Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Naval Air Station at Pensacola

Yesterday we went into Pensacola to visit the Naval Air Station and see the National Naval Aviation Museum.  Here are a few pictures:



Gate to the Naval Air Station

Entering the Museum


Museum Foyer.  It is massive.

These guys are here to greet you at the museum entry.  (Not the fellow in the yellow shirt)

The squadron patch section has thousands of patches.  Uncle Roy's squadron patch is on the top row. Second from the right.  Blue diamond background, red wings and the skull smoking a cigarette (50 caliber machine gun).  The skull's eyes are landingofficer flags.  Wayne knows all this stuff -- I don't know why he knows it, but he knows it. 


Our tour guide was Oz Nunn. A retired Kentucky businessman.  He served in the Air Force.
It's anybody's guess why he's so interested in the Navy.

An original German Fokker
This museum is so impressive and would inspire anybody to join the Navy.  There's an IMAX Theatre, Flight simulations, a cafe, guided tours (inside and out), gift store, U.S. Coast Guard display, P.O.W. exhibit, WWI, Sunken treasure film, library and research center, Top Gun Air Combat simulators, Space exposition, South Pacific, Aircraft Carrier, Flight Deck, Dirigibles (air baloons), cockpit trainers and a kiddie area here.  We had a great time here. 
This huge thing was one of just four made in the mid-1940's. It is the NC-4 Flying Boat and it is original.  It is the first plane to fly across the Atlantic.  It's the largest wing span I've ever seen -- 180 feet across, I think. 

The USS Cabot Flight deck.  The boards Wayne is standing on are the actual planks taken from the USS Lexington. 

Blue Angel jets.


It's impossible to describe the size of this facility.  There are four full-sized jets hanging in this atrium.
That's Wayne standing just in front of the huge American flag. 

I really liked this display.  It's the newest one in the museum and was added because so many people were confused at the ever evolving Navy emblems.  There's a reason behind each variation, we were told.

Enough said right here.

Wayne's favorite is always the amphibious planes.


We were fortunate to get to see these  Blue Angel planes fly over while we were there.
The weather is still good, but the humidity is high and rain is possible. We've decided to move along tomorrow morning.

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