This Thunderjet, superbly presented as a colourful F-84G of the 58th FBW's commander during the Korean War, is in fact F-84E 50-1143 which itself flew many combat missions in Korea with the 27th Fighter Escort Group and 136th FBW Texas ANG. The latter was the first ANG ever unit to enter combat. In late 1963 it came to the USAFM and was painted as now seen by 2012

Northrop converted 350 F-89Ds to J models, Air Defense Command's first fighter-interceptor to carry nuclear armament, its air-to-air rockets having a nuclear warhead. The aircraft on display, 52-1911, was the last in service with an operational unit when provided for preservation by the Maine ANG in July 1969. It is painted to represent F-89J 53-2509 assigned to the 449th FIS in the late 1950s, based at Ladd AFB, near Fairbanks AK. Hence it carries red arctic markings

Starfires were employed in the air defense of the continental United States in the 1950s. The F-94C had no guns but twenty-four rockets in a ring around the radome, shielded by retractable doors, with an additional 24 in wing pods if installed. This example is 50-0980 which from 1951 served the 3550th CCTW, 332nd FIS, 97th FIS and 109th FIS, going to Davis Monthan for storage in 1958. By 1974 it was in the adjacent Pima museum but was transferred to the USAFM by 1988 where it was marked as F-94C 50-1054 of the 60th FIS, Otis AFB, MA

The F-86D 'Sabre Dog', initially designated the F-95, incorporated a sophisticated electronic system replacing the second crew member carried by other interceptors of the time and air-to-air missiles instead the classic gun armament. This one is really 50-0477 and was no stranger to Wright Field, spending a year there from August 1952 with the Wright Air Development Centre as an EF-86D. Redesignated JF-86D in 1955 and roaded to the museum in 1970, on show as an F-86D assigned to the 97th FIS at Wright Patterson AFB during the mid-1950s

This is B-25D 43-3374, converted to the F-10 photo recon version for the 91st Photo Mapping Sqdn. It was used in South America in 1944 to map the coastline and inland areas. Back in the US it was used for training then stored at Davis Monthan in December 1957. But at the end of the month it was ferried to NA at Inglewood for modification to resemble Jimmy Doolittle's B-25B, one of several that were to follow. Presented to Doolittle at Las Vegas in April 1958 and flown by several of his Raiders when ferried to Dayton for the USAF Museum. B-25D engine exhausts are different, so hidden by covers

This is actually P-39Q 44-3887, converted to an RP-39Q two-seat operational training version with armament removed and redesignated TP-39Q in 1945. Disposed of as surplus in 1946, it was restored to single-seat P-39Q status in 1966 and flown to the UASFM. By 1977 it was marked as P-39D 41-7073 flown by the 57th FS, Adak Island, during the harsh conditions of the Aleutians Island campaign of autumn 1942. They attacked the Japanese forces which had invaded Attu and Kiska islands, the weather claiming more casualties than combat

Actually L-17A 47-1347 which served the 53rd FW, Pennsylvania ANG at Middletown PA as a liaison aircraft. Flown to the UASFM in April 1986 and painted as 48-928, a Ryan-built L-17B used by the Air Force ROTC program at Bradley University, IL in 1959 then the Chanute AFB Aero Club as N7635B until it crashed in the Seven Mountains in November 1963

It was very difficult shooting in the dark corners of the USAF Museum on Kodachrome, but modern processing of the scan has produced this result. A Black Widow that was used for thunderstorm research from Clinton County AFB, OH and radar testing from Wright Field post-war, going to the Boy Scouts of America for display in Urbana, OH in 1949. Donated to USAFM in 1958 and painted as P-61B 42-39468 of the 55th Night Fighter Sqdn, scrapped at Clark in the Philippines in 1949. A few years after this shot, that serial was applied at the museum but it later reverted to the true identity for this frame

One of the last to be completed, this Me 262 'Yellow 5' was surrendered to Allied forces at Munich-Riem in May 1945 and ferried on to Lechfeld by a Luftwaffe pilot. Flown on to Cherbourg via St Dizier and Melun, it was shipped as "Watsons Wizzers 111/Screamin' Meemie" to the US aboard HMS Reaper with 40 other captured aircraft. Barged to NAS Patuxent River and allocated BuNo 121442 for ten hours of flight tests in January 1946, these were curtailed after three engine failures. Abandoned in 1952, it was moved to the nascent USAF Museum in 1957. Restoration was accomplished from 1976 to 1979

