Space (& Aviation) Museum: LAPC

In this post, I’ll focus on the Space part of the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, located in McMinnville, Oregon. This facility features aircraft inside two enormous buildings, plus more outside. It’s the kind of place where you’ll notice something new every time you visit.

When you enter the building, one of the first displays you see is of Russia’s launch of Sputnik. In 1957, their launch of the first artificial satellite changed the world. A few years later, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union circled the Earth in April 1961.

The race to space was on. In May 1961, with the support of President John F. Kennedy, Alan Sheppard became the first American in space.

America, in the 1960s, considered the Mercury 7 astronauts to be heroes. They piloted six Mercury missions from 1961 to 1963 and went on other missions.

Overhead, you can see a capsule in flight with an astronaut taking a space walk.

This is stage I of the multistage Titan rocket. Its kerosene and liquid oxygen-fueled engines provided 150,000 pounds of thrust.

Here’s an M1 Rocket Engine.

Astronauts trained in this Skylab airlock module prior to their trip to space.

Helicopters secured landed capsules to take astronauts back to base.

This eight-wheeled Soviet rover landed on the moon in November of 1970. This is a replica of Lunokhod 1.

This is a scale replica of a H-Series Lunar Module. Modules of this type were used on Apollo 11, 12, and 14 missions.

There are huge displays throughout the Museum showing accomplishments along a timeline.

Other aircraft in the Space Museum

In 1926, the Goddard Rocket flew the world’s first liquid fueled flight. This is a replica of “Nell.”

This is a picture of Sergeant, one of the first solid-fuel surface-to-surface missiles. These short-range missiles were in service from 1966 to 1977.

The Rockwell Sabreliner 50 was flown from 1954 to the present. It’s used by business people and variants have been used by the military.

Helicopters

One section features several helicopters.

The yellow helicopter below is a HO3S-1. The Sikorskys, in use by all branches of the military, first flew in 1946.

This small aircraft is a Bell HTL-3. Manufactured in 1950, they were used during the Korean War.

This strange-shaped tandem-rotor helicopter is a Plasecki HRP-1 Rescuer. It was called the “Flying Banana” and flew from 1947 to 1953.

The Blackbird

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is one of the star attractions in this building. The secretive production of this reconnaissance aircraft began in the 1960s. It set records for speed and altitude throughout its career.

Here’s a closer look at the cockpit.

This hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft is an X-15. It first flew in 1959 and flew high enough to reach the edge of outer space. The U.S. Air Force and NASA flew this aircraft.

More military aircraft

This is a Grumman OV-1 Mohawk. It’s the first turboprop powered aircraft used by the U.S. Army. Designed in the 1950s, it was used for taking photographs, observation, and electronic reconnaissance.

This is a McDonnell F-101 VooDoo, a supersonic fighter plane. It was first flown in 1954 and used by both the United States and Canadian Air Force.

In this overview photo, you can see several aircraft, including two drones in the foreground.

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was first flown in 1977. Heavy in thrust, and light on weight, F-15s are true modern dogfighters.

Here’s a view of it from another angle. At the time this specific aircraft was retired in 2007, it was the oldest flying F-15 in the Air Force inventory. As I’ve mentioned before, my late brother flew F-15s when he served in the Air Force.

To read about the aviation part of the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, see my Evergreen Aviation post.

To see a post specifically about the Spruce Goose, see Spruce Goose is a sight to see.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Over the top

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