March Field Air Museum, Riverside CA

**papermodelfan** · #1 07-26-2011, 04:42 PM

Was visiting our daughter at the beginning of July, in Riverside , CA. (Inland from Los Angeles about 30 miles, in the hot desert,with a University where she studies). We went to see the March Field Air Museum, which is on the edge of the March Field Air Reserve base - a base for aerial refuelling tankers. the museum has a hanger building and another under construction, where a few of the more fragile planes are displayed. Most of them are parked outside, and you can walk right up to them. An interesting collection, including B's 17, 25, 29 47, 52, a range of Migs, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23, and a large collection of fighters and cargo planes - 67 aircraft in all. More transport and utility aircraft than you usually find. An SR71 Blackbird AND the D21 Drone that launched from it. And of course, aerial tankers. They acquired the B-17 from the Bolivian Air Force, and are slowly restoring it. The B52 Bomb bay was open, and you could crawl under and stand up in it. (Sorry that pick is sideways)

One kick is that the docents are former tanker men, who are more than happy to describe the ballet of aerial refueling. The pilots of the tanker and the receiving plane would hold as steady as they could while the tankerman flies the winged extensible fuel delivery boom to the intake probe on the receiving plane. Pilot B locks on to the boom, and the refueling was done in about 2 minutes.

The C123 (with the Indian Chief) I had never seen up close and personal. The little utility wagon was parked under the B-17 - glad to see there is an official Air Force trash caddy.

Here are a few pictures of the collection, mostly details, perhaps reflecting my quirky interests. For wingnuts, if you are ever in Riverside, or even in LA, it is worth a visit (March Field Museum, March Field Air Museum)

**papermodelfan** · #2 07-26-2011, 04:49 PM

Here are a few more pictures. The Aero Commander I know only because there is a long out of print JFSchreiber model of it. A plane like this was President Eisenhower's plane, before the Air Force One series got started. Can't get enough of the landing gear detail on the Grumman Albatros - having built the Wilhelmshavner model several times over at different scales, I know it well, and it remains an amaizing piece of engineering to me. That is the KC97 "business office", and boom tip

Cheers, Rob T

**B-Manic** · #3 07-26-2011, 05:16 PM

Thanks for sharing Rob. That D21 drone looks deadly.

**willygoat** · #4 07-26-2011, 07:48 PM

Great photos! I wish I cold get there. It's on my list of California Air museums to visit eventually.

**pdmccool** · #5 07-26-2011, 08:30 PM

It's a great museum! Only about an hour from my house, too. As an aside, the museum and specifically their SR71/A12 are shown in the film "Space Cowboys". The plane was supposedly flown by Tommy Lee Jones' character.

**Jim Nunn** · #6 07-26-2011, 09:49 PM

Rob,

Thanks for sharing you visit. I live half way between LA and Riverside and I was never aware that March AFB has this display. I can see a sick day in the near future. . . .

Jim Nunn

**opalmox** · #7 07-27-2011, 07:42 AM

It's a great display, and is right off of the I-215. I pass it every day going to/from work.

My dad and I went there a couple of years ago on his last visit. There is a pretty good collection of aircraft, and as well as some Russian Aircraft on display as well.

Seeing the SR-71 and the drone up close is not something that I'll forget anytime soon.

**rmks2000** · #8 07-27-2011, 08:00 AM

Rob

Thanks for this info! I have a daughter in LA that I hope to visit in the Fall. She's been creating a list of tourist attractions for me to see, so I'll definitely have her add this to the list! (along with my childhood dream of visiting the La Brea tar pits)

**papermodelfan** · #9 08-11-2011, 08:42 PM

Hello RMKS. La Brea is also definitely cool. We went to see that on my last trip out there. The story I liked is that a local high school science teacher was looking for a little project that he could engage his students with, and they pulled a few bones out of the tar, cleaned them up with kerosene, went back for a few more and started assembling them like giant Lego kits - figuring out which ones went with which as they went along, and writing to the Natural History Museum in Denver for advice when they got stuck. Oh look - these bones make up a sabre toothed tiger, and these are a giant sloth with sabre chomp marks on it... Now that might be the coolest teacher ever, in my book.

**cdavenport** · #10 08-11-2011, 08:50 PM

Thank you for the pics! Gives me a reason to go there next time I'm in CA.