Field Trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum

Team 508 Visits Palm Springs Air Museum

Sunrise was almost an hour before our planned departure time. The day dawned with perfect weather for a trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum. This venue was suggested by one of our senior members as an excellent destination for our aerospace education program. His recommendation proved to be spot on.

Although we listed the field trip as open to other squadrons in the Arizona Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, this time there were no takers. They missed out on a great opportunity. Squadron 508 Cadets boarded our CAP van for the 0700 departure time. We had an overflow of attendees so late comers travelled in a personal vehicle. The trip to Palm Springs was uneventful. Fortunately, feared traffic congestion associated with the Coachella Music Festival did not materialize.

On arrival at the museum no sooner was the van unloaded than two eager docents joined our group in the parking lot to guide us through the admission process.

Palm Springs Air Museum Entrance

It was good to be welcomed so enthusiastically. The museum waived admission fees for cadets. What a splendid start to our tour. We took advantage of the two guides available to split into two smaller groups for the guided museum tour. Our guide was Clyde, a flight instructor who was never active duty military though this was not reflected in a lack of knowledge of the museum’s exhibits. Aircraft flown during WWII were the focus of our tour though other eras were also represented.

The first stop was by the P-47 and its neighbor the British Spitfire.

P-47 in its grandeur

Excellent specimen of the Spitfire, a star of the Battle of Britain

Both aircraft were active early in World War II (WWII). The Spitfire was one of the main fighters utilized to defend the UK and help win the Battle of Britain. Remarkably that was Hitler’s first loss in the war. Watch the video available on Amazon Prime for an excellent history of the Spitfire design: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FDSP198?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_piv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_piv-20

Next on our itinerary was the B-17 hangar. Here we encountered a highly polished specimen. Check out a fine example of nose art on this B-17.

Nose art 

Clyde and group dwarfed by the starboard wing of the B-17

We learned that the crew heavily dressed in layered gear to ward of the -40 degree temperatures that prevailed during bombing missions flown at or above 30,000 feet. The get-up even included electrically heated underwear. Nevertheless, flight operations were uncomfortable for the 11 servicemen in each aircraft.

Trying to keep warm on a B-17 mission

Overall losses were 40% during the European strategic bombing campaign for B-17 squadrons. Brave young men took to the air in the effort to cripple German manufacturing capabilities.

We backtracked a little for a stop by the twin engine B-25 Mitchell bomber. Engine cowls were partly removed and puddles of oil pooled on the floor under the massive radial engines. Notice the disciplined attention of our cadet group.

At 12 o'clock, B-25 Mitchell

Polite attention 508 cadet group

Next was a short detour to watch ongoing air operations staged on the tarmac adjoining the Palm Springs Airport. The P-51, always a crowd pleaser, was available for airplane rides. The $1,900 ticket cost was a little too steep for any of us.

Airplane Envy-P51 Mustang

A short sortie on a C-47 was also possible at a more affordable rate of $99. Such a trip was tempting but we had to forego a flight because of the limited time we had for our visit. We needed to keep our feet firmly on Tierra firma for this day. So we moved on to the hangar housing aircraft operational in Pacific Theater of WWII.

At the third hangar the transition was from primarily land-based army aviation to carrier-based naval aviation. Manufacturing the air brakes for the SBD Dauntless dive bomber must have been a challenge.

SBD Dauntless dive bomber with "holey" dive brakes

Somehow we missed out on the opportunity to climb into the cockpit of the F4U Corsair that the other group had. However everyone enjoyed this glimpse of the famous aircraft that contributed so much to the operational concept of close air support perfected by the Marines during the battles for Pacific islands held by our Japanese enemy.

Gull-winged killer from Pacific Theater WWII-the F4U Corsair

Aircraft of the utilized by the US during the Cold War were the focus of the end of our visit. The F-86 reminded me of the series of novels that I read when I was a teenager. That aircraft model single-handedly spurred my interest in aviation. 

A star of the Korean War the F-86

A Bell H-13, so familiar from the TV production M*A*S*H*, hung from the ceiling. Diagonally, on the hangar floor was its younger cousin the Bell U-H1 Huey. We still have a version of this Viet Nam era helicopter flying search and rescue missions out of our Marine Air Base in Yuma. The F-4 Phantom, F-14 Tomcat and EA-6B Prowler among other aircraft were on display on the tarmac outside the hangar.

Machines (EA-6B Prowler, F-14 Tomcat) and Mountains

After all the walking and standing it was time to take a load off and secure much needed sustenance at the museum café. The days was rapidly winding down but about an hour remained for individual time to check out the museum. Many took advantage of the computer simulators in the Museum library.

Finally we rounded everyone up for the drive back to Yuma. We made one stop for snacks and the traditional date shakes then we pulled back out on the highway to complete the day’s journey. We arrived back at the hangar as the waxing half-moon was rising in the east over the Yuma Foothills.