Amazing painted A-2s of the 390th Bombardment Group - pic heavy

[Sloan1874]

During my trip to Arizona earlier this month, I took a visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum on the outskirts of Tucson. The whole area is tied closely to the USAAF, the 390th Bombardment Group: http://arizonaexperience.org/remember/390th-memorial-pima-air-space-museum
The museum contains an amazing collection of memorabilia belonging to the 390th, not least a fantastic number of original painted A-2s. Knowing you guys would be interested, I took as many pics of them as I could - apologies for some of the slightly ropey shots, as the glare of the light outside played havoc with the glass cabinets they were stored in.

 

[pawineguy]

Great photos, thanks for sharing Craig. These smaller museums are real gems, sprinkled all over the U.S. and always featuring great jacket collections.

 

[Fanch]

Thanks for sharing. That is quite a collection and must have been an interesting experience. Weather-wise, Tucson is a great place to visit in November.

 

[handymike]

Very cool!

 

[Sloan1874]

It's a gem of a place, run on a shoe string, and so important to keep the memory of these men, and what they did, alive. Jackets were pretty much all on the small side too - having stuck my head into the B-17 the museum has, there was very little room for 'modern-sized' guys The ball gunner's seat was horrifically small, the guys who could fit in it can't have been more than 5'4" and built like jockeys.

 

[rocketeer]

Great photo's Craig. Nice to see these photographs, they remind me of some little museums over here in East Anglia, full of memorabilia and articles usually from life on bases as well as in the small villages , plus afew personal items such as flying gear.

 

[pawineguy]

I think it says something about what these jackets meant to the men that wore them, that there are nice collections in each of these small museums that I have visited or seen pictures from, as these museums were typically curated originally by the men that fought in the war.

 

[Sloan1874]

The 390th museum is obviously a labour of love for the staff. I think they were slightly mystified by the way I fixed on the jackets but were delighted to show me around.

 

[DougC]

The reflections in the glass are just as amazing as the jacket pictures. What a great collection!

 

[nick123]

I get the impression the liberty to paint flight jackets was one of the pleasurable activities in an otherwise horrific time. The jackets were probably more important than we know.

 

[Fanch]

I think that a number of B-17's retired from the USAF after WWII were sent to various "aircraft boneyards" specifically many to Davis-Monthan AFB near Tucson. Hence the museum in Tucson parhaps because of the close proximity there? As I recall the B-17 was the primary bomber used against Germany whereas the B-29 under Curtis LeMay was used to firebomb Japan. Maybe WWII was the last war to finish with any degree of reasonable resolution if that is even possible?

 

[ButteMT61]

Awesome stuff. Doesn't taking pics behind glass suck? I'm sure there's a way to do it, but every time I have to do that, I know most of them will bite. Love seeing all those jackets - and in such nice condition!

 

[Sloan1874]

Some more from the place:

 

[HoosierDaddy]

'Hoosier Hot Shot'. Now we're talkin..!!

HD

 

[Bunyip]

That's great mate. Good to see those kind of things being looked after. It's very similar to a lot of the micro museums etc for the civil war over there. Very interesting. I've started paying a lot more attention to A-2 jackets. They never interested me in the past, but they have grown on me. And I'm now quite fascinated by the whole thing.

 

[Sloan1874]

HD, you were exactly who I was thinking of when I snapped that one. Bunyip, mate, I'm afraid the A-2 habit is a rabbit hole-and-a-half. One minute you're happy with 'an A-2' of generic description, the next you find yourself kvetching over pocket shape and, worst of all, stitch count.

 

[Ralph_Phillips]

It's a gem of a place, run on a shoe string, and so important to keep the memory of these men, and what they did, alive. Jackets were pretty much all on the small side too - having stuck my head into the B-17 the museum has, there was very little room for 'modern-sized' guys The ball gunner's seat was horrifically small, the guys who could fit in it can't have been more than 5'4" and built like jockeys.

I had a philosophy instructor who was a turret gunner in WW2. He was about 5'3" tall, if that, and probably weighed 125 lbs soaking wet.

 

[Sloan1874]

I wish I'd got some shots of people standing next to the B-17 to show how small it actually looks - I fully expected them to be 50 per cent bigger. One of the guides explained that the tail gunners often had to pulled bodily out of the turret because they'd lost the feeling in their legs from the cramped conditions. Interestingly, he said that one of tail gunners he met actually liked the position as it meant he could see virtually everything that was happening around them.

 

[Bunyip]

I couldn't cope with that, or being in a tank or a sub. I hate small spaces, I had a bad experience as a 13 year old caving at a school camp. Being 6 foot and a couple of hundred pounds prob doesn't help, same reason I failed at jockey school.

 

[Stand By]

Beautiful shots and thanks for posting them here and for thinking of us, Sloan!
I love the photo of the "Gloria Ann" A2 with the almost ghostly reflection of that B-17! I think it's one time that a reflection couldn't have worked out any better!

It's always a treat to see authentic jacket art and patches - there's always something new and unexpected to see (as some look quite different to what I think of in my head in terms of style and look - but right they are/were!).
Great shots of the interior and "office" of the B-17 too - great stuff! Thanks for including those.
I know what you mean about that ball turret!
Mind you, I saw the Lancaster bomber here at Hamiliton and touched the skin of the fuselage and was shocked at how very thin it was - like tin! And having seen a display of the cannon ammo that the Luftwaffe were using (at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum out at Dulles, if memory serves) and seeing how HUGE some of them were, it horrifically dawned on me at how there was just no real protection up there! No wonder they could knock down a big B-17 with just 5 hits - with each one slicing through like a hot knife through butter, cleaving everything in its path. I can't properly imagine the actual reality of that and the terror and horror of it all.
And as if that wasn't enough to worry about, add in being 30,000 ft up and the windows are open in the back and it's -60F!
Great photos! Thank you!