{"id":213312,"date":"2025-04-29T18:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T18:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/palm-springs-air-museums-latest-acquisitions\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T18:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T18:53:11","slug":"palm-springs-air-museums-latest-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=213312","title":{"rendered":"Palm Springs Air Museum’s Latest Acquisitions"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Ralph Olson provides this update on the Palm Springs Air Museum and some important new additions to its collection.<\/p>\n

Have you visited? Details of how to do so are at the bottom of the page\u2026<\/p>\n

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The B-17 Movie Memphis Belle<\/em>: History Returns to the Air<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Movie Memphis Belle was painted for the movie to the exact specifications as the famed aircraft of WWII. (Ralph Olson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The 1990 movie Memphis Belle, <\/em>tells the story of this famed aircraft and crew as they fly the 25th<\/sup> and final mission which was a prerequisite for the completion of their tour of duty. During filming, two B-17s were used to depict the Belle; one was the movie version of the Memphis Belle<\/em> (N3703G) and the other, Sally G, <\/em>which was used only briefly for scenes requiring pyrotechnic smoke and sparks to show machine gun hits. Three additional B-17s were also briefly used for takeoff scenes, but the undisputed star of the movie was the Movie Memphis Belle<\/em> (N3703G).<\/p>\n

N3703G came to life at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, CA as B-17G-85-DL.\u00a0 Built in late 1944, the aircraft was put into storage at the end of the war, but was eventually converted into a staff transport plane, serving in post-war Germany, Kodiak, Alaska and in the Korean War. The aircraft was stored again in 1954 and later converted into a water bomber in 1960.<\/p>\n

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N3703G was converted to a water bomber to fight fires in Northern California. (angelfire.com)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

One of the modifications during water bomber conversion was the removal of the chin gun turret which was the configuration of B-17F models.\u00a0 As a water bomber, the aircraft was assigned civil registration N3703G and re-painted with an all red tail plane in 1974.\u00a0 N3703G was kept in good flying condition at Porterville, California until its retirement in 1981.<\/p>\n

Later in the 1980s, the aircraft was acquired by Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation (MARC) where it was modified and re-painted with the livery of 41-24485, Memphis Belle<\/em>.\u00a0 The founder of MARC, the late David Tallichet had amassed a large collection of vintage aircraft.\u00a0 He had a personal connection with B-17s as he had flown as a copilot on missions with the 100th<\/sup> Bomb Group, 8th<\/sup> AF during World War II. N3703G was restored to flight status and used in filming the movie \u201cMemphis Belle\u201d <\/em>in 1989.<\/p>\n

N3703G used to be based with MARC at Chino, California, but through the decades has moved around trying to find a happy home.\u00a0 It had spent a number of years at the National Warplane Museum at Geneseo, New York.\u00a0 It was flown to the Palm Springs Air Museum in late 2021, where it is on long-term loan, under a ferry permit. The move to Palm Springs was largely driven by a required climate change to better preserve the aircraft.<\/p>\n

The Palm Springs Air Museum is restoring N3703G, the Movie Memphis Belle,<\/em> to flight status and is expected to fly in late 2025.\u00a0 It will be flown by museum flight crews and will be operated under the Living History Flight Experience program, but will not be available for passenger rides.\u00a0 Instead, it will be flown to museum events and air shows to offer the public an opportunity to see the aircraft and take an interior tour.<\/p>\n

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Darkstar; <\/em>A Movie Star with a Preview of the Future<\/span><\/h3>\n
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An artist\u2019s rendering of Darkstar in flight. (Lockheed Martin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Palm Springs Air Museum received Darkstar<\/em> from the division of Lockheed Martin known as the Skunk Works, which is the most important and influential division that works on top secret and state-of-the-art classified aircraft programs.\u00a0 Darkstar<\/em> looks like a sleek aircraft capable of Mach speeds, but it is actually\u00a0 a 3\/4 scale wood model of a Lockheed aircraft design used as a movie prop in making the 2022 movie Top Gun: Maverick.<\/em><\/p>\n

