Warbird Information Exchange

Hey Ryan, Was planning on being in the area on the 12th, and would like to visit the history and traditions museum. Do U have any contacts inside, because there's no way for me a civilian "Puke" to get on base. Sorry It's short notice. Thanks for your time.

Steve, you might be able to get on with a 72 hrs notice call. This was what I was told at an A/F base in Colorado Springs. Maybe Ryan can get a number for Civie base info.

Cheers,

Lynn

Steve I may be wrong, but I think Lackland is an open base. I know for sure that anyone can drive right up to the parade ground and see all hardware around there. I've been to the museum many moons ago and at the time it was no big thing to go through it.

Honestly I'm not sure that they would have a museum on base if only military folks could get into it.

Ryan Harris....not Short.

The History and Tradions Museum is located on a part of Lackland that is semi-open. As the basic training base for the USAF the museum is there for trainees and thgeir family members to visit. I was there about 2 years ago to see my nephew graduate and I think all civilians had to do was show some ID. I didn't have any problems because I'm a retired officer and have the decal. You might call the public affairs office before going or check their website.

I don't remember the museum having the uncovered Jenny it had years ago. And be prepared, many of the aircraft on static near the dorms have very bogus Vietnam paint schemes...a rare B-57a is painted as is a T-38...they have a sign saying it's an F-5 and painted the back canopy to make it look like a singel seater. Also, they have an Army UH-1B painted as a USAF UH-1F (for you non-helicopter types, they have a similar airframe but a noticeablly different engine installation). It's displays like that that make me wonder if the USAF Museum's pays any attention to their out lying collections.

Go to the parade ground and you'l see a B-17, 29 and the fiberglass B-24 that replaced the ship now at Duxford. Also, a P-51H, P-47N (both painted in incorrect ETO schemes, and a F-82. The pole mounted P-38 is plastic.
They also have several transports on display and I believe a SR-71.
Enjoy.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

I don't have any contacts inside the base, but you could call 1-210-671-1110 for the base information operator. I think that Jenny that JBoyle mentioned is actually in an old hanger at Brooks AFB. If you're in town you might also consider the Texas Air Museum over at Stinson Field.

Ryan Short

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

I remember back in '94 when I went into the USAF. Down on the southern part of the base near the Basic Training Squadron 331st TRS. There was a mock flight line behind a fence used by the Security Police (now SF) for training. What was neat about the Flight line was they on it there were about, If I had to guess, 20 F-105's all line up. Very impressive. Also there might have been another mock flight line on the north side of the base with more aircraft.
When I was there I saw base maps showing the outlines of aircraft by various buildings. But most were not there at that time, just the concrete pads that they sat on. The only one I ever saw, in fact that was shown on the map, was a F-89 Scorpian. It was located near the Church and Military dog training area.
After Basic I shifted to the north side of the base for "Tech" school to become a Air Transportation Specialist. Part of the school was on Kelly AFB. We had to practice loading on retired C-130A. This poor bird had it's wings clipped and was pretty much gutted. What really sucked was that there was no power, nuth'n. To open the rear doors you had to use a selector switch panel and a hand pump. Easy getting the ramp down gavity helped that. Then you had to pump to raise the upper door. And when the day is done and it comes time to close up the bird then the real pain began. The upper door again assisted by gravity was no prob, but the ramp was an utter bear. We had to switch out people to get the ramp all the was up and talk about some tired arms. But these all great memories. But I'll tell ya what. That C-130 doesn't have anything on the C-5 Hulk, down at Dobbins AFB in Atlanta GA, that we worked on. Alright I'll talk to you all later.

Shay