Texas Air & Space Museum, Amarillo, Texas

Located at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, the Texas Air & Space Museum is maintained by volunteers, but I think they enjoy being there and telling visitors all about their exhibits and airplanes. We had a great guide ~ Ron Fernuik, who is the President of the museum.

The museum's goal is to establish and maintain a premier aviation museum to honor the servicemen and women, aviators and astronauts of northwest Texas; and to provide the youth of the five-state area an opportunity to see and touch the technology of tomorrow's world. the museum's board includes the most experienced and dedicated aviation professionals in the Amarillo and Texas Panhandle regions. Their dedication to country and freedom has its beginnings prior to World War II.

Their plans include air shows, aviation events, locally-supported gatherings, events with Boy and Girl Scouts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Civil Air Patrol, Commemorative Air Force, Boys Ranch, Girls Town and public-private and home schools.

They remember the many sacrifices made by the men, women and families on the ground, in the air and in space for the freedoms and opportunities that we, as Americans and many other countries enjoy today. Their sacrifices, plus the rich histories and dreams of northwest Texas, need to be chronicled and made available to future generations and a grateful nation.

Hot Air Balloon Basket

The Montgolfier Brothers, Jacques and Joseph, were paper makers. After noticing that a paper bag held over a fire would float up if let go, they filled a bag 33 feet in diameter with smoke from a straw fire and watched it rise to a height of 1,000 feet. Refining the design and adding fabric over the paper, they attached a basket to the "balloon" and sent a sheep, a goat, and a duck into the sky. As the hot air cooled, the balloon gently came back to earth.

Then Jean Rozier (1756-1785) went up several times tethered and proved it was possible to keep the fire burning while the balloon was aloft. On November 21, 1783, Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes made the first manned free-balloon flight. They floated 5-1/2 miles over Paris for about 25 minutes.

The first international flight was made by a man named Barnard, when he and a friend, when he and a friend crossed the English Channel. Then Mr. Barnard took his balloon to America to demonstrate this new means of transportation. President George Washington witnessed this demonstration in 1793.

In 1862, Professor Thaddeus S. Lowe managed The Union Army Balloon Corps for the Union Army. Two balloons, the Intrepid and the Constitution were used to monitor Confederate troop movements by being raised, tethered and equipped with a telegraph to relay those movements to the commander on the ground.

Matthew Brady took photos of this action in May 1862 and reproduced it on this poster. This was at the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia. Lowe tethered from his base at Gaines Farm, north of the Chickahominy River, and relayed information that showed Union forces on the other side of the swollen river were in danger of being defeated. The information allowed the Union to send reinforcements in time to bolster defenses and turn back the Confederate forces.

The Caribou

This 1963 Caribou represents a fleet of planes that were used extensively during the Vietnam War. It was used to haul cargo or paratroopers. One visitor who had flown in one during that war spoke of parachuting out pig-loaded pallets to help feed the Vietnamese. It was designed for short field take off and landing. It could take off in 550 feet unloaded. A feature to aid that ability are engines that tilt slightly toward the ground.

Stage 1 rocket engines for Martin Titan II, the missile which launched all 12 Gemini space capsules that were used to first learn docking techniques. 

Ham, the first chimpanzee in space, 1961

Aerodrome Rotating Beacon

An aerodrome or rotating beacon is a beacon installed at an airport to indicate its location to aircraft at night. An aerodrome beacon is mounted on top of a towering structure, often a control tower. It produces flashes similar to that of a lighthouse. Airport and heliport beacons are designed in such a way to make them effective from one to ten degrees above the horizon; however, they can be seen well above and below this speak spread. The beacon may be omnidirectional flashing xenon strobe, or an aerobeacon rotating at a constant speed which produces the visual effect of flashes at regular intervals. 

Beechcraft Starship

The Starship is currently located in Arizona and the museum is trying to get it "home" to Texas. 

Space Shuttle tire

Space shuttle tires are not much larger than a truck tire, but a main landing gear tire can carry three times the load of a Boeing 747 tire or the entire starting line-up of a Nascar race - 40 race cars - all hitting the pavement at up to 250mph.

After aircraft was used in World War I, their importance in battle was well noted. Having a mobile base from which to operate aircraft would be important for the future. 

The first carrier in the U.S. Navy was the Langley, a converted collier (coal ship). It entered service in 1922. The next two carriers, the Lexington and Saratoga, were built on battle-cruiser hulls joining the fleet in 1927. The Ranger, commissioned in 1934, was the first designed and built on a frame specifically for a carrier.

Peak carrier strength was reached by the Navy during the Vietnam War, with 23 active carriers. By the mid-1970s, many older carriers had been scraped.

Erco Ercoupe 415C

The Erco Ercoupe is a low-wing monoplane aircraft designed and built in the United States. It was first manufactured by the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) shortly before World War II. Several other manufacturers continued its production after the war. The final model, the Mooney M-10 first flew in 1968 and the last model year was 1970. It was designed to be the safest fixed-wing aircraft that aerospace engineering could provide at the time, and the type continues to enjoy a faithful following.

Bearcat Air Racer

This is Bobby Speed's "Bearcat" Reno Racer, a staggerwing biplane he designed and built in the 1960s to fly in the byplane class at the National Championship Air Races at Reno in 1969 (finished third place) and 1971 (finished second place). It was also dubbed the "beercat" at Reno. This aircraft joined the museum collection in 2011.

Douglas DC-3

This DC-3 Airplane N34 has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior May 29, 1997, as one of only three movable objects. N34 is the FAA tail number (license plate) assigned to an aircraft. This historic aircraft was built at Douglas Aircraft in Oklahoma City, OK in May 1945. She immediately went into service as a Navy R4D transport, serving both here in the US and in Europe. 

After WWII it went into storage until the mid-1950s when it was transferred to the FAA. It was then reconfigured as a DC3 to serve in its fleet of instrumented aircraft used for flight inspection of airport landing and navigation electronic systems. N34 was retired by the FAA in 1983. 

She was restored and returned to flight in 1985 for use in the FAA's aeronautical educational programs until 1995. N34 was reconditioned for a third life in 2002 to participate in the US National Centennial of Flight in 2003 followed by celebrating the Oklahoma State Centennial in 2007. In 2008 she helped celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the FAA. N34's final flight took place on February 13, 2014 when she flew from Oklahoma City, OK to her new home here at the museum.

Mr. Awesome

Mr. Awesome is a Yak-11 (Russian) plane converted to compete in air races. One night while parked on the ramp, some guys drove by and took pot shots at it through a fence. The owners patched up the aluminum skin but had no idea a bullet fragment had passed into the oil system. During takeoff at Reno, it dislodged and later got stuck, cutting off fluids causing engine failure and hydraulic problems. It cartwheeled trying to land. The group enrolled in Amarillo's College Aircraft Maintenance Program are working to restore Mr. Awesome to its former "glory."

B52 Bomber Ejection Seat

B26G Martin Marauder

Jim's Dad flew in one of these planes during World War II. He was a turret gunner, sitting in the little dome at the top behind the wings. You can barely see the dome if you look real close you can barely see the dome. The Martin Mararuder was flown by the U.S., British, Free French, Australian, South Africa and Canadian forces. It flew more than 110,000 combat sorties, dropped more than 150,000 tons of bombs, and had the lowest loss rate of any allied bomber. (Don't know why they called it the "widowmaker.")

Quote for the day: "Sharing the wonder of the heavens and the inventions that take us there."