Category: aircraft

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Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter Cockpit

Today is Memorial Day in the US and a time to remember those who fought for our freedom. This photo is from a Stratofreighter Cockpit. This is where the pilots operated this massive cold war machine.  Take a moment to thank or remember those who have dedicated their lives to watching over us while we sleep.

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Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter

here's the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter from yesterday's photo.

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Bombers Have Tall Tails

Looking up at the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter's tail, at the Minnesota Air National Guard Air Museum. Just like all of us, this plane has an interesting past; it carried supplies during the Berlin and Cuban Crises and supported the U2 aircraft in Taiwan during Vietnam. After military retirement, it was converted into a hamburger restaurant in McMinnville, Oregon. After that, it was in two other locations before ending up here in Minneapolis. Just think, no matter how many glorious and stupid jobs you've had, you probably were never emptied out and converted into a diner.

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P51 Mustang Fighter

Love those big blades. Big engine, big propeller. I really miss the beautiful blue sky we had last Saturday, it's overcast and gloomy today here in the big city.

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Cobra Helicopter at Fort Snelling Air Base

Guarding the gates of the National Guard base are two helicopters; it seems that Generals like to put dead aircraft on sticks just outside the gates, reminds me of the Tower of London. Like a T-rex skeleton at the museum, this former hunter is stuck in a permanent scowl, chin guns at the ready, but never to fire. I took this shot lying on my back with a wide-angle 11mm lens; I managed to get the entire beast in the frame. If you look closely, you'll notice the gun is casting a shadow on the bottom of the cockpit. Part of the oddness of this shot is that I used an off-camera flash that I placed down range about 15 feet away from me and pointed up to fill in the bottom of the Cobra and brighten up the guns. Nice line eh? — "brighten up the guns."

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F-101B Voodoo

Saturday was the last day of the season for the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum. They have an impressive collection of post-WWII planes. This one the F101B Voodoo. From the MN Air Guard Website: The McDonnell “Voodoo” was a supersonic fighter designed to escort bombers and serve as a fighter bomber, an all-weather interceptor and a photoreconnaissance aircraft. It served during the Cuban Missile Crisis and during the Vietnam War. It was flown by the 179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in Duluth, MN from 1972 to 1976, before the unit converted to the RF-4C Phantom.