Last week we took a look inside one of the main 'hangars' housing an assortment of aircraft and aviation history. This week we step outside onto the desert floor and into the Arizona sun to wonder around the outdoor exhibits and other hangars.

Outside are dozens of airplanes from jets to vintage civilian airliners, to presidential aircraft and Russian fighter jets from the Cold War era. When you walk outside it's like taking a walk back in time to an age when airplanes were designed on a drawing board by an engineer using pen and paper, ruler and protractor. Airplanes such as the Douglas B-23, Grumman Tigercat, Bristol Beaufighter and the Northrop Raider, to name but a few. They are from a time when pilots flew airplanes, not computers.

Walking through the desert sand amongst what were once enemy aircraft such as the MiG 15 (and MiG 15 UTI), the MiG 17, and the MiG 21, you get a sense of what it may have been like facing these aircraft as a fighter pilot, not knowing much about them, seeing and fighting them for the first time in the skies over enemy territory in your F-86 Sabre or F-100 Super-Sabre.

Among all the aircraft situated throughout the museum grounds, one that stands out for an assortment of reasons including its size and its design, is the B-36J Peacemaker bomber. With its height, uniquely ribbed and shaped glass cockpit & nose, and slightly swept back wings with six pusher props and four jet engines, it's an ominous sight. It even seems to dwarf the mighty B-52, of which there are 3 at the museum. However, the B-36J certainly captures and deserves the viewers attention and imagination.

Of the three B-52 aircraft at the museum one of the most interesting is the NB-52A Stratofortress. One of the oldest B-52s ever built, this is one of two B-52 aircraft modified to carry the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft. Under the right wing is the pylon that carried the X-15 and along the right side of the fuselage you can see numerous small painted X-15 aircraft assumingly representing the number of times the NB-52 carried and/or launched the X-15.

Though a vast number of the over 300 aircraft at the museum are U.S. designed and built, there are a number of foreign built aircraft as well. One of the most unusual of these aircraft is the British designed and built Fairey Gannet. A large single engine aircraft with two-4 bladed, counter rotating propellers. The airplane was designed as an early warning aircraft and used for fleet defence. Slung under the belly of the airplane is the large radar dome giving it roughly 200 miles of coverage from the aircraft.

In 1942 the Germans developed the first of its "wonder weapons," the Fieseler Fi103-A1 (V-1) Hoellunhund rocket, the world's first 'cruise missile.' Problems with the rocket delayed its use until 1944 when it was first fired on London. Close to 6000 of these V-1's landed on England with the loss of over 8,000 people. The museums example was capture by the First Canadian Army during the summer of 1944 in France. It was shipped to Canada for study and then stored for years until it was sold to a private museum, eventually finding its way to the Pima Air & Space Museum in 2005.

Probably the ugliest airplane in the museums collection is the Northrop YC-25A Raider transport aircraft. This large, bulky 3 engine aircraft was designed to fly from short, rough fields. However, before the airplane went into production, the role it was intended for was being done by helicopters and other aircraft. The last of the military tri-motor aircraft was relegated to a non-flying training role with the military and were eventually sold off, many finding homes in Latin America as airliners. The museums example is one of only two still known to exist out of the 23 that were built.

The oddest aircraft in the outdoor exhibit is probably the rotund 377 Super Guppy, an aircraft used to carry huge cargo such as the Saturn rocket used in the Apollo program. This behemoth of an airplane, created using the fuselage sections from a Pan Am Airways airliner aircraft and the forward fuselage, engines and wings from a U.S. Air Force experimental turbo-prop YC-97J aircraft, flew until 1991 when it was replaced by a newer version of the aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force has utilized many different transport aircraft throughout its history and several are represented at the museum. As you walk around and underneath these aircraft your taken by their size and their seemingly, almost non-aerodynamic designs. Airplanes such as the KC-97G Stratotfreighter, C-124 Globemaster, C-133 Cargomaster, and the............... have massive fuselages allowing them to perform the task of transport and cargo carrier, but they are far from being efficient at flight despite performing their designated jobs effectively.

There are also three Lockheed Constellation aircraft dotting the outdoor exhibit. One 'Connie,' as they were affectionately known, was used by the Air Force as a VIP aircraft for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower from December 1950 - 1952. This C-121A (Constellation) was named "Columbine 1" and was one of three Columbines to be delivered to the U. S. Air Force in February of 1949.

The Constellation was originally designed for TWA (Trans World Airlines) but impressed the military so much that they were snapped up by the Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war they were returned to airline service around the world. The museums 3 different 'Connies' include one from TWA, another designated the EC-121T (Electronic Warfare version) and the previously mentioned VIP C-121A "Columbine 1."

Inside another newly built 'hangar' is a B-29 Superfortress named "Sentimental Journey." This beautifully restored aircraft sits on pillars so patrons can walk underneath, allowing for a superb view of the underside of the airplane and up inside the bomb-bay doors. When you look up, through the doors, you can see a cylindrical tube running through the aircraft. This was a pressurized passageway that allowed crew members to traverse the length of the airplane without the need of oxygen bottles and masks. With the aircraft being pressurized, and heated, it also meant flight crews no longer needed to wear the bulky flying gear in order to keep warm.

Other historic aircraft in Hangar 4 include an F4U Corsair, a TBM Avenger, C-46 Cargo aircraft, the recovered fuselage of a Grumman Wildca (retrieved from the bottom of Lake Michigan) and the Bell P-63E King Cobra, one of the most unusual fighter aircraft produced. The engine of the P-63 is housed in the fuselage behind the pilot with the propeller shaft running through the lower part of the cockpit, under the pilot's seat, and up to the nose and propeller of the airplane. Just behind the B-29 is a Japanese Nakajima Ki-43-IIb Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon), known by the Allied code name "Oscar." Rounding out the collection are a Corsair, a Curtis C-46D and the fuselage of a Grumman Wildcat rescued from the depths of Lake Michigan.

These are but a few of the hundreds of historic airplanes, covering more than 100 years of aviation, found at Pima. You can spend a day at the museum and not really have the opportunity to see everything but don't go expecting to walk around for a few hours because it's just not enough time to truly appreciate what's there. If you have the opportunity to visit Tucson, Arizona, then the Pima Air & Space Museum is well worth the trip however much time you dedicate to its aircraft and the history thereof. Learn about the designers and engineers behind some of the airplanes and how they came to be. From barnstormer to jet fighter, take a walk with the ghosts of the pilots who once flew these famous, strange, beautiful and extraordinary aircraft. Pima - a place where winged history takes flight.

For more information about the Pima Air & Space Museum: www.pimaair.org

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