Photo Gallery

Pima Air & Space Museum

The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the world's largest private aerospace museums, located in Tucson (Arizona) adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Visited 9 January 2020, 17 March 2022, 24 Jan 2024, and X October 2024.


Outer Gate ⁄ Parking Lot

In front of the museum proper are an A4D-2N Skyhawk and a Space Shuttle SRB. The SRB's nose cone and aft skirt are replicas, but the four rocket segments are authentic test hardware: the forward and aft segments are the standard steel-case type actually flown on the shuttle, and the two center segments are experimental lightweight filament-wound cases.


Main Hangar

B-52 Tail Gun
This B-52 tail is an example of the manned quad .50-caliber machine gun turret and MD-9 fire control system used on B-52B through B-52F model bombers.
Bede BD-5J "Acrostar"
This Bede BD-5J kit plane, serial number 2418 and registration N505MR, is the same type famously used in the opening action sequence of the 1983 James Bond film "Octopussy". Pima's aircraft displays the "Acrostar" livery from Corkey Fornof and Bob Bishop's Acrojets acrobatic team, but the aircraft used to fly the actual aerial stunts was Fornof's personal BD-5J, N70CF.
Curtiss F6C-4 Hawk
This F6C-4, serial number A-7404, served with Marine Fighter Squadron 10.

Airshow Planes

Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1A
This T.1A, serial number XX292, served with the Royal Air Force "Red Arrows" aerobatic team from 1979 to 2017.
Grumman F11F-1 ⁄ F-11A Tiger
This F11F-1, serial number 141824, served with VF-211 "Flying Checkmates" on the USS Midway and USS Lexington. She was assigned to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team from 1967 to 1969, and became one of the two last Tigers to fly when she and fellow ex-Angel 141853 were "un-retired" from the boneyard to test a novel in-flight thrust reverser system in 1974-1975.
McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II
This Phantom II, serial number 66-0329, served with the Air Force "Thunderbirds" flight demonstration squadron from 1969 to 1974. It was never an operational fighter, as it was factory customized for the Thunderbirds with lead ballast in place of the nose radar and an empty gun fairing. It was later converted to an NF-4E chase plane in support of the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile test program at Edwards AFB.

Flight Central

McDonnell FD ⁄ FH-1 Phantom
This Phantom, serial number 111768, is one of three surviving examples of the U.S. Navy's first fully operational jet-powered carrier fighter. It served with Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-122 from 1947 to 1949, and then was briefly operated by Progressive Aero as a civilian jet trainer under the registration N4283A.
Grumman F-14A Tomcat
This F-14A-100-GR Tomcat, serial number 160684, served with VF-111 "Sundowners" on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and at NAS Miramar from 1978 to 1995. The squadron participated in the filming of the 1985 film "Top Gun".
Bell UH-1M Iroquois "Huey Hog"
This "Huey Hog" gunship helicopter, serial number 65-9430, was built as a UH-1C-BF and then upgraded to UH-1M configuration with the more powerful Lycoming T53-L-13 engine. She is displayed in Air Cavalry gunship configuration with the M21 Armament Subsystem carrying two seven-tube XM157 2.75-inch rocket launchers and two M134 "Minigun" Gatling machine guns. UH-1Ms were also compatible with the M22 Armament Subsystem carrying six AGM-22B wire-guided anti-tank missiles, although these were rarely carried due to the scarcity of suitable targets. They often also mounted a pair of door gunner operated M60D medium machine guns on skeletonized swingaway "Sagami Mounts" in the main cabin doors.
Beechcraft Model 18 "Twin Beech"
This Model S18D, serial number 177, was a passenger airliner for Prairie Airways Limited in Canada.
Lockheed Model 10A ⁄ C-36A Electra
This Model 10A Electra, serial number 1011, is the oldest surviving example of the type. She was delivered to launch customer Northwest Airlines in 1934 with registration NC14260, and was taken into Army Air Corps service from 1942 to 1944 as C-36A 42-56638.
Beechcraft Bonanza
Learjet Model 23

Count Ferdinand von Galen Spirit of Freedom Gallery

Bell AH-1S Cobra
This AH-1S, serial number 70-15985, is an example of the baseline "Modified" step of the AH-1S upgrade program as opposed to the later "Production", "Upgunned", and "Modernized" steps. These U.S. Army Cobras were all relatively minor evolutionary refinements of the original Vietnam-era AH-1G, as opposed to the substantially different twin-engine AH-1J "SeaCobra" lineage adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps. Due to the cancellation of the AH-56 Cheyenne and slow initial production of the AH-64 Apache, Cobras remained in Army service until 2001.
Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II
This A-10A, serial number 75-0298, was the 47th production example and part of the first round of retirements in 1991-1992. It has been restored with the markings of the 358th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB.
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird & D-21 Drone
This SR-71A, serial number 64-17951, was the second one produced and the oldest surviving example.
Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior (sn 93-0976)
Grumman F9F-8P ⁄ RF-9J Cougar
North American F-107A "Ultra Sabre"
This F-107A, serial number 55-5118, was the first of three prototypes built and one of two which was used for NACA high speed flight research after the rival Republic F-105 Thunderchief was selected for production.

