February 10, 2015 Pensacola, Florida

 

The National Naval Aviation museum on the base in Pensacola is one of the biggest and best we have been too. This is our second trip. We saw many things we did not see last time.  And it is free. Here is a sopwith camel with snoopy as pilot.

 

A cut away plane-showing the wood frame under cloth. And a cut away of a flying fighter boat. The uncut away is above the boat.

  

This is from one of the rooms, the place is huge, photos do not do it justice. Above is one of the models of an aircraft carrier. The bottom is a photo from the simulator we were in that is like sitting in bleachers on top of an aircraft carrier while planes take off and land, complete with wind, the smell of jet fuel and vibrations. Very impressive.

This is a display of the mirrors and lights of the landing system on the aircraft carriers with me in the mirror, kind of like a fun house mirror. The gondola of a blimp named the snow bird.

 

The Blue Angels hang under all the sky lights. They are based here in Pensacola and from March to November they practice here. We missed them. But we went to an Imax movie called the Magic of Flight about them.  We had lunch in the Cubi Bar  cafe is modeled after one similar in the Philippines. All of the units deployed there hung plaques from their units. When it closed all the plaques came here.

 

John peace signing from air force one helicopter with Nixon sitting inside. Lunar lander.

 

We got to sit in cockpits of fighter jets. John tried to eject out, but the seats were disabled.

John trying to light the Fat Boy atomic bomb that ended WWI when it was dropped on Japan. Fort Barrancas is also on the base in Pensacola. It is on the other side of the bay from Fort Pickens where we were yesterday.

There was a dry moat around two sides so any body trying to come in that way was picked off by musket fire through the windows in the walls.  A draw bridge was the only way in. Cannons were on top.

 

The exterior walls were held up with these arches around the outside. This is a park service photo of the arches, we got there right before it closed and did not see the whole thing.

The sign says Caution Steep Dark Tunnel.  It leads to the water battery. Both of us took lots of photos in the tunnel. John heading toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

The Water Battery was originally built by the Spanish and named Bateria de San Antonio. Cannon fire from the battery skipped over the surface of the bay to hit ships at waterline. The door back to the steep dark tunnel and me emerging from it.

 

Beaches both ways, we must be in Florida! Pensacola Beach is the town right outside of Fort Pickens were we are staying. It says it has the worlds whitest beaches.