It's a Guy Thing

My second tour of the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson AZ is every bit as interesting as last winter's visit. Imagine 33 acres covered with virtually every type and size of military aircraft and space vehicle used primarily during the period of WWII through the late 1990s. Parked outside or inside hangers, every item is well-signed. A tram tour is available with a veteran conducting, providing insights and details.

Friend, John Porter and I walked a couple of miles outdoors and through numerous hangers, ooing and ahing at all we saw. I identified several aircraft types my cousin, Bill Davenport had piloted, including one I rode in with him at the controls.

A few antique or unique civilian aircraft were on display, including a replica of the Wright Brothers first-flight airplane,
an autogyro and the world's smallest plane. .We walked through Air Force One used by Kennedy and Johnson. It was a 4-engine piston-powered aircraft, quite primitive and slow with limited range by today's standards.

The Museum abuts the vast Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. While the military conducts training flights, the primary role of the Base is to store excess military aircraft inventory within its 10 or so square miles. Those deemed worthy of keeping are carefully moth-balled, lined up and readily re-commisionable. Otherwise, they are disassembled for parts or scrapped.

Since before WWII, vast sums have been spent developing, building, operating and preserving our military aircraft and space arsenal.
I couldn't help but wonder whether more standardization between the military branches could have provided each with their needed capabilities at a lower cost. Today, such cooperation is said to be more prevalent.