Secondary Hangars

Dorothy Finley Aerospace Gallery

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame

Other

Hangar 3

Consolidated B-24J Liberator "Bungay Buckaroo"

Hangar 3's centerpiece exhibit, "Bungay Buckaroo", is a B-24J-90-CF Liberator, serial number 44-44175. She was Lend-Leased to the British in September 1944 under the designation Liberator GR.VI and serial KH304, then scrapped and abandoned in India on 11 April 1946. After independence, the Indian Air Force painstakingly returned her to operational status as HE877 and used her as a maritime surveillance aircraft with No. 6 Squadron ⁄The Flying Dragons⁄ until 1968. The Indian government finally donated her back to the United States the following year and she flew back under her own power under the temporary civilian registration N7866. She has been restored with dual colors: on the left side are the markings of the U.S. Army Air Corps' 446th Bomb Group, while on the right side are the markings of the Indian Air Force 6th Squadron. She is one of only eight remaining Liberators in the United States.

Other

Hangar 4

Boeing B-29A Superfortress "Sentimental Journey"

Hangar 4's centerpiece exhibit, "Sentimental Journey", is a B-29-75-CW Superfortress, serial number 44-70016. She flew thirty-one combat missions with the 458th Bombardment Squadron, 330th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) in the Pacific Theater of Operations, and participated in the victory flyover of the USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. Post-war, she was converted into a TB-29J trainer and served with the 4713th Radar Evaluation Squadron as "Dopey". She was one of several B-29s used to film the 1980 TV movie "Enola Gay: The Men, The Mission, the Atomic Bomb". At some point it was found that remains of her original wartime paint scheme were still etched into her skin, allowing for a completely authentic restoration.

"Sentimental Journey" was one of the first aircraft donated to the then-new Pima Air Museum; she had been a gate guardian for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, but was in badly deteriorated condition and slated for scrapping.

Other

Hangar 5

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer

Hangar 5's centerpiece exhibit is a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, serial number 59819. She is a U.S. Navy long range maritime patrol bomber based on the B-24 Liberator, but with significant design modifications including a stretched fuselage, single vertical tail, increased defensive armament, additional ECM equipment, and naturally aspirated Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines wiwthout turbosupercharging. She was retired from Navy service in 1954, refitted with more powerful Wright R-2600 Cyclone engines, and operated from 1968 to 1991 as firefighting tanker "Charlie 30" (N3739G). She was then sold to the Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas and was in the process of being restored to an airworthy WWII configuration until damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Ike in 2008, then transferred to Pima Air & Space along with a PBY-5A. She has been restored in the markings of Patrol Bombing Squadron 120 (VPB-120).

Other

390th Memorial Museum

The semi-independent 390th Memorial Museum is specifically dedicated to the 390th Bombardment Group (H), a U.S. Army Air Corps' strategic bomber unit which operated in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The 390th was the last of the "second wind" of USAAC heavy bomber units deployed to reinforce VIII Bomber Command in 1943, and carried out over 300 bombing sorties between 12 August 1943 and 20 April 1945.

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "I'll Be Around"

The Memorial Museum's centerpiece exhibit, "I'll Be Around" is a B-17G-110-VE, serial number 44-85828, which served as a U.S. Coast Guard aerial survey aircraft from 14 August 1945 to 10 October 1959. 44-85828 was one of the last B-17s built and ultimately became the very last B-17 flown by the U.S. military. She then had a long civilian career under the registration N9323R, initially as a cargo transport and then being modified as a crop sprayer and a firefighting air tanker. She has been restored with the name and colors of the 390th's B-17G-30-B0 serial number 42-31892, which was lost to a mechanical failure during a combat mission.

Other


Outdoor Exhibits

The largest portion of the Pima Museum is the approximately 80-acre outdoor yard which contains over 300 aircraft. For this section, I use the same area-by-area breakdown as Pima's official map.

