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Hello,
I am currently doing an
aviation history project for the University of Montana and came across
your page. As a former intern at the Malmstrom AFB Museum in Great Falls,
I have some more information on aircraft in Montana that you might appreciate.
At
the Malmstrom AFB, there are seven aircraft on display: F-101B Voodoo,
B-25J Mitchell, EB-57B Canberra,
T-33A Shooting Star,
F-84F Thunderstreak,
KC-97L Stratoliner, and UH-1H Iroquois. (I don't know if you count
the two Minutemen ICBMs on display as aircraft.) Inside the museum is the
Pacific Northwest's largest collection of military model aircraft (I believe),
a WWII barracks display, and the Minuteman launch capsule you mentioned.
At the Great
Falls International Airport (just west of town),
there is a small airpark under development by the Montana ANG. This is
right off the interstate exit. It isn't accessible to the public, but all
someone has to do is pull off the road and take pictures (with the mountains
in the background and F-16s taking off from the runway, it's an unforgettable
site). There is a
F-86F Sabre, T-33A Shooting
Star, F-106A Delta Dart, and
F-16A Falcon. There is also a F-89J
Scorpion sitting on top of the gate shack at the Montana ANG main gate,
and on the main drag of Great Falls (10th Avenue South), there is a
F-102
Delta Dagger in a park next to Hardees.
Definitely worth a look for airliner buffs is the Poletto Display, the
world's largest collection of airliner models, located in the upper level
of the Great Falls International Airport.
There is a small aviation museum
at the Missoula International Airport in western Montana which has a couple
of old vintage aircraft; I'm not sure of the type, though I'm pretty sure
one is a Stearman. There are also some parts of a
B-17 that crashed west
of town during World War II and some information on Missoula during the
war. The Missoula airport is the home of the US Forest Service's
Smokejumpers, and they have a small museum as well, though no full-sized
aircraft. One can usually see a couple of old P2V Neptune's converted
to water bombers parked on the tarmac, and I've seen a PB2Y Privateer and
a C-54 here during fire season. (A local rich fellow here in Missoula had
a MiG-21 in flyable condition parked out there too, but I believe he sold
it; he may have a Jet Provost, because I saw this aircraft about a year
ago next to the Neptune's.)
Finally, there may still be a
small museum at the Helena International Airport; there is at least one
UH-1 on a pedestal there outside the Montana Army Guard headquarters (they
fly UH-60 Blackhawk's out of there now). The museum used to have a EC-121
Warning Star and possibly a
F-86 and a CF-100; I'm not sure if they're
still there. Billings Airport also has an active waterbomber unit
(the aircraft in the film "Always" belonged to this outfit) and may have
a few A-26s and C-54s around, and Dean Pogreba Airport in Three Forks is
currently trying to acquire a
F-105 Thunderchief; Pogreba was a local guy
and was killed flying Thuds in Vietnam. In any case, I hope this helps
you out. Your site is very informative.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Donnelly |
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