The 1901-1902 Wright Glider - History's 1st Controlled Glider Flight

Ingeniously, the rudder of the glider was connected to the hip-operated wing-warping mechanism, turning the nose into the direction of flight.It was the first aerodynamic flight. The Wright glider made an impressive 600 flights.

Manikin: Wilbur Wright

First Flight: September 23, 1902

Sopwith Pup

Pilots valued the Pup because it was simple, reliable and easy to fly. Its large wing area gave it a good rate of climb and agility was enhanced by ailerons being fitted on all four wings. It was underpowered and under armed compared to its contemporaries including the German Albatross D.III, but was much more maneuverable than the Albatross, especially over 15,000 ft.

The Pup was an excellent advanced trainer, and served as such for the end of the war and after - although many "trainer" Pups were in fact reserved by senior officers as their personal runabouts.

This is a full scale replica.

"It was so light to the touch, if you sneezed, you looped." - Unknown

The Spirit of St. Louis

A full-size replica of the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic from New York to Paris by "Lucky Lindy", Charles Lindbergh

Early in the morning on May 20, 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh took off in The Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt Field near New York City. Flying northeast along the coast, he was sighted later in the day flying over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. From St. Johns, Newfoundland, he headed out over the Atlantic, using only a magnetic compass, his airspeed indicator, and luck to navigate toward Ireland. Citizens waited nervously by their radios, listening for news of the flight. When Lindbergh was seen crossing the Irish coast, the world cheered and eagerly anticipated his arrival in Paris. A frenzied crowd of more than 100,000 people gathered at Le Bourget Field to greet him. When he landed, less than 34 hours after his departure from New York, Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. "Lindbergh Does It! To Paris in 33 1/2 Hours; Flies 1,000 Miles Through Snow and Sleet; Cheering French Carry Him Off Field"

The F-86 Canadian Sabre

The classic F86 Canadian Sabre jet fighter aircraft of the US forces first flew in prototype form in October 1947. It might have been the first jet to break the sound barrier in a dive.

When the Korean peninsula troubles began in 1950 the North American Sabre was to become the major USAF air superiorty fighter used. In this conflict the F86 was pitted largely against the excellent Russian Mig 15 single engined jet. The Mig 15 was a tough adversary, both fast and with a heavy cannon in the nose. Sabres however managed to dominate the aircraft with a reported 11:1 victory ratio.

The MiG 21

The MiG 21 was the most built jet ever. Fast, small, agile dependable and above all simple, it could be turned out in prodigious numbers, and was. It has flown in more wars than any other airplane in the world. An estimated 10,000 (some sources state as much as 13,000 copies) of them have been produced by the Soviet Union, it's allies and China.

First introduced in service with the Soviet Air Force in 1959, it continued front line service for more than 30 years. The MiG-21 proved itself over and over as a formidable dogfighter against the heavier American fighters which was another reason for the success of the MiG-21. Its easy maintenance, rough field capabilities, and safe flight characteristic made it the one of the most successful jet fighter aircraft of all times. The MiG 21 on display is identical to the plane General Stafford flew in Area 51 during the height of the cold war.

T-38 Talon

The T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of roles because of its design, economy of operations, ease of maintenance, high performance and exceptional safety record.

The T-38 has swept wings, a streamlined fuselage and tricycle landing gear with a steerable nose wheel. Two independent hydraulic systems power the ailerons, rudder and other flight control surfaces.The T-38 requires a short distance runway to take off and can climb from sea level to nearly 30,000 feet in one minute.

Test pilots and flight test engineers are trained in T-38s at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. As a captain, General Stafford was a test pilot school manager who wrote the flight and academic curriculum for the T-38 training program.

On February 19, 1962,  Walter Daniel in the T-38A set four climb records at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

In the 1970's the aircraft had its first retirement.It was reactivated in 1993. It was retired again and for the final time in 1998.

F16 Fighter Jet

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft. It is highly maneuverable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. In an air combat role, the F-16's maneuverability and combat radius (distance it can fly to enter air combat, stay, fight and return) exceeded that of all potential threat fighter aircraft. With a full load of internal fuel, the F-16 can withstand up to nine G's!

