Pima Air & Space Museum, Arizona

After some excellent Mexican food in Tuscon, we headed to Phoenix, but Benjamin strongly suggested we stop at Pima Air & Space Museum on the way. I agreed, ready for some good A/C and having no expectations. But I was blown away at the depth and breadth of the collection, and what felt like, to me, living history. The museum has about 400 aircraft on over 80 acres, among the most extensive I've seen. Lest you think 400 is a small collection, they include garguantuan aircraft, like the SR-71 Blackbird (famous from the Cold War), the B-17 "Flying Fortress", several 747s, and even some retired Air Force One presidential planes. Above you see Benjamin taking a picture of the F-14 Tomcat, made famous by the Top Gun movies.

Among the profound historical displays was a destroyed Japanese Kamikazi plane next to a B-29, the same type of plane used to drop the atomic bombs over Japan. (The actual plane, the Enola Gay, is at the National Air and Space Museum.)

In a separate hangar was a fully restored B-17 bomber, known as the "Flying Fortress." A helpful silver-haired volunteer, likely a veteran himself, told us the B-17 had been restored to how it would have looked in 1945. The B-17 is a main player in the Hanks/Spielberg production of Masters of the Air, just released in 2024. But you may also be aware of this plane because it was the B-17 that dropped more bombs during the war than any other American aircraft.

The B-17 is entirely lacking in creature comforts. The interior, which can be viewed from a ladder, looks as if someone forgot to finish it. Sadly, the crew of six, mostly in their 20's, had a only a 50-50 chance of making it home alive.

The only guns were in the tail of the plane, operated uncomfortably from a kneeling position.

To see the B-17 was very impactful for me, but even more moving was to see an actual American flag hoisted on D-Day on Utah Beach. It is tattered and thread bare, hoisted by a then 19 year old named Don Drain, on the first boat to land on the beach. Drain apparently survived the assualt, as he was able to donate the flag after the war. A truly inspiring sight for me on Memorial Day, 2024.