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  • General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon

    The F-16 on display (S/N 81-0663) was one of the first F-16s to be received by the Thunderbirds in 1982 when they transitioned from T-38s to F-16s. The Thunderbirds continued to fly this aircraft until 1992 when they converted to F-16Cs. It was then modified to operational condition and assigned to

  • LTV A-7D Corsair II

    The A-7D is a single-seat, tactical close air support aircraft derived from the U.S. Navy's A-7. The first A-7D made its initial flight in April 1968, and deliveries of production models began in December 1968. When A-7D production ended in 1976, LTV had delivered 459 to the U.S. Air Force. The A-7D

  • Northrop P-61C Black Widow

    The heavily-armed Black Widow was the United States' first aircraft specifically designed as a night-fighter. The P-61 carried radar equipment in its nose that enabled its crew of two or three to locate enemy aircraft in total darkness and fly into proper position to attack.The XP-61 was

  • Hawker Hurricane MkIIa

    The Hawker Hurricane was one of the most famous British fighters of World War II. The plane’s legend was born during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. When the Nazis attacked Great Britain, Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command had only 527 Hurricanes and 321 Spitfire fighters to counter

  • Boeing P-26A

    The P-26A marked a significant step in the evolution of fighter aircraft -- it became the U.S. Army Air Corps' first all-metal monoplane fighter in regular service. Affectionately nicknamed the "Peashooter" by its pilots, the P-26A could fly much faster in level flight than the Air Corps' older wood

  • Pratt & Whitney J57 Turbojet

    This engine is on display in the Cold War Gallery.The J57 turbojet was the first production jet engine to produce 10,000 pounds of thrust. The J57 featured a dual-rotor axial-flow compressor, which lowered fuel consumption over a wide operating range and improved the sluggish acceleration

  • Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Congressional Gold Medal

    On May 23, 2014, President Barack Obama signed Public Law 113-106 awarding the Congressional Gold Medal --  the highest civilian recognition Congress can bestow -- to the 80 members of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid in recognition of their service. The 113th Congress awarded this medal to the Doolittle

  • Doolittle Raid

    The Mission and the ManIn January 1942, Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold selected Lt. Col. James Doolittle to lead Special Aviation Project No. 1, the bombing of Japan. Doolittle, who enlisted in the Army in 1917, became a flying cadet and received his commission in 1918. In the late 1920s and the early

  • Radioplane OQ-14

    Beginning in the 1930s, the United States used radio-controlled model airplanes as aerial targets for antiaircraft gunnery training. Starting in 1935, the Radioplane Co. in California developed several variations of an original design by former movie star and modeler Reginald Denny. Powered by a

  • Aircraft Starter Truck

    As aircraft engines gained in power and size, the difficulty and danger involved in starting an engine by "swinging the prop" increased dramatically. The idea of developing a mechanical means of starting an aircraft engine was first conceived by Capt. B.C. Huck, a test pilot for the Aircraft