January 29, 2006
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Photo Post: March Field Aircraft Museum
Last April on a particularly beautiful early Spring day I went to the March Field Aircraft Museum and blogged some photos HERE. I wanted to go out there with my roommate Cancerboy this weekend but he wasn’t feeling good yesterday. It’s a long drive to get to the museum, and since it’s aircraft in the museum, there’s a lot of walking. We might go today, but I noticed I hadn’t posted in a while, so here are some more photos from the original shoot. I also included the link above to the first blog entry, so I won’t duplicate any specific photos in this post. I never did get a folder with these photos online, so this will be the only place to see these particular photos, taken in April 2005.
I went to both the March Field Aircraft Museum and the Orange Empire Railroad Museum on the same day. It had been raining quite a bit last year at the time, and the weekend I decided to take the trip, there were beautiful billowy white puffy clouds against a beautiful blue sky. It was a perfect day.
I admit I don’t know all the body types, and I didn’t take notes as I had just spent all day at the train museum in Perris and only had two hours to take pictures on a museum lot that covered a few acres. I think this is a B-17 at the entrance. It’s a WWII warplane.
A museum “patron” walks by a row of planes. March Field was a WWI airfield. And there was an Air Force base on the other side of the museum. Some of the older planes have seen the worst of wear, but most of the specimens were nicely restored.
On the day I was there, they had just had one of their battle re-enactments and had a lot of vehicles on the field as well as the planes. Here is a vintage World War II era jeep.
I found out that you have to be pretty far away from a full size airplane in order to photograph the whole thing. The P-38 was in a hanger, and I didn’t get that many shots cause there wasn’t a good shot to be had in the confines of the hanger even with the wide angle lens.
This is a Russian WWII vintage warplane. I could go inside this plane and look around. The restorer didn’t have the original seats so put in director’s chairs. He told me the original seats were very much like director’s chairs.
A B-1 bomber. It was actually quite exciting seeing one of these up close. Even with only two hours, there are a lot of planes to see, and after a while, it looks like just a lot of planes, but I like the ones they let you inside to check out. You couldn’t sit in the B-1′s cockpit. Pity.
A DC-3 passenger plane. Most of the planes on display are war planes. March Field was a military airfield. But there are some nice examples of commercial craft as well as warplanes.
I can’t identify these, and as mentioned, I didn’t take notes last year. I hope Joel is well enough to go today. I already have my camera charged up and an empty memory stick ready to take more photos. Joel knows a lot about planes, and is always watching those “airplane channels” on DirecTV so I’m sure he would enjoy himself. I just had no time for the planes last year. Each setup for a photo was really quick, and I hardly “saw” any of the planes cause I was too busy photographing. (I just noticed that I used that photo in the first blog entry. Sorry.)
Here are some 1950s GMC trucks on display. Well, if I don’t get out there today or soon, then at least I revisted the place this morning with the help of my photo collection and Xanga.
I’m going to close with the photo I used on the last post too, cause I like it.
Comments (17)
i love old planes too but don’t know them apart. we went to an airshow where they had three WW2 bombers flying. it seemed amazing that they could still get off the ground. i hope joel feels better today! :heartbeat:
I like it too – it’s my favorite although they are all great; I always enjoy your photo blogs. When we lived in NE and MO we were near airforce bases and always attended the annual air show.
The first picture is most definitely not a B-17. I should really know this at the very first sight, but my mind is failing me right now. It looks more like a B-25 Mitchell. B-17′s have four engines. One year at Oshkosh, WI’s airshow, a B-17 flew over me at an altitude of only like 200 feet! Very loud.
Troy
Hello Mike
I so love those old trucks. I always make the classic car shows around here. I just love classic cars. I want to one day own a classic vette. Yeah I know that will be the day. LOL I can dream big though. The planes were great also. I don’t think that I would like to fly in one though. I like lots of plane between me and the ground.
Hope that you are having a great weekend.
Kat
I hope your room mate is feeling better.
and… I hope you can go back soon.
I loved this blog and the other one, I will look at again.
airplanes are amazing, just incredible. These are fabulous pictures you took.
I do not know much about these sorts of planes but they are so cool.
I love that Stealth B-1 bomber. My hubby knows about the soft ware on that plane.
Thats his job, shopping for war technology.
I hopeyou are having a great week-end and give your room mate a hug for me. Tell him it is from me so he doesnt get freaked out or anything… :fun:
I loved the Orange Empire Train Museum. Took my son there when he was mad about trains. He was so amazed by all the real “BIG” trains. Only thing he missed thee was Thomas the Tank Engine!!!!! But Chrris waved to every person at the crossroads and watched everything with such childhood amazement!
Thoughts through the looking glass
Great Photo post!!!!!:heartbeat:
We have quite the lot of airshows in this region each year. J is a frustrated pilot, flying a lot before, but not having either the money or the health to stay certified to solo anymore… It’s neat to see all the old planes.
i’ve never been to a ‘plane’ show but we have car shows here all the time that i go down and take pictures of. i haven’t posted any pictures in a while though. this makes me want to go see new things though.
Interesting photos. I have been to the Smithsonian, and saw the planes, etc there.
I like the very last picture the best. One of the things I do for fun, while sitting in my car is to watch the world from the view of the mirrors. It’s quite fascinating to watch life emerge around you in a small mirror.
That Carnation Milk truck made me chuckle. :giggle:
I love the classic vehicles here. I may have told you before that my dad was a pilot for the Air Force from about ’81 to ’01. Part of my youth was spent in Dayton, Ohio, where they have the Air Force Museum with a bunch of planes and even spacecraft. I’m a peacehungry person now, at least as far as unjust wars go, but these photos, especially framed so expertly by you, make me nostalgic, patriotic, and very reverent.
lol it’s ok i don’t require much maintenance when referring to comments. Just quality ones will do not quantity.
as to dreams i’ve been dreaming of my online friends since i started my first xanga as princesskittypoo. i even remember some of them today. (i thought everyone was the same person in my dreams most of the time though) so it was usually dreaming names and tearing them apart to reform other names.
i think sometimes we visit those people that we like while we are sleep and some of those visits we remember in dream form instead of actually what our eyes saw on the journey. like astral projections….
another great entry! looks like a lot of fun!
Hi! This is Telly.
Just wanted to say thanks for letting me in the blogring. And also sorry for the lack of entries. Seems like the aircraft museum was fun! I rarely get to go to those things, so seeing others’ pictures is about as good as it gets. 
I’m so jealous – I LOVE planes, can never get enough of them – but I ‘ve had a chnace for months to go see a duck on a pond, let alone something decent. Just one thing though.
It maybe my eyes, and the early hour as I read this – but isn’t your sleath bomber an SR71 Blackbird?