Aircraft was written off with the 422TES March 25 2005

Officially commissioned as presidential aircraft in July 1947, "The Independence" carried President Truman to Wake Island in October 1950 to discuss the Korean situation with General MacArthur. In May 1953 it was taken out of presidential service and was transferred to the MATS at Bolling AFB, Washington DC, later moving to Andrews AFB and McDill AFB. In 1964 it was transferred to TAC as a command support aircraft and in July 1966 was flown to Wright Field for storage pending museum construction. My 1973 photo shows it displayed outside in final service markings

This is the only X-3, first flown from Edwards AFB in 1952 and designed to test sustained flight at twice the speed of sound. It also explored the use of very short wings and titanium airframe construction.. Because it was underpowered with an interim J34 engine, it failed to achieve the high speeds for which it was designed. By 1956 it had been transferred to the USAFM

Modified from the civilian Beech 36 Bonanza under the Pave Eagle II program, the 27 QU-22Bs delivered to the USAF were intended as airborne relays for the Igloo White operation during the Southeast Asia War, monitoring ground sensors to detect traffic along the main enemy supply line, the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Remote control equipment allowed the QU-22B to be flown directly by an onboard pilot or as an unmanned drone. In practice flights were all manned and after the loss of several aircraft, in 1972 the program ended. Registered N90637 to a tech college in 1974, this one joined the USAFM in 2001

OLIVE33 from Al Udeid

In September 1948, the XF-92A became the world's first jet aircraft to fly with the radical delta-wing configuration, pioneered by Germany's Dr Alexander Lippisch. Convair used the knowledge learned from the XF-92 to design the delta-wing F-102, the USAF's first operational supersonic interceptor. Operated by NACA, it made its last flight in October 1953, the nose gear collapsing on landing. It then became a travelling exhibit with the USAF's Recruiting Service, next going on display at Franklin County Airport, TN in 1965. In vandalised condition, it was recovered by the USAFM in 1969

During the 1960s, this U-2A, the last one built, made 285 flights to gather data on high-altitude clear-air turbulence. It went on the following decade to flight test reconnaissance systems and was delivered to the USAFM in May 1980

Taken when it was Williams AFB. White tip for H flight. Damaged beyond repair in a hard landing after an aborted takeoff at Sheppard AFB, TX in 2009.

This C-20 served the 89th AW at Andrews AFB from July 1987 till September 2015 when delivered to the NMUSAF

As a kid in the 1960s I can well remember being inspired by this extraordinary rocket-powered machine built to investigate the effects of hypersonic flight. In June 1962 this, the second of three X-15s, became the first aircraft to exceed Mach 5 after being air-dropped form its NB-52A mothership over Mud Lake, NV. In October 1967, after a fuselage stretch and addition of the large propellant tanks, it reached Mach 6.7, fastest of the three X-15s. In December 1968 the 200th X-15 flight was cancelled and 56-6671 went into storage till moved to the USAFM the following year

Built as a T-37A, this basic jet trainer was upgraded to T-37B around 1961 with improved engines, navigation and communications equipment. By the mid-1980s it was operating with the 8th FTS/71st FTW at Vance AFB, OK and is now displayed with their 'OK' code having been delivered to the museum in October 1991

Built as a F-104C-5-LO by Lockheed at Burbank, this Starfighter was based at George AFB with the 435th TFS/479th TFW, but in October 1965 operated from Da Nang, S Vietnam, escorting EC-121Ds over the Gulf of Tonkin. Soon moving to Kung Kuan AB, Taiwan, the unit returned to George that December. For a year from mid-1966 it deployed to Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, attached to the 8th TFW for F-105 escort. One of the first F-104s to be painted in camouflage, it also saw visits to W Germany and Spain. Transferring to the 198th TFW, Puerto Rico ANG by 1971, it was ferried to the USAFM in August 1975

Conceived as the solution to provide fighter escort protection for heavy bombers, the XF-85 was the first and only aircraft designed as a parasite fighter to be launched by a trapeze mechanism from the bomb bay of the Convair B-36 and Northrop's planned B-35 flying wing. McDonnell built two prototypes in 1947 which were tested under a B-29, but great difficulties were encountered in attempting to dock the Goblin back to the mothership, requiring a very skilled pilot. With improvements to air-to-air refuelling, docking problems and superior Soviet opposition, the program was abandoned in 1949

Flight testing of the X-4 Bantam began in 1948, the design having been inspired by German WWII research and developments, with both examples constructed being passed to the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) in 1950. The first X-4 was grounded after only 10 flights and the second (seen here) was used in the joint USAF/NACA program which ended in 1953. Instability at high speed led to the conclusion that semi-tailless aircraft were not suitable for transonic flight with the technology then available. It now hangs in the fascinating Research & Development Gallery

Seen outside in the TAC markings in which it finished its service career, before restoration in Presidential colours as "The independence" (as per my upload from December 2024)