Regensburg/Schweinfurt, August 17, 1943

On August 17, 1943, the USAAF suffered staggering losses in the two-pronged attack against the Messerschmitt fighter factory at Regensburg and the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany.  To split the German defense, these raids were supposed to occur simultaneously, with the Regensburg force landing at airfields in North Africa. 

Rocket Fuel Handlers Exhibit

FUELING ROCKETSWorking with rocket propellants requires special protective gear. The two suits here are examples of rocket fuel handlers' outfits from the 1940s-1990s. Liquid fueled missiles such as the Titan I and Titan II in this gallery used dangerous fluids and toxic chemicals, and Airmen handling them wore these special suits to protect

Reaction Motors XLR99 Rocket

The XLR99 powered the record-breaking X-15 on its fastest flights at nearly seven times the speed of sound. It was the first large, throttleable, restartable liquid propellant rocket engine to be used in a piloted vehicle. The engine was used only in the X-15 program, which rocketed humans to the edge of space. The X-15A-2 in this gallery has an

Reaction Motors XLR11 Rocket

The XLR11 was the first liquid-fuel rocket engine developed in the United States for use on airplanes, and it had a long career powering important research aircraft. An XLR11 engine powered the first airplane to break the speed of sound, the Bell X-1, in 1947, and also powered other X-1 models. XLR11s also flew in the X-24A and X-24B lifting bodies

Rocketdyne LR79

The LR79 rocket engine was a reliable workhorse for U.S. Air Force space and missile launches between 1958 and 1980. Variants of this liquid-fueled engine powered Jupiter and Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs), Juno II satellite boosters, and Saturn I and IB rockets used in the Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz programs. The LR79 was

Rolls Royce Avon MK 203 Turbojet

The Avon MK 203 is an axial-flow turbojet engine similar to the Avon RA.28-49 used to power the vertical takeoff and landing Ryan X-13 Vertijet aircraft. This engine was donated to the museum in July 1986 by Rolls Royce Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland.TECHNICAL NOTES (Avon RA.28):Compressor: 15-stage axial flowTurbine: Two-stage axial flowThrust: 10,000

Republic YRF-84F FICON

The museum’s YRF-84F participated in two U.S. Air Force experimental programs, the development of the F-84F fighter-bomber and later testing of the “parasite” fighter concept.The museum’s YRF-84F was the prototype of the F-84F Thunderstreak, which became a standard USAF fighter-bomber in the 1950s (an F-84F is on display in the museum's Cold War

Republic XF-84H

The turboprop-driven XF-84H -- a joint Air Force/Navy project -- was designed to combine the speed of jet aircraft with the long range, low fuel consumption, and low landing speed of propeller-driven aircraft. The XF-84H’s modified F-84F airframe included a T-tail and a triangular fin behind the cockpit to reduce the effect of torque from the

Ryan X-13 Vertijet

The X-13 was built to prove the concept that a jet could take off vertically, transition to horizontal flight, and return to vertical flight for landing.Equipped with a temporary tricycle landing gear, the first of two X-13s flew conventionally in December 1955 to test its overall aerodynamic characteristics. It was then fitted with a temporary

Ryan BQM-34F Firebee II

The original BQM-34 Firebee II filled U.S. Navy requirements for a supersonic target to train aircrews and to test new weapons systems. The Firebee II retained many of the same basic systems as the highly-successful, subsonic Firebee I. The U.S. Air Force began receiving its BQM-34F version in the early 1970s. Ryan built nearly 300 Firebee IIs for