David Bladen's Aircraft Photos: San Diego Air and Space Museum

The third aircraft museum visited during our recent trip to the States was the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Located in the Ford Building in the city’s magnificent Balboa Park, the museum was originally founded in 1963 elsewhere in the park, however, following an arson attack in 1978 that destroyed over 50 aircraft, some unique, the surviving exhibits were moved to the current location and the collection re-opened to the public in 1980.

Having been built for a 1935 exposition, the Ford Building itself is architecturally interesting, but its design means that photography is somewhat challenging; there is little in the way of natural light for much of the interior and the shape of the building means the exhibits are tightly packed in. That said, there are some wonderful old aeroplanes, together with a number of replicas and full-scale models, on show and it is well worth a visit.

Once again though, we fell victim to the curse of the corporate function. At the ticket desk we were told that the central atrium, the ‘Edwin D.McKellar Pavilion of Flight’, was closed to the public and sure enough the main doors were locked. Fortunately for me, however, the rear doors were open to allow catering staff into the area, so I nipped in and managed to photograph the aircraft in the atrium while my wife kept watch!

For more information on the museum, the following websites are recommended: -

http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_ ... ace_Museum

Guarding the entrance to the museum is Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart 135763. Built at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field (now the international aiport), the Sea Dart was an attempt to develop a water-borne supersonic fighter for the US Navy. More details on this fascinating aircraft can be found at: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2Y_Sea_Dart

Not strictly a Blackbird, 60-6933 is a single-seat Lockheed A-11, from which the famous SR-71 was developed, and is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Into the atrium! Bearing the markings of the North Vietnamese Air Force, 3002 is a Shenyang J-5, a Chinese-built copy of the Mikoyan MiG-17.

Close behind its adversary is McDonnell F4S Phantom 157267/NG-211, painted to represent an F4B of VF-96 embarked upon the USS Constellation.

Ah, Pan American! Ford 5ATB Trimotor N9637 is in the livery it carried when delivered to the famous airline in January 1929.

Another locally-built exhibit is Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina 48406 of the US Navy.

One of only two helicopters in the museum, Bell AH-1S 77-22778 was built as an AH-1E model before being extensively modified to its final configuration.

Two of the museum’s collection of replicas. Literally an engine with a seat at the back, NR2100 is a ‘static’ Granville Gee Bee R-1 while the garishly-coloured aircraft in the second photo is a flyable replica of the Boeing P26 Peashooter. N26XP was built by Mayocraft and is marked as 37 of the USAAC.

Another Consolidated product is the PT-1 Trusty, a biplane primary trainer used in the 1920s by the USAAC and its predecessor the US Army Air Service. This particular machine is a 1927 example and carries the serial AC27-150.

The Ryan Aeronautical Company (the second incarnation of a company with this name) was founded in San Diego in 1934 and there are a number of Ryan products on display in the museum. N9236/NC731M is a Ryan B5 Brougham, a five seater airliner used to develop services to South America (it carries the name ‘Ecuador’), while NC17361 is a Ryan STA aerobatic trainer.