Monday, March 16, 2015

Pima Air Museum


South of Tucson, near the airbase, is the Pima Air Museum.  The third largest air museum in the USA and the largest private museum, it is located on the hard-pan dirt made famous by the nearby Boneyard.  The soil is so firmly packed that aircraft do not sink into it and can be safely parked in the dry air for years.

Dedicated to the restoration and preservation of aircraft, the museum contains a wide variety of military and civilian aircraft from around the world.  We took a walking tour of the hangars, led by an ex-Air Force docent who was very knowledgeable, and followed it with a tram tour of the vast outdoor storage areas, with commentary by another ex-Air Force man.  Very interesting and well done.


Unfortunately the nearby Boneyard (where thousands of planes from around the world are mothballed in the dry climate against future needs) is closed on Sundays, so we enjoyed an ice cream in the shade, bade our Cornwellian friends adieu and hit the road for the 2.5 hour drive to Phoenix.


B52 used to launch the X-15


Part of Fighter Alley

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