The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, is one of the world's largest non-government funded

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres (320,000 m²) on a campus occupying 127 acres (513,000 m²). It has also been the home to the

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF) is located in the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona which recognises Arizona's "Excellence in Aviation". The Aviation Hall of Fame exhibit is located in the honored ''Dorothy Finley Space Gallery'' on th ...

since 1991.

Overview

A large number of the museum's aircraft are displayed outside with the remainder located in one of the museum's four display hangars. In addition to the display hangars, the museum has a restoration hangar. Opened to the public in May 1976 with 48

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

then on display, the Museum's main hangar houses an SR-71A Blackbird, an

A-10 Warthog The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

''Through the Years'' exhibit, and a mock-up of a control tower. The museum is adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The 309th

Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309th AMARG),Offici ...

(AMARG), affiliated with the base, also known as the "Graveyard of Planes" or "The Boneyard", is the largest aircraft storage and preservation facility in the world.

History

The museum opened to the public on May 8, 1976. In early 1982 the first hangar on the site was completed. A second was built in 1987, a third in 1992, and a fourth in 1994. In 2012, the museum collaborated with artists, in ''The Boneyard Project'', to place some abandoned aircraft on display as canvases for art. During 2015,

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

donated to the museum the second

787 787 may refer to: * Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a jet airliner * AD 787, a year * 787 BC, a year * Mazda 787/787B, a Japanese rotary-engine race car which won the 1991 Le Mans Race * Porsche 787, a race car from the 1960s * 787 series, a train model op ...

aircraft to be built. It is exhibited in the colors of the 787 customer, ANA. In November 2016,

Orbis International Orbis International is an international non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to saving sight worldwide. Its programs focus on the prevention of blindness and the treatment of blinding eye diseases in developing countries throug ...

donated their first

McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

Flying Eye Hospital to the museum, after receiving a second DC-10 from FedEx. The DC-10, which was the oldest flying example of its type and at the time of its donation, while being the oldest surviving example and the second overall built, was restored for display at

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DM AFB) is a United States Air Force base southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing (355 WG) ass ...

. The museum acquired in January 2021 for the construction of the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum. The new museum will house a large number of mostly land vehicles, including 50 donated by the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

Selected aircraft on display

Out of a collection of 300 aircraft, these are the most prominent: *

Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

Convair B-36J Peacemaker The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest wing ...

English Electric Lightning The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force ...

Martin PBM Mariner The Martin PBM Mariner was an American Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and Consolidated PB2Y Coronado, PB2Y Coronado in s ...

North American F-107 The North American F-107 is North American Aviation's entry in a United States Air Force tactical fighter-bomber design competition of the 1950s. The F-107 was based on the F-100 Super Sabre, but included many innovations and radical design fea ...

Aero Spacelines Super Guppy The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components. It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first of the Guppy aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines. Five were built i ...

Boeing 747-100 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, to ...

Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

B-17G serial number 44-85828 is on display at the 390th Memorial Museum, co-located on the grounds of the Pima Air & Space Museum. In addition to other ephemera, the museum contains the

Shuttle Mission Simulator Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) was an umbrella term for three separate simulators for training Space Shuttle crews at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). The simulators were the MBS (''Motion Base Simulator''), the FBS (''Fixed Base Simulator''), ...

's GNS (Guidance and Navigation Simulator) trainer, and a full-size mockup of the

Solid Rocket Booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a large solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and space shuttle, have used SRBs to give ...

References

External links

*
The Boneyard Project
Eric Firestone Gallery, Tucson. Includes narrated video/slide show. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pima Air and Space Museum Aerospace museums in Arizona Culture of Tucson, Arizona Buildings and structures in Tucson, Arizona Museums in Tucson, Arizona Landmarks in Tucson, Arizona Military and war museums in Arizona Aviation halls of fame Museums established in 1976 1976 establishments in Arizona

Overview

History

Selected aircraft on display

See also

References

External links