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From MiGs to missiles, this place is a tinkerer's dream. Where else can you see American and Soviet fighters nose-to-nose -- with those nose parts scattered about? Or how about a MiG-21 tucked in between odds and ends like you'd stow winter clothes in your hall closet? In a pair of unassuming hangars not far from the main museum complex, detailed work goes on year 'round by skilled craftsmen and volunteers to bring rusted hulks back to showroom condition. Here are some pictures from my October 2007 visit.
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| Radial Engines |  |
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| F-22 "Raptor" |  |
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| Kawanishi N1K2 "George" |  |
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| B-17F "Memphis Belle" |  |
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Apart from being one of the standout aircraft of World War II, this particular aircraft is a special part of Americana. The Memphis Belle was the first B-17 to complete 25 combat missions. In a brilliant PR move, the crew and aircraft toured the country, making legends out of "boy next door" citizen soldiers.
| MiG-23 "Flogger" |  |
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| MiG-25 "Foxbat" |  |
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When I walked into the hangar and saw this behemoth, I thought it was a Tupolev bomber! There it was, with but a single vertical stabilizer bolted to the fuselage. I thought American fighters were large until I saw this! Once the pride of Russian aviation, this was one of several Foxbats to come to an ignominious end, buried in the sands of Iraq ahead of our invasion.
| Fisher P-75 "Eagle" |  |
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The Fisher Body Division of General Motors began work on the P-75 in the middle of WWII. Intended to be a high-performance fighter, it used several off-the-shelf parts of other aircraft to expedite production but never went into mass production. It had an unusual configuration for American aircraft, with two mated inline engines buried in the center of the fuselage (like the P-39) and contra-rotating props.
| Su-22 "Fitter" |  |
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| Boeing X-32 |  |
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| Lockheed XF-90 |  |
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This particular aircraft was a double loser. It was one of two prototypes built, and then found to be inadequate (losing out its bid to the McDonnell XF-88). To add insult to injury, this airframe was used to test the effects of a nuclear blast on airplanes, and was subjected to three nuclear blasts! (Thankfully, it has been decontaminated.)