U.S. Air Force & Other Fighters

McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle
This F-15A-12-MC, serial number 74-0118, spent most of her career as a training aircraft with the 325th Tactical Training Wing. She was retired in 1992 and then loaned to Pima in 1993.
McDonnell Douglas F-110 Spectre ⁄ F-4C Phantom II
This Phantom, serial number 64-0673, served with multiple USAF units from 1965 to 1987 including combat deployments in Vietnam and Thailand. It scored an air-to-air kill against a Vietnamese MiG-17 on 20 May 1967, and has been restored to the markings of the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing.
Republic F-105G Thunderchief
Republic F-105D Thunderchief
Convair F-102 Delta Dart
North American F-100C Super Sabre
Lockheed P-80B Shooting Star
McDonnell F-101B Voodoo
Lockheed F-104D Starfighter
General Dynamics F-111E "Aardvark"
Panavia Tornado ADF
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MLD "Flogger-K"
Republic F-84C Thunderjet
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon
Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star

US Navy Fighters

North American FJ-4B Fury
McDonnell F2H-2P Banshee
Douglas F-6A Skyray
Grumman F9F-4 Panther
McDonnell F3H2 Demon
Douglas A4D Skyhawk
Vought F8U-1 ⁄ F-8A ⁄ DF-8A Crusader
This F8U-1 Crusader, serial number 144427, was one of several retired Crusaders that were converted into DF-8F drone controllers in 1963, operating QF-8 Cougar drones at the Atlantic Fleet Missile Range. It has been restored with the markings of Utility Squadron 8 (VC-8).
McDonnell Douglas YF-4J Phantom II
North American A3J ⁄ RA-5C Vigilante
serial number 149289
McDonnell Douglas F⁄A-18A Hornet

Early U.S. & Foreign Fighters

Hawker Kestrel FGA.1
This aircraft, Royal Air Force serial number XS690 (also USAF serial 64-18264), is one of the nine original Kestrel FGA.1s which were produced for joint operational evaluation by the United Kingdom, West Germany, and the United States. More specifically, it is one of six Kestrals that were sold on to the United States for a second round of operational testing under the experimental designation XV-6A. Four of the XV-6As are preserved in American aerospace museums and one was sent back to England.
Hawker-Siddeley TAV-8A Harrier
The AV-8A is the U.S. Marine Corps' version of the original production Harrier GR.1, built by Hawker-Siddeley and exported to the United States. The AV-8A differs from the original GR.1 in eliminating the use of magnesium components in order to improve corrosion resistance, switching out the ejection seats and avionics for American ones, and adding additional wiring for AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles on the outer wiwng pylons. In addition, most AV-8As are fitted with the upgraded Rolls-Royce Pegasus 11 (F402-RR-103) engine of the Harrier GR.3. This aircraft, serial number 15-9382, is one of eight TAV-8A two-seat trainers which served from 1971 to 1986 when they were replaced by TAV-8Bs.
Hawker-Siddeley Harrier GR.3
The Harrier GR.3 is This GR.3, serial number XV804, was crippled after a crash landing in October 1977 but continued to serve as a ground instructional airframe until 2012 when all British Harriers were given up as surplus.
British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA.2
The Sea Harrier FRS.1 was the second operational member of the Harrier family, developed in the late 1970s specifically for the Royal Navy's Invincible class "through deck cruisers". Thirty-three Sea Harriers were upgraded to the FA.2 configuration with a new nose housing a Ferranti "Blue Vixen" radar and a stretched fuselage to accomodate major avionics improvements, and a further eighteen were factory built as FA.2s. This Sea Harrier, serial number ZH810, was one of the four final "Shars" which were ordered in 1994 and delivered in 1999. It is the only museum Sea Harrier in the entire United States.
Hawker-Siddeley AV-8C Harrier
The AV-8C is a relatively minor avionics upgrade and service life extension of the AV-8A, with forty-seven aircraft being converted to this configuration from 1979 to 1984 in order to supplement the second generation McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II. This AV-8C is serial number 15-9241, service history unknown.
British Aerospace Harrier II GR.5
The Harrier II GR.5 is the British counterpart of the McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, placing it in the odd position of being the British version of an American version of an originally British aircraft. This GR.5, serial number ZD353, was crippled by an in-flight fire and crash landing in July 1991 but continued to serve as a ground instructional airframe until 2012 when all British Harriers were given up as surplus.
Dassault Étendard IVM
This Étendard IVM, serial number 21, served the French Aéronavale from 1958 to 1987. The Étendards were France's first indigenously designed carrier-borne jet aircraft in France, with the then-new aircraft carriers Clemenceau (R98)) and Foch (R99) originally carrying ten IVM strike variants and ten IVP recon variants each. This aircraft was repainted as "60" by the Intrepid Air-Sea Museum.
SEPECAT Jaguar GR.3A
This Jaguar GR.3A, serial number XZ396, served with 6 Squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1977 to 2005, including nuclear standby until 1994 and combat deployment in the First Gulf War. The Jaguar was an international joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation, originally intended as a supersonic trainer with secondary light attack capability and ultimately evolving into a full-fledged nuclear strike fighter. This aircraft has been restored in the highly distinctive desert pink color scheme used by RAF Jaguars during Operation Granby.

