Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, AZ

[cpasley]

Wow a MiG-23, I havent been to the museum since '93' I think and I ended up there cause they cancelled the DM airshow due to desert storm but im sure theres a lot more to see since I was there

[wingsnstuff]

Wow!  I was just down there and they didn't have that one on display.  The last MiG-23 I saw was at Dayton.   It was in rough shape and being prepared to go into restoration.  This one looks great.  There is a MiG-27 at March AFB museum,  The -27 being a ground attack version of the -23.

[cpasley]

I didnt know Columbine was at Pima well at least "this" Columbine, last I had seen her was when they auctioned her off at the scottsdale airfair years back, its too bad shes not flying but at least the possibilitry is there and shes not being scrapped

[bilwor]

The one at PASM is Columbine I, Columbine II is in New Mexico and Columbine III is at the  USAF Museum, Dayton OH.

[cpasley]

The one at PASM is Columbine I, Columbine II is in New Mexico and Columbine III is at the  USAF Museum, Dayton OH.

Bill do you know which one I saw then?

[jslugman]

Actually Columbine II is at Marana.


Lockheed C-121A Constellation "Columbine II" N9463 KAVQ by James O'Rear acm2311 by James "JSlugman" O'Rear, on Flickr

[wingsnstuff]

Did they all carry Eisenhower's 5-star flag? 

[jslugman]

My guess would be no since he was a retired 5-star when serving as President.

[bilwor]

I have photos of Columbine II both inside and out when it was being restored a Ryan Field, Tucson in 1990. Only Columbine has the 5 stars, as he used it when he was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe. The other two Columbines were when Ike was President and they were Air Force 1s. I don't know what year you saw the Connie Chris, but my guess would be you saw Columbine II.

From Wikipedia:
"The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an Eastern Airlines commercial flight (8610) had the same call sign as a flight the president was on (Air Force 8610). The aircraft accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident the unique call sign "Air Force One" was introduced for the presidential aircraft. The first official flight of Air Force One was in 1959 during the Eisenhower administration.

]Eisenhower also introduced four other propeller aircraft, the Lockheed C-121 Constellations (VC-121E) to presidential service. These aircraft were named Columbine II and Columbine III

Two Aero Commanders were also added to the fleet and earned the distinction of being the smallest aircraft ever to serve as Air Force One. President Eisenhower also upgraded Air Force One's technology by adding an air-to-ground telephone and an air-to-ground teletype machine."

[bilwor]

Quiz of the day: What is wrong in Columbine photo no. 3?

[MuseumAndy]

Recently repainted Republic RF-84F Thunderflash & Lockheed D-21B


IMG_9274_hf by Andrew "MuseumAndy" Boehly, on Flickr

Recently repainted Grumman RF-9J Cougar


IMG_9288_hf by Andrew "MuseumAndy" Boehly, on Flickr

[Joe Copalman]

Sweet!  Both look fantastic.  Is the RA-5C next?

[Bubak]

..nice Andy, nice!

[MuseumAndy]

Thanks guys, the restoration crew did another amazing job on both aircraft.  Joe, being a fan of the "Viggie" I wouldn't mind seeing it get repainted, but there are many other aircraft that need to get painted and cleaned up before her.

[Joe Copalman]

Ah.  Just seemed like the restoration guys were repainting all the recce birds for some kind of indoor display.