Actually T-28B BuNo 140048 assigned to NAS Norfolk and sent to MASDC for storage in 1976. In August 1981 it was transferred out to the US Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity, Edwards AFB, going back to MASDC around 1986 but ferried to Wright Patterson for the USAF Museum in March 1987. It is painted as a VNAF aircraft assigned to Bien Hoa AB in 1962, where USAF pilots trained and flew combat missions with VNAF crews in Operation Farm Gate

In researching WW2 Japanese aircraft, it is difficult to determine serial numbers as we know them, but it seems that the tail codes are as near as we get. The wreck of this Nakajima-built naval A6M2 was found in Papua New Guinea, near Kavieng on New Ireland, probably one of the aircraft operated there by the 6th and later the 253rd Kokutai. Assembled locally for display as a composite with another wreck c1964, it was extracted to Australia in 1967. Since 2004 it has been painted as a section leader's aircraft from the carrier Zuiho during the March 1943 Battle of the Bismarck Sea

This example of the O-47 observation aircraft is presented as 37-328 in the markings of the 112th OS (Ohio NG) which was damaged after engine failure taking off from MCAS Cherry Point in April 1942. However it is really 39-112, which also suffered take-off accidents, firstly at Lafayette in September 1941 then at Shreveport a year later. The type was soon found to be too cumbersome for its intended role and it was downgraded for target towing and coastal patrol work. On disposal in 1946 this one became NC73722 and then in 1963 XB-YUW with Mexicana Aerophoto. To the museum in 1978

Painted as a P-36A which engaged 11 Japanese attack aircraft during the Pearl Harbor raid, this aircraft is in fact the very first of the 243 supplied to the Army Air Corps, 38-1. The mannequin on the wing represents the pilot of 38-86 during the Pearl Harbor raid, Lt Philip Rasmussen, who was awarded a Silver Star for his efforts which included the shooting down of one of the attackers. Both France and Britain used the Hawk 75A in combat over Europe in 1939 and 1940, even though the airplane was obsolescent compared to its Bf 109 adversaries.

This is Navy 'Spad' BuNo 134600 painted represent A-1H 52-139738 as operated by the 1st SOS from Nakhon Phanom RTAFB during a "Sandy" SAR mission to rescue a downed F-4 airman near a North Vietnamese airfield in June 1972, earning Captain Ronald Smith an Air Force Cross. That aircraft had earlier gained fame for a mission in 1968 when Lt Col William Jones was awarded the Medal of Honour. BuNo 134600 itself was flown by the South Vietnamese AF from 1965 to 1975 and after restoration it was placed on display in 2022

The Columbia Aircraft Corp of Valley Stream, NY, built the Grumman-designed J2F-6 Duck on display. Delivered to the US Coast Guard as BuNo 33587 in June1945, it became surplus in 1946 and was sold off for $1500 as NC67790. It had a series of civilian owners and in the early 1960s was converted to a fire tanker with a 300 gallon water tank, going on to be used for offshore rig support in the late 1960s. Obtained from Kermit Weeks in 1985, it is now painted to represent one of the rescue OA-12s the USAF acquired in 1948. The real 48-563 was restored in Alaska and flew again as N8563F in 2007

Following WWI a German businessman acquired several Halberstadt airframes and parts. After much tribulation he started to restore this one for flight in the 1950s but abandoned the project. Sold in the US in 1982 and obtained by the USAF Museum in 1984. In very poor condition by then, it was restored in a joint venture with the Museum fur Verkehr und Technik in Berlin from 1989 to 1991, painted as the CL.IV of Schlachtstaffel 21's leader, known to have engaged elements of the US Army 94th and 95th Aero Squadrons in July 1918. The c/n sometimes quoted, C.4205/18, belongs to a Halberstadt C.V

Displayed outside the Avro Arrow museum. Was moved here when the aviation museum at Downsview Airport closed a number of years ago. Any info help is appreciated!

The N1K2-J variant of the formidable Kawanishi 'Shiden Kai' was developed to counter high-flying B-29s, but suffered from poor engine and climb performance over 20,000ft so did not pose a major threat. Having been abandoned in a San Diego playground, this N1K2-Ja fighter-bomber sub-type was rescued by the nascent USAF Museum in 1959 and underwent an extensive restoration from 2000 to 2008, emerging in the colours of the Yokosuka Kokutai test and evaluation unit