Behind a sign that says ‘Museum Staff only’ rests the Restoration Hangar and storage yard. This is where planes are prepped to go on display, and others sit either waiting for their turn, or waiting to used as parts for another exhibit.
Being allowed into the Restoration was the whipped cream on this photo trip (the cherry will be another post). It was due to the diligence of the organizer of the photo trip.
The Restoration shop is where aircraft are taken apart, cleaned, holes patched, put back together again, and repainted.
As one ThreatAxis member makes last minute preparations tonight before departing to Afghanistan tomorrow, this correspondent has been given to wonder about the apparent attempts of the United States to focus more on Afghanistan… and less on Iraq.
Media and other groups around the world are just beginning to notice this trend. Ever a leader, the BBC reported on this very issue, outlining several of the problems faced by the United States and its allies during the coming months.
The issue is twofold. First, Iraq. There can be no doubt that the war in Iraq was grim. Former President George W. Bush sacrificed his own political career and reputation being what he was supposed to be: a leader listening to his people. Americans have quickly and conveniently forgotten that they are all complicit in the Iraq war to some degree: On September 12th, 2001, everyone was calling for retribution, and crying out in favor of war. Regardless of any political niggling that may have come later, regardless of perceptions about weapons of mass destruction, President Bush did not push America into war. America pushed the President into war.
And into war they went. Iraq is now ostensibly “free” – free of its tyrranical and genocidial dictator, at least – but the official analysis of the security situation there remains “fragile, reversible, and uneven” throughout Iraq. This key phrase says it all. Right or wrong, the United States went in to Iraq, and this brings with it responsibility to do what is possible to rebuild the nation for its innocent civilians. The dictator was evil, the terrorists were obviously there… but the civilians were still innocent. The people who are yammering for their “troops to come home” are the same irresponsible yet ultimately responsible people who were screaming for war and retribution seven years ago.
According to an Exclusive post over on Ares (AvWeek milblog) – an Airbus spokesman in Washington has said they do not plan on bidding on the replacement for the current Boeing 747-200 versions of Air Force One (VC-25).
Many had expected Airbus to propose their A380 superjumbo for the size and range requirements outlined in the Air Force RFI.
In the middle of the museum field of planes – there is a non-descript building which houses a special project. This building is referred to as ‘Area 51′ – and is where the museum’s craftsmen are building their own P-51 Mustang.
Now – they don’t ever expect this plane to fly, so the strength of the wings and the fuselage are one of the areas that they are cutting back on. But otherwise – they are working from original blueprints and where possible (budget & availability) using original parts.
Back at the edge of the restoration area – was an Avro Shackleton AEW.Mk2 named ‘Mr McHenry’ – that was donated by Air Atlantique Classic Flight.
The Shackleton was a post World War 2 design for a RAF Maritime Patrol Aircraft. This particular airframe, WL790, was converted to be a AEW (Airborne Early Warning) platform.
In the next 10-15 years – the Trident D-5 SLBM deterrent force for both the US (Ohio-class) and the UK (Vanguard-class) will be approaching the end of their service lives.
I took a road trip this past weekend down to the Pima Air & Space Museum on the east side of Tucson, AZ this past Saturday. It was my first visit in almost two years, and my first trip with my current camera.
Each time I have gone, I have found something new and surprising, and this trip was no exception. Expect to see the highlights from this trip over the coming days.
While the loss of what should be a sizeable percentage of the US’s Early Warning capacity (especially on the eve of a Presidential transition) is alarming – that is not the meat of this story….
Bucking the open-source trend, the British Royal Navy has developed a modified version of Microsoft Windows XP and has begun installing it on its fleet of nuclear submarines.
According to the BAE (lead integrator) news release – the new Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG) “transfers the software applications proven on earlier variants of SMCS to a modern system architecture that uses mainstream PCs to provide the computer processing with Microsoft Windows as the software operating system.”
So at this point – all of the RN’s nuclear submarines have been upgraded with these new control stations. Including – the 4 Vanguard class SSBN’s.
Nuclear Weapons – Trident SLBM’s – controlled through Windows.
Maybe Apple should make a Mac commerical based on Windows doing this. Or else another way for Microsoft to push Vista?
