the end of WWII. One lethal and effective plane design and also served in the Korean War.


Next is a KC-97 G/L tanker aircraft. These served before the KC-135 came in service. Once the KC-135 replaced them in active service with the front line fighters and bombers, these were handed down to the ANG and equipped with the auxiliary jet engines you see on the wings to give them enough speed to make it not as hazardous for jet aircraft to refuel from them. This aircraft was developed from the B-29. This particular aircraft was flown to the museum in 1980 from Davis Monthan.


Next up is one of my favorite aircraft and is not a US design. This is the B.2 version of the Avro Vulcan bomber, a British design. It is a contemporary of the B-47 and B-52 and served the Brits until after the Falkland War. It is one sleek looking design and just graceful looking. It is also quite a bit smaller than the BUFF too, which I didn't realize before seeing it.


This is the cockpit area of the Vulcan


Front right view showing the nose and wing around the engine inlet. The Brits buried 2 engines on each side in the wing instead of hanging them on pods as we did on our bombers.


Next up is an adversary of ours during the Vietnam era, the Mig 21 "Fishbed". A Soviet design day fighter that was very effective against bomb-laden Air Force and Navy planes during the Vietnam War.


Now, this old gal has done us service since the 1950's. This one is a B-52D model and had the "Big Belly" mods done to it. This particualr aircraft made over 400 sorties in SEA and was severely damaged by a SAM, which was repaired. It served until the late 70's or early 80's and was flown to Barksdale in 1983.

 

[Lee Barner]

the last time I was at Barksdale was 1986. all but six of the B-52s were on the flight line and the other six were uploaded on the six minute alert pads. great pics. brings back a lot of memories for us old wingnuts. lee

 

[muddocktor]

Next up is another B-52 War Vet, this time in the B-52G model. The G models had a redesigned tail along with a "wet wing", to save weight and also to make them better able to handle low level flying. According to the sign on it, this one accumulated 100+ missions in SEA and also flew 35 missions in Desert Storm, including the first 3 low level missions. A true multi-war vet. It is painted in the colors it flew in Desert Storm.



This I believe is an AGM-28 Hound Dog missile. The B-52 could carry a pair of these under the wings and use them as a stand off missile for nuclear attack. They were a mach 2 capable missile with a range of 785 miles and were armed with a W28 nuclear warhead of up to 1.45 MT yield.


This little beauty is a B28 nuclear weapon as carried by the B-52. It is the same bomb package as carried on the Hound Dog missile, but in a bomb configuration. They also made a streamlined model for carrying under the wings of Navy fighter bombers such as the Skyhawk, Skywarrior and Vigilante.


Hanging under the wing of the B-52D is an ADM-20 Quail missile. From what I read, this was to be used as a decoy in case of a war and attack upon a nuclear target. The idea was to flood the area with false targets.


And here we come to the aircraft that in updated form is still up there, feeding our aircraft with more fuel while on missions. This is a KC-135 tanker. I believe it is an original configuration aircraft as it still has turbojet engines mounted on the pylons and the unmodified planes such as this have all been retired.


I hope that you enjoy my little picture show here and if you happen to be in the area, stop by Barksdale and check the museum out.

Jim

 

[ordnanceguy]

What an excellent post! Thank you for bringing these wonderful aircraft and displays to my attention.

I have added the Barksdale AFB Museum to my bucket list. It will give me another reason to visit. My main reason is that Barksdale was where my Dad received his wings. He was a graduate of Barksdale's Flying Class 41-G. Back in 1941 it was known as Barksdale Field. At one time it was the largest airport in the world covering 22,000 acres of former cotton plantation fields.

That is my Dad on the far left. (That is a sharp looking bunch of fliers, right?)
The aircraft is a Beechcraft AT-10 trainer. This image was probably taken in 1943 when he was serving as a multi-engine flight instructor at Moody Field in GA. He later went overseas and flew in the China Burma India theater.



Sorry, I'm not trying to highjack your excellent thread. Thanks for the post and for reminding me of my family's long ago association with Barksdale. I'll be heading there in the not too distant future.

