Strategic Air Command Museum

I travelled a lot for work last month, including a visit to Omaha, Nebraska - home to US STRATCOM and the museum of its forebear US STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (SAC). 

The museum houses some fabulous exhibits and unique artefacts from the SAC era.  Some of them my camera just couldn't do justice to, but here is a selection:

B-1A 'Lancer' bomber - this one is the fourth and last built. First flown in 1979 as a test bed for the B-1B program

Some of the original C2 equipment from SAC's HQ in "the Pit" as the the underground facility was known

Which then would pass targeting data and firing orders to launch platforms - airborne bombers, SSBNs at sea, and ICBM silos - like this MINUTEMAN launch facility

Readying these:

To deliver these to their targets:

Minuteman II ICBM delivery vehicle

All the while General Curtis LeMay would have been at his desk:

As well as strike and C2 assets, Aerial Reconnaissance and Intel gathering was strongly supported in the Museum also

Lockheed U-2 "Dragon Lady"

Gary Powers' Mission Map

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Gary_Powers

Gary Powers' Silver Star, awarded posthumously in 2012, for "enduring nearly two years of harsh interrogation and imprisonment in Moscow"

Specialised U-2 pilot suit

Coincidentally, a week later in the Spy Museum in Washington DC, I came across these:

The fabulous SR-71 also greets you as you walk in the front door!

I've got a thing for Sabres and MiG alley aircraft...

There was an incredible array of other large SAC bombers that I just couldn't get descent pics of, but it was amazing to walk around them including two B17s, B36, B47, and Vulcan bomber.

B-29: one of 22 airframes remaining intact

Just for you James! :-)

Inside the B-29 cockpit, including the Norden aiming device

Separately, they had some neat Aerospace artefacts on display too

Not so coincidentally, I then attended the Offutt Air Force Base Airshow at the end of the week. Lots of great displays, including some historic warbirds.

But what most took me was the opportunity to clamber around inside a B-52 bomber. A USAF friend of mine retired last month, and I got a pic in his old seat in one of his old tail numbers, which was pretty cool.

Tail number 60-0060 "Iron Butterfly"

B-52 Cockpit

B-52 Navigator Station

Yes- the same seat James Earl Jones occupied as Lt Lothar Zogg in the movie Dr Strangelove!

Interestingly, the seats in this lower crew section eject downwards! 

Thats all for this post folks!

Thor ICBM

Scratchbuilt Log Cabin

I was looking for pics of this the other day and discovered I hadn't posted any back when I made this in Sep 2023. Fixing that now so I don't loose the pics.

I was at MOAB one year and as ever was fawning over John Bond's fabulous scratch-built terrain. He is a dental technician by trade and makes amazingly detailed tables by hand. He showed me some log cabins that he had made from garden twigs etc and I was inspired to give it a go myself.

Rather rough and ready - perfect for a Frontier cabin - so happy as a first effort, though I'd do lots differently next time to neaten up the doors. Shingle roof is single piece made from coffee stirrers and is removable.

Just realised I never got around to doing the stone top of the chimney either, but for a bit of free battlefield scatter terrain it works well!

Do yourself a favour and take at look at John's tutorial here and the rest of his blog - inspiring stuff!

https://iagsmgm.blogspot.com/2022/03/scratch-built-log-cabins.html