[Surferdude]

My neighbour who spends his time travelling around Austraila pulling one of th ebiggest vans I have ever seen, insisted I should make the time to see the Darwin Aviation Museum.
Whilst I am not an avid student of planes, I appreciate them having enjoyed a tour of the Caloundra Air Museum a couple of years ago.
The Darwin one has one of only 2 (or 3) B52's on display outside of the USA.
No words can explain the size of this thing and I'm not sure the pics will either. I've merged a couple for effect - not perfect in the poor light but at least in one of them there's a person on the ground for comparison purposes.
They also have an F111C. We have one of those at Caloundra, too.

I THINK the one with the sharks teeth painted on it is a Mustang.

(click to show/hide)

       







Huey



Westland Wessex




This is a poor merge but I wanted to record this story. Sad.

           

[Phil №❶]

Gee, it's better than I thought. 

[Surferdude]

What the photos don't show are the many storylines, period displays  and poster boards around the place with the history of each exhibit, plus a fair bit devoted to the air raids on Darwin (and Katherine) in WW2. And the part played by aircraft in the airlift getting people out of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy.

[Dazzler]

Pictures not coming up on my tablet Trev, for some reason? I'll have to check them out later on my PC

[AlanHo]

Pictures not coming up on my tablet Trev, for some reason? I'll have to check them out later on my PC

The wingspan is far too big for any tablet............

[Surferdude]

Pictures not coming up on my tablet Trev, for some reason? I'll have to check them out later on my PC

The wingspan is far too big for any tablet............

 

[Just Rick]

Photo's not working for me 

[Dazzler]

Might have been photobucket, working now.

[FatBoy]

Thanks for posting, Trev. When I'm in Darwin next I'll have to go and have a look.

Just a couple of points, the helicopter you've listed as a Huey is actually a Cobra (sometimes called the Huey Cobra).  As a point of interest, the Huey was given that nickname as it's original designator was HU-1 (hui), which stood for Helicopter Utility One.  When it changed to UH-1, the nickname stayed.  The AH-1 Cobra utilised a lot of design features of the UH-1.

Also, the aircraft that you thought was a Mustang, is actually a Spitfire (more specifically, Spitfire LF Mk.VIIIc JG267 Wreckage recovered by the Aviation Historical Society of the Northern Territory for the Darwin Aviation Museum. Ex. Royal Australian AF A58-377).   

I too have seen a B-52 up close.  Words cannot describe the size of those aircraft.  Their nickname was BUFF (Big Ugly Fat F***er).

[Surferdude]

Thanks for posting, Trev. When I'm in Darwin next I'll have to go and have a look.

Just a couple of points, the helicopter you've listed as a Huey is actually a Cobra (sometimes called the Huey Cobra).  As a point of interest, the Huey was given that nickname as it's original designator was HU-1 (hui), which stood for Helicopter Utility One.  When it changed to UH-1, the nickname stayed.  The AH-1 Cobra utilised a lot of design features of the UH-1.

Also, the aircraft that you thought was a Mustang, is actually a Spitfire (more specifically, Spitfire LF Mk.VIIIc JG267 Wreckage recovered by the Aviation Historical Society of the Northern Territory for the Darwin Aviation Museum. Ex. Royal Australian AF A58-377).   

I too have seen a B-52 up close.  Words cannot describe the size of those aircraft.  Their nickname was BUFF (Big Ugly Fat F***er).

Thanks Jamie. The sign actually said "Huey Cobra" I was lax in my typing.
And BUFF works for me.

[Eureka]

I have never been to Darwin and I haven't even been to the air museums here in Melbourne.  Must go sometime.  While I would be interested to see a B52 I would also be mindful of its key role in projecting US power across the globe and the negative aspects of that.

[Phil №❶]

Valid point Eureka,

My favorite plane is the F-111, strangely, not a lot publicized about it and hard to get models in toy stores too. It is sad that such a beautifully designed machine is in fact designed to kill, with the potential to deliver nukes. However, the spectacle for me at air museums, is purely the aviation design and how it has developed since the Kitty Hawk.

[rustynutz]

You should check out eBay, Phil.....there are a few F-111 models available...

Here's a cheapie:

A not so cheap diecast model:

Or if you're really rich: