With history, the Navy and airplanes high on my list of favorite things, today was a gem.
Before we left for Florida I was already looking forward to visiting the Naval Aviation History Museum at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.
Up and out early, we arrived at the Museum just minutes after they opened at 9 a.m. We immediately joined a museum tour led by one of the docents. The hour long tour gave us an overview of the museum and its layout.
The Navy is celebrating a centennial of aviation and the well appointed museum provided nearly 8 hours of enjoyment. All free, by the way. The museum is totally funded through private donations.
At 11 a.m. we joined a bus tour that took us onto the base airport and along a flight line of historic aircraft, many waiting to be restored for museum display. Our tour guide for that bus trip was a former Navy transport pilot who kept us focused for the next hour on his great stories about flying in Vietnam and the various aircraft on the flight line.
We were particularly interested in a couple raggedy looking aircraft parts that had been located at the bottom of Lake Michigan in the past few years. The planes had been lost on World War II training missions on the Lake as Navy pilots learned how to land on carriers.
With a major war on, the Navy didn’t spend time recovering those lost planes. The training planes were mostly worn out
combat aircraft and were considered very expendable.
But as the years went on and the supply of World War II aircraft became scarce, those planes at the bottom of Lake Michigan became more attractive to collectors. The museum has several of those planes in process of being restored and at least two on the floor fully restored.
A superstructure from an old carrier and replica flight and hangar decks were also re-created in the Museum. As a former surface Navy man I loved seeing how they had fashioned a replica of a carrier on land.
Later I had my picture taken in a variety of cockpits of Navy aircraft, including a retired Blue Angels plane. My man card is reclaimed after yesterday’s beauty salon visit.
It’s a good thing I’ve trimmed off a few pounds or I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into any of those cockpits.
One of the more exciting parts of the day for me – and hopefully for my sister – was a visit to the research center where I inquired from a researcher about finding out information about my stepfather a World War II Navy pilot.
The man warned me that the records aren’t perfect, but he pulled out a register book of Navy pilots and there it was, my stepfather’s name, the date he earned his “Wings of Gold” which was Dec. 31, 1941 and his Navy pilot sequence number. He was the 10,332 pilot in the history of the Navy.
I felt contented that in some small way his service to the country has not been forgotten. I got a chance to see several of the planes that he trained and flew in during World War II and a few of the planes he was involv
ed with during his post war engineering career at Lockheed Aircraft Company in Burbank.
We spent some time looking over the Navy aviators who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor and those who have been honored in the Naval Aviation Hall of Fame.
There was also an interesting display on former President George Bush (the first one) about his highly publicized ditching and rescue in the South Pacific. The display included his flight training records, which included a trainer’s thoughts that “Lt. (junior grade) Bush is a good competent pilot, but is a bit eccentric.”
Before we left for Florida I was already looking forward to visiting the Naval Aviation History Museum at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.
Up and out early, we arrived at the Museum just minutes after they opened at 9 a.m. We immediately joined a museum tour led by one of the docents. The hour long tour gave us an overview of the museum and its layout.
The Navy is celebrating a centennial of aviation and the well appointed museum provided nearly 8 hours of enjoyment. All free, by the way. The museum is totally funded through private donations.
At 11 a.m. we joined a bus tour that took us onto the base airport and along a flight line of historic aircraft, many waiting to be restored for museum display. Our tour guide for that bus trip was a former Navy transport pilot who kept us focused for the next hour on his great stories about flying in Vietnam and the various aircraft on the flight line.
We were particularly interested in a couple raggedy looking aircraft parts that had been located at the bottom of Lake Michigan in the past few years. The planes had been lost on World War II training missions on the Lake as Navy pilots learned how to land on carriers.
With a major war on, the Navy didn’t spend time recovering those lost planes. The training planes were mostly worn out
combat aircraft and were considered very expendable.But as the years went on and the supply of World War II aircraft became scarce, those planes at the bottom of Lake Michigan became more attractive to collectors. The museum has several of those planes in process of being restored and at least two on the floor fully restored.
A superstructure from an old carrier and replica flight and hangar decks were also re-created in the Museum. As a former surface Navy man I loved seeing how they had fashioned a replica of a carrier on land.
Later I had my picture taken in a variety of cockpits of Navy aircraft, including a retired Blue Angels plane. My man card is reclaimed after yesterday’s beauty salon visit.
It’s a good thing I’ve trimmed off a few pounds or I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into any of those cockpits.
One of the more exciting parts of the day for me – and hopefully for my sister – was a visit to the research center where I inquired from a researcher about finding out information about my stepfather a World War II Navy pilot.
The man warned me that the records aren’t perfect, but he pulled out a register book of Navy pilots and there it was, my stepfather’s name, the date he earned his “Wings of Gold” which was Dec. 31, 1941 and his Navy pilot sequence number. He was the 10,332 pilot in the history of the Navy.
I felt contented that in some small way his service to the country has not been forgotten. I got a chance to see several of the planes that he trained and flew in during World War II and a few of the planes he was involv
ed with during his post war engineering career at Lockheed Aircraft Company in Burbank.We spent some time looking over the Navy aviators who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor and those who have been honored in the Naval Aviation Hall of Fame.
There was also an interesting display on former President George Bush (the first one) about his highly publicized ditching and rescue in the South Pacific. The display included his flight training records, which included a trainer’s thoughts that “Lt. (junior grade) Bush is a good competent pilot, but is a bit eccentric.”
During the day we saw Navy pilots landing and taking off from the airfield behind the museum
Sitting in those cockpits I couldn't help but marvel and maybe envy, the men and women who get the privilege of flying these great airplanes and safeguarding our country.
It must be something that you really love to do.
It is hard to describe how beautiful and remarkable it is to see these old planes restored to like new condition.
At the end of our visit we went to the gift shop and I pur
chased a t-shirt, a coffee cup and one other souvenir, all with a Navy theme of course.Then we headed to Maguire’s Irish Pub, a local landmark and a place that my old boss Roger and his wife, Jessica suggested to us. It was everything they told us and more. We had a great meal, with enough food left over for another meal tomorrow. Joan had crab cakes and I had prime rib.
One of the main features of the restaurant is the collection of more than 1 million, one-dollar bills tacked up on the walls, each signed by a customer who left it. We didn’t leave one but I did take a photo of just one small section of the money.
At one point we heard a woman scream and later discovered why. The bathrooms are marked Men and Women, but in small print under the names is an arrow pointing to the other bathroom. In other words, the bathrooms are deliberately mismarked so that if one doesn’t read carefully you will walk into the restaurant meant for the other sex.
Joan was tipped off before she went to the wrong restroom.
Tonight I asked Joan her favorite part of the museum and she said: “Dinner.”
Upon further reflection she said she enjoyed seeing the planes that my stepfather flew (probably because she has heard so much about them) and the flight line tour. She also said she liked seeing me enjoy the day so much. Heck, I enjoy every day sooo much.
As I have done the past few days, if you would like to see additional photos, scroll down. I’ve included a picture of a sign that shows the playful rivalry between the services and one that my father may, or may not, enjoy.
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