 

[vigil617]

Jim, GREAT job with the photos of this astounding group of aircraft. I had the pleasure of seeing the museum and the planes last fall when my wife and I visited my daughter and son-in-law, a USAF O-4 stationed at Barksdale. As a junior officer, he was a navigator and weapons officer on B52s, a Weapons School graduate, and was part of the first crews of BUFFs deployed to Qatar a couple of years ago to show ISIS some Rolling Thunder. Barksdale and Shreveport/Bossier City will always have a special place in our family, as my first grandchild, a son, was born last year while his parents were stationed there!

For sheer variety and rarity of aircraft, you'd be hard pressed to find a better collection outside of perhaps the Smithsonian Air Museum, which I haven't had a chance to visit since it opened the newer addition several years ago. Seeing that Blackbird was incredible!

Thanks for all the great pictures!

 

[muddocktor]

ordnanceguy, thanks for posting a picture of your Dad, especially since he was stationed at the field and earned his wings there. That is a fully appropriate picture to post!

And vigil617, thank you also for giving us a personal touch of yours to this great air base with some family history involving it.

Now if they would have a B-58 hustler in their exhibits they would have really made my day. There are so few of those left nowadays though that I don't think that will ever happen. The only one I know of that's not already exhibited in a museum setting is the photo wreck at Edwards nicknamed "Snoopy" and that one is in really bad shape.

 

[vigil617]

Also inside the Global Power Museum is the room where President George W. Bush made his second message to the nation on 9-11 during his trip back to Washington from Texas. The lectern and flags and the photos on the wall behind him are included in an exhibit in that very room, seen here on the day he made the speech.

 

[Engineer1911]

AF Museum at Wright Patterson AFB

The Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB has every plane from a replica Wright Brothers' Flyer (original is at the Smithsonian) to the F-35 fighter. There is a B-58 on display. After 4 years as an aircraft mechanic from 1970 to 1974 and attending 4 different air shows while on active duty, I didn't think I get excited about the AF museum.

There is dedicated hanger displays to early aircraft, WW 1, WW 2, Korea, the Cold War (aircraft and missiles), Viet Nam, and Desert Storm. There are engine displays also. Some are sectioned so the internal components are visible. The design of the connecting rod journal for a 7-cylinder radial engine with 4 banks of cylinders (B-29 engine) was not done on a single piece of paper during a coffee break.

My wife and I spent 3 full days there, and neither one of us got bored. I think the "coolest" plane was the German WW 1 four engine bomber with open cockpit and the nose gunner in a wicker basket at the nose of the plane. The aircraft machine gun display; American, British, German, and Japanese; was mechanical genius at best. American guns were basic, functional and effective. The British, well were British (Lee Enfield rifle and Lewis machine gun), quite different from their American counterparts and effective in battle. The German guns were over engineered, complex, and bigger is better. The 50 MM cannon built for the ME-262 fighter jet was huge for an aircraft gun and would have been devastating against B-17 bombers. The Japanese guns were 'light weight' models for reduced weight and appeared 'delicate' compared to American guns. Despite their appearance, the guns were effective in combat.

Pictures #1, #2 German 50 MM cannon for ME-262
Picture #3 Radial engine internal components
Pictures #4, #5 ME-262 jet engine

 

[muddocktor]

Engineer1911, Wright-Patterson is definitely on my visit list. I pllan to take multiple days of visiting it, as there is way too much to try to cover there in just one day. Thanks for posting up about it and posting the photos you took.

My daughter has been put on notice that she will be house-sitting and taking care of the critters when we make this happen some time in the future too.

Another one we want to hit one day is Pima also.

BTW, you caught something that I had overlooked during my visit. This is a B-58 test sled that was probably used for testing ejection systems. It wasn't labeled that I saw, but the Wikipedia page on the museum lists it and Engineer1911 pointed it out to me.

 

[Targets Guy]

Nice photos. Thanks for sharing. Love the Buff.