CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum

Last updated
CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum
CAF RMW Museum front.jpg
CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum
Established1981
Location780 Heritage Way
Grand Junction, Colorado
Coordinates 39°07′04″N108°31′31″W / 39.11778°N 108.52528°W / 39.11778; -108.52528 Coordinates: 39°07′04″N108°31′31″W / 39.11778°N 108.52528°W / 39.11778; -108.52528
Type Aviation museum
Website www.rockymountainwingcaf.org

CAF Rocky Mountain Wing (RMW) Museum [1] is one of 75 local detachments of the national Commemorative Air Force (CAF) non-profit aviation association dedicated to Honoring American Military Aviation through Flight, Exhibit and Remembrance.

Contents

The Museum is located at the Grand Junction Regional Airport, Colorado, and contains artifacts and exhibits from World War II, Korean, and Vietnam wars. In addition they operate two aircraft which are part of the CAF's fleet of over 170 vintage warbirds. These two examples happen to be both the largest and smallest of single engine aircraft used by American armed forces during WWII, namely a Grumman TBM Avenger and a Piper J-3 (Army L-4 or Navy NE-1) Grasshopper. Besides offering these as "hands-on" exhibits, the public may also schedule rides as a passenger in these aircraft either at the museum or at airshows where they are also exhibited.

The museum began operation in 1981 with final construction completed in 2000.

Flying aircraft on display

TBM Avenger History

TBM Avenger Aircraft N53503
Location780 Heritage Way,, Grand Junction, Colorado
NRHP reference No. 100001791 [2]
Added to NRHPNovember 13, 2017

TBM Avenger Aircraft N53503 is a Torpedo Bomber M model World War II single engine aircraft in flying condition which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. [3] It is 40 feet (12 m) long with 52 feet (16 m) wingspan (with wings folded, 16 feet (4.9 m)). [3]

The original logbooks of the Museum's TBM Avenger BuNo 53503 show that it was accepted by the US Navy on June 1, 1945 at the Norfolk NAS and assigned to the VT-75 Squadron - the "Fish Hawks". It was transferred in 1947 to VT-82 Squadron - the "Devil's Diplomats" and Naval Air Reserve Training at Los Alamitos in southern California. [4]

In 1950 it was lend/leased to the Royal Canadian Navy with only 546 total hours flown. TBM 53503 flew in the RCN 881 Squadron from the carrier HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21) as a sub hunter. After her RCN military career ended in 1958, TBM 53503 was an aerial insecticide applicator from 1963 to 1970 for the Simsbury Flying Service in Simsbury, CT as N6583D. Acquired by the CAF in 1970 where she was painted as VT-10's "white 82" with a tri-color Navy scheme for the CV-10 Yorktown, but still lacked the characteristic dorsal gun turret. She flew with the CAF Ghost Squadron until 1981 in this configuration. During this time, her movie debut can be seen in the first five minutes of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind as directed by Steven Spielburg.

From 1981 until 1985, the Avenger sat outside in Arizona waiting for her next duty assignment and in desperate need of repair and maintenance on various systems. On January 17, 1985 TBM 53503 was officially assigned to the CAF Rocky Mountain Wing.

By July 1989, she was once again "ready for duty" - complete with the installation of the dorsal gun turret, and a new paint scheme - that of a TBM assigned to VT-84, also known as the "Wolf Gang" squadron, aboard the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17). This squadron was the first to attack Tokyo on February 16 & 17, 1945 and the colorful yellow cowling was adopted to enhance identification as "friendly" when returning to the fleet from their raid.[ citation needed ]

Piper J-3 Grasshopper

This versatile aircraft was first known as the Taylor Cub in 1930. Later as the Piper J-3 Cub it became the most prolific trainer in the world. There were 14,125 civilian built plus 5,703 for military use. The military version was known as "Grasshopper" and had the designation L-4 in the Army Air Corps and NE-1 in the Navy. Beyond basic flight training use the Grasshopper was used for military liaison scouting, coastal patrol and medevac. [5]

See also

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grumman TBF Avenger</span> American naval torpedo bomber

The Grumman TBF Avenger is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFB Shearwater</span> Airport in Shearwater, Nova Scotia

Canadian Forces Base Shearwater, commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS Shearwater, is a Canadian Forces facility located 4.5 nautical miles east southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Following a base rationalization program in the mid-1990s, the Canadian Forces closed CFB Shearwater as a separate Canadian Forces base and realigned the property's various facilities into CFB Halifax. These include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commemorative Air Force</span> Nonprofit organization for preserving aircraft

The Commemorative Air Force (CAF), formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is an American non-profit organization based in Dallas, Texas, that preserves and shows historical aircraft at airshows, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piper J-3 Cub</span> Family of light aircraft

The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Piper Aircraft's most-produced model, with nearly 20,000 built in the United States. Its simplicity, affordability and popularity invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convair C-131 Samaritan</span> 1954 airlifter series by Convair

The Convair C-131 Samaritan is an American twin-engined military transport produced from 1954 to 1956 by Convair. It is the military version of the Convair CV-240 family of airliners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum</span> Aerospace museum in U.S., Lowry Campus

