PIMA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM

On the final day of our trip to Tucson earlier this month we visited the Pima Air & Space Museum.  It was very impressive.  It included several large hangars of both vintage and more contemporary planes, along with what could be considered novelty aircraft.  In addition, there were numerous other planes on the grounds outside the hangars.  Altogether, the museum featured over 300 planes.  In addition, there was a hangar that housed space vehicles and paraphernalia.  We took a peek in that hangar, but only spent a few minutes there.  I would also add that we took two walking tours of the main plane hangars and were treated to a docent who was superb.  In addition to the walking tours, which were at no additional charge to the general admission, there were a couple of other available narrated tours, one a tram tour of the exterior grounds and the second a tour of planes on the adjacent Air Force base that had been "mothballed."

As often happens, I did not keep track of the names or heritages of most of the aircraft, so much of what I am posting is without specific comment.  Many of the planes were suspended from the ceiling, including the following.

Others were featured because of their unusual design or history.

That included the above plane which, at 6.5 feet in length, is the world's shortest plane.

This final shot, below, is the only one I kept of the planes that were stationed outside.

Photographing aircraft in this setting had its challenges.  For the most part, except for the above shot, the planes could not be isolated.  Moreover, many of them were silvered in color which made it difficult to have them stand out from whatever backgrounds they were posed against.  

John