Strategic Air & Space
The Strategic Air & Space Museum is located in Ashland, NE (a bit southwest of Omaha). They have a variety of aircraft, ranging from World War II to the Cold War, as well as a couple missiles and Apollo CM-009, the first production Apollo command module to fly on a Saturn rocket (the first production Apollo command module to be launched CM-002 -- on display at the Cradle of Aviation -- was launched on a Little Joe II booster on the A-004 mission).
Among the rare planes in their collection is a B-1A (one of only four produced), a B-36 Peacemaker (one of only four surviving), and an XF-85 Goblin (one of only two produced). They also have the first operational B-52 assigned to the Strategic Air Command.
With one of the most impressive collection of military aircraft that I've visited, I was still left disappointed on some level: While they have beautifully restored a number of planes and are currently restoring several others, other the planes appear to be in the same shape they were when they were retired from the Air Force. Dirty and beat up, there are planes that definitely look like they needed to be retired. I guess the Air Force Museum has just spoiled me.
As of now, I have not yet sorted through all of my pictures from the Strategic Air & Space Museum, but some other page references this location. Thus, this is a "place holder" version right now, with only the pictures actually referenced. Come back some time later to see if I've finished up, or drop me an email to request me to prioritize the rest of these pictures.
