Cuban Warbird Photos by Mike Henniger

[mrhenniger]

I mentioned in the another thread I had some Cuban warbird photos to share. I visited in 2009 and 2012, and would like to make one more trip back to the country before it changes too much.

The most well known location for warbirds is the revolution museum in Havana...
Aerial Visuals - Location Dossier - Museo de la Revolucion - A-26, OS2U, Sea Fury, U-2

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher, s/n 50 FARe




Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Lockheed U-2C, s/n 56-6676 USAF



Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, s/n 542 FARe




Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Douglas A-26 Invader



A few days after I took the pictures in Havana, Catherine and I took a bus tour out of Varadero. Part of the tour included a stop at a former sugar mill where we took a steam train ride. Afterwards we got reboarded the bus, and as it was leaving the site I noticed the A-26 wreckage. All I could do was take a few quick photos through the coach windows. Not the greatest shots, but still kind of cool. I returned in 2012, this time with a rental car hoping to be able to get much better pictures, but he wreckage had been taken off display. It wasn't until recently I realized the wreckage in Havana and that near the sugar Mill in Australia (about a half hour drive from Giron) came from the same Invader. It was shot down during the Bay of Pigs invasion near the sugar mill.





During our 2012 trip we rented a car one day and drove down to Giron to look for the Sea Fury displayed on the south shore. We found it!

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Hawker Sea Fury FB.11, s/n 541 FARe




After leaving Giron, we drove up to Santa Clara. Santa Clara is the site of the tomb of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and the city where he and other revolutionaries captured a supply train destined for Havana which hastened the end of the war. It is also the home of an airbase with a MiG-21 gate guard.






That is the full extent of my photos. It is not easy to get around Cuba. Tours tend not to visit warbird display sites. Rental cars are expensive and the roads are not in good shape so you can't make great time getting around. I am not sure if it will be in my time and cash budget to get to any more display sites on the next trip, but my fingers will be crossed.

Mike

Last edited by mrhenniger on Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Tulio]

Mike,

Thank you for sharing your images. I must say that I particularly like your shots of the Kingfisher.

Saludos!


Tulio

[Lightjug]

Indeed - thanks for sharing Mike.

Mark

[CoastieJohn]

Thanks for posting your pics! I would like to go there when the political time is right. I've "vacationed" in Gitmo enough to peak my curiosity about the rest of the island. I have a noted Coast Guard book writer friend who got to permission to go there a few times to research material for his Ernest Hemingway book. He brought back some interesting stories.

[Nathan]

cuba has a freakin Kingfisher! Can't even find those in the states!

[bdk]

What other worthwhile artifacts are on display that you didn't get to? They seem to have done a nice job preserving that stuff.

[sandiego89]

What other worthwhile artifacts are on display that you didn't get to? They seem to have done a nice job preserving that stuff.

Looks like the aircraft displayed on base at San Antonio de Los Banos would be an interesting stop.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=2 ... 7&t=h&z=18

I don't imagine a gringo like me could drive up to the gate and ask to look around....