Photos © Ruud Leeuw

USA Southwest 2008

Hill AFB Aerospace Museum, Ogden,UT

 

 

After driving scenic routes through Utah, I found myself in Salt Lake City with dismal weather. A good day to visit a museum I thought: the Hill AFB air museum in nearby Ogden. I had been there before, in 1993 I think it was, and it had been expanded considerably.
Date of visit 26May08.

Hill AFB Museum
However impressive these darkening skies, I thought it best to spend a few hours inside the museum and hope for a little sunshine later that day..

C-47 Skytrain
C-47 43-49281 was previously outside on display. Maybe it is now under some sort of restoration, though the museum's website did not mention it as a current restoration program.

This Douglas VC-47D (c/n 15097/26542) was delivered to the USAAF with serial 43-49281 in 1944 and enjoyed an extensive career with the military. Registered N55C and as N55CE in 1971 it was still in service, with the US Army. In 1974 and 1975 it was briefly stored at Davis Monthan AFB, to be reinstated for service with the US Dept of Agriculture, as N143Z, in 1980. The registration was cancelled in 1984 and since 2001 it has been on loan to this museum by the USAF Museum.


Consolidated B-24D Liberator 41-23908

For the restoration of this aircraft the fuselage of PB4Y-2 BuNo. 59932 (N9829C) has been used.

B-17 Flying Fortress Boeing B-17G 44-83663 (c/n 32304) was the first aircraft to arrive for the museum; after a period of service with the Brazilian Air Force it returned to the US (N44780) in 1968; owned by the USAF Museum it was loaned to a group in Florida and was on display at St.Petersburg from 1983 - 1986. This B-17G has now been restored to its original WW2 state.

By far the main part of the collection inside the museum are fighter aircraft, spanning WW2 to recent times ('Cold War'), including the Korean War. A most impressive collection (the SR-71 Blackbird is the only 2-seat trainer version built), but not my first and foremost interest.
I also had difficulty taking these photographs, as a lot of families with trolleys were about. Also, planes are quite huge objects to place inside a building, so photography is never easy under any circumstance.
In short, I took my chances outside and low and behold: the weather gradually did change -briefly- for the better!

C-119
I have a special interest in the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, so I was pleased to add this one to my collection. See also my extensive C-119 file on this website.


C-119G (c/n 10738) '52-2107' has previously flown with the Canadian Air Force (22107) and was in the US Registry as N966S, owned/operated by Hawkins & Powers.

Apparently there is was a Canadian interest in this CC-119: 'Yes indeed, we are busy here at the National Air Force Museum of Canada (former 'RCAF Memorial Museum', Trenton,ONT.). Currently the lineup continues to grow as far as projects. If we swing the CC-109 (from Kelowna Flightcraft,B.C.), it could be five years to get it to Trenton.
With 2017 tied to the Lancaster, 2018/19 ties to the CC-119 at Hill AFB, etc.
We are still working on the Hudson, Expeditor and Tutor CF-LTW-X, here in the shop...'
Info provided (Feb.2017) indirectly by:
Chris Colton
Executive Director | National Air Force Museum of Canada

UPDATE: this purchase never came about and I noticed in 2018 a remark that '52-2107' had recently been repainted and is proudly on display at the Hill AFB Museum.
From www.aerospaceutah.org/c-119-flying-boxcar/:
"Restored to represent the 'State of Utah', once assigned to Hill Air Force Base decades ago, the C-119G located at the Hill Aerospace Museum was manufactured by Fairchild and delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in December 1954.
Serving various bases throughout Canada for more than 20 years, the aircraft was eventually sold to Frank Shelly of Los Angeles, California, in 1967. Later sold to the forest fire fighting company Hawkins and Powers of Greybull, Wyoming, it was eventually acquired by the Hill Aerospace Museum on 05Nov1985."

See here an external link to a report of a 2018 visit to this museum: warbirdinformationexchange.org

C-123 Provider
Fairchild C-123B/K Provider 54-610 (ex/ N3836A), c/n 20059.
The C-123 Provider was a military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and subsequently built by Fairchild Aircraft for the United States Air Force.
In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, it also went on to serve most notably with the United States Coast Guard and various air forces in South East Asia.
The C-123 was designed originally as an assault glider aircraft (XCG-20) for the USAF, but the powered variant made it to production.
[source: Wikipedia]

C-54


Douglas C-54G 9c/n 35955) 45-502 restored to its original identity, 45-0502. In a previous life it also wore the tailnumbers N1022A and HH-JMA (flying with Haiti Air Freight).

HH-JMA on Airliners.net

Hill AFB museum
All aircraft, including the Beech C-45H Expeditor 52-10862 (AF-792, ex/N87688), are dwarfed by the humongous Douglas C-124C Globemaster 53-0050 (c/n 44345).

C-131 Samaritan
Convair VC-131D Samaritan 55-0300 (c/n 233, ex/ N8440H)
The Convair C-131 Samaritan was a military transport produced from 1954 to 1956.
The design began life in a production requirement by American Airlines for a pressurized airliner to replace the classic Douglas DC-3. Convair's original design had two engines and 40 seats, and thus it was designated the CV-240. The first 240 flew on March 16, 1947, and production aircraft were first delivered to American on February 28, 1948. Seventy-five were delivered to American, with another fifty going to Western Airlines, Continental Airlines, Pan American Airways, KLM, and Trans Australia Airlines.
The CV-240/340/440 series was used by the United States Air Force for medical evacuation and VIP transport and was designated as C-131 Samaritan. The first model Samaritan, the C-131A, was derived from the 240 model, and was delivered to the USAF in 1954.
[Source: Wikipedia]


Convair T-29C (CV240) 52-1119 (c/n 358)

C-7 Caribou
deHavilland C-7A (DHC-4A) Caribou, 63-9757/KN (c/n 220)
Two recommended website to read up on The 'Bou are: www.c-7acaribou.com and www.dhc4and5.org

Haggerty's Hag
Boeing B-29A Superfortress 44-86408 "Haggerty's Hag".

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a 4-engine propeller powered heavy bomber that was flown by the United States Military in World War II and the Korean War, and by other nations afterwards. The name "Superfortress" was derived from its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. [Wikipedia]
Before the outbreak of the Korean War over 150 B-29's were stored here at Hill AFB.

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Hill Aerospace Museum, located near Ogden, Utah, is a U.S. Airforce museum that is part of the United States Air Force Heritage Program.
The museum, founded in 1981 and moved to its current location in 1991, displays over 80 aircraft from around the world, in addition to a variety of muntions, equipment, auxiliary vehicles, and other items of historical interest.
In 1996, the Museum became the home of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame.
[Source: Wikipedia]

MAP

 

Links:
Hill Air Force Base museum

Much of the above information, besides Wikipedia, has been learned from the book written by Bob Ogden, Aviation Museums and Collections of North America (Air-Britain,2007). NOTE: In 2011 a 2nd edition, fully revised and also including monuments, was published by Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.
Aviation Museum North America

The Road Goes On... back to US Southwest 2008

Reactions / comments welcomed.