The opening scenes of Top Gun: Maverick,<\/em> depict Captain Pete Mitchell taking his need for speed to the hypersonic realm. Thirty-six years after the first movie debuted, Mitchell is a test pilot flying the SR-72 Darkstar, <\/em>in which he attempts to reach a new speed record of Mach 10.\u00a0 The aircraft breaks apart from the aerodynamic forces and Mitchell ejects safely back to terra firma.\u00a0 The movie was the second highest-grossing film of 2022 and picked up six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Film Editing and Visual Effects.<\/p>\n

By starring in the movie, Darkstar<\/em> may have gotten another shred of confirmation that it actually exists. In a tweet celebrating the success of Top Gun: Maverick,<\/em> Lockheed Martin mentioned the famed SR-71 Blackbird,<\/em> as being the fastest crewed air-breathing jet aircraft.\u00a0 The tweet could be a subtle reference to the SR-72, the long rumored hypersonic successor to the Blackbird.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Lockheed Martin\u2019s Darkstar shows off its sleek lines at Palm Springs Air Museum. Note the Skunk Works logo on the tail fin. (Ralph Olson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While no such jet is known to exist, there have been hints that a follow-on aircraft to the SR-71 might be flying, or at least in the planning stages.\u00a0 Darkstar <\/em>in the movie, called the SR-72, looks like a Skunk Works concept art for the real un-crewed SR-72.\u00a0 The hypersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft, first announced in 2016, had a long blended wing and fuselage.\u00a0 The Skunk Works logo can be seen on the tail fin, and it is described by Lockheed Martin as a Mach 6 capable jet.<\/p>\n

Maverick\u2019s Darkstar <\/em>SR-72 does have windows on both sides of the fuselage, which is different from Lockheed\u2019s conceptual SR-72 which is un-crewed and would not need windows.\u00a0 The aircraft that the SR-72 succeeds, the SR-71, is a universal icon of aerospace engineering.<\/p>\n

The new aircraft design is sometimes called the \u201cSon of Blackbird<\/em>\u201d, which throws down a challenging gauntlet for designers at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works engineering team.\u00a0 With a lot of eager speculation about what is promised to be a highly capable aircraft, there is undoubtedly a lot of excitement.\u00a0 Before even being tested, Darkstar<\/em> is already a movie star.<\/p>\n

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X-38 Crew Return Vehicle:<\/em> Palm Springs Air Museum\u2019s First Spacecraft<\/span><\/h3>\n
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The X-38 at Palm Springs Air Museum was one of five prototypes used in the test program and was actually dropped from high altitude and landed successfully. (Ralph Olson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The NASA X-38 was an experimental reusable re-entry vehicle used to return an astronaut crew from the International Space Station (ISS) during an emergency.\u00a0 Only 5 prototypes were built and 4 were flight tested before the program was cancelled in 2002.\u00a0 The X-38 at Palm Springs Air Museum is one of three test prototypes designed at 80 percent of the size of the full scale version.<\/p>\n

The ISS is the earth\u2019s most remote outpost; it\u2019s a difficult place to get to, or to leave.\u00a0 Lead time and intricate planning are required to pull off the immense logistical and technological feat of flying a spacecraft to and from the orbiting space station speeding along at 17,500 miles per hour. But what happens when time is short, and the crew\u2019s lives are in jeopardy?\u00a0 The X-38 was developed for such a contingency.<\/p>\n

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The X-38 is shown being dropped from its B-52 mother ship on a test flight. (NASA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After being carried to the ISS in the cargo bay of a space shuttle, the X-38 would be attached to one of the ISS docking ports.\u00a0 In the event of an emergency requiring crew evacuation, the X-38 could accommodate up to seven astronauts with seven hours of life support. The X-38 would be undocked from the ISS and after a deorbit engine burn, the vehicle would return to earth much like the space shuttle.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft\u2019s landing would be completely automated.\u00a0 Mission Control would have sent coordinates to the onboard computer system.\u00a0 Onboard wind sensors and a Global Positioning System would be used to calculate the shortest and safest trip home.\u00a0 Since the X-38 was designed with medical emergencies in mind, it made sense that the vehicle could find its way home automatically in the event the crew members were incapacitated or injured.\u00a0 In addition, seven high-altitude low-opening parachute packs were included in the crew cabin which gave them the ability to bail out of the craft.<\/p>\n