Trainers

Helicopters

Mil Mi-24D Hind
This Mi-24D, serial number B4002, was part of one of the East German Air Force's two Hind squadrons (KHG-3 and KHG-5) and was retained by the reunified German Air Force as "96+21". It was donated to the Imperial War Museum after being retired in 1993, then loaned to Pima in 2012.

Bombers

Convair B-36J Featherweight III "City of Fort Worth"
This B-36J-10-CF, serial number 52-2827, was the very last B-36 made. She was completed on 1 July 1954 and served with the 95th Bomb Wing until 12 February 1959. After retirement, she passed through several different museums in Texas before being transferred to Pima in 2003 and fully restored in 2009.
Boeing EB-47E Phase V Stratojet
This B-47E Stratojet, serial number 53-2135, was one of around forty electronic intelligence gathering conversions which were made in the 1960s. While relatively little information is available on these aircraft, the presence of a pressurized two-man crew module in the bomb bay identifies it as a "Phase V" EB-47E with frequency-selective jamming systems as oppposed to the earlier "Phase IV ⁄ Blue Cradle" type with broadband jamming only. She is restored with the markings of the 376th Bombardment Wing, Medium.
Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress "The High and Mighty One"
This B-52A Stratofortress, serial number 52-0003, was the last of three B-52As built and the oldest Stratofortress still in existence. She served as a Boeing test aircraft and then a mothership for NASA's X-15 rocket plane.
Boeing B-52D Stratofortress
Boeing B-52G Stratofortress
Martin B-57E Canberra
This B-57E, serial number 55-4274, was one of 68 target tug versions built; these also had dual controls for use as trainers.
Convair B-58 Hustler
This B-58, serial number 61-2080, was the last one delivered. She is displayed in the colors of the 305th Bombardment Wing at Grissom AFB.

Electronic Warfare Aircraft

Tankers

Boeing KB-50J Superfortress
This Superfortress, serial number 49-0372, served with the 4505th Air Refueling Wing after tanker conversion.
Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter
Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker "Weightless Wonder V"
This Stratotanker, serial number 63-7998 and civil registration N931NA, served as an Air Force tanker from 1963 to 1993 and then as a NASA Reduced Gravity Research Program aircraft from 1995 to 2004. NASA also used 931 as an advance scout for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. She was the last operational KC-135A, and as her name implies, the fifth aircraft used in the "Vomet Comet" role.

Transport & Utility Aircraft

Budd RB-1 Conestoga

NASA Aircraft

Aero Spacelines B-377-SG Super Guppy (N1038V ⁄ N940NS)
The Super Guppy, serial number 52-2693, is a unique, heavily modified Boeing 377-10-26 Stratocruiser with an enlarged fuselage combined with the wings, engines, and forward fuselage of an experimental prototype YC-97J Stratofreighter with Pratt & Whitney YT34-P-5 turboprop engines. Two "production" Super Guppy Turbines with scratch built original fuselages and Allison 501-D22C turbobprops were built as follow-ons in the 1970s, followed by two more in the 1980s. All five aircraft were used by NASA to transport space launch components, most famously the entire S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V moon rocket.

Presidential & VIP Aircraft

Douglas VC-118A Liftmaster
Lockheed VC-121A Constellation "Columbine"
Boeing VC-137B Stratoliner "Freedom One"
Lockheed VC-140B Jetstar
Sikorsky VH-34C Choctaw

Commercial & Civil Aircraft

Beechcraft 2000A Starship
This Starship, serial number NC-23 and registration N39TU, was one of the last initial production Model 2000s. The improved Model 2000A wwas never formally serialized as a seperate model, and Beech produced upgrade kits to convert 2000s into 2000As.
Lockheed L-049 ⁄ C-69 Constellation "Star of Switzerland" (N90831)
This C-69-5-LO Constellation, serial number 42-94549, was pressed into Army Air Corps service From June 1945 to March 1946, then returned to Trans World Airlines where it flew scheduled passenger service until 1961. It was then briefly leased to a variety of small airlines from 1962 to 1965, held by various sales bbrokers from 1965 to 1970, and finally donated to Pima in 1971. It is the only remaining original C-69.
Boeing 737-300 Classic (N759BA)
This 737-3Q8, serial number 27286, was built for the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and leased to China Southern Airlines.
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (N787EX)
This Dreamliner is the second prototype 787-8, serial number ZA002. Although not a delivered production aircraft, it wears the livery of launch customer All Nippon Airlines.

Fire Fighters

Miscellaneous