The cockpit and its bubble canopy give the pilot unobstructed forward and upward vision, and greatly improved vision over the side and to the rear. The seat-back angle was expanded from the usual 13 degrees to 30 degrees, increasing pilot comfort and gravity force tolerance. The pilot has excellent flight control of the F-16 through its "fly-by-wire" system. Electrical wires relay commands, replacing the usual cables and linkage controls. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the F-16 has been a major component of the combat forces committed to the Global War on Terrorism flying thousands of sorties in support of operations Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense), Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom.

Weapons Carried by the F-16 Falcon

MK-84 Bomb

The MK-84 is a free-fall, nonguided GP 2,000-pound bomb. The MK 80 series Low Drag General Purpose (LDGP) bombs are used in the majority of bombing operations where maximum blast and explosive effects are desired.

During Desert Storm the MK-80 series of bombs were dropped from literally every fixed-wing aircraft that supported the ground offensive including the F-16. These bombs were used against a wide variety of targets, including artillery, trucks, bunkers, Scuds, surface-to-air missile sites, antiaircraft artillery sites, early warning radars, and supply points.

AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile

The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft. It has a high-explosive warhead and an active infrared guidance system. The F-16 is diplayed armed with one of these well-known weapons.

The missile's main components are an infrared homing guidance section, an active optical target detector, a high-explosive warhead, and a rocket motor.The infrared guidance head enables the missile to home on target aircraft engine exhaust. An infrared unit costs less than other types of guidance systems, and can be used in day/night and electronic countermeasures conditions. The infrared seeker also permits the pilot to launch the missile, then leave the area or take evasive action while the missile guides itself to the target.

B61 Thermonuclear Bomb

The B61 thermonuclear bomb, first produced in 1966, has developed into an extremely flexible weapon. The mission-specific 1,200-pound B61-11 "bunker buster" is actually a variable yield weapon. Depending on the yield of the bomb, the B61-11 can produce explosions ranging from 300 tons of TNT to more than 300,000 tons. 

The B61-7 has four yield options that can be selected before flight. This strategic version can be dropped at high speed from as low as 15 meters in a "laydown" delivery (a delayed surface burst where the bomb parachutes to the ground allowing the bomber to escape the blast.)

The B61 can also be delivered free-fall or parachute-retarded ground or air-burst. The latest versions have in-flight fusing and yield selection, as well as integrated Permissive Action Links (PALs), requiring the correct code for arming. Over 3,000 B61s were manufactured during the Cold War, though many are tactical versions. About 750 Mod 7 strategic B61's remain in the active inventory.

The Space Race took place between the United States and the Soviet Union and lasted from 1957-1975. The goals of the space race were to explore outerspace with artificial satellites, send humans to space, and the land people on the moon.

Sputnik

Launched on October 4, 1957 by the Russians, Sputnik began the space race. This artificial satellite was designed by M.S Khomyakov and weighed 184 pounds. The feed lasted until October 26, 1957 when the batteries ran out. During reentry to the Earth's atmosphere, on January 4, 1958 Sputnik burned up.

In response to the launch of Sputnik, the United States launched Explorer I on February 1, 1958. Compared to Sputnik, the weight difference was incredible.The Explorer weighed only 30.18 pounds. This satellite was the first to detect the Van Allen radiation belt. 40% of its payload was its mercury chemical batteries to produce it's power. The transmition stopped on May 23, 1958. The Explorer amazingly stayed in space for 12 years following this.

The Mercury Project started 1958 was the first American man-in-space program. The objectives were defined clearly into three steps. First, to orbit a manned spacecraft around the Earth. Second, to investigate man's ability to function in space. And lastly, to recover both man and spacecraft safely. This succesful project ended in 1963.

Pictured is a 1/3 scale model with the launch escape tower.

The Titan II launch vehicle carried not only the Mark 6, but was the reenty vehicles for NASA's Gemini space program. General Stafford flew on two Gemini missions: Gemini VI and Gemini IX. Amazingly, the Gemini space craft was interchangeable with the thermo-nuclear warhead.

