Musée de L'Air et de l'Espace (round 2) : 2013-12

Well, I visited the Musée de L'Air et de l'Espace again which, at first seemed a little silly, BUT there were sections of the musée that we didn't see last time. So that was a nice surprise. They had a lot more things to see, dozens and dozens of great models and they even added an awesome display out front. It's just north of Paris and depending on traffic, about 40 minutes.

This is the new display out front. A cloudburst of three Fouga CM.170 Magister jets flown by the Partouille de France. The jet is a little ridiculous, but it's a cool paint scheme and this static display is awesome!

The first time I visited, I didn't realize a large section of the musée was closed. Now that it's open, it seems much more like a true air and space museum. Above are just a couple shots of the dozens of aircraft they have on display. The engine on the right was cool...the pistons actually rotated with the propeller. That was something I hadn't seen it before. It is on the Deperdussin B - also shown below. I thought the tail was pretty impressive, too.

Here are a couple of shots of the large room separating two large galleries. I though the ceiling was well done and the room is designed to look like the old airport's main terminal.

The gallery that is now open has tons of fantastic models. I didn't record the names of the airplanes below, but the displays were great. The plane on the left is a model, on the right, a full-scale airplane.

Above, left, is another great model and on the right was a cool squadron patch.

I like tough-looking patches.

There is a Boeing 747-200 on display used by Air France and there's a giant rocket near it. I am always amazed by the size of some of the vehicles that can fly. Even just the size of an elevator or rudder of a 747 (right) is impressive - an that's just one component of the aircraft.

I took some pics of a Super Mirage 4000 because it's a something you don't see everyday. It's basically France's attempt at the F-15. Having it's first flight in 1979, the plane was pretty average as it was cancelled in the early 80s. The French and their delta wings. But I thought the pics were cool.

On the left is a legend (outside the US), the SEPECAT Jaguar. It's the jet with the infamous on-top-of-the-wing missiles.  I was never particularly that impressed with the jet, but it became very good at reconnaissance and served for almost 40 years. On the right, is an engine with thrust-reversers (I'm assuming that's what they are) that I hadn't seen before. It'd be cool to see how they work.

 A couple rockets in the exposition extérieure. Rockets are cool and surprisingly massive.

A close-up of the world-famous North American P-51 Mustang.

Sharing a hanger with the Concorde, the Dassault Mirage IV (left) is a cool display. On the right, a comic-book style depiction of a five-ship of some Mirage jets (I think also Mirage IVs).

This was a cool jet - the SNCASO Trident. It reminded me a little bit

of the F-104 Starfighter.  Just looks fast.

 

Above left is a Dassault Mystère IV. I took the picture mainly because the airplane is so MiG like. It's funny how designs really take similar roads. On the right is an Hurel-Dubois HD 10. It is nothing special but it's pretty small and I have an affection for small planes - seems more like you're flying. And it was in fantastic condition.

On the left, is a Hirsch H 100. I think this would be an awesome airplane to own and fly. It has a really classic look to it, smooth, clean and all metal. Cool. On the right, is a Potez 53. Another classic design. What you can't see very well is the cockpit is just in front of the tail. I always thought it was cool when the cockpit is really far aft - makes a plane look fast...like it was made to race.

This is a cool jet ... the Leduc 022. It was a prototype of Mach 2 fighter. 

The coolest thing to me was the cockpit. It's basically in the fuselage - just in front of the engine. Who thought that was a good idea? Sure you can see above and to the sides, but it's always nice to see where you're going. However, it looks fast and it might have been fun to fly a couple of times. 

Below is a Nord 1500 Griffon which was a design to make a ramjet fighter. I think it looks cool and it certainly looks fast. Two were built back in the 50s - the Griffon I and the Griffon II. I'd fly it.

On the left, Sputnik! Not the real one, but always cool to see. It was the World's first artificial satellite - how cool is that? Great reminder of the Space Race. On the right, my ticket - with the Rafale A.

I thought this was a nice touch. A Breitling clock in the style of an aircraft clock/gauge.

fin