Air Force Museum Virtual Tour

[Dave McElderry]

Here's something if you have some spare time on your hands. Don't know how long it's existed, but I came across a cool 360 degree panoramic virtual tour of the National Museum United States Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH. Click on the arrows to move from one scene to the next in a full tour of the facility, both inside and out. Watch for the video player links along the way, which are complementary to the displays - some really great video there. And don't forget to pan up from time to time to see the displays above. Some of the detailed printed information is readable too. I've been there a number of times over the years and can recommend it if you happen to be in the area. Plan on at least half a day.

http://nmusafvirtualtour.com/full/tour-std.html

[sidd finch]

Dave that is too cool. I remember going there as a kid with my Dad. He was really into planes and could spout tons of information when we toured the museum. I kept asking where the roswell chrash was kept but he said that area was off limits.

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

I haven't even finished it yet. I just keep coming back to it when I have a little time. I've discovered that there have been some major changes and additions made since I was last there. For example, the outdoor planes have been moved to a new area. The B-52, which used to be outdoors, has been moved to the Southeast Asia display. The Korean War exhibits have been switched to the other end of that hangar and greatly improved. The Cold War exhibits have been moved to a new (new to be used for displays) hangar and significantly expanded, and the Missile & Space silo is completely new. Now I have a strong urge to visit again. May have to put it on my to-do list when the weather breaks. I see that the imagery and coding were done by Loren Ybarrondo, and a Google search of that name reveals that he's also created a similar virtual tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Since I've never been there I'm especially interested in that too.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/

These vicarious explorations are not like doing it for real, but they're better than not doing it at all - and a lot less expensive! Of course both museums are free to tour, but travel expenses are high these days.

[sidd finch]

I noticed that too. The x70 used to be outside and you could walk under it. I sent the link to my dad to check it out I am sure he will love it.

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

Just read this morning that they're getting ready to unveil a mock-up space shuttle exhibit that was created from a Crew Compartment Trainer where over 300 astronauts trained for missions. Opens on Feb 26th. Eventually it will be moved to a new exhibit in a 4th hangar gallery building that's in the works in a planned expansion. They lost out in their bids to get one of the retired actual shuttles.

Shuttle-mock-up.jpg