Mark 6 Reentry Vehicle

The Mark 6 reentry vehicle carried the 9 megaton W-53 thermo-nuclear warhead, which weighed 8380 LBS and had a range of 5500 miles while traveling at 15,0000 mph.

The Gemini design was considered the ultimate 'pilot's spacecraft' and its extremely light weight making it popular with engineers. The orbital configuration was 8,000 lb. The first Gemini mission flew in March of 1965.

The crew station layout was similar to that of the latest military fighters; the capsule was equipped with ejection seats, inertial navigation, the pilot's traditional 8-ball altitude display, and radar. The crew consisted of a commancer and a pilot.

The first Apollo mission took place in 1969 and continued well into the 1970's. The Apollo Spacecraft is made up of three parts: the command, service and lunar lander module.

The command module is the control center where the astronauts stay. The service module is unpressurized with fuel cells, batteries, high grain antenna radiators, water, etc. The objective for the lunar module was to orbit the moon, go to the moon and back. The lunar module is divided into two parts: the descent and ascent modules. The descent is made of the essentials to land on the moon. The ascent module is where the crew cabin is as well as the docking port and other important features.

Pictured, is a half scale model of the Apollo lunar module.

 This Lunar sample, like many, comes from an Apollo mission. Through out all the Apollo missions 2,415 samples were collected. This sample comes from the lunar highlands and was collected on the Apollo 17 mission.

Moon rocks are similar to Earth's rocks because of Oxygen found in them. The lunar samples contain high levels of Titanium. Also, a new mineral was found in the moon rocks and named 'Armalcolite'  after the first 3 astronauts to land on the moon.

There are three sources of moon rocks on Earth: 1) The Apollo missions, 2) the Soviet Union's Luna U.S.S.R. missions, and 3) rocks being naturally ejected from the moon's surface.

  The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project(ASTP) was the first combined effort of the U.S. and Soviet Space Programs.  The first time rendezvous took place in July 1975, but months before the actual space flight the astronauts and cosmonauts spent a great deal of time with each. They learned about each others' culture, language, and became very good friends. General Stafford was the commander of the Apollo with Vance Brand and Deke Slayton on board. This was the last Apollo mission and the last manned launch until the shuttle. Alexei Leonov commanded the Soyuz mission with Valeri Kubasov. The two spacecrafts docked on July 17, 1975. Three hours later the famous handshake in space by General Stafford and Leonov, symbolically ended the space race.

This 1/16th scale model,the same scale shuttle as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum shows the three different parts of a space shuttle. These are the orange external tank, the two solid rocket boosters, and the orbiter.

The Orange external tank is filled with liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. This part is only used once. The two white solid rocket boosters provide 83% of liftoff thrust and are reusable. The orbiter is what carries the astronauts.

This design by Maxime Faget was the first partial reusable spacecraft. It was designed to withstand 100 launches or 10 years of operational life.

Total Gross Lift Off: 4.5 million lb.

Total Thrust at sea level lift off: 6.781 million lb.

Solid Rocket Booster Segment

The boosters supply the main thrust needed to lift the space shuttle up to 150,000 ft or 24 nautical miles. These boosters carry the complete weight of the external tank and the orbiter. The two boosters weigh 1,300,000 individually at launch.

The solid Rocket boosters are made up of four of these segments. Each segment has to be shipped seperatly to the launch site.

Complete Set of Mission Tires

This tire display from the space shuttle Atlantis represents all the rubber used on a single landing for the 10 day mission of STS-81.  The Stafford Air & Space Museum is the only facility to display a full flown set of space shuttle tires from a single space mission.

The landing gear tires (bigger tires) fly on one mission, while the nose tires fly on two. Instead of being filled with air, these tires are filled with nitrogen.  The tires cost $5,560 each, the maximum allowable load per main landing gear tire is 123,000 pounds, and they are rated at 258 mph.

New exhibit! The museum now has a space plane. This simulated space shuttle ride holds up to 10-15 adults or around 20 children. The Space Plane was donated by the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Come enjoy the newest addition to the museum!