:Pima Air & Space Museum

{{Short description|Aeronautical museum in Pima County, Arizona}}

{{Infobox museum

|name = Pima Air & Space Museum

|image = Pima-air-and-space-MCB.jpg

|caption = The main entrance to the museum

|map_type = Arizona

|map_caption = Location in Arizona

|coordinates = {{Coord|32|08|20.2|N|110|52|07.3|W|type:landmark_source:GNIS|display=it}}

|established = {{start date and age|1976|5|8}}

|location = 6000 East Valencia Road
Tucson, Arizona, United States

|type = Aviation museum

|director = Scott Marchand

|website = {{URL|pimaair.org}}

}}

The Pima Air & Space Museum is an aerospace museum in Tucson, Arizona, US. It features a display of nearly 400 aircraft spread out over {{cvt|80|acres|ha}} on a campus occupying {{cvt|127|acres|ha}}. It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991.

Overview

A large number of the museum's aircraft are displayed outside with the remainder located in one of the museum's six display hangars. In addition to the display hangars, the museum has a restoration hangar.{{cite web|title=Restoration Hangar & Project Status|url=http://www.pimaair.org/restoration.php|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|access-date=May 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208013748/http://pimaair.org/restoration.php|archive-date=February 8, 2014}}

Opened to the public in May 1976 with 48 aircraft then on display, the museum's main hangar houses an SR-71A Blackbird, an A-10 Warthog, a United States Air Force Through the Years exhibit, and a mock-up of a control tower.

The museum is adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), affiliated with the base, also known as the "Graveyard of Planes" or "The Boneyard", is the largest aircraft storage and preservation facility in the world.{{cite web|title="Boneyard"/AMARG Tour|url=http://www.pimaair.org/tour-boneyard|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|publisher=Pimaair.org|access-date=May 15, 2017}}

History

The museum opened to the public on May 8, 1976. In early 1982 the first hangar on the site was completed. A second was built in 1987, a third in 1992, and a fourth in 1994.{{cite web|last1=Stemm|first1=James|title=History of the Pima Air & Space Museum|url=http://www.pimaair.org/explore/history|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|publisher=Pimaair.org|access-date=May 12, 2017}} After running into difficulty in the late 1990s, the museum recovered and continued expanding.{{cite news |last1=Spigelman |first1=Monica Surfaro |title=Delight in Flight Count Raises $12 Million for Aviation Museums |url=http://www.biztucson.com/delight-in-flight-count-raises-12-million-for-aviation-museums/ |access-date=5 February 2024 |work=BizTucson |date=12 February 2014}}

In 2012, the museum collaborated with artists, in The Boneyard Project, to place some abandoned aircraft on display as canvases for art.{{cite web|last1=Firestone|first1=Eric|title=[Homepage]|url=http://theboneyardprojects.com|website=The Boneyard Project: Return Trip|access-date=May 15, 2017|date=2012}}{{cite news|last1=Francis|first1=Christopher|title=Plane becomes canvas at Pima Air & Space Museum|url=http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/24158608/plane-becomes-canvas-at-pima-air-space-museum|access-date=May 15, 2017|work=Tucson News Now|publisher=Raycom Media|date=2013}}

During 2015, Boeing donated to the museum a flight test 787 aircraft which is the second built. It is exhibited in the colors of the 787 customer, ANA.{{cite web|url=http://worldairlinenews.com/2015/04/20/boeing-donates-787-8-za002-n787ex-to-the-pima-air-and-space-museum/|title=Boeing donates 787-8 ZA002 (N787EX) to the Pima Air and Space Museum|work=World Airline News|date=April 20, 2015|access-date=August 26, 2015}}

In November 2016, Orbis International donated their first McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital to the museum, after receiving a second DC-10 from FedEx. The DC-10, which was the oldest flying example of its type and at the time of its donation, while being the oldest surviving example and the second overall built, was restored for display at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base.{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=William|title=Pima Space Museum to get DC-10 that served as flying eye hospital|url=http://tucson.com/news/local/pima-space-museum-to-get-dc--that-served-as/article_7651166f-95aa-5025-9b26-4ab1e1545161.html|website=Arizona Daily Star|access-date=20 November 2018}}

