Pensacola Air Museum

The Naval Air Museum, the home of the Blue Angles, was HUGE! They had hundreds of restored aircraft inside, and many more sitting outside waiting to be restored. One item I saw was this quilt made by a Navy Pilots wife. I scratched my head for a while, and tried to remember the lyrics to the Elton John song. Turns out the song was about a fictional band that Elton John was supposed to be a fan of, and was a satire on the music industry of the late ’70’s. The quilt was another satire!

We had a guided tour of the entire interior, and also a narrated tram ride of the planes outside.

You really have to see it to believe it. I can’t begin to give you the specifics of the history of Naval Aviation, but will just put up some pics I thought were especially interesting.

The plane to the left is the same as the plane Amelia Earhart was flying on a circumnavigation of the globe in 1937. She and her plane disappeared somewhere over the Central Pacific Ocean. The picture below is a plane with wooden floats. 

The plane above is Snoopy's Sopwith Camel.

The plane in the first picture below is a staggered wing biplane.

And of course we had to get a souvenir from the place, so we picked up a spare prop for 20BUCK$!

The displays went on and on.  They had models of many air craft carriers, a flight deck of a carrier recreated, and planes, planes, planes. We could have spent three days there and not gotten through it all. If you are ever in the area, it’s a “must stop” place.

Above are four of the Blue Angles planes in their Diamond Formation. Bear in mind - these planes are hanging from the CEILING!!!

I was  going to continue with some pics of Sandestin, where we have been for the past two days. However, I think we’ll save that for another post, and tell you a little story instead.

I just got a call from our friend Rusty on CBAY - but a little history first. Rusty is a retired Georgia State Judge. You’d never guess it talking to him. He’s quite a character! He and Jan were with us at the museum, along with Beth and Dean from Kismet. We had taken a cab to the museum, and made a quick stop at a West Marine on the way home. The cabby was a nice guy, and knew right where West was. When we got back to the marina, another looper boat pulled in. It was mom, dad, and their two children. They were home schooling the kids on the boat during the Loop. Turns out they are from Miami, so are just finishing. A very nice family. We told them we had done the Air Museum, and they said they were doing it the next day. We all exchanged boat cards, went to bed, and all went our separate ways the next morning.

We headed to Sandestin, and Rusty & Jan headed to a small town about 1/2 way to Sandestin. They have friends there, and are spending Thanksgiving with them. Rusty discovered on the way his camera was missing. Must have left it at the museum. He got the boat card from the family we had just met, called them, and asked if they would check the lost and found  at the museum to see if the camera had been turned in. Rusty said if they turned the camera on, and went to the second picture, it would be of their recently deceased Chihuahua. They said they would, and discovered they were going to be at the same marina the next day.

Well, today they pulled into the marina right next to Rusty. Stepped off their boat, and handed him his camera.

“Someone turned it in at the museum??”

“No - we didn’t find it there.”

“Well - where on earth did I leave it then.”

“Well - we took a cab from the museum back to the boat. I asked the cabby if he’d mind stopping at West Marine on the way. He said - “No problem. Matter of fact, I had a group on the same run yesterday I did the same stop for.”  When the kids heard that, they started looking in the cab, and found the camera.”

Can you believe that one!!!

Next post - about Sandestin.

Captn' Ken