On the decent back to earth, a steerable parafoil parachute would deploy at an altitude of 40,000 feet to carry the vehicle to its final decent and landing.\u00a0 The X-38 would then be landed at a manageable 60 miles per hour.\u00a0 The entire sequence from undocking from the ISS to a safe landing was estimated to take 2 to 3 hours.<\/p>\n

After successful atmospheric tests, NASA set out to build the first fully operational prototype X-38.\u00a0 But budget cuts in the early 2000s forced NASA to cancel the program with the prototype about 90 percent complete.<\/p>\n

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F-117 Stealth Fighter #833:<\/em> A combat veteran of Operation Desert Storm and Allied Force<\/span><\/h3>\n
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F-117A #833 at Palm Springs Air Museum is on display in its own 5,000 square foot hangar and has the second highest amount of combat hours in the fleet. (Ralph Olson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This rare aircraft is one of only 59 built, most of which are now retired, and is one of four F-117 Nighthawks<\/em> on display in museums.\u00a0 The Palm Springs Air Museum stealth fighter which was acquired during the Covid-19 pandemic and is now on display in its own 5,000 square-foot hangar.\u00a0 When they operated, the F-117s were one of the most secret programs in the United States military.\u00a0 From the 1980s to early 2000s the aircraft operated in combat conditions, but today fewer than 10 are still actively used in tests and experiments.<\/p>\n

The aircraft on display at the Palm Springs Air Museum is F-117A #833, the second-highest combat mission aircraft in the fleet, logging 75 combat hours during Desert Storm and Allied Force, the Kosovo War in 1999.\u00a0 This stealth fighter logged a total 5,140 flight hours.<\/p>\n

The entire process of getting the aircraft took about four years and included a trip to Area 51 in Nevada.\u00a0 After being delivered to the museum on the back of a truck and in pieces, the amazing museum restoration crew spent hundreds of hours working to restore this stealth fighter to what it once was, down to the finest detail.<\/p>\n

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The F-117A cockpit is one of many displays in the aircraft\u2019s hangar at Palm Springs Air Museum. (Ralph Olson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The exhibit featuring F-117 Nighthawk <\/em>#833 also includes displays including the cockpit, weapons used on the aircraft, and numerous films to help visitors better understand stealth technology.\u00a0 The original production cost of the aircraft was $111 million.\u00a0 The museum exhibit, including the stealth fighter and accompanying displays, cost about $500,000, or about five years of fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n

Major General Greg \u201cBeast\u201d Feest, was an F-117 combat pilot during Desert Storm and flew sixteen successful missions including flights in aircraft #833. He is recognized for having dropped the first bomb of operation Desert Storm while flying the F-117.\u00a0 Holding the rank of Major during the conflict, his name is depicted under the left cockpit window.<\/p>\n

Major Greg \u201cBeast\u201d Feest\u2019s is now also depicted as a virtual pilot in the cockpit that will greet visitors to the exhibit. The virtual pilot effort took years to perfect and was brought to life by the creative team at the Palm Springs Air Museum and former image engineers from the Walt Disney Company. The exhibit will also feature tower interaction and the simulated whine of the plane\u2019s auxiliary power unit.<\/p>\n

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Visiting Palm Springs Air Museum:\"\"<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

Visit the Palm Springs Air Museum website at:\u00a0palmspringsairmuseum.org<\/a>. And be sure to watch the live webcams on YouTube; just type Palm Springs Air Museum. Two live webcams switch back and forth allowing views of the museum ramp and the PSP active runway. The webcams also allow you to hear live air traffic control.<\/p>\n

For more pictures of the museum\u2019s collection, check our Ralph\u2019s photo page: https:\/\/flickr.com\/people\/rrolson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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