Visiting A Couple of Aviation Museums

[moose135]

I was out in PA this week, and on Wednesday I searched out a couple of small aviation museums. My first stop was at the Delaware Valley Historic Aircraft Association, in Willow Grove, PA. It's a small museum adjacent to the Willow Grove NAS/JRB. They have a building with a couple of aircraft and a number of displays, as well as an outdoor area with about a dozen aircraft.

Inside, they have the only 2-seat trainer version of the Me-262 to survive WWII:
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473264930_X3F4m-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473265175_8yuxa-L.jpg

Outside, they have one of only four surviving Convair Sea Darts:
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473265449_dMSjT-L.jpg

F7U Cutlass
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473264055_YkDWj-L.jpg

Grumman C-1A Trader
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473263586_NAR6Y-L.jpg

Grumman F9F-2 Panther
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473264396_z3gSs-L.jpg
Please ignore that other retired Grumman fighter in the background...it's not supposed to be photographed. The museum has this F-14D as part of its collection (listed on their web site and everything). Unfortunately, they don't have room for it on their property, so it is displayed on the other side of the fence, on the grounds of the base. And photographs of the base are prohibited, so you can't take pictures of the Tomcat. Due to "insurance regulations" a museum volunteer has to accompany visitors outside (he said they had problems with people trying to get on/into some aircraft) so they keep a close eye on you. Of course, the Tomcat was the main reason I went down there. :(

From there, I went to the Air Victory Museum in Lumberton, NJ (about 20 minutes east of Philadelphia), on the grounds of South Jersey Regional Airport. They have an interesting collection of aircraft and displays, almost all indoors, but could use twice as much space.

They have an F-14A, the 59th off the line at Calverton.
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473261754_qBm2i-L.jpg

There was some clutter behind the aircraft as they were building a new display.
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473262224_9gYY2-L.jpg

They also have an F-104G Starfighter, in Dutch Air Force colors.
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473260572_D2YUh-L.jpg

http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473261207_p3JcC-L.jpg

I had the chance to talk to with several of the volunteers at the AVM, they are a friendly bunch, glad to talk about the airplanes and their museum, and very accommodating to visitors. For $4 admission, it's hard to go wrong if you find yourself in the area.

[Derf]

Great little place you found there Moose. I would have loved to have seen someone mod one of those f104's to look like the old Rocket Powered Space aircraft they flew.

The 2 Seater Me 262 is wild!

[cancidas]

nice shots moose, i don't think i've ever seen a sea dart before outside of a textbook. didn't know tehre was a 2 seat ME-262 either!

[moose135]

Thanks, guys! Matt, they made fewer than a dozen two seat trainers of the -262, they also made a number of a two seat night fighter variant, with radar in the nose.

Here are a few more shots, just for you Matt...

At Willow Grove:
Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473632983_WsGFh-L.jpg

Sikorsky UH-34J Sea Bat
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473634060_EcU8V-L.jpg

Bell UH-1V Huey
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473633683_iryZS-L.jpg

And at the AVM - RH-53D Sea Stallion
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473632545_Ev9Fn-L.jpg

And in New Castle, DE (Don't ask what I was doing there...) the "gate guard" at the Delaware National Guard facility at the New Castle County Airport:
http://moose135.smugmug.com/photos/473262468_37dkW-L.jpg

[PhilDernerJr]

I LOVE the Sea Stallion!!

So what brought you to New Castle?

[cancidas]

...just for you Matt...
Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever
Sikorsky UH-34J Sea Bat


drools!!! thanks moose! :D :D

[MORS-AB-ALTO]

Please ignore that other retired Grumman fighter in the background...it's not supposed to be photographed. The museum has this F-14D as part of its collection (listed on their web site and everything). Unfortunately, they don't have room for it on their property, so it is displayed on the other side of the fence, on the grounds of the base. And photographs of the base are prohibited, so you can't take pictures of the Tomcat. Due to "insurance regulations" a museum volunteer has to accompany visitors outside (he said they had problems with people trying to get on/into some aircraft) so they keep a close eye on you. Of course, the Tomcat was the main reason I went down there. :(

Nice pictures Moose! I would have been EXTREMELY UPSET! Thanks for the heads up though I was planning to visit Willow Grove in the future and now I know to contact their PAO prior to my visit. The Tomcat appears to be an "A" model hence the reason it still has it's ejection seats and clear canopy in place.

They do have a few gems at that musem. If I remember correctly the Me-262 B1-a was the aircraft that the Stormbirds project used as their template for their reproduction aircraft. The aircraft was originally displayed outside and and in derelict condition before it was shipped to Texas and later Washington to be torn down and restored before being returned. There actually is another 2 seat trainer that survived the war. It is a nightfighter conversion that currently survives in South Africa at their Military History Museum.

Nice to see the Dutch F-104 and the F-14 from NJ as well! :D

[moose135]

You're right, Rob, that's an A-model at Willow Grove, BuNo 160386 according to their website.

[threeholerglory]

great finds Moose! I'd love to see some of those old planes fly, even if only because some of the designs are just so awkward...