The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (WOTR) is located on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, United States. The museum preserves the history of Lowry AFB's operations from 1938 to 1994 in its collections, archives, and research library. Features of the museum's collection include the USAF's B-1A Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers and many other military and general aviation aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Atlantic Air Museum</span> Aviation museum in Reading, Pennsylvania

The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) is an aviation museum and aircraft restoration facility located at Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pennsylvania. The museum, founded by Russ Strine, the current President, collects and actively restores historic war planes and classic airliners as well as rare civilian and military aircraft. Many of the museum's historic aircraft are often seen on the airshow circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeronca L-3</span> WWII liaison aircraft

The Aeronca L-3 group of observation and liaison aircraft were used by the United States Army Air Corps in World War II. The L-3 series were adapted from Aeronca's pre-war Tandem Trainer and Chief models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VFA-115</span> Military unit

Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) is known as the "Eagles", callsign "Talon", a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter squadron stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. Their tail code is NF. It was established as Torpedo Squadron VT-11 on 10 October 1942, redesignated VA-12A on 15 November 1946, VA-115 on 15 July 1948, then finally VFA-115.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stinson L-5 Sentinel</span> 1941 liaison aircraft family by Stinson

The Stinson L-5 Sentinel is a World War II-era liaison aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Ground Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force. It was produced by the Stinson Division of the Vultee Aircraft Company. Along with the Stinson L-1 Vigilant, the L-5 was the only other American liaison aircraft that was exclusively built for military use and had no civilian counterpart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Aviation Historical Society</span>

The Colorado Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) is located in Denver, Colorado and was founded in 1966. CAHS home is at Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. The Society acquires, restores, preserves and provides for public display, aircraft and other objects, documents, items and things of present or historical interest or value in connection with the development and history of aviation in the State of Colorado. CAHS hosts many aviation events and participates in many of Colorado's air shows and fly-ins. The Society has regular membership meetings and publishes a quarterly history journal. The Society owns an Alexander Eaglerock Model 24 Long Wings which is on loan and display at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, Pueblo, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peterson Air and Space Museum</span> Military aerospace museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Peterson Air and Space Museum is an aviation museum located at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado focused on the history the of Air Defense Command, Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum</span> Aviation museum in Pueblo, Colorado

The Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum is a non-profit aviation museum located in Southern Colorado. It was founded in the mid-1970s by former Pueblo City Manager Fred Weisbrod. The museum is made up of two hangars that were built in 2005 and 2011. The hangars house several of the museum's aircraft along with thousands of artifacts dating from World War I to modern day. PWAM is home to the International B-24 Memorial Museum and the Southern Colorado Space Museum and Learning Center. There are several historic military vehicles in the museum's collection, many of which are still in operational condition. The museum is located six miles east of Pueblo, Colorado on US Highway 50 at the Pueblo Memorial Airport, occupying space on what was the Pueblo Army Air Base during World War II. It is managed and maintained by the Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintage Aero Flying Museum</span>

Vintage Aero Flying Museum (VAFM), formally LaFayette1 Escadrille Flying Museum, is Colorado's international aviation museum at Platte Valley Airpark, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Hudson, Colorado and 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Denver, Colorado.

The Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society (PHAS), Pueblo, Colorado hosts a large collection of military aircraft in Colorado, United States through the operation of the Weisbrod Museum and the International B-24 Memorial Museum, together as the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum.

The Spirit of Flight Center (SOF), is operated by the non-profit Spirit of Flight Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization based in Nampa, ID. The Spirit of Flight collection, founded by Gordon R. Page, displays limited exhibits on modern and historic aviation, and features aviation history from 1935 to 1975, both military and general aviation. Featured is a Messerschmitt Bf 109 F fighter from Russia. Also on display at SOF is a full-size bronze statue of Amelia Earhart. SOF is located in Nampa, ID at the Nampa Municipal Airport which allows for pilots to fly in to the facility.

Attack Squadron ONE L (VA-1L) was a United States Navy squadron used to evaluate weapons and equipment and develop new tactics for the fleet under command of Light Carrier Air Group One (CVLG-1) aboard the USS Saipan (CVL-48). Originally established as Torpedo Squadron FIFTY EIGHT (VT-58) on 19 March 1946 at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Fentress in Chesapeake, Virginia, it was redesignated VA-1L on 15 November 1946 and ultimately disestablished on 20 November 1948. The squadron was the only one to receive the designations VA-1L or VT-58.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VA-15 (U.S. Navy)</span> Military unit

Attack Squadron 15 (VA-15), nicknamed the Valions, was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. It was established as Torpedo Squadron 4 (VT-4) on 10 January 1942, redesignated VA-2A on 15 November 1946, and finally redesignated VA-15 on 2 August 1948. The squadron was disestablished on 1 June 1969, after 27 years of service.

References

  1. ↑ Rocky Mountain Wing Museum Website Official site
  2. ↑ "Weekly listings". National Park Service. November 17, 2017.
  3. 1 2 David Shepard; E. Warzel (May 31, 2017). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: TBM Avenger Aircraft N53503/ 5ME.21405" (PDF). History Colorado. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  4. ↑ "CAF Rocky Mountain Wing.org: TBM Avenger History". Archived from the original on 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  5. ↑ "CAF Rocky Mountain Wing.org: Piper J-3 Grasshopper". Archived from the original on 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.