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August "First day of school!" |
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"You're growing up, Bubby!" |
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"Oh my, Sissy, you look like you're ready for the first day of college!" |
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"Mommy's first day of school!" |
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"Happy birthday, Mommy! Love your necklace!" |
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"Roar of the Rockies" Champ Boat
Races on Water Valley Lake in Windsor. |
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"Wow, they're fast and LOUD!!!" |
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September Labor Day Harvest Festival Parade in Windsor. "Here comes the 8th grade marching band!" |
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"There's Bubby! The band sounds GREAT!" |
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"Bye, bye, Bubby!" |
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"Here comes the high school marching band!" |
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"There's the flag twirlers!" |
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"They sound GREAT!" |
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"There's Big Bubby behind the girl playing the clarinet!" |
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"Bye, bye, Big Bubby!" |
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Wings Over The Rockies Museum Lowry Air Force Base, CO Middle School Honor Society Field Trip. "It's great you get to be a chaperone on our Friday field trip, Dad!" "Yup!" |
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"Whoa, check out the B-52
in the parking lot!" Lowry AFB was the premier training site for B-52 armament and reconnaissance. This Boeing B-52B arrived in 1966 just prior to the permanent closing of the runways at Lowry when all flight activity was shifted to nearby Buckley AFB. |
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The museum's education director,
a former Navy pilot, introduces our tour guides and the history of Lowry. "Founded in 1937, Lowry served as a training center in armament, reconnaissance, flight engineering, avionics, crash fire fighting and rescue, B-29 pilots and crews, rocket propulsion, missile guidance, gun and rocket sights, turret systems, fire-control systems, nuclear weapons, electronics, computers, intelligence, disaster control, logistics, and space operations." |
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"With the closing of Lowry in 1994, the museum was founded and is housed in this 40,000 square foot hangar. It is home to over three dozen historic airplanes and space vehicles as well as military and aviation artifacts. The museum actively acquires and restores aircraft with restoration specialists and volunteers." |
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"We're most proud of our Douglass B-18A Bolo bomber, the first aircraft to land on the brand new paved runway here at Lowry in 1938. The B-18 was the predecessor to the infamous B-17. Unfortunately, nearly all the B-18's serving in the Pacific were wiped out sitting on the ground during the attack on Pearl Harbor." |
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"The B-18's radial air-cooled engines could take a beating! There are stories of them landing with bullet holes in the cylinders and with exposed pistons, but with their engines STILL running! That convinced designers to include the same engines in the B-17 design. The B-18 also served as a cargo, transport, paratroop, and training aircraft, including here at Lowry where it was used for bombardier training. There are only five B-18 Bolos left in existence, and we have one of them!" |
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"The Piper Cub was a popular military trainer and civilian aircraft for many years. It was easy to fly and maintain. It was also easy to remember the 65 horsepower engine's takeoff speed was 65, cruising speed was 65, and landing speed was 65. If the pilot is alone, he sits in the rear seat. If he has a passenger, the heavier person sits in the rear seat. Our Cub is a 1939 model." |
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"The Vought Corsair has a dipped wing design for strength to endure many hard aircraft carrier landings as well as provide clearance for its 14 foot propeller. Just outside the landing gear, the wings fold up so two Corsairs could be stored in the regular space of one on carriers. The Corsair was featured in the television show 'Black Sheep Squadron.' The one we have here raced in the Las Vegas Air Races." |
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"This 1950 Martin EB-57E Canberra was designed for electronic warfare which began during the Cold War." |
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"President George W. Bush flew the F-102 like this one when he was in the Air National Guard. This is a 1963 Convair F-102A Delta Dagger." |
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"The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom was a workhorse in the Vietnam War. Ours here is a 1978 F-4E Phantom II." |
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"The F-14 Tomcat was made popular by Tom Cruise in the movie 'Top Gun.' This one is still operational and is a 1975 F-14A model by Grumman." |
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"Our most popular aircraft on display is the B-1A bomber. The only other place in the world you can see a Rockwell B-1A Lancer in public is in a museum in Dayton, Ohio. Ours is currently undergoing cockpit restoration." |
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"Hey Bubby, you're sitting in the pilot seat of a 1965 Vertoal H-21B helicopter, the 'Flying Banana'!" |
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"It was called the 'Flying Banana' because the fuselage curves upwards at the ends to keep the twin rotors from interfering. It was built and flown by Frank Piasecki, the pioneer of tandem twin-rotor helicopters. In 1949, his company, Piasecki Helicopter Corporation, began production of the H-21 which continued on in 1955 by the successor Vertol Aircraft Corporation. The H-21 continued service through the mid-1960's." |
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"Hey, Dad, can we come back here on November 12 when Burt Rutan, builder of Space Ship One and co-founder of Virgin Galactic, will be at the museum?" |
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"After the tour, our school buses stopped at Country Buffet for lunch. Yum, YUM!!!" |
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Georgetown Loop Railroad Silver Plume, CO Middle School Team Field Trip "Hey Dad, one day planes, the next day TRAINS!" Click Here for the Georgetown Loop Gallery |