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.

The P-35 was first single-seat, all-metal pursuit aircraft with retractable gear and enclosed cockpit to go into regular service with the Army Air Corps, and 76 were accepted in 1937-38. Ironically, the Japanese Navy ordered 20 of a two-seat version, becoming the only US-built aircraft used operationally by Japan in WW2. Sweden also bought 60 improved EP-106s, known as J 9s. This aircraft is actually 36-404, displayed as the P-35A of the 35th Pursuit Squadron commander stationed in the Philippines in 1941. It is the only surviving P-35, although two of the J 9s and an AT-12 still exist

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

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

As the first all-metal monoplane bomber produced for the US Army Air Corps in quantity, the USAF Museum spent years looking for an example of the B-10 for their collection. Seven countries purchased the export version, Argentina buying 35 Martin 139Ws, including 12 for the Navy in 1938. After many years of service, the obsolete bombers were used of training and one survived as a ground instructional airframe in Buenos Airies. In 1970 it was gifted back to the US and restored at Kelly AFB, TX between 1973 and 1976. The wreck of RNIEAF Martin 139WH-3 M-574 was found in Indonesia in 2018

This Hurricane is painted to represent a Mk.II of 71 "Eagle" Sqdn RAF, composed of US citizens who volunteered for British/Canadian service in the RAF beginning in September 1940, prior to US entry into World War II. Z3174 was ultimately supplied to Russia. The aircraft is a composite of five Canadian-built airframes, assembled by a company in Texas and placed on display from 1990. In 2001 it was sent to Hawker Restorations at Earls Colne in England for a second rebuild, correcting the cowling and tail profiles in the process. The identity 5390 once attributed has now been discredited

Painted as an MiG-21 of North Vietnam's elite 921st Fighter Regiment, this is actually an ex-Hungarian aircraft, 408, which arrived in the US in 1990, It was first operated by the Hungarian Air Force's 47 VE from Pápa in the mid-1960s

This MiG-17 was was presented to the museum by the Egyptian Air Force in 1986 and inevitably has been painted to represent a Vietnamese opponent. Its real s/n was 799

Now wedged into an awkward spot for photos next to the B-47, the NMUSAF MiG-19 has been on show in North Vietnamese AF colours since 1994. It was obtained from the 457th Technical Evaluation Squadron which specialised in testing Soviet combat aircraft at Nellis AFB and had originally been operated by the Indonesian AF as TB-0932

By Apr '47: Completed; modifications for presidential use included extra fuel tanks for range of 4400 miles, three closely-spaced windows on starboard side for stateroom; it could carry 25 passengers. Jul '47: TOS USAF. Oct'50: Most historic flight when President Truman flew to Wake Island to discuss the Korean situation with Gen. MacArthur. May'53: Retired as the President's plane and assigned to Special Air Mission flights. 1965: Retired and flown to Patterson Field, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH for display at the Air Force Museum.

23 Dec '53: TOS USAF as KC-97G, assigned to 93rd Bombardment (Medium) Wing (SAC), Castle AFB, CA. From Jul '57 to 1976: Assigned to seven more units. Mar'65: Converted to KC-97L. Aug 1976: Flown to the Air Force Museum.

23 Dec '53: TOS USAF as KC-97G, assigned to 93rd Bombardment (Medium) Wing (SAC), Castle AFB, CA. From Jul '57 to 1976: Assigned to seven more units. Mar'65: Converted to KC-97L. Aug 1976: Flown to the Air Force Museum.

23 Dec '53: TOS USAF as KC-97G, assigned to 93rd Bombardment (Medium) Wing (SAC), Castle AFB, CA. From Jul '57 to 1976: Assigned to seven more units. Mar'65: Converted to KC-97L. Aug 1976: Flown to the Air Force Museum.