Photos from March ARB Museum (and a mystery object!)

[Chris Brame]

I visited the March ARB Museum near Riverside, CA on March 19th and got some photos...

A-26


A-26 instrument panel (taken for me by a docent who was shooing a canary out of the cockpit)




Formerly marked as Mission Inn


AH-1F Cobra


VC-47


B-17G


Waist gun & ball turret detail


F-104


Colorful Tora Val


B-52 cockpit (way across the field, had to zoom all the way in)


A4 Skyhawk


B-47 cockpit display


And finally...


Any idea what this came from? Beats me - I smell another photo quiz!

-Chris

[Shay]

If I were a bett'n man I'd put my money on it being the engine/transmission cover aft of the rotorhead of a SH-3 Sea King or at the least CH-3 Jolly Green Giant. But I would lean towards SH-3 due to its white paint.





Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[RickH]

That's one of the most stock A-26s I've seen in a long time. Probably the first stock instrument panel, complete with gunsight mount I've ever seen. It hasn't been converted to DC-6 wheels and brakes either. Is it a USAFM loaned aircraft or does the museum own it ?

[APG85]

The B-29 is looking better than when I saw it 8 years ago.......

[Chris Brame]

Per the Registry, the museum owns it...

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/a26regis ... 35224.html

A few more photos:



Inside the nose


And the elusive stowaway

[Cking]

Great pictures (both of you)
That B-47 cockpit exibit looks fantastic, I'd love a good look around that! I also like the B-29, looks like you could just fuel her up and send her on her way! Is that a Folland Gnat behind her?

Rgds Cking

[Chris Brame]

That B-47 cockpit exibit looks fantastic, I'd love a good look around that!

Sure, why not? Pilot:


Copilot:


Must have been a Red Alert - the poor guy didn't even have time to put on his socks, let alone tie his boots

[mrhenniger]

It looks like the A-26 received a new coat of paint in the last year. That is good to see.

The B-29 is now moved into the main display area, where you can get closer to it. That is good.

Also... the F-104 is now assembled, but no paint? I hope it gets a sharp paint scheme.

The C-47 doesn't seem much more progressed. I am guessing it was set aside for work on other airframes. I bet that California sun takes a toll. They must rotate all the airframes through the paint booth every 5 years or so.

Anyone have any idea about the IDs of the two valiants in the collection?

Mike

[Don Martin]

Chris,
Is there a whole B-52 at March? A friend of mine told me that the B-52 with "Betty Boop" noseart was at the March Museum. I doesn't look like it from your photos so I just wanted to ask.
Don

[TimAPNY]

They have a whole B-52D but off hand I'm not sure of the ID on it.

Tim

[Chris Brame]

Here's a link to the museum's aircraft list with info on each airframe:

http://www.marchfield.org/mfm.htm

My batteries went dead before I could get photos of the big bombers; from one angle you can get the big sharkfins of the B-47 and B-52 in the same shot. I'll get back there again sometime soon - with extra batteries.

[Cking]

Thanks for the cockpit pictures, great stuff!!

Rgds Cking

[mrhenniger]

They have a whole B-52D but off hand I'm not sure of the ID on it.

Tim

You can find a picture of it here...
http://community.webshots.com/photo/268 ... 1775kGTYUg
...it is USAF s/n 55-679.

I have included serial numbers of all of the March airframes in the captions for each picture. You can reference my two albums in Webshots if you are looking for IDs...
http://community.webshots.com/album/272522253xdrECy
http://community.webshots.com/album/268850772LoJAUA

Mike