The museum acquired {{convert|77|acre|ha}} in January 2021 for the construction of the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum. The new museum will house a large number of mostly land vehicles, including 50 donated by the Imperial War Museum.{{cite web |title=Expansion of the Pima Air and Space Museum with the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum |url=http://webcms.pima.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6/File/Government/Administration/CHHmemosFor%20Web/2021/February/bd-Expansion%20of%20the%20Pima%20Air%20and%20Space%20Museum%20with%20the%20Tucson%20Military%20Vehicle.pdf |website=Pima County |access-date=4 February 2021 |date=26 January 2021}}

Selected aircraft on display

Out of a collection of 400 aircraft, these are the most prominent:

Boeing 777 (B-HNL){{cite web |title=First Boeing 777 now at Pima Air and Space Museum |url=http://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2018/09/18/first-boeing-777-now-at-pima-air-and-space-museum |website=News for Tucson |access-date=4 February 2021 |date=18 September 2018}}
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress{{cite web |url=https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/boeing-b-17g/ |title=Boeing B-17G (PB-1G) Flying Fortress |website=pimaair.org |accessdate=November 20, 2022}}^{{dagger}}
Boeing B-29 Superfortress{{cite web|title=Hangar 4|url=http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=25|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208013917/http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=25|archive-date=February 8, 2014}}
Consolidated B-24 Liberator{{cite web|title=Hangar 3|url=http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=24|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208014255/http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=24|archive-date=February 8, 2014}}
Convair B-36J Peacemaker{{cite web |title=Airframe Dossier 52-2827 USAF B-36J |url=https://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=16231 |website=Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier |access-date=2 June 2021 |date=2 June 2021}}
English Electric Lightning
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird{{cite web|title=Hangar 1 South The Spirit of Freedom Hangar|url=http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=26|website=Pima Air & Space Museum|access-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208014448/http://pimaair.org/view.php?pg=26|archive-date=February 8, 2014}}

Martin PBM Mariner
North American F-107
Aero Spacelines Super Guppy
N747GE (Boeing 747 based engine testbed)
Boeing 787
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (Originally Orbis Flying Eye Hospital)

{{dagger}} B-17G serial number 44-85828 is on display at the 390th Memorial Museum,{{cite web |url=https://390th.org/learn-about-390th/b-17-flyingfortress/ |title=B-17: The Flying Fortress |website=390th.org |accessdate=November 20, 2022}} co-located on the grounds of the Pima Air & Space Museum.{{cite web |url=https://390th.org/visit-the-museum/ |title=Plan Your Visit |website=390th.org |accessdate=November 20, 2022}}

In addition to other ephemera, the museum contains the Shuttle Mission Simulator's GNS (Guidance and Navigation Simulator) trainer, and a full-size mockup of the Solid Rocket Booster.{{Cite web |title=Former shuttle cockpit simulator comes to Tucson |last=Jess |first=Steve |work=news.azpm.org |date=7 February 2022 |access-date=1 December 2022 |url= https://news.azpm.org/p/news-splash/2022/2/7/206661-former-shuttle-cockpit-simulator-comes-to-tucson/}}{{Cite web |title=THIOKOL SPACE SHUTTLE SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER - Pima Air & Space |author= |work=Pima Air & Space |date= |access-date=1 December 2022 |url= https://pimaair.org/museum-aircraft/thiokol-space-shuttle-solid-rocket-booster/}}

{{Gallery

|File:SR-71 Blackbird inside Museum.jpg|SR-71 Blackbird

|File:44-85828 - DI-H Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (299P) "I`ll Be Around" (cn 8737) USAAF. (8215360373).jpg|Boeing B-17G 44-85828, wearing the livery of 42-31892 "I'll Be Around"

|File:44-70016 B29 BOEING SUPERFORTRESS PIMA (14039520343).jpg|Boeing B-29 Superfortress 44-70016

}}